Well folks.  After a good month of total coupon burnout, using almost zero coupons at the grocery store, and getting quite discouraged by grocery prices…

I’m finally on a coupon high once again!

It was a fantastic week of savings for me.  It just seemed like coupons kept pouring out of the sky, and for products that I actually use and love!  Stacy’s pita chips, Mission tortilla chips, Cascadian Farms granola bars, Muir Glen tomatoes, Newman’s Own salsa, Alexia potatoes, Bear Naked cookies, and so much more.

It was fun to score some savings on all our favorite healthy and organic products we love.

I went crazy at Publix.  Everything was on sale, and everything had a coupon.  I stocked up big time.  My mom and step-dad bought us a second freezer as a house warming gift.  I’ve had so much fun stocking that thing full to the brim with my freezer stockpile.  I bought eight bags of frozen veggies this week.  I just couldn’t resist at the price they were.  I also grabbed my $10 Publix gift card for spending $100 before coupons.  Woo Hoo!

Here were some of my favorite deals:

Birds Eye Chef’s Favorite Steamfresh Veggies – $1.25
- $.50/1 manufacturer’s coupons
- $1/2 Publix coupon
= Paid only $.25 each!

Newman’s Own Salsa – $2.00
- $.50/1 coupon
= Paid only $1.50 each!

Cascadian Farms Granola Bars – $3.99
- $1/2 manufacturer’s coupon
- $3/2 Publix coupon
= Paid only $1.99 each!

Muir Glen Diced Tomatoes – $1.69
- $1/2 manufacturer’s coupon
- $2/3 Publix coupon
= Paid only $.69 each!

Stacy’s Pita Chips – $2.50
- $1/2 coupon
= Paid only $2.00 each!

Sargento Shredded Cheese – Buy One Get One Free, $3.99
- $.50/2 coupon
= Paid only $1.75 each!

Mission Chips – $3.00
- $1/1 coupon
= Paid only $2.00!

Here were my Publix totals:

Total Before Sales and Coupons: $174.41
Total saved from sales: $60.96
Manufacturer coupons used: $15.00
Store/Competitor coupons used: $24.00
Total amount saved: $99.96
Total paid after all sales and coupons: $74.45

I also had a fantastic trip to Target this week, where I picked up some rockin’ deals.  I even hit up CVS to get back in the drug store game this week.

With Publix, Target, and CVS combined: I spent $90.51 and saved $127.42!  I’m also still getting my weekly local produce order, which I’m loving.

What About You: How did you do this week on your grocery savings? Share below in the comments or link up to your blog post!

It was an extremely busy week for us, and I just didn’t feel like going to the store.  We did need a little bit of produce, so I ran out for a quick no-coupons trip to Publix.  I also grabbed the BOGO Whole Fruit frozen bars and Freschetta pizzas for the hubs.  Would you believe that those few items in the photo above costed me – are you ready for this – over $50 dollars??!!

We left the store, and I looked at the total and couldn’t believe me eyes.  I scanned the receipt, assuming they must not have rung up one of the BOGO’s right or something.  Nope.  Everything was priced correctly.  Grocery prices are definitely on the rise, and it’s pretty apparent when I do a no-coupons grocery trip.

It discourages me a little bit, but I also know that I’m trying to stay away from really processed foods.  I buy almost all produce and just a couple packaged items when I go shopping now.  That means fewer coupons, which translates into less savings.  And that is okay with me.  We’re doing what’s best for us during this season of our life.

We also picked up our $25 bag of organic/local produce this week from the new organization we’re trying out.  We’ve been really pleased so far.  We got to try kohlrabi for the first time this week.  SO delish.

Here were my Publix totals:

Total Before Sales and Coupons: $69.14
Total saved from sales: $18.78
Manufacturer coupons used: $1.55
Store/Competitor coupons used: $0
Total amount saved: $18.78
Total paid after all sales and coupons: $50.36

Okay.  So I did use a couple coupons.  I found 2 blinkies while shopping.  One for the almond milk and one for the Freschetta pizza. 

What About You: How did you do this week on your grocery savings? Share below in the comments or link up to your blog post!

It was a fun week of healthy savings for us.  Publix had some great natural/organic deals this week!  You can see what I bought in the picture above.  I mostly picked up some great deals and produce.  (I think I overdid it on the snacks.  he he.)

Here were some of my favorite deals:

Pepperidge Farm Chips – Buy One Get One Free, $3.49
- (2) $1/1 coupons
= Paid only $.75 each!

Crunchmaster Crackers – Buy One Get One Free, $3.19
- (2) $1/1 coupons
= Paid only $.60 each!

Kashi Go Lean Cereal and Banana Chocolate Chip Bars – $2.99 each
- (1) $2/1 kashi coupon
- (1) $1/1 cereal coupon
- (1) $.50/2 Target competitor coupon
= Paid only $.74 for the cereal and $1.74 for the bars!

Vans Waffles – Buy One Get One Free, $3.15
- (2) $1/1 coupons
= Paid only $.57 each!

Silk Almond Milk – $2.50
- $1/1 coupon
= Paid only $1.50!

Purina Beneful Puppy Food – Buy One Get One Free, $5.79
- (2) $2/1 coupons
= Paid only $.90 each!

It was also our first week trying out The Veggie Bin!  I am SO pleased.  We tried a different service a couple months ago, and I was not at all satisfied with the quality of produce.  So I set out on a search for a new produce service once we got settled in our new home.  I was excited when I stumbled upon The Veggie Bin.  My favorite thing about it is that they are LOCAL, which I am very passionate about.  They offer local and organic bins.  Their local bin is almost all organic, though.  The produce we received was high-quality, DELICIOUS, and reasonably priced for the amount we received.  I made salads from our produce the night after we picked it up.  My husband said it’s the best salad he’s ever had in his entire life.  The vegetables were so crunchy, sweet, full of flavor, and just so yummy.

Here were my Publix totals:

Total Before Sales and Coupons: $166.77
Total saved from sales: $51.97
Manufacturer coupons used: $13.00
Store/Competitor coupons used: $8.00
Total amount saved: $72.97
Total paid after all sales and coupons: $93.80

The produce is $25 per week, and we pay it up front each month.  Combined, I spent over $100 this week on groceries.  Very different from what we’re used to paying, but we’re trying to do what’s best for us right now.

What About You: How did you do this week on your grocery savings? Share below in the comments or link up to your blog post!

I’m not even sure when I last posted my grocery savings.  Everything got a little crazy around Christmas time, and then we had company for the first part of January.  This is my first official week of normal grocery shopping since the beginning of the New Year.

Things have changed a little bit for us in the realm of nutrition.  Over the past year or so, I’ve been doing quite a bit of research in regards to plant-based, whole foods diets.  We’ve been Vegetarians for well over 2 years now, but after watching multiple documentaries and reading various books, we both decided that we wanted to “kick it up a notch” with our health. 

We’re not going full-on Vegan…yet.  But we are eliminating animal-based foods from our diet more often than not.  We’re also trying to eat at least a 50% raw foods diet every day.  We don’t want to jump to extremes.  Rather, we are seeking a nice balance of unprocessed and organic foods, raw fruits and veggies, fewer dairy products, less processed soy (ignore the soy milk in the picture that my husband accidentally picked up instead of almond milk.  OOPS.), very little sugar, and tons of yummy “green smoothies.”  I’m experiencing fun super foods like cacao nibs and Spirulina protein.

We’re not perfect.  We still eat Clif bars quite often, sprinkle some cheese on our sprouted bean tacos, enjoy a Chobani Greek yogurt treat every couple of days, splurge on an organic Archer Farms pizza from Target, indulge in some White Mountain Bread from Publix, and enjoy organic tortilla chips and stovetop popcorn.  Not to mention, I still delight in my coffee with creamer each morning (that’s a difficult habit to kick).  We’re just doing the best we can, and working towards making some big health changes.  So far, it has been wonderful.  We both feel 100% better.

With this obviously comes more grocery expenses, and not nearly as amazing coupon savings.  You can see in my Publix picture above that the majority of my purchase was produce.  I’m still a firm believer that you can use coupons and eat healthy.  (And trust me.  The Whole Foods lady about fell out when I handed over my stack of coupons this week.)  I’m just being honest with myself that my savings won’t be what they used to be.

This week was a big week of firsts for me.  I’ve shopped at Whole Foods before, but not really as an actual grocery trip with coupons in-hand.  I usually just stop by there to pick up a select few little specialty items every so often.  This time I went there with a list and corresponding coupons.    I also signed up for The Veggie Bin.  I get my first bag of local, mostly organic, produce next week.  I’m super excited and anxious to see how it turns out.  I’ll be sure to let you know.  I also ordered some organic and Vegan Oskri Quinoa bars from Amazon yesterday, which will be arriving very soon.  I’m excited to try them!

Here were my Publix totals:

Total Before Sales and Coupons: $78.30
Total saved from sales: $18.44
Manufacturer coupons used: $0
Store/Competitor coupons used: $5.00
Total amount saved: $23.44
Total paid after all sales and coupons: $54.86

As you can see, I didn’t use any manufacturer’s coupons.  I used one competitor $5 coupon.  I still saved a decent amount by shopping the sales.  I was excited about the Chobani yogurt that was on sale for $1 each.

And here is my Whole Foods trip.  I bought Clif bars, rice, black lentils, cacao nibs, sea salt, Spirulina powder, unsweetened coconut and almonds from the bulk bins, Terra sweet potato chips, and Garden of Eatin’ blue corn 7-grain tortilla chips.  My favorite deal was the Clif Crunch bars for $1.50 per box after coupons.  I spent a total of $77.62, but that included my $40 jar of Spirulina powder.  So really I only spent $37.62 on groceries.  And I saved about $14 or so with coupons and sales.  Not bad!

Overall this week, I spent a total of $92.48 at Publix and Whole Foods.  I saved $37.44.  It’s hard for me to see those numbers, but I know I’m doing what’s best for our family and lifestyle.  I encourage everybody to follow their own convictions.

Needless to say, I’m off to a pretty horrible start with my January grocery budget.  But I’ve been experimenting with the grocery budget over the past couple months and considering the idea of raising our budget to $75/week anyways.  If so, it won’t be hard for me to reign in the budget the rest of the month.  We’ll see how it goes.  This is a learning process.

What About You: How did you do this week on your grocery savings? Share below in the comments or link up to your blog post!

It was a pretty typical week for us in the realm of grocery shopping.  My husband went shopping for me again at Publix.  I gave him the list and coupons, and he did great as always.    I bought quite a few sale items and tons of produce for the meals I had planned.

Here were some of my favorite Publix deals:

Quorn Vegetarian Chicken Patties – Buy One Get One Free, $2.50
- (2) $1/1 coupons
= Paid only $.25 each!

Wishbone Ranch Dressing – Buy One Get One Free, $2.89
- (2) $.40/1 coupons
= Paid only $1.10 each!

Chobani Greek Yogurt – $1.00
- $.30/1 coupon
= Paid only $.70 each!

Boursin Cheese – Buy One Get One Free, $5.99
= Paid only $3.00 each!  Great deal even without a coupon!

Pillsbury Cookie Dough – $2.00
- $1/1 coupon
= Paid only $1.00 each!

Sparkle Paper Towels – $5.49
- $1/1 coupon
= Paid only $4.49!  Great price!

International Delight Coffee Creamer – $2.50
- $.75/1 coupon
= Paid only $1.75!

Here were my Publix totals:

Total Before Sales and Coupons: $117.73
Total saved from sales: $29.76
Manufacturer coupons used: $8.90
Store/Competitor coupons used: $5.00
Total amount saved: $43.66
Total paid after all sales and coupons: $74.07

I also have a TON of CVS ECBs from the Thanksgiving Black Friday sale a couple week ago.  They will be expiring on the 24th, and the ECB deals have been pretty lacking the past couple of weeks.  I decided to run by CVS and pick up some essentials this week: sandwich baggies, toilet paper, and BOGO batteries.  I also scored at the clearance rack while I was there!  They had $14 Burt’s Bees gift sets marked down to $2 each!  I picked up 4 of those.  I spent a total of $1.87 out of pocket and saved $79.33 after sales and ECBs that I used.

So here are my December totals so far:

1st Week: $62.94
2nd Week: $75.94

Total spent for month of December so far: $138.88
Total savings for month of December so far: $152.77

What About You: How did you do this week on your grocery savings? Share below in the comments or link up to your blog post!

After moving into our new home, we’ve been busy stocking our fridge, freezer, and pantry once again.  I’ll be honest – we haven’t been using too many coupons!  It’s just been the basics.

Since Target is half a mile from our house, I am venturing into Target coupon shopping a little more.  I’m sure it will start making more of an appearance in my weekly savings posts.

This week was our first normal week-to-week Publix shopping trip.  I was excited to get back into my groove of menu-planning, and I had to pick up a pretty good amount of produce for the meals.  I used a couple coupons, and snagged a few great deals.

Well, let me re-phrase.  My husband is really the one who snagged the deals.  He went shopping for me this week.  LOVE it when he does that! 

Here were some of my favorite deals:

Chung’s Vegetable Egg Rolls – Buy One Get One Free, $2.99
- (2) $.35/1 coupons
= Paid only $1.15 each!

Nabisco Toasted Chips – Buy One Get One Free, $3.69
- $1/2 coupon
= Paid only $1.35 each!

Pepperidge Farm Frozen Artisan Rolls – Buy One Get One Free, $3.69
- (2) $.75/1 coupons
= Paid $1.10 each!

Here were my Publix totals:

Total Before Sales and Coupons: $92.72
Total saved from sales: $20.58
Manufacturer coupons used: $4.20
Store/Competitor coupons used: $5.00
Total amount saved: $29.78
Total paid after all sales and coupons: $62.94

Here are my December totals so far:

1st Week: $62.94

Total spent for month of December so far: $62.94
Total savings for month of December so far: $29.78

What About You: How did you do this week on your grocery savings? Share below in the comments or link up to your blog post!

It was another really simple week of Publix shopping.  We’ll be moving soon, so I’m trying not to buy too much.  (Especially since we’re waiting until Black Friday to get our new fridge!)  I just picked up a couple great deals and some basics.

Here were some of my favorite deals:

Kashi Pizza – $5
- $2/1 coupon
= Paid only $3 each after coupon!

Stouffer’s Vegetable Lasagna Family-Sized Entree – $3.99
- $1/1 coupon
= Paid only $2.99 after coupon!

Idahoan Potatoes – Buy One Get One Free
- FREE Idahoan Potatoes Coupon
= Two for FREE after coupon!  (Donating to local food shelter)

Stayfree Pads – Buy One Get One Free, $3.41
- (2) $1/1 coupons
= Paid only $.71 each after coupons!

Here were my Publix totals:

Total Before Sales and Coupons: $86.69
Total saved from sales: $27.60
Manufacturer coupons used: $11.33
Store/Competitor coupons used: $5.00
Total amount saved: $43.93
Total paid after all sales and coupons: $42.76

Here are my November totals so far:

1st Week: $38.43
2nd Week: $25.89
3rd Week: $42.76

Total spent for month of November so far: $107.08
Total savings for month of November so far: $127.51

What About You: How did you do this week on your grocery savings? Share below in the comments or link up to your blog post!