Grocery Challenge: Week 3

I did attempt to work two deals this week, the Kashi deal at Target (buy 5, get $5 back) and the General Mills/Nature Valley deal at Dominick's. I was not as successful as I could have been at Target because I waited too long and all the Honey Sunshine cereal, for which I had a free box coupon, was gone. (Those coupons came from Vocalpoint.) I also shared some coupons with my boss, assuming I'd be able to use the cereal coupons. So instead of $.10 a box, I paid about $.60 per box. At Dominick's, I was far more successful. The store ended up paying me $.80 to buy 8 bags of Nature Valley Granola Clusters and a 10-ct box of Capri Sun. (I have a coupon for another free box of Capri Sun to redeem as well.) That deal came as a result of coupons for $1.60 off sent by the General Mills Pssst! program, plus a sale at Dominick's.



My shopping was impacted this week by daycare. Occasionally we are asked to bring snacks for his class for the week. This week's list was: Sunchips, 2 bottles 100% juice, 2 cans of chunk pineapple, 1 box of Chex, and one package of deli turkey. I already had the turkey but had to buy everything else. I compromised on the juice and bought one large bottle, but later realized I could have saved $.50 buying two bottles at Aldi. I'll know for next time. I do not generally buy canned fruit at Aldi because I try not to buy canned fruit packed in heavy syrup, and that's all they sell.

Here are the week's details.

Sam's:
1 4x6 photo print, 2 gallons skim milk, 300-ct bottle of kid's gummi vitamins, 2 18-packs of eggs
Total: $15.25

(After noting that the price of eggs at Sam's went up, these are now cheaper at Aldi. The skim milk was still $.14 cheaper than Aldi, and the vitamins were $3 more for 200 more vitamins than the Disney ones my son likes at Target. Now I just put the Sam's vitamins in the Disney Cars bottle. My two-year-old hasn't noticed.)

Aldi:
1 gallon whole milk, pint coffee creamer, 2 cans mini-ravioli, 8 oz. cheddar, 1 can green beans, 1 envelope taco seasoning
Total: $7.19
(No itemized savings, but the milk was $.30 cheaper than Sam's, raviolis $.30 cheaper than Target, cheese $.50 cheaper than Target, green beans $.40 cheaper than Target, taco seasoning $.15 cheaper than Target)

Target:
clearanced Wii candy dispenser (for Xmas), 200 ct Vitamin D, 4 rolls of Bounty paper towels, 2 boxes Kashi cereal, 3 boxes Kashi TLC bars, Elmo stamper (son was with me, $1 section), Johnson's vapor bath, Lysol power toilet bowl cleaner, bag of Sunchips, 128 oz jug of apple juice, 2 boxes of Chex cereal, 2 cans of pineapple chunks, Softsoap body wash, 2 tiny composition notebooks
Total: $29.57 (was $39.57 but I had a $10 gift card from last week)
Saved: $24.59

Dominick's:
8 bags Nature Valley granola clusters, 1 large take 'n bake pepperoni pizza, 2 lb seedless red grapes, 1 dozen doughnuts, 10-ct 100% juice Capri Sun
Total: $11.74
Saved: $39.53


Week 3 total spent: $63.68
Week 3 total saved: $64.12


September total: $197.63
September savings total: $148.96


Left to spend this month: $52.37