Yesterday

Yesterday DH and I went out to breakfast as we often do on a Saturday morning. After that, he came home to rest and work on some projects and I went to do our commissary shopping. That's grocery shopping to the non-military. I haven't been shopping since more than a week before we went to Paris. That's quite a while. Of course I have picked up fresh milk and bread, but other than that no. Well my coupon file has grown to 3 times its normal size due to a recent influx of new coupons and a HUGE envelope of expired coupons sent to me by Crystal. At commissaries in Europe we can use coupons up to 6 months past their expiration date. This then is a recap of the wonderful deals I got. I got a box of microwave popcorn for free. It was 69 cents on sale and I had a coupon for $1 off. So they actually paid me 31 cents to take it home. Then I had several coupons for $3 off of 2 Herbal Essence None of Your Frizziness products. The shampoo and conditioner was on sale for $1.99 each. I ended up getting 10 bottles for 50 cents each. I know that's a lot but I have VERY long hair and use a lot of conditioner. I got a bottle of Olay Ribbons body wash for 39 cents. it was 2.39 and I had a $2 off coupon. I got 3 Dunkin Hines cake mixes and 3 of their cans of frosting for a total of 2.97. The cake mix was on sale for 75 cents and the frosting for 99 cents and I had 3 coupons for 75 cents off if you buy the mix and frosting. I know that seems like a lot of cake, but in the army it seems like there is always a pot luck or a bake sale or an FRG function or something to bring a desert for so we go through a lot of it. 3 4-cup packages of Kraft shredded cheese on sale for $2 each and I had a coupon for $1 off of 3 so I got them for $5. Normally they would be $11.01 for all 3 of them. Scott bathroom tissue 4-packs were on sale for $2 and had a $1 coupon so got if for $1. A bottle of Suave strawberry shampoo was on sale for 95 cents and I had a 50 cent off coupon so I got it for 45 cents. My husband may wash his hair with it but I like it for body wash. Maxwell house coffee the big can marked down from $7.19 to $5.29 and a dollar coupon for that made it 4.29. Coffee is rationed over here and it's very expensive so it's especially nice to get sales and coupons. Also, DH is the coffee drinker in our family and he only likes Maxwell House so buying the cheaper brands is out of the question. In addition to that the commissary only sells name brand goods so generic anything is not an option although you can usually get cheaper brands like Ralston cereal for a lot less than Kellogg's or Post etc. The last two exciting deals I got were 2 quarts of Juicy Juice for 89 cents and 4 boxes of garlic mashed potatoes for 40 cents each both due to combining sales with coupons. I had other coupons and other sale items but not exciting enough to mention. Oh except that I got a Dove deodorant stick for 69 cents and 3 Lady Speed Stick for 50 cents each. All in all I saved $45.08 in coupons and at least $30 in sales. So, we got about $202 worth of groceries for $127. Now I realize that it sounds like a lot for a family of 2. However, except for a small amount of milk, eggs, produce, and fresh bread that is all the groceries I will buy for a month. We eat a lot of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables and we don't eat a lot of bread. So figure another maybe $50 for the fresh stuff and we spend on average $60-$65 per week for groceries. Also the hair care and deodorant will last for some months like the toothpaste has that I stocked up on a couple of months ago so those things will not be bought again unless I find sale/coupon combinations that get me them for free or less than 50 cents. lol and when I'm well stocked up like I am now it must be closer to free depending on what it is.

So that was yesterday. The rest of the day was spent pleasantly putting away groceries, fixing dinner for us, preparing 2 baked spaghetti dishes for the pot-luck at church today, and hanging out with my Alan.