The Quest to Lower my $OOP for Groceries in 2011!
Well here we are on the first day of 2012! The 2011 quest is over and I can definitively say "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!" With your help we rocked those savings and made good use of loyalty programs! Thanks to everyone again for your support of the quest via this thread; your comments, updates of your own journeys and all the other deals and brag threads really helped us to end the year so well. Happy New Year! May your grocery carts be full and your $OOP be light! (tried to go with the rhyme, hope it makes sense!) HUGS!!!:flowers:
DECEMBER 2011
Total Value of groceries purchased: $373.82
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/SPC discount/SDM &PC points used: $260.72 (Thank you MEGA REDEMPTION at SDM majority of stock up for fridge, freezer and pantry was FREE, free, free!!!!!)
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $35.56! (Zellers and Gas card promos)
Total Airmiles Earned: N/A - not sure right now but I have enough for another gas card or will probably wait to get a Metro voucher again.
DECEMBEER Total $ OOP on groceries: $77.54!
:excited:Woohoo! I was hoping to hit $60 or under but I RAOK'd my $20 Metro voucher. What a way to end the year though...and I'm so glad I tracked this because now I have a monthly benchmark for my 2012 Quest! I'll get the new thread up soon! So many good things to look forward to in 2012 including the first free spree with FPCs!!!!
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NOVEMBER 2011: So sorry all! November was a month of transition so my receipts didn't get organized as usual nor did I have time to track anything. No totals to share but we did save $ and racked up enough points to enjoy mega redemption at Shoppers in early December.
OCTOBER 2011:
Total Value of groceries purchased: $338.12
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/points used: $101.44
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $49.77
October Total $ OOP on groceries: $186.91! 56% SAVINGS!!!!! woohoo! Thanksgiving and birthday dinner (I made steak and lobster for hubby) added to our totals but with more than half saved off the bill we still have reason to celebrate!
I stuck to my plan and only got Ziploc bags at the No Frills $1/$2/$3 sale. :lolsign: Great sale but didn't need anything really...still lots to use up. Will do the first round of November groceries this week; getting the meal plans ready so we can continue to stay on target.
Hope your grocery runs are treating you and your wallet well!
:flowers:
September 2011
Total Value of groceries purchased: $276.72
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/SPC discount/SDM points used: $70.14
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $20
Total Airmiles earned: 6 (from grocery purchases, but I earned more than 200 AMs from purchases at Rexall!)
September Total $ OOP on groceries: $186.58 - still happy! Saved $90!!
September is still is a record for us: the MOST $ OOP on groceries in a long while! Ha ha! I'll admit to cringing a few times when seeing the receipt but it is what it is. As mentioned before, the food stockpile dwindled significantly so we needed some key items pronto. Meat costs the most but I did score some great deals at Food Basics and Walmart. Onwards and upwards!
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August 2011
Total Value of groceries purchased: $270.70
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/SPC discount/SDM points used: $175.83
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $23.24
August Total $ OOP on groceries: $71.63! Yay yay yay!!!! Wasn't sure we'd pull it off by those last MIRs helped lower the bill!
I found a great deal on sausage meat and rainbow trout that I couldn't pass up. The trout tasted soooooo good...did one in a mustard and cracked pepper seasoning, the other in butter and herbs...mmmmmm mmmmm good! Well worth it. :cheesygrin:
I'll tell ya now, September is a bust! :lolsign:We need a ton of everything as the last of the summer stockpile is dwindling fast! I've done my first big shop of the month and already spent close to $75! Ha ha! I also plan to keep my SDM points for closer to December so it'll be interesting to just what the numbers look at at month's end.
Thanks for journeying with me!
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July 2011
Total Value of groceries purchased: $179.95 - thanks to decent stockpile from June we didn't need to buy much!
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/SPC discount/SDM &PC points used: $73.17
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $10! (Free GC thanks to Stouffers promo!)
Total Airmiles Earned: 27
July Total $ OOP on groceries: $96.78!
I was hoping it'd be lower but c'est la vie- at least we're averaging out okay.
I'm secretly (well, now not so secretly :lolsign:) wishing to do one more month where to total is less than $60! Here's hoping!
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June 2011
Total Value of groceries purchased: $349.99
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/SPC discount/SDM points used: $187.58
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $20 (Metro voucher thanks to Airmiles!)
Total Airmiles Earned: 2 for grocery purchases. Earned 93 through other purchases at Rexall's bonus event...on my way to another grocery voucher soon!
June Total $ OOP on groceries: $142.41! 60% savings!
So, I knew that my plan was to stock up on the essentials this month. I did a huge stock up on meat- $45 worth which amounted to 14 packages of chicken breast/thighs! I have coupons in reserve for ground beef and will grab some more shrimp/fish at next sale.
I'm happy with this stockpile of goodies...my chest freezer is almost full to brim; cupboards and pantry are set for a good while. The stockpile should take us through to mid-July and I'll only have to buy bread, fruit and veggies in the meantime.
So glad I learned (from SCers) how to shop smarter! Thanks all!
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May 2011 (as of May 25)
Total Value of groceries purchased: $208.76
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/SPC discount/SDM points used: $137.06
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $10.35 (found $0.35 at the park! it all adds up! :-))
Total Airmiles Earned: To be added later
May Total $ OOP on groceries: $61.35! :excited::excited:
UPDATE May 25! What a super great weekend of shopping! So many things for free, nearly free. Incredible. Just in the past few days of final grocery runs, I got $91.79 worth of stuff for ..... $24.51!!!!!!!!! Full brag details will be in another thread and I'll reference it in the final post on this thread too.
Ack!!!! I love it! I used a $10 GC from stouffers promo to cover my milk stock up and lucked out at Walmart on some meat- along with coupon overages I was laughing while lugging my purchases! Cashier was doubly amazed and asked "where did you get all those coupons?". I was more than happy to share! We're now stocked up til early June.
Til the next grocery run...
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so it seems my pattern is the same, by mid-month I'm usually around the $30 mark and then the "fate of the quest" lies in the remaining 15 days! Milk, meat and produce are the clincher items so here's hoping for more great sales. Would be nice to see Lactancia milk on sale! I miss the $3.88 price at Food Basics and I'm hanging on to my coupies for just such a sale! Oh well, gotta get it regardless but here's hoping!
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April 2011
Total Value of groceries purchased: $234.17 (Metro, SDM, No Frills, RCSS, Oceans)
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/SPC discount/SDM points used: $132.22!!!! ($100 shopping spree at SDM for bonus redemption covered lots of groceries and then some!)
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $30! (Free GCs thanks to Stouffers and Pepsi/Tostitos promos!)
Total Airmiles Earned: 3
April Total $ OOP on groceries: $71.95! :excited:
So it's not the lowest OOP to date but the savings is always a joy to behold! Needed to do a big meat stock up, also eggs, milk and veggies etc; we had two dinners with guests this past weekend. Groceries also included FPCs on Stouffers so I have 2x $10 GCs on their way as I entered 24 pin codes! Woohoo!!!
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March 2011
Total Value of groceries purchased: $351.31
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/SPC discount/SDM points used: $269.27!!!! ($200 shopping spree at SDM for bonus redemption!)
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $20 (Zellers & PC)
Total Airmiles Earned: 124
March Total $ OOP on groceries: $62.04 !!!!!!!!!!!!!:shock::shock::shock: Love that!
April's looking good: between Stouffers and Tostitos promos plus a $5 GC from a prior trade, I have $45 in GCs saved for groceries and will probably use up some SDM points if needed. Woohoo, another great month of grocery savings!
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February 2011
February totals weren’t as low as Jan’s but I did manage to get a lot of stuff for ½ the $ OOP and I earned more Airmiles towards yet another grocery GC
Here’s the rundown:
Total Value of groceries purchased: $252.91
Total Value of FPCs/Coupons/SPC discount used: $48.75
Total $ of GC/vouchers used: $90!!! (Hooray for Airmiles and Zellers!)
Total Airmiles Earned: 63 (added to my balance at that time, I earned a $20 GC for Metro which I used in at the end of Feb before the bonus airmiles printable coupon expired…so more airmiles for us! I miss that coupon...I was hoping they'd release on for march but haven't seen one yet. )
Feb Total $ OOP on groceries: $114.16!
I love that! We got all our favorite goodies, and gladly when I shop at the Zellers with a grocery section, they let me price match, use coupons and save $10% with SPC!
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January 2011
Thanks to all your tips and posts, I was able to stock up a lot of food and household items back in December and got them for a fraction of the actual costs due to some great coupons that were expiring end of December – not to mention some super great sales to pair them with!
So for the month of January, we were living off our stockpile and I only had to buy meat, produce, bread and juices. Using more great coupons and GCs/vouchers scored from MIRs and Airmiles my grand total of actual $ OOP for January groceries is around $60…for the entire month! We’ve never done that before! :shock::shock:
And I’ve got another set of gift cards and rebate cheques rolling in to help cover off costs in February!!!!!! Love that!
Aside from all the great savings tips, deal lists and feeding my couponing vice, I love that SC has become one of the safe spaces I come to to relax, unwind, catch some jokes, connect with friends and learn how much savvier I can be in the next shopping trips!
I honestly never thought I'd truly do anything big on any social network. When MySpace came out, I didn't even sign up. And after a three week frenzy on the Facebook craze, I pop in every once in a while but definitely have not posted anything near 1,000 posts, let alone near 2,000!!
So thanks SC! You're the greatest, sweetest, "cheapest", friendliest, most caring bunch of people I have never met! And I look forward to remaining connected for many more posts to come!