Super Savings Sleuth or Crazy Coupon Lady?

This morning at Kroger I ran into a good friend. When I asked, "Are you here for the big one-day sale?" she gave me a blank look. I continued a bit too eagerly, "You know: Kashi, Kellogg's, and Keebler have lots of half off items today." "Oh, that's nice," she replied. Later when I noticed she was buying only one box of cereal and my cart was loaded with 12, I thought to myself: Have I gone over the edge? Have I advanced to a Super Savings Sleuth or have I transformed into Crazy Coupon Lady?

Last night I spent nearly an hour printing and sorting an arsenal of potential coupons to use today. Since I take 2 kids with me and allow myself one hour grocery shopping, I have to be organized. Thanks to Coupon Katie's tip on one coupon that rewards $5 for buying 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereal, this trip wasn't just about saving money. Today was a test to see if I could finally save more money than I spend.

On the way in, I passed one guy exiting with 20 boxes of cereal. Am I already too late? Have all the best deals been snatched up? It's only 7:45am! I bee lined it to the cereal aisle. I relaxed when I saw the aisles weren't empty yet. Panic's over, folks. Methodically, I selected all our favorites and put corresponding coupons into my envelope. Lately my standards for cereal bargains have gone up: only coupons worth $1 or more per box are good enough. And in general, If I can't find an item on sale AND use a coupon, no deal! My, how I've changed in just a few months!

When I checked my savings at home, I was practically giddy with pride. Through Kroger sales, E-savings, and manufacturer's coupons, I saved $92.77 and spent only $67.56! I saved 84% off the Kellogg cereals ($.44 - $.59 per box) and 60% off Kashi cereals. I got 2 small Pillsbury crescent rolls for free (buy 2 at $1 each, Cellfire discounts $1, and $.50/2 is doubled). I got Kellogg Cereal Bars for $.74 a box and Keebler cookies for $.62 a package. And though it was expensive, I bought one beef tenderloin since it was more than half off (spent $27.05 and saved $15.48). Hey, I can splurge on occasion!

I'm sure to my friend, there was no doubt I had become a little obsessed with this new bargain hunting game of mine. While she was sipping her Starbucks latte, I was flipping through a sea of coupons. Call me crazy if you will, but this game has only just begun.

Cereal for a Steal

Money Saving Margaret is back, and over the past week, the best grocery deals I've been able to find are on cereal. My friend Tina had told me that she never pays more than $1.50 a box...ever! Since most cereals usually cost $3 - 4, I was stunned at how she did that. Well, I'm proud to say that I have now paid as little as $.47 for a box of cereal and here's how I did it.

Thanks to a tip from Coupon Katie, I went to Target last week for Kellogg's cereals. They had a deal: buy 3, get 1 free. They also had Target coupons for $1 off each box; I printed 4. Lastly, I found 4 manufacturer's coupons for various cereals for $1 off each box. Raison Bran was the cheapest, but I only had one coupon that matched with RB. Therefore, I got 1 Frosted Mini Wheats, 2 Special K, and 1 Raison Bran for a total of $1.87 or $.47 a box. If I'd had more coupons for Raison Bran, I could have gotten them all for free.

Though Kroger does not have many deals this week, they are having a similar sale on General Mills cereals: buy 4, save $4. Armed with 4 $.75 coupons and one Cellfire discount of $.55, I purchased 2 Multigrain Cheerios and 2 boxes of Kix for $4.23, or $1.06 a box. My husband thinks I've gotten some of my mother's "drawbridge mentality" (a drawbridge between me and the store could go up at any moment and we'd be ready to survive), but that's ok. I won't have to buy cereal for months. One thing's for sure: I'm never paying full-price again.