Coupon Queen

A peak into the organized madness that is my grocery shopping.

I've been meaning to add some of my favorite blogs to the sidebar over there, but I haven't found the time. Google Reader is addictive. I probably subscribe to 60 blogs or so. Some are just for entertainment, others for decorating ideas, a few for all things green and crunchy (for my inner tree hugger), and some for budgeting and spending resources so we can quietly become the unassuming millionaires next door. A girl can dream, right?

But the most recent addition is a few blogs devoted to posting the weekly sales at our grocery stores, complete with organized lists of sale items, BOGOs (buy one get one free), and even better, linking to coupons to pile on top of the sale items. It's a frugal girl's dream! I've always been the type to determine our weekly menus based on what's on sale. We're not picky eaters, so it just makes sense to buy what's on sale in terms of veggies and proteins. The staples are not negotiable and we do splurge on some things, but for the most part I start with the sales.

For the past year, we shopped at Bloom almost exclusively (an "upscale" branch of Food Lion), but I've been wanting to switch to the brand new Publix downtown. It's a much bigger store, with better produce and a larger selection, but I kept getting coupons for Bloom and I'm a sucker for a coupon. Who can pass up $10 off a purchase of $35 or more? I also try to stay within a budget of $50 per week for grocery store trips. I do this by stocking up on sale items and we usually have some kind of frozen meats in the freezer and at least a few vegetables in the fridge from the week before. We do buy bulk paper items at Sam's, so this is totally doable for us. Those coupons are hard to pass up when you're trying to stay in a budget, but my new grocery blogs for Publix enlightened me. They accept competitors coupons...it's a beautiful thing! It doesn't take too much time to check the sale flyer, read the blogs and print out the linked coupons, make my list, and head out to the store. This week I spent about 20 minutes with the sales flyer and printing extra coupons, about an hour at the store, and maybe 20 minutes unloading. The end product.....this week I spent $67 and saved $47! I did go over budget, but I was also buying ground beef, hot dogs, and some fixins for our cookout on Friday.

What did I get for $67?
Proteins: shrimp, salmon, ground beef, and hot dogs (sort of protein : )
Veggies/Salad Stuff: broccoli, corn, tomatoes, leeks, cucumbers, and mushrooms
Fruit: apples and peaches
Canned Goods/Condiments: black beans, baked beans, mayo, tartar sauce
Grains/Bread: cereal and tortillas
Dairy: eggs, sour cream, milk
Frozen: lowfat ice cream and frozen pizzas (for the nights when Jason doesn't want to cook)
Cleaning: dishwashing detergent (see my last post, but this was a steal.....Electrosol Powertabs 32 count was BOGO and I had a $1 off 2 coupon, so only $4.50 for 64 loads!)
Baking: splenda

What are we going to do with all this?
Here are just a few options we have. We won't make all of these, so that just means we should have some stuff leftover to work with next week. We also need meal ideas that are easy to throw together for just one of us since we don't have too many nights where we eat together. Most of these are good options for Jason to take for lunch, an easy dinner for him to prepare, and something that I can snack on when I get home from the restaurant.

• Broiled Salmon with sauteed vegetables
• Shrimp Po Boys with sauteed vegetables or salads (adding lettuce and bread we have)
• Shrimp and black bean quesadillas (adding cheddar cheese and fresh cilantro from the garden)
• Grilled Chicken Salads (adding some chicken and lettuce we have)
• Hamburgers and Hot Dogs (for 4th of July), but it could just as easily have been meatloaf or meatballs adding some peppers and onions
• Vegetable/Chicken/Shrimp Fried Rice (a good use for leftovers at the end of the week)
• Chicken and Broccoli Casserole (remind me to share our recipe sometime, it's all from scratch and so easy...you'll never buy canned soup again!)
• Cereal for breakfasts (it was BOGO and I had coupons, so we got two giant boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios for about $3)

And of course, the frozen pizzas for those last resort nights. I can understand nights when Jason just doesn't want to cook and I don't always have time to prepare everything with the hours I've been working. Last week I pretty much went to work at 6:30 am, came home around 10 pm, went to bed, and started over again. Luckily we'd had a big cookout on Sunday with friends and had plenty of grilled chicken, london broil, and vegetables to make quick easy meals with leftovers.

Before anyone says it, I know this is a little nutty, but if I can save us money on things we buy the most of.....groceries!.....then it's worth it to me. And besides, watching the total go down as they scan the coupons is such a rush : )