Shopping Results--Giant Eagle Plus My Monthly Savings Report

Sometimes, even if you do coupon, there are going to be things you just need.  And even though that list of needs goes down each month as you build a stockpile of your staple items, there will still be times when you need things that are not on sale.  Be assured that it's OK.  I had a shopping trip like that today.  We needed juice boxes for my son's lunches.  We only send him juice 2 times per week, but since school started, he hasn't had any.  I've been waiting and waiting for a good sale to come around, but it didn't.  So I broke down and bought them.  I had a good coupon so it wasn't too bad.

We also needed 2 pounds of banana peppers to that we could turn this...

Into this...

Salsa!!!

Every year we get a huge crop of Roma tomatoes.  Trust me, there were more than what's in that picture!  About 15 pounds worth!  We make salsa yearly and love it!  While we were busy chopping and prepping everything today, I suggested that next year we should grow the banana peppers too since they cost nearly $8!  

I made a quick trip to Bottom Dollar for the rest of the salsa ingredients...onions, jalapeno pepper, lemon juice, fresh garlic and cilantro.  These products were very cheap there.  In fact, I got all that plus a bunch of bananas & a huge package of chicken legs for under $10!

The chicken legs are on sale until Wednesday so grab them while you can!  My package has 14 legs in it for only $2.56(67¢/lb)!  For now, I packed them up using the Foodsaver (2 packs of 7) and threw them in the freezer.  I'm see chicken legs for dinner in the near future!

Now on to my Giant Eagle trip...

I spent $47.53 for $77.60 worth of groceries for a savings of nearly 39%!**

Like I said, the savings wasn't great, but at least I saved on the things we needed.  Every penny counts!

Here's what I bought:

 Banana Peppers $7.62 ($3.99 lb.)

Oregano 99¢

Cumin 99¢

Land O' Laked American Cheese-1lb. $5.24

-(1) $1/1

Final Price: $4.24

Giant Eagle Bologna-1/2lb $2.35

Market District Black Forest Turkey Breast -1/2 lb $3.56

Giant Eagle 1% Milk-Gallon $3.51

Florida's Natural OJ $3 (Reg. $3.79)

-(1) 50¢/1 (DND)

Final Price: $2.50

Almond Breeze $3.39

Not on Sale

-(1) 55¢/1

Final Price: $2.29

Eggs 99¢

(3) Kellogg's Cereal $2.20 each (Reg. $3.19 to $3.79)

Special Promo:  Buy 5 Participating Kellogg's products and receive $5 OYN Back to School Gift Card Purchase

-(1) $1/3

Final Price:  $1.87 each

(2) Nutri-Grain Bars $2.50 (Reg. $3.35)

Special Promo:  Buy 5 Participating Kellogg's products and receive $5 OYN Back to School Gift Card Purchase

-(1) 75¢/2

Final Price: $1.75 each

Minute Maid Juice 10pk $3.49

Not on Sale

-(1) 75¢/1

Final Price: $1.99(not a good price for these)

(2) Dole Fruit Bowls $2 each (Reg. $2.59)

-(2) 50¢/1

Final Price: $1 each

(1)Good'n Natural Bar $1.25

-(1) FREE Bar Coupons

Final Price: FREE

G.U.M. Kids Flossers $2.19 (Reg. $2.69)

-(1) 55¢/1

and 75¢ Saving Star desposit

Final Price: 34¢ after SS Deposit!

G.U.M. Kids Toothbrush(2pk) $1.99 (Reg. $2.49)

-(1) 55¢/1

And 75¢ Saving Star Deposit

Final Price: 14¢ after SS Deposit!

G.U.M. Go Betweens $1.69 (Reg. $2.19)

-(1) 55¢/1

And 75¢ Saving Star Deposit

Final Price: 16¢ Money Maker!

(2) Haribo Gummi Bears $1.39 each

Not on Sale

-(2) 30¢/1

Final Price: 79¢ each

Giant Eagle Hamburger Buns 99¢

Giant Eagle White Bread 99¢

(2) Lay's Classic Chips-BOGO FREE- $2.14 each (Reg. $4.28)

Sara Lee Cream Pie $5.99 (Reg. $6.99)

-(1) $1/1

Final Price: $4.99 (not bad for a picnic dessert  :-)  )

Total after all Coupons: $57.53

Less $10.00 Gift Card the hubster got for donating blood: $10.00

Total Paid: $47.53

Total Savings: $30.07

Catalinas Earned:  $5 OYN Back to School Gift Card Purchase(I'm getting a Target card and tucking it away for Christmas shopping)

FuelPerks!  Earned: 10¢

**If I wanted to take into account my Saving Star deposits of $2.25 and $5.00 I'll save on a Gift Card, me savings for this trip would be over 48%! 

My Monthly Savings Report

August ended so it's time for me to post my numbers.  I have to tell you, this was the best month I had to date.  I came in way under budget and my savings percentage was higher then any other month!

August Monthly Budget   $350.00

Total Shelf Cost                 $635.79

Total Coupon Savings       $208.13

Total Discounts                 $191.10

Total Savings                    $399.23

Amount Paid                     $236.56

Savings Rate                      62.79%

I came in $113.44 UNDER budget!  Beating July by just $1.33!  However my Savings Rate in July was 50.11% and August put that to shame!  I'm extremely happy with my August results!  It seems like it gets better and better every month.  In fact, looking back to January, my budget was $650.00!  That's when I was still building a stockpile of the things we need & use.  As you can see, stockpiling your most used items when they are at rock bottom prices really pays off in the long run!

Live Frugal.  Live Happy.