grocery savings

I haven't cooked or planned meals in a long time.  Coupons were being delivered to the house I am at and I cut them out.  I haven't used coupons in a while, and for the most part, there are not coupons for items I actually buy.  Nonetheless, I clipped anyway and thew in a Ziploc baggie.

When the supermarket flyers came last week, I looked to see what was on sale.  Since I was not sure where I'd be living for December and when that was decided, I also had plans to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday.  There was no food here.

I went to three different supermarkets, all really close to each other and purchased only what was on sale at those stores.

• Store 1 a farmers market like store- I purchased those mini oranges for $1.98, a package of chicken for $4.99, celery for soup $0.98 and green leaf lettuce for $0.98.
• In store 2 I spent $22.61 but saved $14.97 for a total of 40% off my order.  This was a combination of manufacture coupons $1.50, double coupon savings $0.50, card savings $12.47.  Food included olives, peppers, raspberries, blackberries, cheese and granola bars.
• And in store 3 I spent $18.63 with $10.92 in coupons, $2.16 in card savings and $1.80 in double coupons for a savings of 44%.  Food included beans, pasta sides, biscuits, shrimp, carrots, squash, avocado and pudding.

I felt proud of my grocery spending.  Many times I spend that much money and still have nothing to eat.  But this day, I had a lot of food.  I made chicken to eat throughout the week, had salad for lunch for 3 days, made my roommate and I a shrimp dinner, and have side dishes and canned goods to be used in the next two weeks. I also made a big pot of chicken chowder with chipolte (but had to go back to store to get the chipolte in adobo sauce, which was pricey at $3.50, but the price per serving was still low).

I hope future shopping trips have just as much savings.  But I doubt you'll see me as an extreme coupon lady anytime soon.