But I'm not.
Something happens to me as I step into a store - whether it be grocery, clothes or domestic farming equipment. I turn into a cartoon; my eyes grow bigger than my stomach, two arms become twelve as items fly off shelves into my cart and all the while, my wallet gets smaller and smaller. There goes the budget!
I was determined today to do the right thing when I went grocery shopping. I scoured coupons I could print from the internet, circled products in the ad, printed recipes and actually checked the pantry for contents before doubling up on them. Then committed the ultimate super-saver shopping sin.
I didn't make a list. Ooops.
I entered the grocery store and could feel the products begging me to try them just this once. That I really did need a bag of not-on-sale salad finishers because, really, its just too hard to make my own salad toppings. I did need the $12 moisturizer I love, even though I have four completely full trial size bottles of moisturizer I don't really love sitting on my counter at home.
I resisted.
Well, for the most part. . . . . .
Here's what I got:
**I'm not sure if you can see some of the items. This is my first time lining them up and taking a pic! I have 2 6-packs of Tyson Chicken Breasts in the middle. 7 lean cuisines stacked in the back. One pack of Eggos, one Toaster STrudel. The Seattle's Best Coffee is completely hidden behind the Activia. Anything else that you can't tell what it is>**
Yes, I know that alot of the items are name brand. I like name brand. I'm a grocery shopping snob. Those are also the ones that are on sale and that I have coupons for, therefore they are actually cheaper than the store brand items. Score!
Yes, I also know that I will never ever be asked to join the Super Saver Savvy Shopper club because I adore frozen food and shudder just thinking about making it all from scratch. I like Lean Cuisines. I like frozen pizza. I like Eggo's and Toaster Strudels. I like that I don't have to put any preparation into it, and it still tastes great. I also like when they are on sale for $1.75 or less. (Yes, really!!) Could I make a cheaper lunch? Probably. But I wouldn't. I would stop at In and Out Burger and grab a meal for $6 or Paradise Bakery for $9. Lean Cuisines save me money. And I like them. So sue me.
And how much do you think this all cost me? Notice I have 2 6-packs of Tyson chicken breasts, Seattles Best Coffee, Toiletries, Fresh lunch meat and cheeses, and a corned beef brisket and cabbage in honor of St. Patty's.
What do you think?
Before discounts: $179.60
After discounts: $94.25
How'd I do it?
Manufacturer Coupon Savings: $21.55 plus $2.45 bonus coupons = $25 mfg coupons. Definetely worth the $1.25 the Sunday paper costs me.
VIP Card Savings: $61.35
(Fry's is having a great sale. Buy 10 participating items, get $5 toward your purchase. Can get up to $15 back on purchases. I bought exactly 20 participating items - only those with coupons - and received $10 in savings on this bill.)
Which I think is pretty damn good. Not the $45 budget that MoneySavingMom sticks to, but pretty damn good for us.
Especially since I had (HAD!!) to splurge on the lunch meat and cheeses because we won't eat the pre-packaged stuff. It's all drippy with who-knows-what kind of juices and preservatives, so we always splurge on good lunch meat and cheese. And I had to splurge on the corned beef brisket (which was only $2.71 for 3 pounds so really not a splurge at all!) and cabbage (3 lbs for 99 cents) because, after all, it IS a holiday tomorrow and we HAVE to celebrate it!
I also had to splurge on toiletries, as Hubs and I both ran out of deodorant on the same day. I usually have plenty of backups, but for some reason, didn't do my usual savvy shopping for deals on Deodorant and now had to pay full price. Well, not exactly. I did have coupons for all the Deo. But they were only on sale for 25 cents off their normal price. I don't feel I got a great deal on them, but in Phoenix with 85 degree weather creeping up on us, we were not about to test the limits!
The only items I didn't get: bread (wish I would have had a list!) and ground beef (which was not on sale, so we will eat chicken this week and grill the steaks and burgers we already have).
My favorite purchase - besides my lean cuisines?
I dig Ziploc baggies. I trust them in the freezer and I trust them in the coffeepot on the plane. Snob, yes, but I dig using the name brand freezer bags. The pack of 30 quart-size freezer bags were on sale from $3.79 to $2. I had a coupon for $1 off two, which brings the total on two boxes to $3, which is less than the normal price for 1. They were also qualifiying items for the Get-$5-back-on-savings VIP savings at Fry's. I got 4 of them, used a coupon for each, and got money back. Love it. Absolutely love it.
I'm not a completely Savvy Shopper yet, but I think I may have to learn the secret handshake. I could be joining the club soon.
