I like that you broke it down into what you actually did.

I spent a lot this week between Bi-Lo, Publix, and Kroger. I spent the most at Bi-Lo and don’t feel at all bad about that because it was almost all *real* food and household supplies.

Bi-Lo
Trip #1 – 5 Betty Crocker fruit shapes, 1 bottle cooking oil, bread, pk of 9 lg rolls Charmin, 12 large pks (9 lb total) various thin sliced deli meat, gal milk, hot dogs, fresh broccoli, lettuce, 5# potatoes, 3 large bags scallops, 9 Method liquid hand soaps

Pre-Savings = $146
Actual cost = $33

Trip #2
3 pork and beans, 1 tuna, 10 120 count Ziploc sandwich bags, lg pk Quilted Northern tp, 2 Dial foaming hand soap, 4 X-14 shower cleaners, 1 dz eggs, 2 gal milk, fresh bratwurst, lg pk chicken nuggets, 3 lbs apples

Pre-Savings = $83.5
Actual Cost = $21.5

Kroger – Figuring out how much I actually spent there is a messy task this week because every trip there involved a return trip to the CS desk for adjustments. I’ve already griped about the one unpleasant trip trying to get the final price adjusted because of the registers being misprogrammed. The next trip involved multiple transactions and I messed up. It was MUCH easier to get corrected that time. Then tonight I had a clearance bread ring up at regular price. That was also simple to get refunded. Still, it’s a messy group of receipts to calculate.

I might as well call my Kroger shopping for the week “junk food shopping”. Between that store and Bi-Lo, I now have 33 boxes of granola bars (mostly Nature Valley), and even more fruit snacks. This is GOOD because the kiddos go through 3-5 boxes of granola bars each week. They’re handy to carry in their backpacks for between classes. I’d been wishing for good sales on liquid hand soap, fruit thingies (for the grands), and granola. I’ve gotten my wish the past few weeks, and I’ve been stocking them up.

Kroger shopping consisted of – LOTS of fruit thingies and granola bars, 1 Warm Delights, 1 Total, 2 Nature Valley Nut Clusters, several honey butter Grands, 1 Fiber One yogurt, 1 Yo Plus, 10 Toaster Strudel (personal weakness that I seldom purchase and don’t share, but now that the kiddos have tasted them they won’t last), 2 Savorings, 2 Wanchai Ferry dinners (Will not purchase again for more than $3 – quality is good, but contents are very skimpy compared to Bertolli. Even w/q’s, at $6.99/ea after mega, I think carry out would be a better value.), clearance bread – 2 loaves dark rye, 1 whole grain organic, onion rolls, hoagie rolls, 2 whole wheat, 4 pks Totino pizza rolls, 6 pks Tuna Helper. There was more. I purchased a total of 60 mega-sale items altogether.

Total final cost $41
Pre-savings – I’m too tired to figure it out right now

Publix – I had a few small trips. My favorite buy of the week was the Morningstar burgers. If I hadn’t left half my q’s at home, I would have purchased more of them. The 5 packs I bought are already almost gone. I hope they are BOGO again someplace soon. Now that we’re stocked for a few months on *school food* and snacks in general, I can more freely take advantage of healthy convenience foods. It may be convoluted thinking, but we can always make a good dinner from scratch, even when we’re too tired to want to; but it costs more in the long run if the kiddos wind up hitting the vending machines or buying fast food to eat when they go to classes. I also bought frozen veggies and a few packs of Contessa frozen meals, along with other items.

Value – $56
Spent – $21.5

I know I could do better at Publix, except that I’ve been very reluctant to use competitor q’s, and don’t use q’s or combos that would create overage on a product. Now that I’ve gotten an assuring encouragement from an employee about some things, I may get better at shopping there.

Thanks so much!

Publix – total before savings $245, actually paid $135.

Rite Aid – Total before savings – $144.23. I spent $51.72 with $41.49 in rebates coming at the end of the month. Total spent (after rebates) $10.23 – 93% savings!!

I bought:

2 boxes of Kelloggs cereal
2 bottles Suave Kids shampoo
Kotex liners
Kotex tampons
Toothpaste
3 bottles of Zyrtec – 30 count each
Tylenol – 24 count
2 boxes Thermacare heat wraps
2 jars Lysol wipes
2 bottles Fantastik
Plus a 20 oz coke and candy bar (not on sale but I felt it was deserved)

Publix Spent $27.34 w/tax Saved $134.65
Target Spent $1.56 w/tax Saved $21.78