Saturday Shopping

Kroger Transaction #1:
+ 8 Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast strips (3 count ea)
+ 3 Johnson's Buddies (kid's soap bars)
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$0.46 out of pocket, $19.52 saved, 99% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.04
*Plus I earned 8 x $0.50 OYNO catalinas for the yeast and another $3/3 Johnson's coupon so I can get another 3 Buddy bars for free!

Kroger Transaction #2:
+ 8 Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast strips (3 count ea)
+ 2 Celestial Seasonings boxes of tea
+ 1 Chiquita Bites (fresh apple slices with caramel dipping sauce)
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$0.85 out of pocket, $23.71 saved, 97% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.08
*Plus I earned 8 x $0.50 OYNO catalinas for the yeast and found two more coupons in the store for $1 off Chiquita Bites which means two more packs for free next time!

CVS:
This wasn't the scenario I had planned out. I was going to use a $5/$30 and along with coupons and ECBs was going to pay $0 OOP and earn back $8 more in ECBs than I used, but I went to 4 different stores and none of them had everything I needed, so I ended up cutting my losses and going for just the contact solution. I'll have to make up a different scenario using my $5/$30 for tomorrow.
+ 2 Complete Multi-Purpose Solution
+ 1 Caramel
- Coupons
- ECBs ($14.99 total)
+ Tax
=$0.00 out of pocket, $0.54 on GC, $19.99 saved, 100% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.00
*Plus I earned back $17.98 in ECBs and I got 4 coupon printouts!

Target:
+ 5 Christmas presents
+ 1 Purina Beggin' Strips dog treats
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$59.79 out of pocket, $7.49 saved, 11% savings
(I got the dog treats for free after store and manu coupon and one of the Christmas presents was marked down. Too bad I forgot to use my free $10 GC from the other night. I guess there's always next time!)

To bring my December totals up to date...

Here are all my purchases from the beginning of December until starting this blog on 12/8.

Kroger 12/3:
+ 1 Kroger Pumpkin Egg Nog
+ 1 Kroger Milk 1/2 gal.
+ 1 Cottonelle toilet paper (4 pack, singles)
+ 7 cans Del Monte vegetables (peas, corn, and green beans)
+ 1 Celestial Seasons variety tea pack
+ 1 Fleischmann's Active Dry yeast strip (3 count)
+ 2 Nasoya Tofu blocks
+ 2 Organic Braeburn apples
+ 2 Organic Cameo apples
+ 1 bunch of organic Bananas
+ 4 Bartlett Pears
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$16.53 out of pocket, $19.27 saved, 54% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.72
*Plus I earned back a $0.50 OYNO catalina for buying the yeast.
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Kmart 12/3:
+ 1 Suave shampoo
+ 1 Suave conditioner
+ 3 KY Jelly
+ 1 Pledge duster
+ 4 cans Del Monte vegetables
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$2.81 out of pocket, $21.88 saved, 89% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.28
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CVS 12/4:
+ 6 Promax energy bars
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$0.00 out of pocket, $11.94 saved, 100% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.00
*Plus I earned back $10 ECBs.
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CVS 12/4:
+ 3 Promax energy bars
+ 1 ream Georgia Pacific printer paper (500 sheets)
+ 1 Maola milk gal.
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$0.04 on GC, $16.77 saved, 99+% savings
Avg. cost per item: <$0.01
*Plus I earned back $5 ECBs.
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Lowe's Foods 12/4:
+ 3 Bird's Eye Voila! skillet meals
+ 1 Reynolds Cut Rite Wax Paper
+ 4 Daisy sour cream (8 oz.)
+ 1 carton blackberries
+ 1 carton raspberries
+ 1 5-lb. bag King Arthur whole wheat flour
+ 4 Lipton decaf. tea (24 family bags ea)
+ 2 Kiwi fruits
+ 1 Clabbergirl Corn Starch
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$22.58 out of pocket, $29.21 saved, 56% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.25
*Plus, I'll earn a free Charlie Brown DVD for sending in the 3 Bird's Eye Voila! UPCs (retail $15)!
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Lowe's Foods 12/5:
+ 4 Johnsonville Italian sausage 1 lb. ground (hot)
+ 3 Johnsonville Italian sausage 1 lb. ground (mild)
+ 6 Bird's Eye Voila! skillet meals
+ 2 Bisquick Reduced Fat mixes
+ 1 2-lb. Purina ONE dry dog food
+ 1 5-lb. Red Band all purpose flour
+ 2 Betty Crocker Cookie mix
+ 1 Clabbergirl corn starch
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$32.96 out of pocket, $46.28 saved, 58% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.65
*Plus I'll earn two Charlie Brown DVDs by sending in the Bird's Eye Voila! UPCs (retail value $30)!
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Lowe's Foods 12/5:
+ 10 Bird's Eye Voila! skillet meals
+ 1 2-lb. Purina ONE dry dog food
+ 3 Daisy sour cream (8 oz.)
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$35.63 out of pocket, $23.77 saved, 40% savings
Avg. cost per item: $2.55
*Plus I'll earn Charlie Brown DVDs for every 3 Bird's Eye Voila! UPCs (retail value $15 ea)!
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Target 12/7:
+ 2 Storage Organizers - on sale (for Luke's new toy room)
+ 6 Gift Cards (for Christmas presents)
- Coupons
+ Tax
= $155.46 out of pocket, $43.98 saved, 22% savings
*Plus we earned back a free $10 gift card to Target for our next shopping trip!
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About Me

Hi! I'm Skywalkerzmom, a 28-year-old SAHM to one. Formerly I was a teacher for 7 years and will shortly be returning to a teaching position unless I can get my shopping under control! It is my goal and utmost desire to be able to stay at home with my son for as long as possible, and to do that, I am going to have to come to grips with my spending.

Up until the time my son was born and I quit working, I had been pretty much buying what I wanted when I wanted it. The idea of a budget has been completely foreign to me for a very long time, but now with three people living off of one income, things have got to change!

For several months after my son was born, I continued to spend as I always had. It took awhile for me (and my hubby!) to catch on that more was going out than coming in! We tried setting up an allowance, which failed miserably.

In October, I stumbled upon some great savings blogs, namely The Thrifty Mama, and began reading about couponing. I decided to give it a try. I have spent a lot of time since then reading blogs and forums. Couponing seems to have its own entire little world on the internet. I have learned a ton from all of my reading and have been trying to put to use what I've learned.

So far, I am really enjoying couponing because I'm satisfying my unstoppable urge to shop, while also buying things we need and saving money. I still have a long ways to go in terms of rehabilitating our cash flow, but that's where this blog comes in. This will be my official place to report my spending and savings, my triumphs and my shortfalls! Come with me and see how I do!
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Kroger Craziness!

Kroger is having some crazy good deals this week! I got all this for only $16.57!

You may think this is a lot of Cheerios, but let me tell you, my DS is eating them up like crazy these days! They make great finger food snacks, and the expiration dates are almost a full year away, too.

Transaction #1:
+ 2 Cottonelle 4pks. single rolls
+ 4 strips Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast (3 count ea)
+ 4 Cheerios cereal 18 oz. boxes
+ 3 Johnson's Buddies soap
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$0.51 out of pocket, saved $31.80, 99% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.04
*Plus I earned $0.50 OYNO catalina printouts for each yeast strip and a $3/3 Johnson's coupon. That means I earned back $2 and I can also get 3 more free Johnson's buddies since they are $0.99 each!
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Transaction #2:
+ 1 Honey Nut Cheerios cereal
+ 3 strips Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast (3 count ea)
+ 3 Cheerios cereal 18 oz. boxes
+ 6 Gerber Graduates Fruit Puffs
+ 1 Chiquita Bites apples
+ 2 Juicy Juice
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$14.61 out of pocket, saved $24.77, 63% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.91
*Plus I earned $0.50 OYNO catalina printouts for each yeast strip and a $1.50 OYNO catalina printout for buying at least $10 worth of Gerber Graduates! That means I earned back $3.00!
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Transaction #3:
+ 3 strips Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast (3 count) $1.00 ea
+ 4 Cheerios cereal 18 oz. boxes $2.00 ea
+ 4 Johnson's Buddies soaps $0.99 ea
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$1.45 out of pocket, saved $26.83, 96% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.11
*Plus I earned $0.50 OYNO catalina printouts for each yeast strip which means I earned back $1.50 and I earned another $3/3 Johnson's which means I can get 3 more soaps for free!
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Overall Kroger Trip Review
*Spent $16.57 out of pocket.
*Bought 40 items at an average cost of $0.41 each!
*Still have 3 x $0.50 OYNO catalinas and a coupon for $3/3 Johnson's for next time!
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Target Frees

Here's what I got at Target last night.

Everything in the picture was basically free; all I had to pay was tax. The only thing not free was a travel pack of Tums we bought, which I did not have a coupon for. They were not a planned purchase, but were badly needed because we had just eaten at El Dorado and the taco salad was not sitting well with my stomach! They aren't pictured because they were already in use. But now I have three travel rolls of them in my purse for the next emergency!

Transaction #1:
+ 1 Tums Ex
+ 1 Rayovac AAA batteries 2 pk. (from the dollar spot)
- Coupon
+ Tax
=$2.09 out of pocket, saved $1.00, 32% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.05
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Transaction #2:
+ 1 AirWick Lumin air Flameless candle with scented oil
+ 2 Rayovac AAA batteries 2 pk. (from the dollar spot)
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$0.47 out of pocket, saved $6.99, 94% savings
Avg. cost per item: $0.16
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