Saturday Savings!

Well, here it is, my last Saturday Savings post for the month of December. I'll be reviewing my efforts this month after I show you how my shopping trips fared.

I went to CVS early in the week this time, the earliest I've ever gone, Sunday morning when they opened because I wanted to hit the super sale. I was really excited about the Arm and Hammer cleaner pretty much being a freebie. I was sorely disappointed though, as both CVS' in our town were sold out. Apparently, they hadn't had the cleaner for a month or so. Grr. They were sold out of a few items, but between the two stores, I think I did pretty well. I had to really rework my scenarios on the spot, but I did so without having to spend too much out of pocket. Here is what I got:

For all those items, I spent $4.03 Oop. I saved $51.12. Can't be too disappointed with that. I also earned over $24 in ECBs when I used $20. So, In all, I came out on top I think. I'm hopeful they will have the Arm and Hammer cleaner on sale again in the not too distant future. I'd like to stock up on it!

At Walmart I bought:

for $5.21. I saved $8.24. I was glad to be able to use some of my coupons before they expired on good candy deals (yay after Christmas sales!).

And finally at Kroger I got:

for $47.74. I saved $22.06. Obviously I didn't save as much this week as I did other weeks. There are a few reasons. The first is that there was not much on sale this week that corresponded with other good deals. The second is that we didn't NEED a lot of items this week. I decided, that since I still had room in our budget, that I would buy items that I typically buy in order to stock up on them (such as the pizza...we normally eat one a week, so I buy one every week, but now we have three stocked in our freezer...that is over $3 saved for the next three weeks). Hopefully, that will help me to stay within/under budget in the coming weeks.

So, my total for the week is $56.98. In total, I saved $81.42. I don't think I can complain about that!

At the beginning of the month, I set a goal of keeping within a $300 grocery budget. This was the first month I have ever budgeted for groceries, but do know in the past that I was spending over $100 a week on groceries (not keeping track of sales or couponing). I came in well under my budget, spending only $227.13 in all this month. I saved a total of $250.55!!!

Next month, I am going to lower my budget to $250. My goal is to eventually spend $200 and under, and while I spent less then $250 this month, I am still working on things, and would like to give myself a bit of leeway still. I think I can cut back on some of the cleaning supplies (although I find it hard when I am finding things for free or next to free) , and since we are well stocked up on meat, I probably won't have to buy as much, which should help keep the grocery bill lower.

Happy shopping everyone!