My 2 days of Shopping.....and other frugal notes

Well, I haven't done any big shopping trips in awhile. I also haven't done many small trips due to the fact that money is very tight here at home. We have been living off the stockpile and veggies from my garden. We got 2 ice cream buckets FULL of green beans, 2 small bowls of raspberries and several bowls of strawberries.

But, my stockpile is about 1/3 of what it used to be. We were really running low on meat. So, the last two days I went out and shopped. I got very little and kept count of every penny! We still will eat down the stockpile and try to make due with what we have.

So, here is my trip:

Pick N Save:
Total before coupons: $96.16
After store card and coupons:$44.12
I picked up
1 ketchup, Free with meal deal
1 mustard, Free with meal deal
1 hamburger buns, 8 count, Free with meal deal
5 boxes of Quaker Granola Bars, 5/$10.00, had $1.00 off coupons for each, paid $5.00 and got the free milk coupon
1 box of Speghetti, on sale for $1.25, I had a $1.00 off coupon
8 Sobe Life waters, Had the BOGO coupons and they were on sale for $1.00.
6 Ice Cream Cups, On sale and I had $1.00 off coupons ( Yes, these weren't the best deal but my kids really wanted a treat and they came to .66 a cup. It was a fair trade because the kids wanted the $1.50 SINGLE ice cream bars at the pool the other day. This was my deal with them!)
MEAT COMBO DEAL: 3 pounds of boneless chicken, 3 pounds of brats and 2 pounds of hamburger patties.  $19.95
2 pounds of strawberries, on sale for $1.50 a pound
2 Country Crock Butter Tubs, they were BOGO and I had a coupon off
1 bag of bagels, on sale for $1.00
2 packs of Yo Plus yougart, BOGO sale and I had .55 cents off each pack. I paid .78 cents a pack
6 Dananino 6pks of Kids yougart, Free After Coupons
1 package of cheese slices, on sale for $1.89, not the "cheese product slices" acutal cheese slices. :)

I also stopped at Sentry:
Total before coupons: $54.22
Total after savings and coupons: $26.93
2 packages of Crab Legs, On sale BOGO and I had $1.00 off each package. So, $1.43 for 2
7 Dananino 6 pack Kids Yougart ( using up the last of my free coupons)
1 doz eggs, On sale for .69 cents, limit 1
1 package of english muffins
4 Dannon yogart cups, on sale for .62 cents, I had .15 cents off coupons that doubled.
4 Sobe juices, Used BOGO coupons
8 Sobe Life Waters, used BOGO coupons
3 pounds of ground beef for $1.99 a pound
6 pounds of chicken drumsticks, on sale for .89 cents a pound
1 gallon of milk, $1.99
2.27 pounds of grapes, on sale $1.29

Piggly Wiggly
Total before coupons: $44.66
Total after coupons and discounts: $25.53
1 Digarno Pizza, Free with coupon
6 Easy Mac Cups, on sale for .69 cents and I had BOGO coupons from the Kraft Mac Noodle Game ( save these cups for camping!)
M7M Pretzel bag, Free after coupon
5 Orvs Pizzas, on sale 5 for $11.00
2 boxes of Kraft Deluxe Mac and Cheese, $1.00 after sale and coupon
1 box of Smart Ones Scrambler, Free after Coupon
6 Starkist Tuna Pouch, on sale for $1.00 and I had B2GO coupons

Then I stopped at Kwik Trip and picked up 3 pounds of Bananas and some bread. $3.48
and Walmart for 2 liters of soda ( for camping) and some crackers for snacks $6.08

As you can see, this wasn't one of my big 80% off trips, but we really needed meat and such. I also wanted to use all the Free Coupons that expired by the end of the month. My total OOP was $106.14. I also got a free milk coupon for next time and my Fuel Perks for .20 cents off a gallon of gas on my next fill up.

Here is my menu for the next 3 weeks..I hope to have another paycheck for my summer work 3 weeks from now to do more shopping. I am still evaluating my stockpile to see what else I can make from that.

Breakfast:
Pancakes and syrup (3 days)
Eggs ( 3 days)
Yogart ( 4 days)
Canned Fruit - goes with yogart
Cereal  ( 4 days)
Oatmeal (2 days)
Waffles (3 days)
Egg in an English Muffin Sandwich (2 days)

Lunches:
Soups (2 days)
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (2 days)
Yogart (2 days)
Peanut Butter and Jelly (2 days)
Speghettis (2 days)
Mac and Cheese (6 days)
Bologna Sandwiches (3 days)

Husband's Lunches will include the Tuna pouches, shrimp bowls and the crab legs.

Dinners:
Chicken Drum Sticks ( 4 nights)
Boneless Chicken Breast ( 2 nights)
Hamburgers (2 nights)
Hamburger helper (2 nights)
Brats (2 nights)
Pizza (2 nights)
Speghetti (6 nights)
Beef Stew, with Beans, Potatoes and mixed veggies (1 night)

Sides for dinner
Green Beans
Mashed Potaotes
Pasta Salad
Apple sauce
Rice
Stuffing

One last note, I am sure some of you think that I must waste alot of gas running to all these stores. Well, the Piggly Wiggly is on the street I work on at my part time summer job so I jsut stopped on the way home. The Pick N Save is 15 minutes away and I had to pick up my husband's check from his part time job. I also had to run another errand out there. And the Sentry is very close to home. So, honestly, it's time more than gas that is spent. I am sure some people would think it's a waste of time. But, since I have time and almost no money, I will continue to shop this way because it gives me the most for my money.
Stay frugal everyone!