The Cheapskate Mom

Forgive my lack of a picture, the battery is dead and I had to get some stuff in the fridge :( I swore I wasn't shopping this week since we spent the grocery budget going out to eat, and since I hit Aldi last week I am stocked up. I have to admit I'm really bad at tracking what's spent on what, since the $30 budget is strictly food. But we are potty training now so with any luck the Baby budget is going to slim down soon. But this week, I had a ton of good coupons I couldn't waste and there was nothing that couldn't be frozen or had a long shelf life. Here's what I got:


4 bags Eight O' Clock Coffee BOGO @ $4.49
Used 3 $.75/1 Coupons, Doubled and 1 $1/1 coupon
Final Price: $.87 per bag

4 packs Dentyne Gum 10/$10*

2 Better Bowl Instant Pudding 10/$10*

2 boxes Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks 2/$4
Used $.50/2 Coupon, DND
Final Price: $1.75 per box

2 pouches Betty Crocker Instant Potatoes $.83
Used $.50/2 Coupon, DND
Final Price: $.58 per pouch

6 Betty Crocker Warm Delights 2/$3
Used 6 $.75/1 Coupons, Doubled
Final Price: FREE

1 box Minute Brown Rice $1.85
Used $1/1 Coupon
Final Price: $.85

1 pack Minute Ready Rice $1.94
Used $.50/1, Doubled
Final Price: $.94

3 bags Rold Gold pretzels 2/$5*
Used 3$.55/1, Doubled
Final price: $.140 per bag

2 Knorr Lipton Sides 10/$10
Used $1/3 Coupon
Final Price: $.66 each

2 Ocello Scrub Sponges @ $1.23
Used $.75/2 Doubled
Final Price: $.48 per sponge

Pillsbury Cookie Mix, Clearance for $.90

Cracker Crumbs, Clearance for $.75

5 Bags Nestle' Flipz @ $1.89
Used 5 $.50/1 Coupons, Doubled
Final Price: $.89 per bag

2 16oz packages Kunzler bacon, BOGO @ $4.99
Used $1/2 Coupon
Final Price: about $1.99/lb

2 3oz Philadelphia cream cheese $.99*
Used $1/2 Coupon
Final Price: $.49 each

2 Danimals yogurt packages $2.00
Used 2 $1/1 Coupons
Final Price: $1.00 each

1 Breyers Yo Crunch 100 calorie 4 pack $2.29
Used $.75/1 Coupon, Doubled
Final Price: $.79

Total Before All Savings: $91.52
Total OOP: $40.98

On the Dentyne and the pudding cups, Martin's is running a deal this week where if you buy 6 you get $.20 off gas. I needed gum and figured we'd eat the pudding. We have a 13 gallon tank in our car, and in adding the $.20 to the $.20 we already had, we're going to save $5.20 on our gas and we only paid $6 for items we're going to use. In this case I make an exception for the lack of coupons because gas is a necessary expense anyway, so I consider it a grocery savings when it happens like this.

The Rold Gold Pretzels were an exceptional deal. We really only eat pretzels, crackers, or tortilla chips as snacks mostly because we're just not big potato chip eaters, and they're a completely unnecesary expense. At Aldi, the pretzels are $1.29, however, the Rold Gold were cheddar, honey mustard, and honey wheat twists which are treats we don't usually get. I was willing to pay the extra $.11 for some variety. Considering the regular grocery store price on these is $2.99, I saved over 50%.

Last thing I want to touch on is the Cream Cheese. I recieved a promotional pamplet for dairy month from my mother in law that had a lot of $1/2 coupons. I really don't like these, because they just plain don't save. But we have a ton of Lender's bagels I got for $.25/each and I needed the cream cheese. I was trying to hunt down the cheapest ones, but they STILL were more expensive than generic. As I was caving in and grabbing the store brand, I noticed the 3oz packages of Philadelphia were only $.99! The best part is that this coupon didn't indicate a size, which made this a killer deal. No, it wasn't much cream cheese, but it will make do. At least I'm not making a cheesecake!