An example of why I use coupons & shop sales

Hubs and I eat a lot of cheese. I mean A LOT. We love quesidillas for quick dinners or lunches and grilled cheese sandwiches frequently make an appearance on our dinner table with tomato soup. That isn't even counting pizza night or one of our favorite meals... my homemade macaroni & cheese.

I logged onto Southern Savers yesterday and just about fell out of my chair when I realized that I could make money buying Kraft cheese, but only for that one day. I don't exactly like shopping on Sunday and I certainly don't like planning last minute trips but I felt the results would be worth it. Well I just finished doing all the math, and friends let me tell you it was SO worth it. I'll break down my transactions for you below.

I just want to give another shout out to Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom for hosting the eat from the pantry challenge. If I had not participated there is no way that I would have been able to purchase 20 bars/bags of Kraft cheese yesterday.

I made two trips to two different Krogers and did a total of four transactions. The first Kroger was in the afternoon and it was crowded and they were almost out of cheese. The second Kroger is where I go if I have trouble finding things. It is a little out of my way but if the deals are great I think it is worth it. I made that stop on my way home from my parents' house.

I bought 20 bars/bags of cheese but I only got 5 from the store that was running low. I got the other 15 at 10:30 the day the Catalina deal ended and that store still had plenty of cheese left. Sure I would have loved to do everything that afternoon, but I believe in being courteous to other shoppers.

1st transaction:
3 bars cheese
2 bags cheese
1 Tazo chai (not mega)
1 Pillsbury Toaster Struedel
1 Daisy sour cream
1 chex mix
1 snyders
1 punch (not mega)
1 Krusteaz muffins

Total spent: $9.41
Total saved: $25.57
Catalina: $5.00

#2:
5 bars cheese
1 goldfish
1 ICBINB
1 Nature valley nut clusters
1 Quaker chewy granola bar

Total: $.09
Saved: $32.45
Catalina: $5.00

#3:
1 Wheat Thins
1 Ritz
4 Rotel
5 bars cheese
Total: $3.15
Saved: $17.70
Catalina: $5.00

#4:
5 bars cheese
2 Halls
2 Rotel
1 goldfish
1 Green Giant Steamfresh
hmmm it appears that I messed up & shouldn't have gotten my $5 off but its there so are the halls part of the deal? Anyways, it was an error I wasn't trying to cheat.
Total: $1.57
Saved: 19.85
Kroger card: $5.00 (catalina wouldn't print I'm fine with them doing it this way)

Total spent (pre-tax to determine percentage saved) : $13.25
Total saved: $100.57 (includes $5.00 gift card)
Saved percentage: 88%

If you want information on how I got such great deals please go visit Jenny at Southern Savers. She has all the best match ups for the southern region each week. She puts a ton of time & effort into her website and gives us all the information we could ever need for FREE. I can't say enough great things about Jenny!