Shopping Success and Frugal Hawaii

I wanted to take a moment to let you know how my life in frugality is progressing! As you know, we just got back from Hawaii and we were definitely budget conscious. SO, I have a confession to make. In the past couple of years, I bought A LOT of things that I did not need. Luckily, my practice is to leave price tags on until I'm absolutely positive I'm keeping it. BUT, I'm not real good at returning things that have been sitting around. And, with Hawaii quickly approaching and absolutely ZERO pennies in our vacation budget, I started digging around. First up, I knew I had some bathing suits sitting around that I'd bought back in 2008 when I thought I'd lose a lot of weight for my honeymoon. Surprise, surprise, I didn't lose the weight and ended up buying the bathing suits AGAIN in a larger size. I also found a half dozen pair of shoes that I'd picked up at Nordstrom and a few other items. Before Hawaii, I returned around $2000 in stuff. Guess how much we spent in Hawaii? Right around $2000 - that's food, rental car, baggage fees, souvenirs, etc. Not bad! We hit grocery stores for PopTarts, Granola Bars, milk, bananas, and soda instead of hitting the $50 breakfast buffet (although we did go on our last day). I don't think either of us felt like we sacrificed anything on the trip! BUT, it gets better....when we returned from Hawaii, I returned an additional $800 or so in merchandise. The grand total (before and after Hawaii) was $2975!!! I'd like to think that Hawaii was free. Go us!!!

I am really getting into a routine of grocery shopping on Monday mornings. I get the sales circulars on Thursdays and start to plan the next week's menu. But, on Sunday I go and by the Sunday papers that seal the deal! I was bummed that there were hardly any coupons in the paper. Mental note - President's Day Weekend = no coupons! The sales in the stores were NOT impressing me. My shopping list was short. And then I started to understand Dollar Days at Shoprite. So, let me tell you about my shopping trip with mom today (she was impressed)!

Acme: We stopped there first to hunt for good deals on meat. There were none. BUT, on the way back to the meat department, I picked up several Tostitos $1 off coupons along with a few for free Sour Cream and Nuts.

Now....Acme had a deal that if you bought 3 12-packs of canned Coke products, you got an 8-pack of cans for free. WELL, because of my Coke Rewards certificates (which I got for 80% off points), I had FOUR coupons for free 12-packs. I was curious, if I was getting the 3 packs free, could I still get the 8-pack for free??? YES!!!! I was a bit bummed that I still had to pay sales tax. I bought nothing else in the store....but I walked away with 56 cans of soda for $1.05!!!! That's less than 2 cents per can!!! AND, I also have more coupons in my pocket for products I know we use!

Next we headed to Shoprite....

There wasn't much that I needed, but I had coupons for a lot of things that were on sale that also gave you coupons back. Here's what I got:
- 1/2 gallon of milk
- Loaf of Bread
- Bag of Lettuce (on sale)
- 1 lb Hamburger
- 1 can of Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce (REALLY hard to find for my Chipotle Beef Chili)
- Oregano (we were out - no coupons, not on sale)
- 5 boxes of cereal (the bigger boxes)
- 4 cans of soup (on sale for $1 each AND I had a coupon for $1 off of 4)
- 6 packs of Chex Mix (on sale, I had 3 coupons so I got $3 off)
- 6 packs of Dole Fruit (on sale, I had coupons)
- Cream Cheese ($1 off coupon)

I also FINALLY remembered to bring reusable bags and saved 30 cents.
I spent $47.84 and saved $35.32. Now, that alone is not all that awesome. It's only 43% off.

What printed out at the register was SHOCKING!
- FOUR coupons for $3 off my next shopping trip
- 75 cents off of my next shopping trip
- FREE gallon of milk
- $2 off of cereal I actually eat!
- FREE Shoprite Reusable Shopping Bag that will save me 5 cents on every future transaction
- TWO coupons for 75 cents off of fruit that will probably be doubled!

Did you do the math? Um, that's another $23 in coupons that I will DEFINITELY use! WOW!

My total savings for the day was $63.60. I spent $48.89. And, I walked away with FUTURE savings that wasn't previously in my pocket of $37 in coupons for future purchases. Oh, and added enough points to my Shoprite card to turn into a 50 cent off coupon once I accrue more points.

BUT....I just realized that I screwed up!!! I bought 2 Libbys fruit things NOT Dole!!! AND, I could have gotten another $12 in coupons!!!!!!! ACK! OH NO!!! But, I still think I did well. Maybe I'll head back to the store and get some more! This could become an addiction. How much fruit and cereal do 2 people need?

Oh...and then I went and got my hair cut....with my $3 off coupon!!!