Welcome to Day Four of my new series: A slightly boring week in the life of a fairly average couponer. You can read my initial post here or catch up on days you may have missed here.
I’m basically going to give you a brief rundown of how I spend my time each day related to coupons, grocery shopping and searching for deals. I’m also going to include anything I do that involves saving money for my family, as there are so many ways this can be done. I want to give you an idea of what an average week for me looks like and hopefully realize that saving money does not have to be a full time job.
First thing this morning, I bought this deal on Amazon for Austin zoo animal crackers. The deal by itself was a fantastic price ($6.10 for a pack of 36 crackers), but I had a $5 gift card that I earned from Swagbucks, making the whole box just $1.10!
Keep an eye on Amazon for grocery deals. You can check out all their monthly special offers here, they generally have some really fantastic prices on all-natural and organic products. I know tons of people don’t even know about Amazon as a resource for saving money on your grocery budget. I try to keep you updated on the best deals I see, but definitely check it out for yourself to see if you can save on something your family uses all the time.
Today marked the beginning of a new pay month for us (based on my husband’s pay schedule). We pay cash for almost everything, so my husband stopped by the bank on the way home from work and picked up our monthly “allowance” if you will. The money then gets divided up into individual funds. Once the cash is gone, it’s gone for the month. You can see our “funds” and how we set up our budget here.
The only reason I mention this is because I believe it saves us SO much money every month to pay in cash. It makes every purchase we make so much more intentional when we are handing over cash instead of swiping a card. I know this lifestyle is not for everyone, but it has been such a blessing for us. For more information, read my post here.
As this was a new pay month for us, I made my monthly trip to Costco. Yes, I do shop at Costco. I truly don’t buy much there, as the majority of items they carry I can find for cheaper with coupons. If you shop it right and know what your stock-up prices are, you can find some great deals.
I paid $54.20 for everything in the picture above. I know, not free. Not even super cheap. However, our family does eat “real” food that you can’t always find coupons for and I think you all need to see these shopping trips as well as the crazy moneymaking deals.
- (4) gallons of milk ($2.18/gallon)
- 24-pack eggs ($1.65 per dozen)
- Strawberries ($1.75/lb)
- Bananas (.44/lb)
The rest of the items we can sometimes find coupons for, but not nearly enough. My poor husband has sacrificed a lot as far as what snacks we have in the house, so I make sure to always have chips and salsa for him to snack on. I have never been able to find a better deal per ounce than the delicious Kirkland tortilla chips. When I can’t find a great deal on coffee creamer, I use half and half with Torani syrup I bought from Amazon and the Darigold was a great price.
I also picked up some Scotch-Brite sponges. Deals on GOOD sponges are very rare (I know you know what I mean by good sponges) and Costco had issued a coupon for their big packs this month. They work out to about 21 cents per sponge, which I am totally willing to pay for something that will last.
My point in sharing this trip is that, in my opinion, sometimes it’s just not worth it to chase deals all over town. There are some items I just can’t find deals on often enough and we’re not willing to sacrifice.
I get asked all the time if I buy items at Costco. I just wanted to clear the air and let people know that not everything has to be bought with a coupon. Not everything has to be free. As long as you are a smart shopper and try to find the best prices on items your family uses all the time, you will save money.
Feel free to share your thoughts. What are some of the items you always have in the house? Where do you shop when you aren’t using coupons?
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I love this, and am forwarding it to a few friends of mine. They look at me like I’m crazy and say (sort of jokingly) that I can’t possibly be a “serious couponer” since I still shop at CostCo. I don’t spend all that much there, but the money I save on milk alone (my family goes through about a gallon a day) is probably enough to pay for the annual membership!
You know what I love about shopping at Costco is that they don’t take coupons!! It is nice to go with your list and get exactly what you need ( no shelf clearers!) and then walk up to check-out without any feeling of nervousness that the deal will go wrong! It kinda feels like pressure free shopping!! I too have a small list of items I always buy at Costco…goldfish crackers, Tillamook cheese, trash bags, chocolate milk boxes, yogurt tubes, we go through these items really fast or they are items that rarely have coupons. My husband and kids have definitely sacrificed with the “we can’t buy it it is not on sale and we don’t have a coupon” so no that we have a decent stockpile I feel like we have a little room in the budget for special food requests! Like beef jerky for my husband and pirate booty for my daughter!!!
I love getting my sponges at Costco! It’s always nice to have a fresh sponge when it starts getting funky! Then I take those and use them to scrub in the bathroom just to get the most out of it before it’s tossed.
That’s exactly what I do with mine too, makes me feel better when I throw them away that I’ve REALLY gotten some use out of them.
I am loving this series…. it’s making me feel a little bit more “normal”. LOL My only suggestion was I was going to ask if you have tried the Cash and Carry for your Torini syrup? I buy it and the cash and carry and I can’t remember how much I pay (’cause I don’t buy it that often) it’s about 3-4 dollars a bottle which can be about half price compared to Wal-Mart.
I always get Toriani syrups at cost plus. They are normally $6.99 and I usually buy 3-4 bottles plus a filler item (usually a gift for upcoming birthdays) and then I can use the $10 off $30 purchase coupon toward the syrups. Also if you are registered for their rewards program you get a $10 coupon when you buy $100 worth of grocery items. Then I can buy more syrup with my $10 coupon!!
There is no doubt the Torani/Davinci syrups at Cash & Carry are the best deal out there. They are $3.69 I think.
I bought mine on Amazon when they were around $2 a bottle. I’ll definitely be checking Cash & Carry next as I haven’t seen anywhere near that price since!
I think their t.p. and paper towels are a good deal. Most the cheap paper products I buy get used really fast, and they are way squishy-er. I always feel like they were a rip off, even at the deal price. I know our Costco toilet paper rolls last way longer.
I agree, if I can’t find a good deal on TP or paper towels, i always buy at Costco. I almost bought the Bounty this time since there was a coupon for it, but apparently they don’t carry the Select-a-Size anymore? Those are my favorite!
Some of my costco “staples” include the hearts of romaine $2.99 for 6 heads, and pepperoni slices. A 3 lb bag is around $10. We use it on homemade pizza, pizza quesadillas, and my kids love to eat it as a snack. (kind of a pricey snack, I know, but the calories and protein are good for them). We also usually get our coffee beans & syrup from costco. On average I spend around $50 a month there, which is 1/4 of our monthly budget. This is down from $150 which was half our old budget in the pre-couponing days.
I usually pick up the romaine hearts as well (best deal in town!), but we have so much lettuce from our CSA pick-up the past few weeks! I buy coffee at Costco as well when I can’t find good deals, but I have been finding smoking hot deals on Amazon over the past few months (around $2-$3 per bag).
I can’t believe I forgot to mention the Goldfish crackers! These are the best snack to have on hand. Easy for both my kids to eat and relatively no mess. Plus, if I’m ever in the mood for something salty, I grab a handful of these and don’t feel like I’ve totally wasted calories.
If you notice in the picture, the box is already open. We started snacking before we even got to the check out.
I have to say, I am really enjoying this series and I hope u continue it for more than a week or do it again soon. It is nice to see what other ppl do in regards to $ and coupons.
Thank you. I love ur blog.
The Kirkland tortilla strips and Tillamook Sharp cheddar 2.5# block are our Costco staples. Can’t beat the price on either! Not to mention cheapest “go out to lunch” lunch in town!
Good point, how did I forget to mention the hot dogs and pizza!!!
Dave Ramsey has been a blessing to our household also! I’m happy to say we are debt free and I too use actual cash to shop with. It is so hard to not go crazy at Costco, but I have been more diligent about sticking to my list. I heard a comedian joke once that they have the people at the door checking your receipts to make sure you’ve spent at least $200…if you haven’t, they make you go back in!
Things I’ve never beat the price of Costco’s, even with a coupon: craisins, almonds, romaine lettuce, organic raisins, organic rice, rotisserie chickens, organic eggs, yeast, organic baby carrots. I’ll post any more I think of.