After sharing last week about Knowing your Grocery Store’s Sales Dates, I followed my usual pattern and hit the stores on Tuesday morning. In my area, our sales run from Wednesday to Tuesday, so I was shopping on the last day of the sale. The following deals are no longer available in my area, but I want to share how I scored lots of vegetables for my family without breaking the bank.
Yesterday when I went shopping, here is what I had in my PUBLIX envelope:
- GROCERY LIST:
- 8 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers Vegetables 11-12oz. at $2.39 on sale Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF), so $1.19 each.
- 3 Mentos at 50₵
- 1 Huggies Diapers, 48-96ct. at $19.99
- COUPONS:
- 4 printable – 50₵ off 2 bags of Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers Vegetables
- 3 – 50₵ off any one Mentos products from the Smart Source insert in the 2/6/11 newspaper
- 1 – $3.00 off Huggies diapers (Publix coupon from weekly ad)
- 1 – $3.50 off Huggies manufacturer coupon
*NOTE ABOUT COUPONS: At Publix, you can use one store coupon and one manufacturer coupon per item. Also, Publix doubles coupons up to 50₵.
At the store with my children, I stopped by the bakery for the kids’ free cookies. (They like the treat, and I enjoy some quiet while they’re eating them.) Then I discovered that our Publix was out of Huggies diapers. Not a big deal, I made a note on my grocery list. Then to the frozen foods section where I chose 4 bags of corn, 2 bags of broccoli, and 2 bags of snow peas. Then up to the checkout lanes to find the Mentos. After procuring my items, I checked out with my coupons.
- 4 bags of vegetables – $1.20 each
- 4 bags of vegetables – $1.19 each
- 3 Mentos – 50₵ each
SUBTOTAL: 11.06
- Minus 4 – 50₵ vegetable coupons that doubled = $4.00
- Minus 3 – 50₵ Mentos coupons that doubled = $3.00 (Yeah, I made $1.50 by purchasing these items with coupons.)
TOTAL: $4.06
After paying my $4.06, I went to customer service where I received a rain check for the Huggies diapers. So, to recap, I spent $4.06 and saved $17.39 with sales prices and coupons resulting in a savings of 81%.
There are so many deals to be had. One of the keys to saving big is knowing how to match coupons with store sales. It took me some time to distinguish a good sale from a great store sale. During the great store sale, I try to stock up and use all the coupons I have for that product. It takes time and lots of trial and error. Even in my mistakes, I always know I am saving money. I’m here to keep on saving with you!