Well, Sunday ended up being SHOPPING Day. So even though I just shared a Weekly Savings post yesterday, I thought I’d go ahead and post some more pictures.
A lot of people assume I never shop without using coupons, but the truth is that I often shop without coupons. I rely on my mental price book to get the best deals I can on foods that rarely have coupons.
This first round is totally coupon-free. (Excuse my son – he insisted on being in the picture!) This haul came from three different stores, including Costco, and my total was $99.92. Ouch. Not a single coupon used.
You might notice that I have very little meat on the table. In fact, all we bought was one chicken (for soup) and one 2-lb piece of London Broil (over $20 alone – double ouch.)
What’s missing from the picture is a brisket for Shabbat lunch. Fortunately we have a 12-lb brisket sitting in our freezer. That saved us a pretty penny for our Rosh Hashana shopping. And, with any luck, we will have some left-overs to ease our Sukkot cooking.
Later in the day, I did a fruit, veggie and the “basics” run to Aldi and a local grocery store.
My total from both stores was $37.81. Highlights include 3-pound bags of onions for $.79 each, honey for $4.49 and a gallon of skim milk for $1.99 – all at Aldi. At Hy-Vee, I got organic celery for $.88, butter for $1.99 and a dozen eggs for $.69 – with coupons and sales. I over-paid for the plums ($1.99/lb), but they were the same price everywhere I checked.
My final trip of the day was to Walgreens and CVS. I had no Register Rewards, but did have a lot of ECBs. Here’s what I got:
At Walgreens, I got razors, razor refills, maxipads, 2 4-lb bags of sugar and 2 ZarBee’s Natural Cough Syrup. I also got some fillers: erasers (with a rain check for $.39 each), 3 pencils ($.05 each) and a nice smelling candle ($.99). The retail value on this would have $55.67, before tax. I paid $13.44, including tax, and I have a $6 RR left for next time.
At CVS, I got two Soft Soap hand pumps, one 8-ct of Exedrin, one ThermaCare back pain thingy (that’s the technical term), and Physicians Formula eye liner and undereye concealer. The retail value would have been $28.24 (+ tax). I paid $5.53 out of pocket, including tax, thanks to coupons, sales and $21 in ECBs. I also walked out with $15.87 in ECBs for my next trip.
My out-of-pocket total for the day was $156.70. I still have a few things to get – couscous, margarine and pomegranate (all at Whole Foods) and some disposable tins. Those purchases will probably put my Rosh Hashana total closer to $200.
While that was about what I expected to spend, we’ve unfortunately gone over on the rest of our food spending this month by about $80. I will have to budget in an extra $80 next month to cover this over-budget goof.
How’d everybody else do with their Rosh Hashana shopping? Anyone score some great deals on apples, honey or pomegranates? Anyone else over-pay for produce like I did?
I think honey at costco is a pretty good deal.
I just ordered honey from Amazon for 12.64 for 4 bottles of 16 oz. I thought that was comparable to store prices and it looks like really delicous honey
Our Rosh Hashana shopping was saved by my engagement party! My to-be in-laws hosted an engagement party for my Chosson and I yesterday and we have LOADS of leftover cold salads(some not dressed so they will be fresh, others are like pasta salad and will be fine), desserts, wraps, fruit, and snacks like chips, dip, veggies. Since it was a dairy party, we’ll be having 2 dairy meals over RH and 4 meat meals, or maybe 3 and 3(we like dairy though!). The party stuff mostly doesn’t help for the meat meals, but it takes off a huge burden of shopping!
FYI- our costco now have osem pearl couscous, that’s the little bit bigger size.
I am very careful these days to buy local honey, or at least US-produced honey. Too many problems have been reported w. imported honey, specifically, toxic-chemicals in chinese honey that have been masquerading as Indian honey. Also, some cheap “honey” is often a mixture of honey & corn syrup.
As for feminine supplies – a super way to cut your budget for feminine hygiene products is to consider using a feminine cup. These last for several years, so at $30-$45 for one, that’s a significant savings! The only time I have had to buy regular disposable supplies is postpartum.
Let me know if you want more info about this.