I didn't write about grocery shopping over the holidays, and to tell you the truth I didn't do much. I'll jump right to the first shopping trip of the new year, and then sum up what I did with the last few after that.
This week, we came back from our Christmas visit to our parents' houses on Tuesday night, and although there wasn't much fresh in the house, I didn't grocery shop until today. It was so frigid out, and we were busy dealing with our end-of-the-year flexible spending account issues and searching for lost keys and whatnot, so I let it slide and we ate from the pantry and freezer. Epu stopped at Dominick's for me one day picked up a take-and-bake pizza and celery, onions and carrots so I could make our Christmas hambone into split pea soup. That was $15.
Tonight, tempted by Walgreen's and CVS deals, I finally broke down and ventured out into the cold night. I hit one Wag's, one CVS and Jewel, and got everything in the photo above for $74 out of pocket. I received a $10 Catalina at Jewel (the "spend $25, get $20" P&G Catalina deal -- I realized just before going to the store that we were almost out of Size 4 diapers), earned $7 Extra Bucks more than I used at CVS, and $15 in Register Rewards at Walgreens, for a whopping total of $32 back at all three stores.
For the new year, I'm making some changes in how I calculate my expenses. I decided to include household expenses including diapers (although I do have a small stockpile of infant-size diapers and a $100 gift card for Alice.com to help with that category). I decided today to try including my out-of-pocket spending at CVS and Walgreens. I think what I will do is count everything I pay cash at those stores, but not deduct my Register Rewards or ExtraBucks from my weekly spending. With grocery store Catalinas, I just deduct the value of the Catalina coupon from my spending. Why do it differently for the different stores? Well, when I get a grocery Catalina I am pretty certain I will use it on more groceries before it expires.
With Register Rewards and Extra Bucks, I might blow some on clearanced holiday decorations or on stuff for other people or birthday presents or whatever. I don't feel like counting that as real grocery money. In the end, it doesn't really matter -- you count money-back coupons when you get them or when you spend them, and it comes out the same in the end.
So this week, under my new system, I spent $79 of my $80 grocery budget. But those Register Rewards and Extra Bucks I racked up will supplement next week's grocery spending in one way or another, I hope.
I should note here that some grocery stores accept Walgreen's Register Rewards since they say "manufacturer's coupon" at the top. Indeed, I think they should be accepted at all stores because of this, and they have always scanned at other stores when the cashier tried it. However, every time I have tried to use them at a Jewel or Dominick's, I have been turned down, and the store manager at my Jewel said they could not be used there. Others have had more success. I have successfully used them at Target and Kmart, though.
A few details about the purchases shown:
After Register Rewards and coupons, Wag's gave me free Chips Ahoy, moneymaking Glade candles and free Electrasol dishwasher tablets.
After Extra Bucks and coupons, CVS gave me a moneymaking light bulb and three moneymaking six-packs of Soy Joy bars.
At Jewel, I used a $5/$50 coupon I had gotten in the mail, and another one was dangling out of the Catalina machine when I arrived at the self check-out. The Pampers, two Crests and Ivory made a $25+ purchase for the P&G deal, and after coupons I paid about $20 and got the $10 Catalina coupon back. And yes, my week's actual groceries amount to a box of clementines, two gallons of milk, four bottles of bubbly water, a carton of yogurt, four bricks of cheese, a bag of coffee and a loaf of bread. Jewel's produce looked crappy and of course overpriced; I will have to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies this coming week. Plenty of meat in my freezer of course.
Before this week, I went two weeks without reporting a full week's shopping. OK, to tell the truth I don't remember what I spent during the week before Christmas -- it's all a blur. I'm going to whiff and say I spent my whole budget the week of Dec. 15, since I know I bought two hams and some shrimp and a gingerbread house. Oh yes, and then I used $50 of my budget the week of Christmas at Penzeys Spices, so I was $30 under that week. And this week I was just about at budget.
That leaves me $30 extra from recent weeks to apply to our almost-organic meat purchase. Before this, we still owed $250 toward our quarter cow, so now we owe $220.
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