Kroger Deals: 7/22 to 7/28

Two weeks. Two whole weeks since I have gotten groceries.

And the time went where? What in the world did we eat? Obviously, there was enough “stock up” to get us by. Therefore, Sunday shopping was in order. No! Not SUNDAY shopping! Not “waste the weekend doing weekday shopping!” I suppose hungry bellies do not wait for the week to start. *sigh* Grabs coupons and reusable bags- trudges out the door – drives with radio turned up REALLY loud because if I can’t yell, someone has to.

Fortunately for everyone around me, the Kroger crowd was very light that day (obviously NO one wants to shop on Sunday.) I pretty much flew through the aisles, grabbed what I came for and headed towards the cashier. You see, I always have this OCD “pre-checkout” ritual that I do:

• A once over at my cart to make sure I’m not forgetting anything
• Since I write prices on my shopping list, I add everything up on the calculator (a girl has got to know what she’s spending!)
• If I’m over my budget, I’ll look to see what I do not need
• Quickly sift through the coupons to ensure they are all correct

I know what you are thinking…who has time for this? Once it becomes your “ritual”, it takes no time at all.  Recently, I’ve tried to challenge myself to lower my grocery budget to $50 per week. I have yet to actually hit $50, but I will NEVER reach this goal if I don’t double check everything. I know I can do it…I’m just not ready to part with fresh mozzarella a few items quite yet. *wink*

My total was around $84-ish – which really isn’t too bad when you consider I haven’t shopped in two weeks…AND that includes a few non-grocery items. A few of the deals I found:

• Dentyne: $.64 – $1 Sunday Q = FREE + $.36
• Eggland’s Best Eggs: $2.59 – $1.00 mag Q = $1.59
• 3 Starkist Tuna: $3 – B2GOF = $2 for THREE
• 3 Horizon Vanilla Milks: (clearance) $1.65 – $1 on 3 peelie = $.65 for THREE
• 3 Bare Naked Granolas: $6.00 – (3x) $1 peelies = $3.00
• 40 pk. Finish Dishwasher pacs: $6.69 – $2.50 Sunday Q = $4.19
• Fresh Mozzarella: $4.99 – $.55 Sunday Q – $4.44
• Hydroponic Tomatoes: (clearance) $1.49 pk (since my garden ones aren’t ripening fast enough for my consumption)
• Nut Thins: $2.50 – $1 Mambo Sprouts booklet = $1.50
• Except for the cat litter and the golden raisins, everything else was bought at sale price.

Kroger is also  having it’s “Buy 10 participating items, Get $5 off at the register” event. Whenever this special comes about, I ALWAYS try and stock up on the items for which I have coupons – that is how you will maximize your event savings.

• 2 liquid Soft Soap: $3.00 – (2x) $1 printable = $1 for TWO
• 2 Kraft Mayo: $4.38 – $1.50/2 Sunday Q = $2.88 for TWO
• Activia: $1.99 – $1 Sunday Q = $.99
• 2 Welch’s Juices: $5.98 – (2x) $1 printable = $3.98 for TWO
• 2 Large Captain Crunch: $5.38 – (2x) $1.00 Sunday Q = $3.38 for TWO
• 2 Sweet Potato Fries: $5.58 – $1 Kroger Q = $4.58 for TWO
• 3 DanActive: $6.87 – (3x) $1 = $3.87 for THREE
• 2 Planters Nut-rition bars: $5.00 – (2x) $.75 Sunday Q = $3.50 for TWO
• 2 Kraft Cheese: $4.76 – $1/2 blinkie = $3.76 for TWO
• No coupons for coffee filters ($1.50) or cream cheese ($1.49)

I checked out.

Her total? $98.40.*whah?*

Did I forget how to add? Hmm…maybe I left something out. That’s quite a difference.

Since I was in a bit of a hurry to get home, I loaded up my grocs and headed down the street. After reaching a few miles, I decided to take another look at my receipt.

UURRRTTTTT! Stop. When possible, make a legal u-turn.

They overcharged me on FIVE items! Instead of the granola being $2.00, they charged me $3.99 AND they didn’t give me the sale price on chicken!

How dare they?!? Okay…I understand that mistakes happen. AND…if it was only a buck or two, I would have been mad kept driving. For $10.63, I turned back around and went straight up to the customer service counter. All in all, they were very apologetic and friendly about the situation (even though the machine was broke and they couldn’t refund my debit card and now I have to make.another.trip.tothebank…)

What’s the moral here? When at all possible, watch the screen while you are being checked out. It’s much easier to catch price mismatches on the spot…rather than five miles down the road. Was it all worth it? You be the judge.

Total: $158.63
Minus Sales: $45.22
If I ONLY shopped using store sales, my cash total would have been: $113.41
But, by using $25.64 in coupons…my total ended up as:
$87.77

How did you do this week?