Publix Trip 3/3/11- 51% Savings

      
I wasn't too impressed with the Publix ad when I was leafing through it today but I still needed to stop by the store for meat, fruits, veggies and of course my freebies. I became happier when I checked out and realized that Publix actually paid me $2.13 to shop there thanks to a little coupon overage! If you still have the Buy 3 Rice A Roni get 1 Pasta Roni Free USE IT! The highest savings you can get with that coupon is $2 but I figured I would only get the $.69 savings since Rice and Pasta-Roni are B1G1 this week. Nope, the coupon rang up as the $2 savings! Woo Hoo!! Combine that with the Halls cough drops (free with $.17 overage) and the Mentos roll coupon (free with $.50 overage) and I paid for one of my husband's bottles of Diet Coke! As you can see, this was a stock up on bread week- we go through a loaf and a half every week so I had to stock up on the Nature's Own deal. I also picked up a few items that weren't on sale but the deal was such a good one I couldn't pass it up. My entire family is nutso for Nutella so when I saw a coupon for $1 off Nuetella when you buy a package of Thomas' English muffins (B1G1 this week) I snapped it up. I was pretty pleased with this week's purchases and came well under my $80 a week grocery budget. Yay!

Weekly Breakdown
51 items
Pre-coupon cost: $133.19
Manufacturer coupons: $18.60
Store coupons: $6.03
Special price savings: $42.74
Total Savings: 67.37 or 51%
Free Items: 5

Final Price: $65.82

Coupons and Shopping

I am one of those women you see at the grocery store who has the list and the binder full of coupons; the lady who you don't want to be behind at the checkout counter as I have a stack of coupons. I am the lady who can buy $200 worth of food for $80. Yes, I am a coupon warrior. Don't get me confused with the people on the documentaries, I don't clear shelves or have a grocery store in my garage and we do actually eat normal food. I just like the thrill of saving a ton of money by combining little pieces of paper with store sales. I look at coupons like little slips of cash and I know I wouldn't turn down a person who was offering me .50 cents here or $1 there. Believe me, the savings are worth the weird looks.

I usually do my shopping on Thursday at Publix because that is the day the store offers the 1 penny item and I like to have groceries for the weekend. I enjoy cooking and we don't eat out much in our family so I have to shop weekly. I'll occasionally hit Kroger if they are having a particularly great sale and CVS is an amazing place to save money some weeks but my heart beats the most for Publix. I don't have the time or the patience to scour the circulars other than to give a brief once over so I use some really great sites, I love these ladies as they save me a ton of money:

http://www.blogger.com/www.couponmom.com
http://www.southernsavers.com/
http://www.iheartpublix.com/

Every time I shop I'll post a picture of my purchases, savings and any special deals that led to the savings (free products, coupon stacking, etc.). I am passionate about saving money and I want you to feel the same way!