Monday, August 1, 2011

And Just Like That, I'm Off the Wagon

Well this is embarrassing.  

Here I am, running a blog primarily about saving money and being healthy, and I just completely blew my weekly budget at BJ’s Warehouse Club on (among other things) Toaster Strudels!
 They have some crazy juju in that place that makes it impossible to leave without (in my case) about 20 boxes of cereal. Maybe it’s the piped in music -- today I heard Toto’s “Africa,”  and I was not the only one singing along. I was, however, the only one trying to harmonize in my admittedly poor falsetto. (Mason’s response? “Mommy, you’re going to have to stop that.”)
See?? I'm getting distracted by their music even now.

Before I disclose what I spent today, let me justify myself by saying that I have not grocery shopped in close to 2 weeks due to being in and out of town.  That excuse doesn’t hold up well, though, when you take into consideration my prodigious pantry and freezer stockpile. Also, we have no snack foods, like cheese, crackers, hummus, and yogurt, so we all definitely needed some nibbles. Finally, and this is totally a rookie mistake -- I was shopping on an empty stomach. By the end of the trip I was nearly faint with hunger and has to restrain myself from tearing into the $10 bag of trail mix (until I got in the car, that is.)

This is what the trip looked like -- there’s so much stuff I couldn’t even fit it on the table -- I had to use the floor. Please excuse the giant black puppy tush in the lower right hand corner -- our 90 pound black lab decided she was disgusted with my excess and wasn’t going to move for the picture. 
Despite the self-flagellation I’m giving myself for this trip, I did, in fact, score some deals, and I did use coupons. 
Final Cost= $186.78
Saved with Coupons: $30.49
Soft Burritos -- 36 wraps for $3.99= $.11 each. The ones I buy at Wegmans are $.36/each.  At Aldi’s they are $.12/each. 
Kellogg’s Deal
Used $5 off purchase of 5 Kellogg’s Cereal Printable (no longer available)
Used $10 off the purchase of 5 select Kellogg’s Products -- from BJ’s circular
Bought 1 Crunchy Nut Cereal @$6.99
Bought 2 Kellogg’s Rice Krispies @$6.59 each
Bought 2 Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats @$8.89 each
Total Before Coupons= $37.95
Total After Coupons=$22.95
Equivalent of about $2.25/box
Athenos Feta, 16 oz -- $4.99
Final Price=$3.99

Cheerios’ Deal
1 HoneyNut Cheerios @$6.79
2 Multigrain Cheerios @$6.99 each
Used B2G1 Free from BJ’s Circular
Total Before Coupons =$20.77
Total After Coupons= $13.03
Equivalent of about $2.50/box
Sabra Hummus -- $5.99
Used $1/1 from 
Final Price= $4.99
1/2 Gallon of Organic Whole Milk -- $2.99
Nutella, 26 oz jar -- $4.79  (At Wegmans it is $6.99!)
Stacy’s Pita Chips, 24 oz -- $4.99 ($.20/oz versus Wegmans’ $.25/oz)

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4 Comments:

At August 1, 2011 at 2:01 PM , Blogger amuhleisen said...

I don't understand what there is to be embarrassed about? I think you got some really good deals.

 
At August 1, 2011 at 2:06 PM , Blogger Sarah said...

I'm just not used to spending that much in one trip! It's kind of sticker shock.

 
At August 3, 2011 at 1:00 PM , Blogger amuhleisen said...

Usually when we go to BJ's we almost always spend a minimum of $100. We've been lucky the last 2 times our cashier was lenient on the coupon policy. They word it weird so it could be interpreted different ways.

 
At August 3, 2011 at 8:04 PM , Blogger Sarah said...

I've been able to make it out of BJ's a few times around $60, but I haven't been in about 2 months, so there were a bunch of stock-ups I wanted to do. I did self-checkout and had to have help scanning some of the printable coupons, but ultimately they took them all. The associate helping me was really nice about it.

 

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