Weekly Spending Summary (2/24-3/2)

March 4, 2013 at 10:10 am , by Lydia Beiler

Some of you have wondered where I get my printable coupons. Here are the main coupon sites that I use: Coupons.com, Coupon Network, Smart Source, Red Plum and Saving Star. Manufacturer websites and Facebook pages are another great source.

Whew, I hadn’t realized I had done so much shopping this week until I did my Weekly Spending Summary!  Even though I spent a lot, I feel like I saved a lot too.  Plus, I’ll be getting $10.98 of this back in rebates which makes my savings even better.

Favorite deals:

• Crest toothpaste moneymaker
• Free Thermacare
• Moneymaking Poise products
• Free printing paper and pencils (well, actually I paid the tax for it)

Total Spent: $75.41
Total Saved with Coupons: $19.29
Total Saved with Sales: $33.86
Total Saved: $53.15

CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $5.79
Saved with Sales: $0.50

I used a gift card that we earned through one of our credit card reward points programs to pay for this purchase which was $2.31.

All of the above was almost free after coupons/sales- I paid $0.05 for the Minute Maid because the coupon was only for $1.79.  Funny thing is, the shelf said that the Minute Maid was only $1.79 but it rang up more.  I noticed it later and figured $0.05 isn’t worth quibbling about!

As usual, I’m planning to give our neighbor the Thermacare since we don’t use it.

Bought:

• Minute Maid Lemonade $1.84
• Thermacare $3.49
• Crest $2.77

Coupons Used:

• Minute Maid FREE product coupon from My Coke Rewards ($1.79 value)
• $4.00 in Extra Bucks (CVS coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)

Got Back:

• $3.49 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Thermacare (can be used on next purchase of any item)
• $3.00 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Crest (can be used on next purchase of any item)
• $1.00 Extra Bucks coupon for using my Green Bag Tag (can scan each time you use a reusable bag and after 4 times you get $1 EB)

Rite Aid: $0.97
Saved with Coupons: $9.00
Saved with Sales: $5.99

The Poise products were a $4 moneymaker after coupons/sales and the Blue Diamond almonds were just a great price after coupons/sales.  I love using them in salads and for snacking too!

Bought:

• 2 Poise products $2.99 each
• 2 Blue Diamond Almonds $3.99 total (on sale Buy One, Get One Free)

Coupons Used:

• $3.00 Poise coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
• $1.00 Poise printable coupon
• Two $1.00 Blue Diamond printable coupons
• $3.00 in UPRewards (Rite Aid coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)

Got Back:

• Two $2.99 UPReward coupons for purchasing the Poise (can be used on next purchase of any item)

Giant: $20.29
Saved with Coupons: $4.50
Saved with Sales: $27.37

Well, I pretty much never buy prepared pizza or other prepared foods for that matter but this week I kind of broke the rules!    The pizzas were only $2.50 each and since we have several busy weeks coming up, I decided to get them just have on hand for a quick dinner when we need it.  The Progresso Recipe Starters were part of a gas deal- I don’t typically do those deals because I find it annoying to try to figure out how to apply the savings to my grocery budget.  But I decided to give it a try and see if I can make it work since often you can make money buy doing those deals.

So anyway, the deal was that when you bought 7 specified items you got $0.40/gal. of gas.  As you see I only bought 4 Progresso’s.  I was planning to also buy 3 Quaker items that were part of the deal but my store didn’t have them in stock.  However, they gave me a rain check and said they would honor the gas deal when I redeemed the rain check.  The way I figure it, I should make around $4.00 on the purchase with the savings I’ll get in gas.  I’m not actually sure that I’m going to keep the Progresso Recipe Starters (at least not all of them) since I prefer to stay away from prepared foods.  I’ll likely donate them to our local food bank.

The tissues were a decent price especially considering the fact that we were needing them badly since we all had colds and were using tissues as a fierce rate.  The Texas Toast?  Well, who can resist getting your favorite croutons when they are on sale?  And the Sorrento ricotta cheese was a better price after coupons/sales than Aldi’s cottage cheese and we prefer ricotta cheese in our lasagna anyway.

Bought:

• 4 DiGiorno pizza $2.50 each (had to buy 4)
• 4 Kleenex $1.00 each
• Sorrento Ricotta Cheese $3.49
• 4 Progresso Recipe Starters $1.25 each
• Texas Toast Croutons $1.33
• Giant Facial Tissue $1.00

Coupons Used:

• $1/4 Kleenex coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
• $1.00 Sorrento cheese coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
• $1/2 Progresso coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
• Two $0.50 Progresso coupons from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts (one doubled to $1.00)
• $0.50 Giant e-coupon for Giant facial tissue

Aldi:$17.67

Just stocked up on the usual things at Aldi.  Notice the Great Northern Beans I got to soak and cook. 

Bought:

• 2 Corn Chips $0.99 each
• Saltines $0.99
• Great Northern Beans 2 lb. dry $2.29
• 2 Coconut Flakes $1.49 each
• 2 Black Beans $0.59 each
• Bananas $0.44/lb.
• 2 Flour Tortillas $0.99 each
• Parmesan Cheese $2.39
• Spinach 9 oz. $1.79

Staples: $11.64

This purchase was actually from last week but I forgot to include it then.  Both items were free after Staples Easy Rebates- well, actually I guess I paid $0.66 tax so it wasn’t quite free.  This is a great way to get an excellent deal on paper for printing coupons!

Bought:

• Bic Pens $3.99
• Staples paper $6.99

Got Back:

• $3.99 in Staples Rebates for purchasing the pencils
• $6.99 in Staples Rebates for purchasing the paper

Misc.: $25.50

I bought 5 doz. eggs from a local farm for $1.10/doz.  I also got $20 cash out of the bank to use for produce at our local farmer’s market.  I then used part of it to buy 10 lbs. of potatoes for $3.00 and a sweet potato to use when I make Herb Roasted Chicken.