04-03-10

I'm one of those people that when my interest is sparked..I go in full force. If I'm in? I'm in all the way (which is probably part of the reason why loyalty is so important to me. But that's another issue for another time haha). My new interest? Saving money. Buying a lot..paying very little for it. Funny how I wasn't into this when we needed it the most (our poor days)! Anyway, so I've been following The Grocery Game's message boards and everyone put up their April grocery budgets..and because I'm still very new at this..my monthly budget is still the same as usual. Orion made me a spending and saving spreadsheet (gotta involve the man! He's SO into this you have no idea! Makes it so much easier!) and every time I go out shopping, I write in how much I've spent and next to it, how much I've saved. Last month, we saved $526.68! Granted, we spent that other places..but it was still nice to see that huge number for only participating for a couple of weeks!

So far, this weekend, we've saved $221.89..hooray!

I made a trip to Walgreens that looked like this:

Total spent (OOP..Out of Pocket..): $53.73

Total saved: $54.19 PLUS we got back $11 in RR (register rewards for those new to Walgreens) so that's like saving $65.19!

Sweet, right? I mean that Clean and Clear blackhead eraser thing is usually around $21 by itself but by me going to Clean and Clear's website and printing out a $5 coupon for that same item and then seeing it on sale for $9.99, I only ended up paying $4.99 for a $21 product! Sweet!

Yesterday, we tried out the Hickam AFB commissary because we drove by the Pearl Harbor commy and it was super crowded. I'm not into crowds..they give me anxiety. This was my first time in the Hickam commy..and ya know? I think I like it more than the Pearl Harbor commy. It seems like the frozen foods section is SO much bigger and has a way larger variety than the one closer to us has and ya know? The shelves aren't all End of the World Bare like the Pearl Harbor commissary's are. So..I think that's where we'll be going from now on.

I ended up using 60 coupons in the commy..thank goodness I had such a sweetheart of a woman checking me out! Something I wish the commissaries did that other stores do is include your in-store savings on your receipt along with your coupon savings. The larger numbers make me feel better!

Total OOP: $126.91

Coupon savings: $56.20

My cart was overflowing and my freezers are both full..so I KNOW we would have spent way more than $183.11 but ya know..awesome deals paired with coupons? Pshh..win! Our cashier was sweet as can be (which is hard to come by in the coupon world..seriously. They tend to sigh like you're a huge inconvenience to their lives. Whatever. I'm saving money..and I'm actually making you guys money by even using coupons. You're welcome.) and even told me to keep up the good work when we were done!

It's been a good weekend so far and it's not over yet! The Easter Bunny hops tonight!