Wednesday, March 5, 2008

HELP!
I've got "SHOPPER'S HIGH"
It seems to be a bad case!

Does it ever go away? Oh my..
I 've been itchin' at the bit to go shopping for 7 days now, but to no avail.

So, tonight, after packing up supper, I headed out to 3 Winn Dixie's and a Publix, armed with my coupons and a list of what to buy where!

NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU ALL!

I didn't dare try to stay in town, since too many of my fellow "smart shoppers" live here, so I headed to the neighboring Winn Dixie, about 12 miles away.

There, I did my best: I got my bill from $112.47 to $9.10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, I went to the CVS, to try to get some of that fabulous candy, which is on sale for $.99. Alas, I got a rain check... Two, in fact, one for Cadbury's and one for Hershey's kisses. BUT, while I was there, I noticed that they had a cordless razor and it was 50% off. I opted to buy it. However, it was 75% off, not 50% off, so I got my 14 year old son his first razor. I told the clerk that if he ruins it, it was only $2.66, so we'll be ok... (I didn't tell her I had just saved $103!)

NEXT STORE: Winn Dixie was just across the street. So, for the second WD, I got my bill from $90.21 to $24.75. Not as great, but I opted to buy only the "very most" needed items at this particular "dinky" Winn Dixie. And I had already used my $10/$50 "one shot" coupon at the first store.

Then, I went across the street from that store and went to PUBLIX, where I even bought a couple of things regular price with NO COUPONS.. (gasp). However, I needed them and I was there, and they were there, and with gas at $3.19/gallon, I didn't feel like driving 3 more miles out of the way to save $.50... (esp. since my total savings for the past hour and a half had been in the neighborhood of $150 so far..)

At PUBLIX, I got my bill from $70.60 to $28.27. I was rolling along, pretty happy about then, because I was buying one supper meal setup (main dishes, etc.) after another... preparing my freezer for upcoming meals and easy dinner preps.

However, I had noticed at the second WD that I could get Valley Fresh canned chicken for $.33/ can (regular price $1.67) if ONLY I'd stop back by the Office and pick up some $1/2 coupons. So, I did. I grabbed a handful and then went to my OWN local, yokel Winn Dixie.

There I ran my bill skyhigh up to $209.38. Now, I was pretty nervous about that since I've never spent $209 at one shot at any grocery store EVER in my life.. Maybe $100, but NOT $200!

But, DRUM ROLL, please.. I got it down to $47.80.

By the time the clerk was done with me, she had the other 2 teenagers surrounded around here saying things like, "That's crazy." "Insane." "Wow, you beat out my dad shopping" and "Boy, is Chelsea going to hate you for having to count out all these coupons." I said, "Oh, Chelsea will be fine with it. She knows me." (She used to go to our church and was Sarah's best friend for about 3 years...)

I got home and had a whole back end of my van full of goodies. Do you think I had ANY trouble getting my boys to unload the van for me? NO WAY! As soon as they saw that it was all stuff that they had either specifically requested or that they knew that we needed or that they liked, they started helping me put it away, even! (I have them bring it in and then I put it away, is my usual drill.)

So, from 6:10 p.m. until 9:50 p.m, I bought groceries that retailed at a ridiculous $482.66 for only $109.92. That represents a 77% savings.

And that was NO DOUBLES! I'm DEAD SERIOUS!

And I wasn't buying a lot of fluff that we won't use or didn't need just to run it up, so it'd look good for you all!

YOU CAN DO IT TOO!
GET THOSE FLYERS OUT...
and ORDER THOSE COUPONS!