Laurie's Kroger Trip (And How My Hourly Rate Just Went Up To $180/Hour)

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Goodness, Kroger’s Mega Sale is hopping with deals this week! Yesterday my sweet husband was nice enough to drive me to Kroger as the snow started to fall (it wasn’t that bad out, but apparently he was afraid of me driving in the snow?) Anyways, it took us a solid hour to get through the store (and he was not enjoying it), but we scored some really fun deals.

On the way home I was looking over my receipts and realized 70% of my savings came from store sales ads, while just 30% of the discounts were because of coupons. I kind of questioned whether or not the coupons savings was worth my time.

Then I did the math.

In 10 minutes of clipping coupons (I used the 10 minute or less list + just a few more coupons that I quickly found HERE), I saved THIRTY DOLLARS.

$30 to spend on dinner out in a pinch.

$30 to buy my kids a cute outfit.

$30 to spend on absolutely anything I want to besides groceries.

For me that’s worth it?

(It actually adds up to an hourly salary of $180. Not too shabby for a stay at home momma!)

And did I mention I saved another $70 just by shopping the sales ads?

Yup, worth a few minutes to scan through the deals before heading out for sure. 😉 Here’s what I bought:

Transaction #1 (priced based on Mega Sale Savings, purchasing in groups of 6)

2 Hormel Pepperoni $2.49

6 Kraft Easy Mac $.49

2 Hormel Pizza Wraps $1.49

2 Lender Bagels $1.29

2 Perdue Chicken $3

2 Digiorno Pizzas $3.99

2 Goldfish $.99

1 Hormel Turkey Lunch Meat $2.99

1 Thomas Bagels $2.49

2 Pringles Chips $.99

2 Oreos $2.49

1 Smart Balance Butter $1.99

1 Aunt Jemima Syrup $2.99

2 Planters Peanuts $.99

4 2 Liters Sunkist & A&W $.75

2 Quaker Rice Cakes $.79

3 Barilla Pastas $.89

2 Pace Salsa $1.49

1 Old El Paso Tortilla $.99

1 bag Granny Smith Apples $3.99

1 Philadelphia Cream Cheese $1.49

1 Baby Spring Mix Salad $4.99

2 Planters Nuts 2.79

Used $.50/1 Philadelphia Cream Cheese
Used $2/2 DiGiorno Pizzas
Used (2) $1.50 2 Liters and Pringles coupon
Used $1/3 Barilla Pasta
Used (2) $1/2 Planters
Used $1/2 Hormel Pepperoni
Used $.50/1 Hormel product coupon
Used $1/2 Hormel Wraps
Used $1/2 Pace Salsa
Used $1/1 Old El Paso Tortillas (was supposed to also buy an avocado I think but I forgot!)
Used $.40/1 Thomas Bagel Thins coupon from the 1/11 Smart Source insert (could also use $.50/1 Thomas Bagel Thins)
Used $1/2 Quaker coupon from the 1/4 Red Plum insert
Used $1 off Bag of Apples Kroger store coupon (mailed out to me)
Used $1 off fresh produce Kroger store coupon (mailed out to me)
Paid $59.71, got $1 catalina towards my next purchase (from the Kraft Easy Mac purchase)

Transaction #2 (priced based on Mega Sale Savings, purchasing in groups of 6)

Bought 2 Goldfish $.99

Bought 2 Carefree Pads $1 (not part of Mega Sale)

Bought 3 Kleenex $.99

Bought 2 Speedstick $2.99

Bought 2 Tide Pods $4.49

Bought 1 Listerine Floss $1.49

Bought 1 Reynolds Foil $2.99

Bought 1 Viva Paper Towels $.99

Used $1/3 Kleenex or $1/3 coupon from the 1/11 Smart Source insert
Used $1/1 Listerine Floss
Used (2) $2/1 Tide Pods
Used (2) $2/1 Speedstick (I think Lady Speedstick was on sale as well, so print those while you’re at it!)
Used (2) $.50/1 Carefree pads
Used $.50/1 Viva coupon from the 1/11 Smart Source insert
Used $1/1 Reynold’s Foil from 1/4 Red Plum insert
Used $1/1 catalina from Easy Mac purchase in first transaction
Paid $13.88

Now, I did buy a few things I wouldn’t normally purchase without coupons (the Hormel Rev Wraps but will be an easy meal for my son, the 2 liters of soda but I’ll either save them for a day when a bunch of kids are over or to donate to a local youth ministry, and the Quaker chips but at 29¢ I couldn’t pass them up!) All in all I was pretty pleased with my savings, and decided it was well worth a few minutes of my time.