Grocery Budget 10/18-10/24

Ahem... I did it.  I stayed within my $50 budget this week. 

*bowing* "Thank you, thank you." *bowing*

My total this week was...

are you ready?

Really?

$42.68

You didn't think I could do it, did you? 

The week in picture review:

This is Monday at Giant Eagle.  I was completely out of sugar, so no coupon there, but you can get 4 lb. for $2.09 if you buy Valutime.  Milk was $1.98 each; juice was $2.69 each minus (2) $.55 doubled to $1.10 coupons; cheese was $3.69 minus $1 blinkie coupon; flour was $2  minus $.50 doubled to a dollar, and I bought 10 boxes of tin foil for $.40 each with a rain check and 10 coupons. The wee baby container of spice is Pumpkin Pie Spice, and I paid $1.99 for it; it was originally $4.99, but was on sale 40% off, plus I had a $1 coupon. I also have 2 Sunday papers for $.99 each here.  On Mondays, they discount the paper from $1.50 to 99 cents.

Total: $20.29

This was Monday as well from Rite Aid.  I spent $5.80 OOP ($22 of $27.80 total came from a rebate check), and I will be receiving $35.44 in rebates.  A $7.64 moneymaker!

This was Tuesday's trip to Rite Aid.  Since we had such a beautiful week, Grace and I took full advantage of the nice weather and walked all over.  She loves to get out of the house, and so do I, for that matter.  The total before coupons was $39.31, but I used a $5 off $25 coupon, my $20 Gift of Savings Certificate, a $5 Zantac coupon, (2) $1 GE Reveal coupons, (2) $.50 manufacturer Sobe coupons, (2) $.25 Rite Aid Video Values Sobe Coupons, a $2 Rite Aid Quilted Northern coupon, and a $1 manufacturer Quilted Northern Coupon.

Grand total walking out the door: $2.81 with $24.46 coming back in rebates! A $21.65 moneymaker, while still buying essentials!

Hello, Wednesday!  This above Giant Eagle shopping trip was a budget-busting $14.50, but I got a $8 catalina for the Heinz products on my next shopping order.  The cookie dough was $2 each, but I had (3) $1 coupons.  I hope to buy some more, and do a Nestle cookie dough rebate that I need to mention here later.  The pasta sauce was $2 each, but I had (2) $1/2 coupons, and the Heinz gravy was $1.25, which I combined with (2) $1/3 coupons.  The $8 catalina was burning a hole in my pocket, so I used it the next day to buy all of the items pictured below for a whopping....

$1.45!

The cashier at Giant Eagle has my back, because she loves my accomplice innocent daughter who plays peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake with her every time we come.  They are on a first-name basis, and when I left 6 cans of the broth pictured above at the store, she left it at the customer service desk for "Grace's mommy".  It's a good thing I take photos of my purchases, or I would have never noticed it.  That same cashier also graciously did 5 transactions of 3 broth cans each, because I wasn't sure if the catalina would print more than once per shopping order.  All of the broth was FREE -- yep, all 15 cans.  Thanks, Giant Eagle.  The (3) tuna pouches were FREE, the (10) PopTarts were $.50 a box, and the (9) condensed soups were $.36 a can.  The Soup at Hand was $.25.  My total was $9.45, then my $8 catalina brought it down to the $1.45, but I still walked out of the store with $3 more in catalinas.  My receipt says 94% total savings.  Can you believe it?  It still makes me giggle.