Apple Market Deal through September 4

I had four 50 cent off coupons for Dawn detergent which expired on September 31.  Apple Market had small bottles for $1.35 each so after the coupon doubled, I paid 35 cents a bottle. I was feeling pretty good about life. I had just saved four dollars. 

When I went to pay, the cashier told me, "Yeah, these were on sale last week for 99 cents and they really flew off the shelf. We had to limit them to 4 per customer".  So, I could have got them for free instead of $1.40. We all mess up sometimes. I chose to focus on the $4 savings instead of the $1.40 more I could have saved. Remember, even when you miss a deal, you are still doing better than most.

I went to Apple Market because they had ten pounds of potatoes for $1.98.  I bought two packages (I know twenty pounds of potatoes sounds like a lot for two people.  Don't judge.) I also bought a package of Ritz crackers on sale for $1.98....I predict some creamy, chunky potato soup in my future!

Today's Dillon Deal



Ready to go to the store



Today is the last day of the Dillon's current Mega Event.  If you haven't taken advantage of these deals yet, get on it.  I decided to go to Dillon's and use a few more of my coupon match-ups yesterday.  I had a Catalina (store issued at register) coupon for $3.00 off my next shopping order plus a Catalina coupon for free bacon I wanted to use.  These type of coupons typically have short redemption periods so I always try to use them right away before I forget and let them expire.  

This event requires you purchase 10 items to get $5.00 off. I scoured the advertisement for items for which I had coupons and pulled out the ones I thought applied and planned on possibly using.

All for $6.84 before tax

Here's what I ended up purchasing.

The Hefty storage bags had a 50 cent off Internet coupon which you could load to your Dillon's card.  I am very careful about what coupons I load to my Dillon's card.  Why?  Because they don't double.  If I have a paper coupon less than $1.00, it will usually end up the larger savings. The coupons I load to my Dillon's card are the $1.00 or more coupons because even if I have a coupon, those don't double. You cannot "stack" paper and Dillon's Internet coupons...it's one or the other and if you have a Dillon's coupon loaded to your card, the cashier will not accept your paper coupon.  You don't have the option to choose not to use the Internet coupon. In this instance, I did not have a paper coupon so went ahead and loaded the Dillon's coupon for 55 cents, they were on sale for .99 (after 50 cent deduction for mega event), so I paid 44 cents for the storage bags. They normally cost $2.49.

I purchased five boxes of Granola Bars. The mega event sale price was $1.99 each.  I had five coupons for 50 cents off which doubled making the boxes 99 cents each. Here's a tip for you: Pay attention to those notices that print out at the register.  I received one stating all Fiber One bars would result in a coupon off a future shopping order between 8/6/12 and 9/2/12, buy 3 get $1 off coupon, buy 4 get a $2 off coupon, buy 5 get a $3 off coupon.  I purchased five boxes last week at the sale price with coupons and received  a Catalina coupon for $3 off a future shopping order plus I received another $1 off coupon this trip. Altogether, last week and this week I purchased 10 boxes of granola bars for 99 cents (sale price minus doubled coupon) and received $4 off a future shopping trip.  On average, I paid 60 cents a box for granola bars.  These bars typically cost between $3.05-$3.69 a box.

There is another similar promotion at Dillon's currently. Buy participating Kraft Food products between 8/19-9/15 and get coupons for money off future orders. For example, buy 3-5 items and get $2 off, buy 6-9 items and get $5 off, buy 10 or more and get $10 off a future order. This may end up being a good deal, if these items go on sale and/or you have any matching coupons. Some Kraft brands included are Crystal Light, Kraft dressings, Kraft Mayo, Mio, Planters Peanuts, Velveeta and some Oscar Mayer products.

The pens were on the clearance rack for $1.00.  Both my husband and I am Pen-Picky.  I like a thin pen with a fine tip. My husband likes the chunky-size pens which remind me of the crayons I used in Kindergarten. We spent a lot of time digging through drawers looking for just the right pen.  If I was handed a pie chart at death as to how I spent my life, I would expect "digging for a pen in the junk drawer" to receive it's own sliver of time.

The, hmmmmm, personal female item was also 99 cents. Moving on, the Teddy Graham snacks were on sale for 99 cents. I had a coupon for 75 cents off two Nabisco snacks which doubled to a $1.00, making each bag of sugary little cookies 50 cents each.

The goldfish were 99 cents and I had a coupon but didn't read it close enough to see it had a size limitation of 30 ounces so the coupon didn't apply. Here's the deal...I can't read a lot of the tiny print on coupons, even with my glasses,  which makes me crazy.  Why don't they print the restrictions in normal size?  Since I am somewhat of conspiracy theorist, I assume it's so I will purchase the product based on the coupon then keep it even when I discover the coupon doesn't apply.  In this case, it worked because I needed ten items to get the $5.00 off.  Usually, I have no problem rejecting an item when I learn my coupon is invalid. I thought the goldfish were going to be free, instead I paid 99 cents. But then again, I love goldfish.

OK, so I now had nine items but needed ten in order to get the discount. I ended up purchasing a bag of macaroni because it stores a long time, I use lots of it and 49 cents is an awesome price for macaroni.

Chicken scratches

I keep track of my purchases as I shop. This is why I prefer to make 2-3 small trips a week instead of making everything in one big trip. It's easier to keep track how much I am spending and watch for mistakes at check out. This trip, I thought I would spend around $6.68 with tax. A $1.25 coupon ended up not applying due to a size restriction which also changed the tax amount so I actually spent $8.06. Had I realized the goldfish coupon didn't apply, I would have purchased another bag of macaroni instead, saving another 50 cents.

Spent a total of $8.06 with tax, saved a total of $30.83
81% off the total bill when including all savings!

Still not a bad haul, thirteen items for an average of 53 cents per item pre-tax. I wanted to spell out exactly how I did it because most money saving websites do not give detailed instructions or achieve huge savings only through fraud.  I try to be very honest when couponing and any mistakes are inadvertent.

But you can't live off granola bars and macaroni. Well, you can but it's not a very balanced diet. So grab deals when you can but continue to try and plan wholesome, inexpensive meals. After all, most coupons are for unhealthy, processed food, not dinner.

Feel free to stop by anytime. Don't be surprised if I offer you a granola bar.

Aldi Fruit

You just can't beat Aldi's for fruit. This week I purchased the following:

2 pound package of seedless green grapes.........................$1.58 (79 cents a pound)
2 pound package of seedless black grapes.........................$1.58 (79 cents a pound)
Cantaloupe........................................................................$  .99
Oranges............................................................................$3.99 (57 cents each)
Strawberries......................................................................$1.69 (16 ounce clamshell)
Package of 6 Kiwi.............................................................$1.49 (25 cents each)
Bananas.............................................................................$ .89  (about 2 pounds, 44 cents a pound)

Total for all before tax........................................................$12.32

That's a lot of fruit for $12.

Let's Compare. Dillon's is advertising red seedless grapes for $1.88 a pound, strawberries for $1.98 and cantaloupe for $1.99. So 4 pounds of grapes, strawberries and cantaloupe would cost $11.48 at Dillon's with card and costs $5.84 at Aldi's.

HyVee is advertising Cantaloupe for $3.00 this week. It costs 99 cents at Aldi's. Why wouldn't you want to cost your food cost by 2/3?  HyVee is also advertising green grapes for 98 cents a pound which is still 19 cents a pound more expensive than Aldi's.

Peaches and Plums were 25 cents each though I didn't buy any. We eat LOTS of fruit so it saves a ton of money to buy it at Aldi's.

Here's a hint, avocados are 29 cents each at Aldi's but were small and hard.  So take the ad to Wal-Mart and price match. I am.

Dillon's Buy 10, Save $5 Event Through August 28



$11.11 for all before tax



Last week Dillon's was having one of their "Buy 10, Save $5" events.  Surprise! Surprise! They are having it again this week. Dillon's seems to be in the habit of running the same sale 2-3 weeks in a row.  So if you miss it the first week, you get a second and sometimes even a third chance to participate.  I can't complain though because there are some great match ups on this event.

In the picture above are 20 items (some are hidden behind others) so on average I paid 56 cents an item, after store sale amount minus coupons. It's a good time to stock up on spaghetti (a staple around here). A lot of the other items I bought fell in the junk food category which was fine because I was on vacation last week and needed car snacks.

To match up coupons to Dillon's sales, I suggest checking out:

http://www.frugalfritzie.com/category/dillons/

This website will point you to websites where you can often print off the coupon you need to match the sale item, if you don't have the coupon.

How Much Should I Be Spending on Food?

Are you frugal?

Last month I spent $440 on groceries for two people.  This just seems excessive to me.  My husband tries to comfort me by saying, "That's only $220 per person.  If you consider we each eat 93 meals a month, it comes to just $2.37 a meal".  

This sounds good on paper but isn't really accurate. First, we rarely eat breakfast unless you count coffee.  I don't make good decisions without coffee. I'm not saying I make good decisions with coffee but at least I make poor decisions faster.

Second, that figure doesn't really account for all the times we eat out. When I say "doesn't really account" that means I didn't include it at all. We spent $232 on eating out in July.  If you include this amount, we spent $3.61 a meal, which is a lot to pay for a cup of coffee. That's why this blog is called "seeking" simple, not "Found" simple.

So I am always asking everyone I know, "How much do you spend on groceries a month"? The answers are amazingly diverse. This question tells you a lot about people. Some will tell you they honestly don't know. Others say "Around so and so..." or "Probably about..." which is the same as "I don't know".  Any figure they throw out is really just a guess and I just automatically double whatever figure they say in my head.

How do I know this?  Because I used to do the same thing.  When I actually started keeping meticulous track of the amount I spent on groceries each month, I was shocked because it was double what I assumed. Now, if someone tells me they spend $541 dollars a month on groceries, I know they really do, because it is a specific amount.

Another thing I have learned is that almost everyone thinks they are frugal yet most of us are not frugal. The United States Department of Agriculture keeps track of these kind of things.  (USDA's Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home at Four Levels, U.S. Average, June 2012 (http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodJun2012.pdf).  According to the the USDA, you are THRIFTY if you spend less than this amount each month on groceries:

Individual....................................$163.90

Family of 2..................................$376.40  

Family of 4..................................$547.90

The USDA categorizes food expenditure by age and gender and breaks it down into "Thrifty", "Low-cost", "Moderate-cost", and "Liberal".  My $440 fell about half way between "Thrifty" and "Low-Cost". If you include eating out, I have edged over into the Moderate-cost area.  According to the USDA, I could do better.  

Look at the chart I have linked above to discover how you are doing.