What was it last time? A mere 36% or something like that? I am getting better, you see! The reason that the numbers don't seem to add up to 51% is that they apparently figure the percentage saved before they figure your taxes. SO--the landmark on this trip was getting more groceries that I DIDN'T pay for than groceries that I DID pay for. And that, I think, is what it's all about. I'm shooting for the 60th percentiles next time. And still struggling with that Walgreen's thing.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Improved Couponing Percentages
Let me present grocery receipt #2 in my quest for ever-greater coupon-driven savings:
What was it last time? A mere 36% or something like that? I am getting better, you see! The reason that the numbers don't seem to add up to 51% is that they apparently figure the percentage saved before they figure your taxes. SO--the landmark on this trip was getting more groceries that I DIDN'T pay for than groceries that I DID pay for. And that, I think, is what it's all about. I'm shooting for the 60th percentiles next time. And still struggling with that Walgreen's thing.
What was it last time? A mere 36% or something like that? I am getting better, you see! The reason that the numbers don't seem to add up to 51% is that they apparently figure the percentage saved before they figure your taxes. SO--the landmark on this trip was getting more groceries that I DIDN'T pay for than groceries that I DID pay for. And that, I think, is what it's all about. I'm shooting for the 60th percentiles next time. And still struggling with that Walgreen's thing.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Coupon Redux: Wal-Mart
Like I don't have enough Wal-Mart related anxiety, I did go through with my promise to test out couponing at the retail giant. And let me just request, ahead of time, please, no hating on me because I go to Wal-Mart. Because I do. Go to Wal-Mart. You know what else we have in town? A Walgreen's and a couple of large chain grocery stores, and a couple of independent pharmacies where you can buy a tube of Chap-Stick for $10.95. Plus, this is Arkansas, home of Wal-Mart and the Walton family, so it's kind of ubiquitous. So back off already; I'd like to maintain my blog's troll-free status. Click image for a legible version.
I'll do this backward, and give you my conclusion first, and then explain myself: I consider my Wal-Mart couponing experience a success, and I think with practice and timing it could come pretty close to my grocery percentages (although, I have recently hit 51% savings on groceries). At first blush, it doesn't seem as impressive, but there are several mitigating factors involved. I saved a total of 28% off of my Wal-Mart purchases, and here are my excuses for the percent saved not being higher:
In the first place, the things you opt to buy at Wal-Mart (or Target, or K-Mart, or whatever you have in your area), instead of at the grocery store, are expensive things, and you choose a big-box store because these items are generally cheaper than they are at the grocery store. You know, stuff like laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, paper towels, deodorant, shampoo, makeup, pantyhose, razorblades, pet food...you get my drift.
Another reason I chose to take my coupons for these items to Wal-Mart, besides the base price of the items in question being lower (and even if they weren't, Wal-Mart will honor ANY competitor's sales circular), is that the grocery stores here will only "double" coupons up to 60 cents' face value. The more expensive items have higher-value coupons, so it doesn't pay, so to speak, to use them at the grocery store, if you're only going to get face-value for them anyway.
If you click on the photo, you can enlarge the receipt and see exactly what I bought (Hey! 14-cent bananas!), and the coupons that were redeemed. I've marked, with flickr notes, the only three items for which I did not have coupons: koi pond food (the fish gotta eat), Hanes socks for Bella, and a pack of gum. What can I say? I'm weak. Also, I had coupons for FREE Iams tartar-control dog treats (kind of like "Greenies") that my dogs love, but they were out of stock on the small size that the free coupons were for, and I was unable to resist buying the larger-size treats, for which I had $2-off coupons. At three packages, that was a $9 splurge that was not strictly neccessary. Again, weak. But I'm proud, once more, that we did not buy one thing that was not on our list (aside from my gum, but I'M ENTITLED TO SOMETHING, PEOPLE), and that we had coupons for all but THREE items purchased. Pretty good, I think.
I may try Walgreen's sometime this weekend, because they have a circular out containing some MEAN buy-one-get-one deals, and store coupons, AND they just come on out and invite you, in writing, to also bring along your manufacturer's coupons, to increase your savings! And they've got a cool-looking rebate program I have yet to investigate. Oh, and because Shash asked, I also posted a few pics of the 600-picture photo album I'm using to organize my coupons, in a special flickr set. And if you are interested in this, you are my geeky compadre.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Cheaper Than Therapy!
OK, so I'm no Attilla The Mom yet, but I have, as of today, been on my very first foray as an aggressive grocery-bargain advocate, and I'm wildly encouraged! Spurred by ATM's genius four-part series on SERIOUS grocery savings (and to a great extent by my current state of no-money-ness), her absolutely shockingly inspirational example receipts (seriously, check out that last one--!!!!), and even, bless her heart, her encouraging email replies to my confused and desperate questions about the process, I am no longer one of the shopping uninformed. I used to think, when I heard the cashier say, as I checked out, "You saved $6.72 with your Kroger card today," that that was pretty cool. WHAT A FOOL I WAS. A FOOL, I tell you!
So, for the last two weeks, I collected circulars and clipped coupons, and even ventured into the world of online coupon-clipping services (highly recommended--my favorite was The Coupon Master). I drove Alex a little batty, I think, poring obsessively over the papers every night, arranging and re-arranging my coupons in my little photo-album (another suggestion of ATM's) ...and on the Wednesday that my newspaper arrived SANS GROCERY CIRCULAR (!!), my dear husband even went out TO the store to pick up the current sales circular. Because the circular, you see, is CRITICAL to the Attilla The Mom grocery-stealing--er, savings, system. We even discovered that our tiny local city paper carries a different selection of coupons in its Saturday edition than our state daily does in its Sunday edition!
So how'd I do today? Well, I want to point out a couple of things before I reveal my Beginner's Results. First of all, Alex was with me, and we had separate carts, and his cart (the highly-desirable but tragically unweildy racecar model) contained Bella. So as I circled the store like a shark, list--written on an envelope which contained the pre-selected coupons--in hand, intensely goal-driven, he would check in with me every few minutes for an "assignment," then disappear. Unfortunately, along with his directive, he also unfailingly returned each time with something extra. Something NOT on the list, and something NOT on sale and also WITHOUT a coupon. Like fluorescent lightbulbs, giant basted marrow-bone dog treats, bleach tablets for toilet bowls (FIVE boxes of them, thank you), drain cleaner, Tide To-Go stain remover pens, etc. THIS REALLY THREW OFF MY PERCENTAGES. I almost made him check out separately, but I didn't, so just bear that in mind when you view my receipt.
For my own part, I am proud to report that I did not buy one single thing that was not on my list. I also, coupon, sale, or no, did not put ANYTHING on my list that I do not regularly buy anyway. I did, however, in order to take the best advantage of the offered savings possible, buy many MORE of some items than I normally would have, but I didn't do that with anything that wasn't shelf-stable or freezable. For instance, I now have 60 individual servings of Bella's favorite Mott's Organic Apple Sauce, in various flavors, and 40 individual servings of Dole fruit cups, in her favorites, pineapples, peaches, and mandarin oranges. Yes, that's a lot of fruit. But with my coupons, combined with my Kroger card sale price, they were FREE. All 100 cups. And we eat them, too. Also free? Crest Toothpaste, priced with card at 10 for $10, combined with my fistful of $1 off Crest coupons. And Yoplait Yogurt smoothies, 20 for $10, plus my coupons =FREE. Let's see...oh--Red Baron frozen thin-crust pizzas, sale-priced, PLUS my clipped coupons, PLUS a "save $.75 NOW" sticker ON the box...not only were those free, but when we opened one at home, we found out that they have a $.75 off coupon on the inner packaging for your next purchase! I cannot BELIEVE that this is stuff I used to THROW AWAY.
I also cannot believe you're still reading this. But, if you're still with me, you're morbidly fascinated enough to want to see MY first "Cheaper Than Therapy" grocery receipt, and I won't disappoint:
Again, without the "unexpected" items, I think the total spent would have been around $200, and my percentage saved would have been in the 50's. On my last trip to the grocery store, a week ago, I spent $211. And every bit of that food is now GONE. This trip FILLED my pantry, refrigerator, and freezers--especially freezers. I have so many wonderful things in my freezers now: milk, several varieties of cheeses (slices, bars, and shreds), my favorite Tropicana Pure Premium OJ, breads, chicken, vegetables, chicken, junky pizza and pizza-based entrees, chicken, more vegetables, and more chicken. We are ready for a SEIGE. Or the surgery I thought I was about to have, which I just found out will not be for at least another month. So we can eat until then. My goal for next time is to at least hit the 60% savings mark.
And thus ends my Great Grocery Initiation. I will do better next time, and hopefully each time after that. Next up(although it may have to wait until my next payday), I intend to run the same experiment at Wal-Mart, but with non-food items. My reason for this is that Kroger will double the value of coupons up to 60 cents, but almost all of the coupons for toiletries, cleaning products, paper goods, air-fresheners, medications, etc. are for at least $1, and often more. And besides that, grocery-store prices for those items tend to be higher than they are at Wal-Mart. (I must confess to having already broken this self-made "rule" today, because Kroger was offering 40% off all Cover-Girl makeup products with Kroger card, AND I had SIX $1 and $1.50-off coupons for "any Cover-Girl product." They make eye shadows that I like, as well as a lip-liner and lipstick, so it was easy for me to rack up six items that cost me, like, $4 altogether. And then I had a coupon for a "free CG nail polish with any six CG items," so I was even able to get Bella a free bubblegum-pink nail polish that made her day.)
Obviously, I am WAY, intensely, boringly, mind-numbingly invested in this, and I really apologize if reading this was worse than reading "what I had for lunch" several days in a row (thanks to Peebo for the reference).
But it's not going to stop me from reporting on my Wal-Mart couponing results. Because the RUSH I got when that checkout lady said, "You saved $142.19 on your order today?" All I could think of was, MAN, MY GRANDMOTHER IS GONNA BE CRAZY PROUD OF ME WHEN SHE READS THIS!
And I would feel remiss if I didn't add, in the spirit of my financial guru Dave Ramsey, that if you do undertake such a system of savings, and you suddenly find yourself spending much less on a fixed expense than you were before, that the difference (in my case shown here, $142.19) should be immediately, and without exception, plunked securely into a money-market account, because if you do not actually SAVE your "savings," you're just going to spend them on something else and never actually realize the benefits of shaping up your budget. Personal soap box put away for the moment. (Right now, what with the two-house saga, we're trying to dig ourselves out of a pretty deep hole. But rest assured that, once we're solvent again, we'll be right back on the Ramsey bandwagon.)
So, for the last two weeks, I collected circulars and clipped coupons, and even ventured into the world of online coupon-clipping services (highly recommended--my favorite was The Coupon Master). I drove Alex a little batty, I think, poring obsessively over the papers every night, arranging and re-arranging my coupons in my little photo-album (another suggestion of ATM's) ...and on the Wednesday that my newspaper arrived SANS GROCERY CIRCULAR (!!), my dear husband even went out TO the store to pick up the current sales circular. Because the circular, you see, is CRITICAL to the Attilla The Mom grocery-stealing--er, savings, system. We even discovered that our tiny local city paper carries a different selection of coupons in its Saturday edition than our state daily does in its Sunday edition!
So how'd I do today? Well, I want to point out a couple of things before I reveal my Beginner's Results. First of all, Alex was with me, and we had separate carts, and his cart (the highly-desirable but tragically unweildy racecar model) contained Bella. So as I circled the store like a shark, list--written on an envelope which contained the pre-selected coupons--in hand, intensely goal-driven, he would check in with me every few minutes for an "assignment," then disappear. Unfortunately, along with his directive, he also unfailingly returned each time with something extra. Something NOT on the list, and something NOT on sale and also WITHOUT a coupon. Like fluorescent lightbulbs, giant basted marrow-bone dog treats, bleach tablets for toilet bowls (FIVE boxes of them, thank you), drain cleaner, Tide To-Go stain remover pens, etc. THIS REALLY THREW OFF MY PERCENTAGES. I almost made him check out separately, but I didn't, so just bear that in mind when you view my receipt.
For my own part, I am proud to report that I did not buy one single thing that was not on my list. I also, coupon, sale, or no, did not put ANYTHING on my list that I do not regularly buy anyway. I did, however, in order to take the best advantage of the offered savings possible, buy many MORE of some items than I normally would have, but I didn't do that with anything that wasn't shelf-stable or freezable. For instance, I now have 60 individual servings of Bella's favorite Mott's Organic Apple Sauce, in various flavors, and 40 individual servings of Dole fruit cups, in her favorites, pineapples, peaches, and mandarin oranges. Yes, that's a lot of fruit. But with my coupons, combined with my Kroger card sale price, they were FREE. All 100 cups. And we eat them, too. Also free? Crest Toothpaste, priced with card at 10 for $10, combined with my fistful of $1 off Crest coupons. And Yoplait Yogurt smoothies, 20 for $10, plus my coupons =FREE. Let's see...oh--Red Baron frozen thin-crust pizzas, sale-priced, PLUS my clipped coupons, PLUS a "save $.75 NOW" sticker ON the box...not only were those free, but when we opened one at home, we found out that they have a $.75 off coupon on the inner packaging for your next purchase! I cannot BELIEVE that this is stuff I used to THROW AWAY.I also cannot believe you're still reading this. But, if you're still with me, you're morbidly fascinated enough to want to see MY first "Cheaper Than Therapy" grocery receipt, and I won't disappoint:
Again, without the "unexpected" items, I think the total spent would have been around $200, and my percentage saved would have been in the 50's. On my last trip to the grocery store, a week ago, I spent $211. And every bit of that food is now GONE. This trip FILLED my pantry, refrigerator, and freezers--especially freezers. I have so many wonderful things in my freezers now: milk, several varieties of cheeses (slices, bars, and shreds), my favorite Tropicana Pure Premium OJ, breads, chicken, vegetables, chicken, junky pizza and pizza-based entrees, chicken, more vegetables, and more chicken. We are ready for a SEIGE. Or the surgery I thought I was about to have, which I just found out will not be for at least another month. So we can eat until then. My goal for next time is to at least hit the 60% savings mark.And thus ends my Great Grocery Initiation. I will do better next time, and hopefully each time after that. Next up(although it may have to wait until my next payday), I intend to run the same experiment at Wal-Mart, but with non-food items. My reason for this is that Kroger will double the value of coupons up to 60 cents, but almost all of the coupons for toiletries, cleaning products, paper goods, air-fresheners, medications, etc. are for at least $1, and often more. And besides that, grocery-store prices for those items tend to be higher than they are at Wal-Mart. (I must confess to having already broken this self-made "rule" today, because Kroger was offering 40% off all Cover-Girl makeup products with Kroger card, AND I had SIX $1 and $1.50-off coupons for "any Cover-Girl product." They make eye shadows that I like, as well as a lip-liner and lipstick, so it was easy for me to rack up six items that cost me, like, $4 altogether. And then I had a coupon for a "free CG nail polish with any six CG items," so I was even able to get Bella a free bubblegum-pink nail polish that made her day.)
Obviously, I am WAY, intensely, boringly, mind-numbingly invested in this, and I really apologize if reading this was worse than reading "what I had for lunch" several days in a row (thanks to Peebo for the reference).
But it's not going to stop me from reporting on my Wal-Mart couponing results. Because the RUSH I got when that checkout lady said, "You saved $142.19 on your order today?" All I could think of was, MAN, MY GRANDMOTHER IS GONNA BE CRAZY PROUD OF ME WHEN SHE READS THIS!
And I would feel remiss if I didn't add, in the spirit of my financial guru Dave Ramsey, that if you do undertake such a system of savings, and you suddenly find yourself spending much less on a fixed expense than you were before, that the difference (in my case shown here, $142.19) should be immediately, and without exception, plunked securely into a money-market account, because if you do not actually SAVE your "savings," you're just going to spend them on something else and never actually realize the benefits of shaping up your budget. Personal soap box put away for the moment. (Right now, what with the two-house saga, we're trying to dig ourselves out of a pretty deep hole. But rest assured that, once we're solvent again, we'll be right back on the Ramsey bandwagon.)
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