Today's shopping trip

I ran into Harris Teeter this morning with Nathan in tow before heading to work. I hadn't seen a lot on the list of Harris Teeter deals that I needed, so I used only 3 coupons. The yogurt was free and the peanut butter was a money maker. In all I spent $2.95 for all 6 items, and that to me was a good deal. Kroger has some good deals this week with their Mega savings deals that I would recommend checking out.

Walmart berries

During a quick trip into Walmart tonight with Luke and Nathan, we found a good deal on strawberries and blueberries. The strawberries were only $1.50 for a pound! The blueberries were $3 for 18oz. That's just barely cheaper than it cost for me to pick them at the berry farm. I like the idea of picking them locally, but I was happy to save some money and sweat. We picked up 3 lbs. of the strawberries to freeze for smoothies and desserts. Yum!

Harris Teeter bright and early

There once was a mommy who decided not to give her son his bottle before bedtime. Instead, she just gave him a sippy cup of milk at dinner, two hours earlier than usual. So, her little boy then woke up 2 hours earlier than normal at the dark, sleepy hour of 4:30am. After trying to soothe him back to sleep, he began to relentlessly scream until a bottle was placed in his mouth. After which he went back to sleep for a few more hours. This half asleep mother then decided, while fumbling through the kitchen, that she didn't care if her son had a bottle the rest of his life, she did not want to wake up at 4:30am against her will ever again. By this time, the mommy was already awake, so she decided, "Why not make the most of the morning?" She showered, read, had tea, and then headed to Harris Teeter to cash in on the Super Doubles. Yes, she became one those moms that stood at the register with her coupon notebook in hand along with the other peppy morning coupon shoppers waiting for the clock to strike 7am so that she could check out. Upon checking out, she was rather thankful that her son had woken her up early so that she could experience coupon shopping without any of the items being sold out. She was thankful that she was able to bring her $86 bill down to $43. "Maybe waking up so early isn't that bad" she thought, at least until tomorrow morning.

A Way to Save

While standing in front of the milk cooler at the grocery store, my eyes lit up when I saw organic milk for $2.85. I moved into quick action to claim my gallon. The milk was 50% off because the expiration date was 3 days away. However, at the rate we're going through milk, I knew it wouldn't be a problem to use it within 3-4 days. In most cases, you can go past the date one or two days, and it is still fine. This made me remember and think of an easy way to save money at the grocery store. Look for markdowns on items that are nearing their posted date. Most of the time, the items are perfectly fine but are marked down to get a sale in before they have to be thrown away since the grocery store is not allowed to sell the items past their posted sell by date. I have found produce marked down for a great deal. If you find bananas, berries, or other fresh fruit that is marked down because it is a little overripe and you can't use it that day, you can take them home, chop them, and freeze them. This is great for making smoothies! I've also found really good deals on meat this way. As with the fruit, if you can't use it within 1-2 days, freeze it. Now that's an easy way to save, and no coupons required!

Harris Teeter Triples!

With the help of my husband, Luke, I finally got my coupons organized by setting up a coupon notebook. I was thrilled to see those little coupons so neatly arranged and categorized. Maybe now I could make sense of it all and actually put them to good use. Much to my delight, Harris Teeter just happened to start triple coupons a few days later. It was like a small reward for the work put into organizing the notebook, and boy did it pay off! I went to Harris Teeter on day one of the triples and got some great deals. I especially loved knowing that I actually got some things for free! My total before coupons was $69 and after was $29. This resulted in a coupon high. I went back the next day to finish my shopping. I again saved $40 with coupons. It's amazing what a little organizing can do. If you are clipping coupons but haven't quite been able to maximize their use, like me, I highly recommend finding an organizing system that works for you. It's well worth it! I know there are others out there that are much better and more experienced at this than me. I would love to hear your tips. Feel free to post and share.