I just walked in the door after a long afternoon of shopping!  We made it to Publix & Kroger in one afternoon.  It sounds like a lot, but once I drive all the way to one store I might as well hit another one.  Before I break down our savings, I must say between the two stores shopping experiences are like night and day.

I love my moments in Publix, never have to dig through a buggy and prove an item was purchased, and never have a manager called over (though I know him personally so feel free to call him if you want).   Kroger however… my moments in there never end with out a long checkout, frazzled me and not happy shoppers behind me.  It’s sad that I know their coupon policy better than the cashier, and even more sad that it always has to involve a manager to prove to the cashier that I am not breaking any rules.

Today’s trip to Kroger was so frustrating that in the end it cost an extra $6 because I couldn’t find my Kroger card and couldn’t remember the phone number we registered it with 10 years ago.  I have a new card now, and can go back and get them to link the old card to the new card and refund the eCoupons, but that is another step for a store 30 minutes away… odds are it won’t happen as it’s not really worth the drive.  I could have had her take off the eCoupon items, but that probably would have required a second manager and the poor people behind me in line just wanted me to leave.  So we did.

That was probably way more than you wanted to know, but I hope for some of you it helps to see that couponing isn’t always simple and easy even for those of us that have been at the game for 7 years.

Now for our savings.  If you want to see exactly what we bought click and check out our shopping lists.  The lists have advertised and unadvertised items put together so make sure to check out both lists.  (If you want to know how to make them on one shopping list… we’ll that’s a secret feature  I’ll share with you in a few more weeks…)

Publix – shopping list
Total before sales and coupons: $122.26
Total spent: $48.97
Total saved: $73.29 or 60%

Kroger – shopping list
Total before sales and coupons: $202.02
Total spent: $112.03
Total Saved: $89.99 or 45%

My goal was to spend $100 in Kroger.  I ended up above that with the eCoupon issues.  It helps slightly that I paid for $100 of that with a gift card sent from a sweet person, so out of pocket for us this week we are still looking great.

How was your savings this week?  Leave a link to your savings, a comment or share your savings on Instagram with hashtag #southernsavers.  Lastly you can share your savings anytime you want in the community!