Super Savings Saturday

I was feeling the crunch this week. We were supposed to have guests over for dinner Saturday night, but they ended up not being able to make it. Instead of scratching my head over how I was going to feed their family and ours with the $14 I had left for the week, now I was able to see what I could get to carry us through to next week. Here's what I ended up with today:



The picture above is of my combined shopping trips to Safeway and Smart & Final Extra. At Safeway I got:

• 2 bags Baby Goldfish crackers $0.88 each. Used $0.50 e-coupon (from shortcuts) and two $0.50 internet coupons here.
• Goldfish graham snacks $0.88. Used $0.75 e-coupon (from shortcuts).
• 2 Lucerne cream chese $0.99 each. Used $1/2 coupon from the Dairy booklet they had up in the Safeway stores over the last few weeks.
• Lucerne string cheese $1.50. Used $1 catalina I got from a previous purchase. (It also printed out a $1/2 string cheese catalina for me that I'll most likely use next week.)
• Tropicana OJ $3.99. Used free item coupon.
• Yoplait Fiber One yogurt $2.00. Used $1 e-coupon and $1 internet coupon. (It should have taken off two e-coupons, but at least it was still free. Oh well.)
• Gallon milk $2.59

My total at Safeway: $4.46 (I saved $18.66 or 81%!)




I just discovered there was a Smart & Final nearby. At Smart & Final Extra, they have the mini-warehouse stuff, but it caters more towards super markey shoppers. There is more produce and more grocery store type items (smaller packages). Check here to see if there's a Smart & Final Extra in your neighborhood. There I picked up:

• 5 bananas $0.59/lb. = $1.21
• 3 Roma tomatoes $0.59/lb. = $0.45
• 1.8lbs. red grapes $0.69/lb. = $1.26
• 5 Nectarines $0.79/lb. = $1.17
• Seedless watermelon $2.99

My total at Smart & Final Extra: $7.08 (I saved $5.08 or 42% without using any coupons.)


My total for the picture above was $11.54. The best part? I was under my budget by $2.46. Not a ton, but pretty good considering I started the week at $30 less than usual because I went over so much last week. (See more about my cash envelope experiment here.)


Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go fix myself a little fruit salad. : )