Another fabulous budget-buster Wednesday!

Wednesday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week. This is the day that sales start at most of our local grocery stores, so this is my grocery shopping day, the day that I spend money to save money.

Before going to bed last night, I prepared by laying out Brennen's clothes, Tayson's clothes, and my clothes. I set my coupon file box on the kitchen table, and I laid out the oatmeal packets, bowls, and spoons for our breakfast this morning. I woke up this morning, logged on to Grocery Smarts (they don't update their sales lists until the day the sale actually begins), customized and printed my shopping list(s), and went to work. I fixed the kids their breakfast, and as they were eating, I located and clipped the coupons that my shopping list said I needed, then I snarfed down some breakfast myself before getting everybody dressed and out the door. My hair was uncombed (although it was tied back), and I didn't have a stitch of make-up on, but that didn't concern me. Too many times, I have missed a really good deal because it was sold out on the first day of the sale.

After dropping Tayson off at preschool, I went straight to the store and bought:

I purchased $219.80 worth of groceries for $80.44!!! I saved $139.36 (63.4%)!! (That's even a package of fresh salmon fillets in the front and center that I got for an amazing deal - yum!)

In the picture above, the items that I got completely FREE (yes, I said FREE) are:

PLUS -- Because I purchased the DiGiorno's pizza, I get to send in for a rebate for a free pizza:

PLUS -- I received a coupon for $3 off my next purchase:

Also, you might notice in the first picture that there seems to be an abundance of Wheat Thins (12 boxes). This may seem a little extreme, and an unnecessary addition to my food storage. However, I have a good explanation. Each box was priced at $1.99, but I had a coupon for $1 off each box, making each box $.99. There was also a store promotion: for every 3 boxes purchased, get one 8 oz. package of sliced Kraft cheese for free (note the 4 packages of cheese in the free picture). Plus, I have a mail-in-rebate form: if I spend at least $10 on a variety of several items, including salty snacks, I can send in the receipt with the rebate form for a $10 rebate. So, once I receive the rebate back, I will have purchased 12 boxes of Wheat Thins (which Tayson and I both love), plus 32 oz. of cheese for only $1.88. I call that a good deal.

Wow! I feel good. I can't wait until next Wednesday....

In future posts (coming very soon), I will be answering some questions that I have been receiving related to coupon shopping. I will also be explaining more about those wonderful rebates that I mentioned above. I will also be explaining why there seems to be a lack of meat and fresh produce in the pictures of my grocery purchases (yes, there is a good reason for this!)

So, stay tuned....!