Shopping Plan Through 11/13/12

Around here, the new sales circulars for stores come out on Wednesdays. It is very rare for me to have my entire week's shopping in order by Thursday. Heck, it's very rare for me to have opened my Wednesday paper by Sunday!

But this week, I am ready. We are buying some really healthy, necessary groceries (of course with a few "wants" thrown in here and there) but it still feels like we spend soooo much money on groceries. Right now our grocery bill hovers around $215-230 each month and I would love to lower that to $180-190, at least to start with. Is this possible? Probably. Is it going to be time-consuming? Oh yes. I've already told Stephen that to lower our grocery bill back down to where it used to be (well, not EXACTLY where it used to be... remember when I only spent $100 per month? Hint: It was way before our economy collapsed!) I'm going to have to spend more time during the day working on coupons. It still won't come before family, church, or be "extreme" in any way, but I just want to pay more attention to what I'm doing when I'm shopping.

All that to say, if you are in the same boat, maybe we can help each other out. I'm going to post my shopping plan for the week. If you know there's a better deal somewhere, let me know! Hopefully this will help you out a little bit too though.

Thursday, Nov. 8 - Normally wouldn't leave the house on a Thursday (to save on gas) but I'm leaving for the beach tomorrow so I have to go grocery shopping to make sure the kids and Stephen have the essentials!

Harris Teeter

Harris Teeter loaf bread - $0.99

Green Giant steamers
On sale for $1.59, plan on using a $0.75 coupon from a recent GM coupon insert. - $0.09

Gwaltney hot dogs and bologna
$0.97, plan on using a $0.45 coupon from the 9/30 SS. - $0.07

Gwaltney bacon
On sale for $1.77, plan on using a $0.75 coupon from the 9/30 SS. - $0.27

Utz tortilla chips - $1.74

Pictsweet broccoli - $1.94

Muellers pasta - $1.00

Smart Balance milk
On sale for $2.14, plan on using a $0.75 coupon from their website (you must register). - $0.64

Friendship cottage cheese
Smaller sizes run around $1.00 if this store carries them, and I have a $0.55 coupon from 10/7 SS, makes it free.

Sunday, November 11 - I normally wouldn't shop on a Sunday, either, but Harris Teeter is doing a promotion where you get 11% off your order when you show your military ID. So we'll go back out and get a few items that we don't need immediately. This is also a good chance to see the e-VIC specials that come out on Friday and we can get those items at this time.

Harris Teeter trip 2

Asparagus (fresh) - $1.89/lb

Mazola cooking spray
On sale for $1.99, plan on using a $0.55 coupon from 9/30 RP. - $0.89

Jimmy Dean crumbles
On sale for $1.99, plan on using a $0.75 coupon from Swagbucks. - $0.49

Gold Medal flour
On sale for $2.29, plan on using a $0.25 coupon from Facebook. - $1.79

Butterball turkey bacon
On sale for $2.50, plan on using a $0.55 coupon from 9/9 RP. - $1.40

Tuesday, November 13

Bo's - my new favorite store to check on clearanced items! I am always finding 100% juice for less than $1.50, or pizza crust for $1.00 or yogurt on the cheap. My mom has gotten me hooked on running in this store just to check on the clearance items! But I do have a few things I need from this store this week:

Bo's brand canned vegetables - On sale for 3/$1 (this is cheaper than Walmart so I'll be stocking up!)

Bo's brand chunk or shredded cheese - On sale for $1.25 each - great stock-up price!

Lowe's Foods

Progresso recipe starter
On sale for $1.33 each, plus you get $0.10 off per gallon of gas when you buy 3. I plan on buying 3, and I have two $0.50 coupons from Swagbucks. It'll end up being $0.66 each plus the $0.10 off per gallon (which will bring me up to $0.40 off on my gas card right now!)

Maxwell House - the coffee Stephen can't do without! Thank you Lord it's on sale this week for $2.88!

Dixie Crystals sugar
On sale (e-offer) for $1.88 (limit 2), plan on using $0.50 coupon from the website or my $0.55 coupon from the 11/4 SS if I can find it! - $0.88ish

Dole fruit in jars
On sale for $2.00, plan on using a $0.75/2 coupon (not sure where this coupon came from??) - $1.25 each


So I shouldn't need to spend more than about $50 this week in groceries, which would be great, especially since I've only spent $16 so far.

Okay, what great deals did you find? Help me out if you can! :)

Update:
Harris Teeter trip today:

Harris Teeter loaf bread - $0.99 (as planned)

Mueller pasta - $1.00 each, purchased two (as planned)

Utz tortilla chips - $1.74 (as planned)

Harris Teeter flour - $1.67 (I was going to buy Gold Medal brand with the coupon but it was cheaper by $0.12 to buy the HT brand.)

Green Giant steamer - $0.09 (as planned)

Harris Teeter broccoli - $1.55 (they were out of the Pictsweet broccoli which is even better because I got a raincheck. Hopefully I'll get a nice Pictsweet coupon soon to go with that raincheck! I bought the HT brand to tide the family over while I'm gone this weekend)

Friendship cottage cheese - $0.45 (coupon didn't double. Boo.)

Smart Balance milk - $0.64, purchased two (as planned)

Gwaltney hot dogs - $0.07 (as planned)

They were out of the Gwaltney bologna and didn't have a sales tag on the bacon.

Final shopping total - $25.70
OOP - $10.11
Saved - $15.59

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Bo's shopping trip 11/13:

Bo's brand canned vegetables - $0.33 each, purchased 9 (as planned)

Bo's brand shredded cheese - $1.25 each, purchased 4 (as planned)

Bo's brand stick butter - $0.99 (not planned, but in need of, and this is a great price.)

Final shopping OOP - $9.18 (i have no clue how much I saved because Bo's receipts don't track that.)

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Harris Teeter shopping trip 11/13: (I never made it out there on Veteran's Day like I planned!)

Mario bacon bits - $1.50 (not planned, but we're out, and these are on sale!)

Mazola cooking spray - $0.89 (as planned)

HT pepperoni - $3.49 (not planned, but we're out, and we eat calzones once a week)

Gwaltney ham - $2.50 (not planned, but Stephen needs lunch meat and this was on sale)

Final shopping total - $11.24
OOP - $8.56
Saved - $2.68

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Lowes Foods shopping trip 11/13:

Maxwell House coffee - $2.88 (as planned)

Pillsbury pizza crust - $2.00 (not planned, but I realized we needed it. I buy 4 a month since we eat calzones once a week, and this week they were on sale for $2.00 which is a good price, and I got $0.10 off each gallon of gas just for buying 4 in one transaction)

Dole mixed fruit - $1.25, purchased 2 (as planned)

Dixie Crystal sugar - $0.88, purchased 2 (as planned)

Bananas - $0.40 (not planned, but their price has dropped to $0.59/lb)

Final shopping total - $27.98
OOP - $16.91
Saved - $11.07 (about 40%)
And received $0.10 on my Fuel Rewards card.

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Final Update:

There were several things I ended up purchasing somewhat spontaneously (lunch meat, bacon bits, bananas, etc.) and several things I ended up getting rainchecks for (asparagus, broccoli) and several things I decided at the last minute I didn't care to spend any money on (Jimmy Dean crumbles, Progresso recipe starters, etc.)

In the end, this week I spent $44.76 on groceries, which is a little less than I thought (had guessed around $50) so that's great! That brings our grocery total to right at $60 for the month.

I know we'll spend more around Thanksgiving so I can cook for a couple of meals around then, but I'm still glad for how this week turned out. How did things turn out for you? Did you have a plan?