Kroger Shopping 7/28-8/3 and Why it Pays to Shop Markdowns

I don't often walk out of Kroger going 'Wow, I saved so much!'.  Though I do most of my staple shopping at Kroger (some produce, milk, meat, baking items and those items that I need to fill in dinners) it's not a store I typically stock up on things from.  I consider it a good day if I save 25% at Kroger.  Today, however, I hit a jackpot of deals that I had to share!

The savings ratio on this trip isn't as impressive as other shops, but we needed some odds and ends (the reason I went into the store in the first place), so that raised my total. 

The truly impressive savings to me are the toilet paper and the fire logs (yes I know it's almost August what do we need those for, hang in there with me).  The logs, brace yourself for this, were just $2.19, yep you read that right.  An employee was bringing a cart with markdowns out and I saw them sitting there with a $2.19 price tag on them.  I asked him if that was per log.  He said 'Nope, we found them hiding out in the back.  I scanned it and it printed out a tag for that price'.  I was sold.  Those logs are more than that per log and I got 6 for that price.  I'll tuck them in the garage until cold weather season rolls around and then I'll be thankful to have gotten them!
The toilet paper was, for whatever reason, marked down to $6.49 from $12.99 (50% right there) and I had a $0.50 off coupon that doubled to a dollar, bringing 20 rolls of toilet paper down to just $5.49 (or just $0.27 a roll, my stock up price is $0.35 or lower).
I also got some pork chops on markdown ($4.29) plus I used a $1 off fresh pork coupon and a half gallon of Skim for $0.99 that still had a week left on the expiration date! 
It was definitely worth my time to scan the markdowns today!
The other deals I got today were included in the buy 5 save $5 sale.

• 2 Crest Kid's Toothbrushes $0.79--used 2 $0.50 off coupons from 7/28
• 2 2+ Gerber Meals $1.99--used a BOGO cash register printed coupon
• 1 Oral-B Complete Toothbrush $1.49--used a $0.75 coupon from 7/07

I also bought other items, but those were the great deals in total I spent $23.49 and saved $17.51, which is over 42% and the savings amount doesn't include the markdown prices; if you include that I saved over double that amount!

So at the end of the day the lesson from this?  Take the time to shop the clearance.  What you find won't always be a great deal, but you never know what you'll find!

Back to School Shopping; Not Just for School Aged Kids

Everyone's talking about 'Back to School' right now.  Summer is wrapping up and teacher in-service is well underway is many parts of the country.  I'm sure most of us with non-school aged kiddos aren't paying too close attention to the wheeling and dealing centered around the back to school crowd, but maybe we should be.
Over the next few weeks I'll be keeping you posted with the best deals on items that are either a) for the under 5 set or b) items that we all need.
One of the best times to shop here in Tennessee will be this weekend (August 2-4) when school supplies, clothing and computers will be tax free!  For the details on Tax Free Weekend click here .  I know I'll be heading out to do some shopping.  In TN our sales tax is 9.75% so shopping during this weekend is like getting a 10% discount right off the top!
Now so far I haven't seen too many phenomenal deals, but that doesn't mean there's not anything out there worth shopping for!  Here are a few deals worth stopping in for.

• Office Max.  They have a bag in your Sunday paper that gets you 20% off of anything that fits in the bag (some exclusions apply).  The best deal with this (in my opinion) is ink.  Ink isn't cheap and rarely goes on deep discount.  Stock up now to print coupons for a few months.
• Toys R Us  Crayola Crayons are $0.25 a pack when you buy for (limit 8).  I stock up during back to school sales for my toddler.  If you have a tot you know how many broken crayons you can go through.  Remember to save your broken Crayolas for a craft project I'll be featuring in August!

Check back for more deals.  I'll be adding to this list as the week progresses.  I'm sure more stores will be advertising great deals, plus I'll be scouring the stores on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and bringing you my findings!

CVS Shopping Trip 7/28/13

I don't shop drug stores weekly.  For me I find it more time efficient to focus on deals available to me at Publix, Kroger and Target--stores that I frequent regardless of a good deal.
However, every now and again CVS has a deal or two I can't pass up!  Last week and this week were two of those weeks.  Last week I stopped in and bought 2 packs of Huggies Pull-Ups for $15.73 and received $5 CVS reward dollars (I used 2 $3 off coupons).
This week I picked up the following

• 2 Herbal Essence Shampoo--1 BOGO coupon from 7/28
• 2 Pantene Shampoos--1 BOGO from 7/07
• 1 Starbucks Coffee--1 $1off printable
• 1 Oral-B Battery Toothbrush--1 $3off from 7/28

So I paid $2.38 out of pocket after coupons and reward dollars and walked out with $5.50 in reward dollars to spend another day!  Considering I was down to my last bottle of shampoo these deals couldn't have come at a better time!

My best drug store shopping advice.

• Go with a list and shop the deals; nothing else.
• Pick ONE drug store to shop.  Running all over town for deals and trying to keep track of rewards isn't worth the time in my opinion.  I simplified my life by picking a conveniently located drug store (CVS) and I don't shop any other drug stores regardless of the deals they offer. I realize that doesn't work for everyone, but it's worked well for me so far!