Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The guy behind me at Dominick's hates me...but I saved $130.35


So every week, I spend Sunday evening reading the papers. The New York Times, because after all, it's my hometown paper. And I love Sunday Styles "Modern Love" column. And yes, I do occasionally find people I once knew when I read the wedding section. Then the Chicago Tribune, the local paper.

And clipping coupons is one of my favorite parts of this ritual. Except that clipping is usually as far as I ever get.....and 2 year old piles of coupons appear, only to get tossed into the recycle bin. I'm getting pretty tired of seeing coupons for stuff I just bought, as I am unpacking my groceries.

So this week, with 2 hours to kill while #2 is in Hebrew school, I plan the coupon attack. As any good coupon-user knows, it is critical to make sure the coupon allows you to get a better deal that the store brand. And of course, coupon use on items you would not normally buy don't count either. Same for food your family would never, ever eat (tofu-burger, lamb chops??). As far as I am concerned, buying large quantities of items you do use is still questionable. I mean, if it takes 2 years to use that 5 lb. jar of peanut butter.....is that a good use of resources?

So here are the stats:
Items purchased - 78
Grocery cart filled to overflowing
Dominick's "Fresh Values" savings - $87.51
Coupon Savings - $37.84
Total savings: 103.35
saved: 33%
Total Spent*: $278.41

*Includes over $60. worth of diapers; with $7.50 in coupon savings. And I won't go back for at least 3 weeks.

Extra booty:
9.4 qt. Dutch oven from Dominick's promotion
$4.42 gas card (must spend another $158 to get $6 card issued)
125 United Airline miles
$0.75 off next grocery order

Checkout time: 20 mins

The savings may have been slightly diminished by the quilting magazine I swore I wouldn't buy, and the $9.99 vaccum sealer and pricey resealable bags that go with it.

And the guy behind me? It's OK, he'll get over it. I gave him my extra coupons.

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