Great Deals

I've been using coupons at the grocery and drug stores for more than 20 years. I started couponing when I was in college. When I moved into my very first apartment with a roommate, it was necessary to meet my very tight food budge. Fortunately, a colleg student doesn't really eat much. Then when I was starting to work in the real world, I still saw it as a necessity. At first I had 2 roommates, but they very quickly went their own way after about six months to follow their life plans. It was much easier to meet the food budget when it was shared with 2 other people. After they left, things got really tight. I was completely on my own, in my own apartment, paying my own bills and being the sole eater in the household. Sometimes, I only had less than $25 to spend on food a month after rent, utilities, and gas. Couponing became a way of life.

Now that I am all growed up, I still use coupons. Why? My friends think I am being obsessively crazy to continue doing them. But it has basically become a vendetta to beat the system. I'm not saying that I used coupons on everything, but I do try to get the best deals possible from my area stores. Sometimes I have a large stack of coupons ready to go, but today I hardly used any. I just got some good deals.

My methods have given me a well-stocked pantry and cupboards. I shop from my pantry and use what I have on hand to plan my meals. I don't eat the same things over and over again either. I try lots of new recipes. We eat very well.

I used to keep my own price book, but I found about 3 years ago that The Grocery Game was a big time saver for me. I subscribed to 4 stores and their website gave me a list of deals in those stores every week. Recently, I have defected from Grocery Game and started using The CouponMom webite. I have found that her lists are more accurate, I have access to more than 4 lists, and it is free. I am thinking of starting another Price Book, but I'm not really sure if I want to invest the time in it right now. Life is always so busy.

So here are the deals that I got so far. I live in the greater Houston area, so my stores that I look at are Foodtown, WalMart, Kroger, HEB, Randalls, Walgreens, Target and CVS. I only went to 2 stores today: Foodtown and Walmart. My budget is $50/week for a family of 3 (2 adults and 1 child), give or take a few dollars. In this $50 I include groceries, toiletries, over-the-counter drugs, paper goods and other incidentals. I do not include things that we have run out of or something that I just need now. I have a system that I follow and I will talk about that on another post, but for now here are the deals that I got today.

Foodtown

Celery 1.29

3 Prime Time Butter Popcorns @ .88 each

Nestle Hot Cocoa 1.00

Peter Pan all purpose flour 5 lb .99

3 Parade diced tomatoes with green chilies .50 each

Dole crushed pineapple 20 oz .99

6 Van Camp's Pork n Beans .44 each

Carnation evaporated milk .77

Rosarita Refried Beans .44

Concord Lime juice .59

Trappey's Field Peas .50

4 Trappeys Light Red Kidney Beans .50 each

Skinner elbow pasta .50

Skinner spaghetti .50

Kraft BBQ sauce .77 ( this was a big bottle)

3 Freshlike Peas 3/$1

Trappey's Pinto Beans .44

Trappey's Navy beans .44

4 Hunt's tomato sauce 8 oz 4/$1

Concord lemon juice .59

Cabbage .29lb 1.01 total

Oak Farms whipping cream .99 (half pint)

La Mejor White corn tortillas .66

Family Style Wheat Bread 1.11

Total 24.96

WalMart

Roma Tomatoes .88lb 1.40 total

Great Value applesauce 6 count 1.38

Crisco Oil cooking spray 1.98 minus cpn for .55

Great Value light sour cream .99

Great Value marshmallows 10 oz 1.00

Banana Bread loaf from the bakery clearance rack 2.39

Mahatma Brown rice .92

3 Hunts Garlic Herb Spaghetti Sauce .84

2 Great Value Tomato Paste .40

Spiracha chili garlic paste 2.86

Renuzit adjustable air freshener .94

Total: 16.70