The Cheapskate Mom

I am actually very proud of how well I did this week and how far I am making things stretch. As far as my weekly budget goes between the two stores I've spend a little more than $42, however, last week I considered myself to be $10 under as what I bought was spent on a gift card and we used $20 to go out to lunch. I will talk more about the budget in my next post about my Aldi trip.

Here's the breakdown for Martin's this week:
(Items with * are discussed)

1 50ft roll of Reynolds Wrap Foil* $2.00
4 Gerber 1st Foods $.99 ea.
2 Gerber Organic 1st Foods $1.13 ea.
2 GIANT 2nd foods $.85 ea.
2 80ct Guaranteed Value Wipes $1.49 ea.
5 Betty Crocker Warm Deights $1.59 ea.
3 Furmano diced Tomatoes $1.00 ea.
1 Package GIANT Hamburger Rolls* (12ct) $1.58
1 Rally Cola 2 liter* $.89
1 Choc Full O Nuts Coffee $2.50
1 Festingo Tortilla Chips* $2.99
2 28oz cans of GIANT baked beans* $1.49 ea.
1 package Nestle Flips Pretzels $1.89
2 Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage $3.99 BOGO
1 Lloyd's Pork BBQ* $4.99
2 4 pack Yo Crunch Yogurts $2.29 ea.

Martin's was running a deal this week where if you buy any Lloyd's BBQ for $4.99 you would get rolls, chips, and soda for free. I am not sure if there's a limit, but if not, I plan to go back.

Total Before Bonus Buy Savings: $58.76
Total After Savings: $47.09

Coupons Used:

$.75/1 Reynolds Doubled
$1/4 Gerber 1st Foods
$.75/1 Betty Crocker Warm Delights x 5 Doubled
$1/3 Furmano's Tomatoes
$.75/1 Choc Full O Nuts Doubled
$.50/1 Nestle Flips Doubled
$1/2 Hillshire Farms
$.75/1 YoCrunch x 2 Doubled

Total after coupons: $27.43

Used $7.34 remaining on gift card and paid a total of $20.09 OOP. My total savings was $39.01 (I didn't use my calculator because a certain 2 1/2 ft tall person keeps using it as a cell phone).

There was a roll of Reynolds foil that was on clearance for $1.34 and I could have gotten it for free. However, the last time I tried it with the same coupon, they didn't double it at all and it cost me $.59. This way I saved the hassle and possibly 9 cents.

I was also needing baked beans for a picnic at my sister's on Sunday. I had a coupon for $1/2 Bush's Grillin Beans, but they weren't on sale and were still WAY more expensive than the store brand. I can't remember the exact price but I know it would have been over $1 more to buy name brand even with a coupon. If I didn't need baked beans for something specific, in this case, I would avoid buying them or rearrange my meal plans for the week.

I also want to point out that while my purchases may not seem very healthy or even form complete meals, keep in mind that I buy my staples and produce with WIC, and that I keep a running stockpile in my pantry and freezer and stock up on good deals. I figured I would mention this in case you're new to my blog and haven't seem this in any of my other posts.