This Stuff Makes Me Too Happy

Good, no--GREAT--deals at the grocery store. :)
It's partly because I'm cheap, and partly because I love seeing how frugal you can be and get GOOD things.
These deals blow Aldi out the water, by the way. A few minutes of coupon-learning & price comparing, and you can get yourself some amazing deals, freebies included. :)

I shopped Kroger today.
Kroger isn't my "main" store. I prefer Meijer, but our local Kroger doubles coupons up to $1. You can't beat that! (Meijer only doubles up to 50 cents).

Today I got for FREE:
-Danimals kids' yogurt smoothies (Aidan loves these)
-2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste (free toothpaste; I love it!)
-Free Mentos
-Free gallon if ice cream

I got super excited to buy Progresso soup, Weight Watchers variety included, for 49 cents/CAN. That's a phenomenal price. WOOT!

I know I sound dorky getting excited over these deals, but this is one of the major ways I contribute to our family financially. Maximizing our savings, decreasing our spending, all while getting good things we prefer to buy, anyway. (I hate the argument coupons aren't worth clipping because they're only for things you wouldn't normally buy!)
When I can see such great savings, I feel I've stretched the family dollar in better ways.
If you have Kroger near you, check out their prices today. Tomorrow begins their new ad (though you should still be able to get free toothpaste there this week).

Happy shopping. :)
Have you scored any great grocery deals lately?

Grocery Trip (Meijer) Updated

Today= Pay Day= Grocery Shopping

I'm mad at myself. I got home to find 3 coupons I could have used that I missed. That's what I get for rushing! Darn it.

Aside from that, I did pretty well still at Meijer.
62 items bought, $95.09 spent.

Good deals:
-Comet powder bathroom cleaner $0.88, 0.35 cents coupon, doubled, totaling $0.18 for Comet cleaner.

-Welch's brand grape jelly, on sale for $1.99, $0.75 cpn, totaling $1.24. That's only 5 cents more than the Value brand, so I went for it. I hardly ever buy the good brand, but it's worth it, in my opinion. Less sugar, better flavor, texture, etc. And for 5 cents more.

-Quaker instant oatmeal, on sale for $1.88, $1 cpn, totaling $0.88. Brand name oatmeal, less than a buck.

-Quilted Northern toilet paper-12 double rolls, on sale $5.49, $1 off cpn. $4.49
-Same for Brawny 8 pack paper towels. $5.49-$1 cpn, $4.49
     ~I had an in-store coupon for $1 off paper goods $7 or more, so I used that for these 2 items. So it really breaks down to $3.99 for the toilet paper & paper towels each.

-Freebies :)
     ~Ritz crackers, after buying 3 packs of Kraft shredded cheese (on sale for $2 each)
     ~Danimals kids' yogurt! GOOD SCORE! On sale for $2 each. I had both a Meijer $1 off coupon for the item, plus a mfr coupon for $1 off, so I got it for free.

-Not a coupon deal, but Meijer brand pasta is on sale for $0.69/box. Stock up time!

Meijer has Kraft mac & cheese for $0.60/box on sale.

-Meijer also has a deal on Kellogg's cereal. Buy 5 boxes, get $5 off instantly at check-out.
I bought cereal for $2.69/box, totaling $13.45. Subtract the instant $5, and that's $8.45 for 5 boxes.
That comes to $1.69 a box for BRAND NAME cereal.
**This is what I mean by store brand or Aldi's not always being cheaper. Deals like this make it less costly, depending on the sales and your coupons.**
UPDATE: Redplum has a Kellogg's coupon for $1.50 off 2. (I really need a working printer!)

I regret that I had no additional cereal coupons. I'm sure some of you out there would have. I can't print my own right now, and my cereal coupons were only for General Mills & Post.

I feel I could have done better, but my receipts cites $11.40 in coupons, so I'll take it & get over it.
I was feeling rushed and think that messed me up. Oh well. It's more the principal of it all than the amount. The coupons I forgot would saved me almost $2 more. They don't expire soon, though, so they will still get used.

I usually go through u-scan so I can watch each item as it scans, ensuring it's correctly priced.
Today I was hurrying, so I went through w/ an actual cashier. I learned I prefer to go through u-scan & take my time more.

We do have a freezer full of meat right now (pork, chicken, ground beef, a roast, and some steak).
We have plenty of cereal plus some school snacks for Aidan.
We have frozen veggies, plenty of pasta, barley & rice.
I'll need to replenish fresh milk and fruit, but for the most part, today's total is for 2 weeks. Not bad. (meat previously bought on sale, not reflected in today's total).

What great grocery deals have you gotten lately?

Good Deals + Playing the Shopping Game

I'm easily amused and entertained. I get giddy over small things, like naps, bite sized chocolates, my kid being in our church bulletin...you get the idea.

So without fail I'm feeling giddy over some recent deals.
In our course to become debt free the Dave Ramsey way, I'm aiming to be more resourceful, frugal, and just pay better attention so as to maximize our means.

I'm not nearly as impressive as some of those bloggers out there, where I'd get paid to buy something, or where I calculate the total meal per person. Maybe one day, but I'm just not there right now.

Here is how I feel impressed, though:

Remember how I posted that we're nearly finished our Christmas shopping?
We shopped when Toys R Us was having their Fisher Price-buy 2, get 1 free sale. So we bought the Imaginext dragon castle, the Little People Fire Station, and a Trio building set. The Trio set was the least costly item, so that was free. Before that became the free item, though, I had printed the $5 coupon from their site, so we had a free item + $5 off. I was pleased enough with that. :)

Then last weekend the Toys R Us Big Toy Book came out (holiday toy catalog). I was skimming through it and noticed the Imaginext castle we bought was going to be on sale for $10 less. We waited until the sale started, and sure enough on Sunday morning we went there and they honored the price adjustment! I was surprised. Pleasantly surprised. Buy 2 get 1 free, + $5 coupon, + $10 price adjustment. Woo-hoo!!!

Good Deal #2:
Giant Eagle had some yummy red meat on sale, buy one, get on free. (Giant Eagle is like Publix around here. The cleanest, freshest, most organic, etc). We rarely eat red meat, so having it is a treat.
I took advantage last week, and I bought just shy of 7 pounds of pot roast beef for $13. I have 2 delicious, red meat-pot roasts in my freezer! I can't wait. Pot roast is more of a "special occasion" meal for us, so I'm excited.

To make it even better, (Good Deal #3), Meijer has 10-pound bags of potatoes for $1.69 on sale! Perfect timing! Got my beef on sale, now my potatoes, too.

I was resourceful at Meijer yesterday. I bought about $85-$90 worth of groceries and only spent $41.42.
I used my coupons combined w\ sale prices. It helps that Meijer doubles coupons up to $0.50. I saved $10.87 yesterday in coupons alone. That put a smile on my face, especially because they were all for items we'd normally buy.

It's the little things that make me happy.
I don't bring any money in, but I can sure do my part to make the money coming in go farther.
Scoring good deals and being responsible for finding those deals...yup, makes me happy.

Have you had any good frugal find lately?
What is your Christmas shopping progress?

Talk About a Deal!

I recently posted on Twitter that I found some amazing deals. I love finding a good deal. Who doesn't?

My mother-in-law says I make Polock proud. I take that as a compliment! ;)
So here is to making the frugal-minded proud. I sure enjoyed myself.

I hit Target and found Halloween costumes marked down to 90% off (thanks to my friend Amanda for the heads up!). You can't find a better deal! I bought a Ninja costume for Aidan for $1.49. $1.49! I figured if he outgrows it by next year, or really wants to be something else, it will at least be fun for play clothes.

The costume did not come with a sword, so we picked one up from the Dollar Tree. An entire Ninja Costume for $2.49. YES!! (and it's likely he'll be able to wear it next year, as it's a size 6-8). I love this one. I bought Brennan a police costume. So stinking cute. This one was $2.00. Can you believe these deals?! Awesome. He looks so adorable in it, too. See?This one is size 2-4, so hopefully it will fit him next year. (Not pictured: a Buzz Lightyear costume in Brennan's size for next year, just under $2. I would have bought one for Aidan, too, but none were left in his size)We've really enjoyed coordinating their costumes, and so have they. Last year Aidan was a firefighter and Brennan a dalmatian; this year Aidan was Batman and Brennan was Superman.
I was trying to figure out what we could do for next year with these, and my hubs (Pat) had the great idea of Brennan being a cop, and Aidan a jailbird. Wouldn't that be cute? I'm hoping they'll both be willing to go with that next year. ;)Oh, and the above pumpkin buckets were 12 cents each. 12 cents! Brennan loves to just carry them around, so I thought why not. We actually did pretend play trick-or-treat, and the boys were using legos as candy. Very cute. I almost forgot...I also picked up two Halloween placemats for 10 cents each, and one sheet of Halloween window cling stickers for 9 cents. Incredible.

Another great deal I found was actually for me. We were at Michael's and they had their yard Scarecrows for $1.59! These scarecrows are over 4 feet tall! I was so excited. I've wanted one but never felt like spending 1o bucks on it. I love it and would have put it out until Thanksgiving, but our ground is pretty solid already with the temps we've had. Definitely next year!

Those are my awesome deals. There have been others, but I can't mention them because they are Christmas presents for people. ;)
Speaking of, I'm about half-way finished with my shopping, and last night I wrapped the first four presents.
How about you?