I am a coupon clipper!

I don't know how well you can see these receipts and there was no way I could show the whole 25 feet of them, but hopefully you get the point.

Coupon shopping has become a "hobby" of mine. I never thought I could learn how people would get $100 worth of grocery's for next to nothing. And, I especially never thought I would have the patience for it. But, after attending a Grocery Smarts class and several months of practice, I think I might be getting the hang of it.

Last week, I sent Jer with my list and a stack of coupons. He went and did our "normal" shopping with what I had given him. Albertson's had a deal going. For every $30 you spent on "participating items" you got $15 off your next visit. And, throughout the month of October, for every $250 spent, you got a 5% off coupon to use in November. So, with that said, yesterday's shopping experience was insane!

At Albertson's I got the following:
2 bags of Nestle Chocolate Chips
1 box of Albertson's real butter
6 jars of Skippy peanut butter
1 bottle Apple Juice
1 Danon Frusion Smoothy
4 pacs TicTacs
total before tax and coupons: $38.34
total after preferred savings card: $24.85
total after tax, ps, and coupons: $ 1.43 (this is what I actually paid!)

At Smith's I got the following:
1 Betty Crocker Cake Mix
1 box GM Fiber One Cereal
4 cans Carnation Evaporated Milk
6 cans Eagle Sweetened Condensed Milk
24 pack of Arrowhead water bottles
1 box Eggo Waffles
total before tax and coupons: $30.98
total after fresh values card: $28.46
total after tax, fv, and coupons: $8.48 (this is what I actually paid!)

So, between the two stores, my total savings was: $59.41 (86%). Keep in mind, this was a shopping trip specifically for "stock up items." I wouldn't normally go buy 6 jars of peanut butter. But, by combining sales prices with coupons, it is a great chance to build up your food storage. I am super excited about how our food storage is coming along. I started saving coupons in April, and it is starting to really pay off.

If you are wanting to learn how to save and stock up at the same time, I will be having Katie come teach the class this month. In the meantime, check out http://www.grocerysmarts.com/. The passport is: g84ckp. Some people are familiar with Pinching your pennies. Grocery Smarts is very similar and in fact, has a link now to Pinching your pennies.

Anywho- if this was completely boring for you, I apologize. But, I get excited every time I have a trip to the store like this. We are finally "shopping" from our storage rather than running to the store every time we run out of something!