My weekly big stock-up trip

Here’s a summer of my Saturday morning shopping trips. I spent a total of $49.17 for 70 items, which is about .70/item.

Here’s the breakdown:

Randalls: Randalls has a GM promotion right now where select cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cheerios, Trix, Honey Grahams, and Chex), Nature Valley Granola bars, and Betty Crocker fruit snacks are 4/$6 (after the instant $4 savings when you buy 4). There are a lot of great printable, loadable (Cellfire/Shortcuts), and insert coupons that match up nicely with this. If you need cereal, granola bars, or fruit snacks, it’s a great time to stock up! You also get a catalina for a free box of Capri Sun on your next purchase for every 4 items you buy. (There is a limit of 20 items per household)

5 boxes Nature Valley granola bars
(used 4 $1/1 coupons – thanks Martha! and 1 .50/1 coupon that doubled along with a .40/1 Shortcuts coupon and a .40/1 Cellfire coupon)
3 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
(used 3 .55/1 IP coupons)
1 box Trix
(used 1 .55/1 IP coupon and one .55 Shortcuts coupon)
2 boxes Cheerios
(used one .75/1 coupon from a Pampers mailer and one $1/1 IP coupon from e-mail)
2 boxes Chex cereal
(used one $1/2 coupon)
3 boxes Betty Crocker fruit snacks
(used on .50/2 coupon which doubled and one .40/1 coupon that doubled along with 2 .40/1 loadable coupons and three .50/1 loadable coupons from Shortcuts and Cellfire)
2 cans Safeway green beans
(used free coupon from hurricane flier in store)
4 boxes Capri Sun
(used 4 “free” catalinas from the cereal/fruit snacks/granola bars and a .55/1 loadable coupon which almost covered the tax)

Total OOP = $8.85, total savings = $50.52

Kroger: Kroger is having a Mega sale right now that mainly applies to Nabisco and Kraft products. You get an instant $5 off for every 10 participating items you buy. There are some great manufacturers and insert coupons that match up well with this promotion! (There does not appear to be a limit to the # of times you can do the promotion in one visit)

3 DiGiorno pizzas
(used 3 $1/1 coupons)
2 Velveeta Shells & Cheese
(used .75/1 catalina coupon)
2 Ritz Crackers
2 Nabisco Crackerfuls
(used 2 FREE when you buy Ritz crackers coupons)
1 Capri Sun
(used .50/1 coupon from Kraft Magazine which doubled)
2 Oscar Mayer wieners
(used $1/2 coupon)
3 Wheat Thins
(used 3 $1/1 IPs)
4 Kraft cheese slices
(used $1/2 coupon from Kroger mailer, .75/2 coupon from Kraft magazine, and $1/2 Shortcuts coupon)
2 Oreo cookies
(used $1/2 coupon)
1 Nabisco Teddy Grahams
(used .50/1 coupon from Kraft magazine which doubled)
1 Dreyer’s fruit bars
(used $1/1 coupon)
2 Hot Pockets pizzeria
(used .75/1 coupon)
5 Philadelphia cream cheese
(used $1/2 coupon from home mailer)
3 Buitoni pasta
(used 3 $1/1 IPs)
10 Kraft Easy Mac
(used 5 .55/2 tear pad coupons)
2 Campbell’s 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
(used $1/2 IP)
3 Old El Paso taco seasoning
(used .60/2 IP, .60/2 loadable, and FREE WYB 2 peelie) – earned a $1 OYNO catalina

*Received an instant $20 off as a part of the Mega Sale promotion

Total spent = $40.32, Total savings = $73.56 (and I earned a .10/gallon fuel reward)

I went over budget by $9.17, but I only spent $25 of my $40 last week and I will get back $20 from a Nabisco mail in rebate I qualify for based on my purchases today.

I also thought I’d answer a few “frequently asked questions” that often come up when I post this type of a post:

*Do you really need that many boxes of cereal, granola bars, crackers, and fruit snacks? What are you going to do with all of that stuff?

I don’t need that many boxes of any of that stuff right now, but stockpiling changes your way of thinking. You don’t shop based on what you need right away (unless it’s the basics). You shop based on what is on sale so that you don’t have to buy those items until they go on sale again. For example, I last stockpiled Capri Suns almost a year ago. We have gone through two seasons of soccer (fall and spring), several school parties where I volunteered to bring drinks, and my daughter’s birthday party and we are just now finishing off our last box. Since I had a stockpile of Capri Suns that I got for super cheap, I didn’t have to bust my budget when it was my turn to supply them for soccer games or school parties.

*Are you really going to use that much stuff? Doesn’t some of it go to waste?

I make sure that none of my stockpile goes to waste. If I have more than we will use, it means I can trade items with other people for things I need or that I can donate generously to our local food bank or other agencies. We have a local youth group that does a scavenger hunt for donations about twice a year and I always love the look on their faces when I am able to fill a couple of bags with donations for them.

*I don’t see any meat, fruit, or veggies. What about that stuff?

I stockpile meat when it goes on sale, too, so I have a freezer full to get me through on weeks when I want to spend money on other things. Last week, Randalls had a great deal on chicken breasts, so I chose to stock up then. I also have a bunch of canned and frozen fruit and veggies to help get us through on weeks when I can’t do a major stock up on fresh items.

What about milk?

I got my milk for free at CVS this week using ECBs and earned ECBs in return.