Publix Weekly Totals

I've been doing good with the menu plans and shopping so far this year. Eating out of the Pantry is a challenge - the challenge is not gaining weight and making healthy meals. I'm pretty new to this couponing and stockpiling and its fairly obvious what items I don't need to stockpile so much, and the others like salad dressing, croutons, soda and snacks need to purchased whenever there is a deal. I certainly don't need to stockpile mayo and crackers. The supply we have will be past expiration date, but that won't stop me. You can check HERE to see if your food is still good.

 

Anyway, last night we went shopping and spent $6.78 and saved $54.94 (87%). There's not many good deals for us next week in the 1/21 Publix Coupon Matchups, so we went again at the end of this week's sale. Here's the breakout - mostly salad stuff and a couple pharmacy items to get overage, and some water and peanuts for dear. This chart below is how I calculate how much overage I need, how to make my order at least $50 so I can use the $5 off $50 coupons, and to make sure I have more items than coupons and what coupons I need to gather. Notice the first two items (phayzyme and bayer aspirin) give a nice overage, and they boost the total up. We usually give these items away since we don't use them.

 

Product	qty	price	subtotal	minus Q	TOTAL	Q#	Q details
phayzyme	4	$2.99	$11.96	$18.00	-$6.04	6	$2/1 1/10 MQ + $5/2 PQ
bayer	2	$2.47	$4.94	$7.00	-$2.06	3	$1/1 1/10 MQ + $5/2 PQ
lettuce	1	$1.49	$1.49	$0.00	$1.49
cucumber	1	$0.75	$0.75	$0.00	$0.75
red cabbage	1	$1.49	$1.49	$0.00	$1.49
banana	1	$0.63	$0.63	$0.00	$0.63
carrots	1	$1.89	$1.89	$0.00	$1.89
mushrooms	1	$1.49	$1.49	$0.00	$1.49
Zhills water 2.5 gal	1	$2.99	$2.99	$1.00	$1.99	1	$1/1 blinkie
24pk Publx water	1	$4.49	$4.49	$4.49	$0.00	1	free PQ peelie
$off coupon	1	$0.00	$0.00	$5.00	-$5.00	1	$5 off $50 PQ
tostitos chips	2	$3.00	$6.00	$3.10	$2.90	4	$0.55 MQ+0.50 TQ
tostitos salsa BOGO	2	$3.19	$3.19	$3.19	$0.00	1	2.50 tearpad
croutons texas toast	2	$1.49	$2.98	$1.00	$1.98	2	.50 MQ
GE light bulbs BOGO	2	$1.99	$1.99	$2.50	-$0.51	2	$1.50 MQ+1/1 MQ
peanuts	1	$3.29	$3.29	$1.00	$2.29	1	$1/2 MQ
onions, green	1	$0.60	$0.60	$0.00	$0.60
french hamb rolls	1	$1.65	$1.65	$0.00	$1.65

 

Last week we had a similar shop, and spent $7.11 and saved $62.68 (89%). We've been eating meat and meals from the freezer. So the total so far this year spent on groceries is $92.73 with a savings of $381, with YTD savings of 91%. In case you're wondering how I figured this out, I'm using the Grocery Savings Tracker created by Stephanie at Couponing 101.com. She has great instructions how to upload it to Google Docs and then I can access it from any computer or location. I also keep my weekly calculation on Google Docs so I can work on it from any location. I highly recommend this.

Tampa Is The Second Most Frugal City in America

 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - (Business Wire) A Georgia peach tastes especially sweet when purchased with a coupon, if Atlanta residents have anything to say about it.

The Georgia state capital tops the list of Most Frugal U.S. Cities, according to the 2009 Savings Index¹ released today by Coupons.com, the premiere Web destination for coupons and savings. The average Coupons.com user in Atlanta saved over $531 using coupons from the site in 2009. Tampa, Florida follows closely in the number two position.
"The top couponing cities reveal the tremendous savings potential coupons offer nowadays," said Jeanette Pavini, Coupons.com Household Savings Expert. "By spending just minutes each week printing online coupons, anyone can really cut back on their household expenses. I don't need to tell people in Atlanta and Tampa that coupons are essentially found money."
Cities in the Midwest and South account for almost one-half of this year's top couponing locales. Ohio alone is represented three times – Cincinnati (#3), Cleveland (#8) and Columbus (#20) – making it the country's most frugal state. St. Louis (#4), Minneapolis (#5), Kansas City (#10), Indianapolis (#16) and Wichita, Kansas (#19) also add to the Midwest contingent.
The South's strength in couponing is reflected in the fact that more than one-third of the top 20 couponing cities are in the Southern region of the United States. In addition to Atlanta and Tampa, other Southland cities on the list are: Nashville (#6), Charlotte, North Carolina (#7), Raleigh, North Carolina (#11), Oklahoma City (#13), Miami (#14) and Dallas (#18).
Pittsburgh, coming in ninth, is the top-ranking Northeastern city in the Index. That city along with Boston (#12) and Washington, DC (#15) make up the Northeast's only representation.
Just one Western city made this year's top 20 list, according to the Coupons.com Savings Index: Denver, ranking number 17.
"Multiple cities in both Ohio and North Carolina appear on the list," said Pavini. "Shoppers in all parts of the U.S. should look to the Buckeye and Tar Heel states, where consumers are putting money in their pockets every month by using coupons smartly."

Rank			City		State		Savings Index
1.			Atlanta		GA		918
2.			Tampa		FL		522
3.			Cincinnati		OH		511
4.			Saint Louis		MO		468
5.			Minneapolis		MN		351
6.			Nashville		TN		308
7.			Charlotte		NC		306
8.			Cleveland		OH		272
9.			Pittsburgh		PA		254
10.			Kansas City		MO		254
11.			Raleigh		NC		243
12.			Boston		MA		229
13.			Oklahoma City		OK		207
14.			Miami		FL		205
15.			Washington		DC		191
16.			Indianapolis		IN		186
17.			Denver		CO		186
18.			Dallas		TX		186
19.			Wichita		KS		159
20.			Columbus		OH		152

About Coupons.com Incorporated
Coupons.com Incorporated is the leader in digital coupons. The company's flagship, Coupons.com, is the premier site on the Web dedicated to coupons and savings. Coupons.com currently has 19.5 million unique monthly visitors, making it the 39^th largest Web property in the U.S., according to Nielsen data for October 2009. Coupons.com carries offers from hundreds of top brands, such as Johnson & Johnson, General Mills, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft Foods and Clorox, and works with hundreds of retailers, including Kroger, Safeway, CVS, Walgreens and Kmart. The company also offers the Coupons.com and Grocery iQ mobile applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Coupons.com Incorporated was founded in 1998 and is based in Mountain View, California. To learn more or start printing coupons, visit www.coupons.com. To learn more about the company, visit www.couponsinc.com.
¹ Savings Index ranks cities (with a population of 300,000 or more) based on each city's total printed coupon savings on Coupons.com and the Coupons.com network in 2009 relative to its population size. With an index of 918, Atlanta residents are nine times more likely to print coupon savings than the average American city dweller.

source: Coupons.com

Fit Day Free Online Diet Journal

Whoa. I sure ate a lot this weekend. I finally weighed myself and find that my jeans are tight. I need to go on a diet. I thought it was from not biking, and that perhaps just adding biking to my daily routine would help me maintain. But I have exceeded the cushion of safety in my weight and it is time for some serious efforts here. I think part of the problem is the Eat From the Pantry Challenge and all the processed foods that we've been eating this month, but the stuff is going away from the freezer and fridge. It just landed on my fat ass. Just temporarily though.

 

One thing I'm going to do is start documenting everything I eat, and all my activities in a fitday online journal. It is a free tool that has helped me tremendously to lose weight in the past. When you document everything, its pretty obvious how fattening a certain food may be (like chicken wings) and how much exercise helps burn calories.

 

My goal is to lose 15 lbs by Easter.

I made the List!

How exciting, I made the Frugal Hacks Blogroll along with a bunch of other great bloggers. Check it out to find lots of deals!

More Curb Alerts

Well since today is a holiday for government employees we have another day for demolition before the new American Woodmark Cabinets arrive tomorrow. Did I ever mention how impressed I am with Lowe's and American Woodmark? No? Well I am.

So we're planning on removing everything except the sink. Earlier this week we put out the washer and dryer for curb alert and it was gone within minutes on craigslist. Then on Saturday, we put out the dishwasher and it was gone within a day. And then today we got rid of the stovetop and oven to one of the guys from earlier who emailed. All our appliances are gone now and it was so easy.

 

Now we have to continue to burn the old cabinets in fires, and chop them up for the trash man. Here's what's left of the old kitchen, just the sink. We cut the wall out between the dining room and the kitchen and it opens up the area and makes it seem really big.

More Peelies on TBT

The peelie for free 24 pk of water at Publix is on the Friday TBT. I just found a paper box with a bunch of them in it. Valid until 2/28/10.

Publix Peelie on Todays St Pete Times

The front page of the St Pete Times has a Gasparilla peelie that pulls off to reveal a coupon for a FREE 24 pack of Publix water bottles w/ a $30 purchase. I don't have mine with me but its valid into the middle of February.

Free Ebook

Add some romance to your table tonight, download this ebook

Great Paint Rebate

Well, for all you home remodelers, this a HOT deal, I know we're going to be getting some paint for the kitchen remodel.

 

You can get $5 off one Gallon of paint, or $20 off a 5 gallon pail. You must buy the paint between 1/14/10-1/18/10 (this weekend) to be eligible for the rebate. Most of these brands are sold at Home Depot.

Types of paint that qualify for the mail in rebate:
–BEHR® Interior and Exterior Paints and Primers, Decorative Finishes, Waterproofers, Stains and Cleaners
–GLIDDEN® Interior and Exterior Paints
–RALPH LAUREN® Paints and Specialty Finishes
–FRESHAIRE CHOICE™ Paint
Offer not valid on America's Finest, SpeedWall, SpeedCote, UltraHide, Glidden Porch and Floor, Standard Flat Ceiling Paint and PVA Primers, Professional Finishes, Gildden Stucco & Masonry Paint.

Kraftmaid

Kraftmaid has this free kitchen idea book available now, click the banner to order yours, Hurry they go quick!

We just finished remodeling our bathrooms with Kraftmaid cabinets and they look beautiful. Unfortunately, the quality is really crappy. The doors are hung crooked on hinges applied sloppily. Of our four cabinets, three have problems. When we got the replacement cabinet door, it was missing the anchors to attach to cabinet and they sent the wrong part 2 times. After two months, we are still in limbo with them.

So go ahead get the book, dream about a beautiful cabinet, and then wakeup in the middle of a nightmare.