I told you recently that I will be mentoring two couples that have asked me. I will give you more information on their circumstances next month. However they both have outstanding credit card debt and after looking at their after tax spendable income and their expenses, I have come to the conclusion that both families are spending way too much money on food. One family shops 3 or more times a week and the other spends way too much money eating out.
So some of the recent posts that you have seen me post is to get them thinking about their food spending. You may have seen this information before because I have had a # of blogs since I started doing it 11 years ago. Some of you probably know me as Precious.
However, every one needs a reminder once in a while. So today I am again going over my thought process on how I grocery shop. You saw on Monday that I purchased 7 sirloin tip steaks on sale to grind into ground sirloin and how I saved on that. You all know that I buy at rock bottom prices on sale when I can.
I hadn’t planned on going to the market again this week. However you know what they say about the best laid plans. We have a dry erase board in the kitchen where Hubby and I write down things to get at the store. Well, it had quite a few things on it this morning and I have company coming tomorrow for the weekend. So today I needed to shop.
Above is the list I copied from the dry erase board minus the hash browns which Hubby had me add when he knew I was going to the store.
The list here is after I thought about every item on it. Hubby does not go down to the basement unless it is absolutely necessary. It’s hard on his back. So he doesn’t have a clue what is in my pantry down there.
He wanted taco sauce to make a crock pot full of meat chili soon. We had a large bottle down there and part of a bottle in the fridge. So it got deleted from my list but put on a list of items that I don’t need right now but need to keep an eye out for a good sale price and coupons.
He wanted hash browns for breakfast this weekend. I have a 5 lb. bag of potatoes so I will grate them instead of buying a package.
We had a large can of Chinese noodles and Panda Express orange sauce in the pantry so they got crossed off and put on my other list.
That left the items above that I needed to purchase. I looked at the sale ads and pulled the only coupon I could find and marked it on the list along with a saving star rebate. Have you noticed that the coupons stink since the “Extreme Couponing Show” was on TV? They have even gotten worse recently. I actually know a coupon blogger from this area who did the matchups for Top’s each week. She has quit doing them because the coupons have gotten so bad and the sales are just as bad. Aldi’s and Walmart look better and better every day.
Then I went to both Top’s and Aldi’s. I could get the Kikkoman stir fry sauce for $.34 after the $.55 doubled coupon and a rebate at saving star for $.55 at Top’s plus I wanted to check their prices on other items so I went there first.
So this is what I purchased at Top’s:
stir fry sauce – $ .34
18 ct. large eggs – $2.19
This is what I purchased at Aldi’s:
American cheese singles – $ 1.99
Romaine Hearts – $ 2.29
4 qt. container of Vanilla Ice Cream – $ 3.99
My total for my grocery shop was $ 9.16.
The eggs were cheaper than buying them at Aldi’s by pennies. The BOGO free Kraft singles were $ 5.29 for
2 packages or about $ 2.65 each. I knew that I could get them for $ 1.99 at Aldi’s. Top’s romaine hearts were $ 3.49 or $ 1.20 more expensive than Aldi’s.
And yes, I purchased the ice cream that wasn’t on my list. It was a great price and we can use it for desserts for company this weekend. Root beer floats and hot fudge sundaes come to mind. I was going to bake something but when I saw the ice cream I changed my mind. I won’t heat up the kitchen since my A/C is still on. I sure hope we can turn it off permanently soon.
I hope you all have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend. We will enjoy our company and have a great time.
Most of the children in the Northeast go back to school next week. I wish them all a great school year. I know that my granddaughter and grandson are excited that school is starting.
And lastly, we had a rainbow yesterday which I didn’t get a picture of and shortly after a beautiful sunset. The blues and oranges were magnificent.
I will be back posting soon.
12 replies on “My Thought Process”
Coupons are less now, expire sooner, and are for things I do not buy. plus, the fact that WM does not price match had really removed bargains from my reach since I will not drive far for price bargains.
Hi Linda,
I don't blame you for not driving far for bargains especially with gasoline prices so high. They keep saying that our gasoline prices will go down in Sept. when they switch to the winter blend. They also said gas has gotten cheaper in the past week. All I have seen is a $.01 reduction in prices here.
I never price matched at Walmart because my stores are all within 2 blocks of each other.
I shop at Walmart most of the time for my groceries. One tool I use is the Walmart Savings Catcher. After you shop there you put the transaction code from the receipt into their system. They do the price comparisons with other local stores. If they find a lower price on a competitor's store ad you get the difference. There are some exclusions, but it has helped my budget.
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for sharing. I also use the savings catcher when I shop at Walmart. They tell me to print the money from the e-mail. But I never get the e-mails telling me whether I have earned anything.Is there another way to print my money that has accumulated? Off their site perhaps? perhaps?
When you log into your Savings Catcher account, you should see your balance. I found this in the FAQ section:
Savings Catcher Rewards are automatically loaded onto your Savings Catcher Rewards eGift Card within your Walmart.com account.
I get an email 2-3 days later from Walmart notifying me either way on whether they found a lower price or not. It will show the amount earned and which items they found a lower price on. I used to print out a gift card to use in store, but now I think they want you to order something on their website (which you can pick up in store usually) and apply the earned savings that way.
Yes, just go to the savings catcher site and sign in. You can see your transactions and a link to print your refund that you can show the cashier.
Thanks to all that helped me on this.
Hi Liz, this is Chris. Great article about how you do your lists. I tried to do the same when I made my list this morning for Kroger. I only bought things we really needed/used that were a good deal and that we would use before they expire. Buying free and cheap stuff is still a waste of money if you don't use it in time, as you well know. I saved 54% today, which is good for Kroger, it is hard to save 50% there any more. I found out recently that our local Meijer store has a lower price on milk and eggs, so am trying to get up there for those items when I am near the area. The milk price is $1 less per gallon than our Kroger! I was shocked. But the Meijer is in an area where there are 4 other grocery stores, including Aldi, so they really need to compete on price.
I am thinking strongly of doing a pantry challenge for Sept. so I can be ready to stock up at the food sales at the holidays.
Hi Chris,
A 54% savings is fantastic. It's hard to save that anymore with the lousy coupons.
We think alike. I am starting a pantry challenge tomorrow.
You’re a brave woman to help others with their spending. I hope it works out for them.
About coupons, the ones I use are mostly for non-food things like laundry and personal products. There are sometimes good food coupons but usually are for convenience or junky food. But I’m always looking for good ones anyway.
All I can offer them is my common sense advice.
Rhonda, I am always looking too.