My mom encouraged me to give the Kroger sales (and coupons) a second try. Last night I sat down with my Kroger ad and my coupon binder (it's definitely a work in progress) and started making a list of things I needed or will need down the road.
"What I will need down the road" is where I struggle with couponing and shopping. I meal plan each week and only buy the items that I need. In my mind, it saves me money because I only buy what I need. I can't understand why I need to buy 3 or more of something for a small savings, if I only need 1 right now. However, I'm starting to understand that buying a few extras, just to get a savings, may be beneficial in the long run. I typically shop at Walmart because of their lower prices. I started a spreadsheet a while back to keep track of product prices at different stores so I could get a good idea of who has a better deal and if sales and coupons would benefit me. I have to admit I have kind of slacked on it. I did the majority of my shopping at Walmart today and then went to Kroger for a few more things (sale/coupon items). I would have compared Walmart prices with my Kroger ad while I was shopping, but it is hard enough to push the "stretch limo" aka grocery cart for two and keep the kids satisfied, that it wasn't worth it. So here is what I got at Kroger!
Chicken broth, cream of mushroom and chicken soup, and fried onions were all included in the buy 10 save $5 deal. I had coupons for each of these items (-.40 on 5 cans of chicken broth, coupon doubled to -.80, -.35 on 4 cans of cream of..., coupon doubled to -.70, -1.00 on one can of onions). So, I got $12.70 worth of these items for $5.20. I saved $7.50 (that's 59%). Now you may be asking what will I ever do with that stuff, but I have plenty of "warm you up" fall soup recipes and Thanksgiving dishes to make! I did buy another 10 items to save $5 (I only had one coupon for an additional $1 off) so I saved $6.78 (two of the items were on an additional sale). The percentage wasn't as great, but overall I saved 45% on my total Kroger purchase today. I'm sure I could have done better, but it was better than my last attempt at mega savings (you may remember this post).
I'm going to see if I can try again and do better, however, I'm not sure the time spent scouring the ad, making a list, and traveling to two different stores in one day (with two kids) is really worth the savings. We shall see! If I get any better at this, I'll update.
1 comment:
Don't forget Walmart price matches! They won't double coupons but sometimes it's still better! :)
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