I am getting back in my groove.  For the last few weeks, I have been either out of town or just doing the bare-basics-shopping and skipping the bargain shopping.  But now my life is settling down a little (as much as it ever does, I guess), so I’m back in my blogging and money-saving grooves!

Last week we went significantly over budget, so I was trying to compensate for that this week.  We’re having a couple meals out of the freezer this week and the other meals don’t call for many ingredients that I don’t keep in the house all the time.  So basically I just needed produce and dairy products this week.  And I even had enough to take advantage of some good sales and add to the stockpile!  We only needed to go to Dillon’s and Hy-Vee.

On Sunday, I ran to Dillon’s and only got newspapers.

• 4 newspapers
  1.86 x 4 = 7.99 with tax

Today (Monday) we went to Dillon’s again and got:

• 1 watermelon
  3.99
• 3 Kroger ice creams
  0.99 x 3 = 2.97
• 2 corn on the cob skewer sets
  3.99 x 2 = 7.98
• Kroger brown sugar
  1.45
• 2 Kroger shredded cheese
  1.67 x 2 = 3.34
• Gerber Apple Wheels
  2.29
• Disinfecting Wipes
  3.99
• Hallmark card (not pictured)
  3.69
• Credit for using a reusable bag
  -0.05

Total w/ tax: 31.86; Total savings: 1.74

Here is what we got free from WIC.  This is half of what we get for the month, plus we get extra juice and 3 boxes of baby cereal once a month, too.  I hear that they’re changing their program though and we’ll be getting a lot more variety (fruits, vegetables, bread, etc.) too!!

This is our trip to Hy-Vee.  Obviously, we stocked up on cake and brownie mixes!!

• Jelly beans (courtesy of Ava)
  6.41
• 3 butters
  1.58 x 3 = 4.74
• 3 Hy-Vee brownie mixes
  0.99 x 3 = 2.97
• 7 Hy-Vee cake mixes
  0.94 x 7 = 6.58
• 2 Johnsonville smoked turkey hot dogs
  2.50 x 2 = 5.00
• 2 lbs Baby Carrots
  2.98 – 1.59 in-store coupon = 1.39
• Fresh Green Beans
  0.99 x 1.68 pounds = 1.66
• Green Grapes
  1.18 x 2.41 lbs = 2.84
• 10 Kiwis
  10 for $2.00
• Roma Tomatoes
  0.99 x 0.72 lbs = 0.71

Total w/ tax: 36.86; Total coupon (not sales) savings: 1.59

Total spending: 76.71; Total savings: 3.33

OK, so maybe I don’t completely have my coupon groove back, but I’m still way under budget!  I’ll be using more coupons next week!

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