One of the things I love saving the most on is groceries. I have competitions with myself each week to see how much money I can save, how long I can make our budget last and how many groceries I can get with our budget. I am always like a kid on Christmas when the weekly ads for the grocery stores come in the mail (weird, I know). But I get such a kick looking at the ads and figuring out what is a good deal and what is not as well as figuring out what we need to get at the store that week. Rarely do I buy groceries that are not on sale. Normally I only pay full price for groceries at Sam's Club but because they are a warehouse store, buying items in bulk there ends up saving us a lot of money in the long run.
Within the last few months I have discovered this wonderful app called SnipSnap. It is a digital coupon app that has lots of great coupons from tons of different stores. I use it mainly for Kroger coupons because our closest grocery store, Smith's, carries Kroger coupons. Smith's also has e-coupons that you can load directly onto your customer card. They always have really good coupons and every Friday they offer a coupon for a free item.
To show you how awesome these digital and e-coupons are, here is a summary of my last trip to Smith's.
Rice Chex: On sale for $2.19
Total: $2.19
1 Glaceau Sparkling Fruit Water: on sale for $1
-0.50 e-coupon loaded on my card
Total: $0.50
1 Kroger Sour Cream: on sale for $1
-$0.40 Kroger Sour Cream SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.60
1 jar Tostidos salsa: regular price $3.00
-free jar of Tostidos salsa e-coupon loaded on my card
Total: $0.00
Regular box of Wheat Thins: regular price $2.00
-free regular box of Wheat Thins SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.00
Kroger Honey Ham Lunchmeat Tub: regular price $2.79
-free Kroger lunchmeat tub SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.00
1 flat of Kroger Water: on sale for $2.50
-free Kroger water SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.00
Kellog's Special K Cinnamon Pecan cereal: regular price $3.39
-free Kellog's Special K cereal SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.00
Fruity Pebbles family size cereal: regular price $3.19
-free Fruity Pebbles cereal SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.00
Hot Fudge Sundae Pop Tarts: regular price $1.99
-free Pop Tarts SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.00
Duncan Hine's Red Velvet Cake Mix: regular price $1.79
-free Duncan Hine's cake mix SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.00
Kroger Premium Tropical Smoothie Frozen Fruit Mix: regular price $3.49
-free Kroger Frozen Fruit
Total: $0.00
Windex: regular price $2.99
-free Windex SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.00
Dawn Handcare dish soap: regular price $2.94
-free Dawn dish soap SnipSnap coupon
Total: $0.00
Total Grocery Bill: $3.41
Total Grocery Value: $31.45
Total Savings: $28.04
Not bad right? Now, this isn't a normal shopping trip for me. I had a lot of coupons that would be expiring in the next few weeks when Ben and I would be on vacation so I wanted to use them before we left. Normally I spend between $5 and $8 at Smith's per week for 2 or 3 visits every month and get groceries valued between $10 and $20.
Also, another tip: make sure to read your receipt! There have been times when my coupons have not worked or didn't go through so I got over charged or I did not want the item without using a coupon. So normally my trips to Smith's also include a trip to the customer service desk where they are very nice about taking back groceries I do not want or trying to re-scan my coupons. I have found that the check-out people can be quite rude and impatient and I do not like dealing with them so I check out as quickly as I can and then go to the customer service desk where they straighten things out. This trip, for example, I ended up with a jar of Ragu sauce when I did not want it because of my coupon not working and the cashier had double charged me for the lunchmeat. I took my receipt and told them I did not want the Ragu and that I got over charged. They happily, and easily, took back my return and put $4.61 back onto my debit card without any trouble.
This is so awesome, Meagan! I need to take lessons from you!
ReplyDeleteWow Meagan! You remind me of the ladies on Extreme Cuponing on TLC--except you buy food a person should actually eat :) You are a great homemaker!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Holly and Amy. You are incredible! I am going have to learn from you!
ReplyDelete