Week 22: How I Saved $170
Welcome to How I Saved: Week 22! I decided to change the format a little, in case you’ve been following along for a while.
If you’re new, you can check out the rest of the How I Saved Series here.
I share my savings every week in hopes that the money savings tactics can be useful in your life. We’re putting all the money we save toward paying off our mortgage early.
Tip: Check out the Money Saving Resources page to see the resources I use to plan my shopping trips!
This post may contain affiliate links. You can view my full disclosure policy here.
On to the deals!
Here’s how I saved from May 28 – June 3:
GROCERY SAVINGS:
This week I did all my grocery shopping at Kroger. They were having one of their awesome Mega Event sales going on. I also had a $25 credit for transferring a prescription to the Kroger pharmacy.
Kroger Savings:
- (6) Kleenex tissue (54 cents each) – Mega Event priced at 79 cents each, less two 75 cents off 3 coupons from the newspaper
- (2) Kleenex antibacterial wipes (FREE) – Mega Event priced at 79 cents, minus one $1 off printable coupon, and one $1 off Kroger digital coupon
- Cottonelle toilet paper and wipes ($3.99 each) – Mega Event sale priced for $4.99 each. I had a peelie coupon for $2 off, if I bought a pack of toilet paper and a package of Cottonelle wipes.
- (2) Viva paper towel big packs ($4.24) – Mega Event priced at $4.99, less two 75 cents off newspaper insert coupon.
- There was a Kimberly-Clark brand Catalina coupon (prints at the register) if you bought $25+ of their products in a single transaction. I bought the items above in order to receive that coupon. After the sales and coupons, I paid $19.70 for everything, plus got the $5 off coupon to spend on anything for my next shopping trip.
- (2) Stayfree products (99 cents each) – Mega Event sale priced for $1.99, less two $1 off newspaper insert coupons
- Palmolive dish soap (49 cents) – On Mega Event sale for 99 cents, with a 50 cents off Kroger digital coupon
- Colgate Optic White toothpaste (FREE) – Mega Event priced at $1.99, less a $2 off Kroger digital coupon
- (2) Zone Perfect protein bar boxes ($1.49) – Mega Event sale priced for $2.99, less two $1.50 off one Kroger digital coupons
- Kroger sour cream (99 cents) – Saturday only offer digital coupon (and it’s the big size!)
- Cascadian Farm organic cereal (99 cents) – On sale with the Mega Event for $1.99, with a $1 off Kroger digital coupon
- (5) Cheez-its Family Size ($1.99) – Saturday only offer digital coupon (I need these for a big party we’re having this summer.) A $2 off my next shopping trip coupon printed at the register because I bought the Cheez-its.
- Yoplait 8-pack yogurt ($1.49) – Mega Event priced for $2.49, less a $1 off Kroger digital coupon
- (2) Weber grilling seasoning (29 cents) – On sale with the Mega Event for 79 cents, with a $1 off 2 newspaper insert coupon
- Vitamin Water Active (FREE) – Free Friday digital coupon
- Core flavored water (FREE) – Free Friday digital coupon
- Sunny D (29 cents) – Mega Event priced at 79 cents, less a 50 cents off newspaper insert coupon
Amount Spent: $14.44 (after using $25 pharmacy transfer credit)
Amount Saved: $104.95 (including $25 pharmacy credit)
Percentage Saved: 88%
I also have $5 and $2 off coupons for anything on my next shopping trip for buying the paper products and Cheez-its.
Don’t worry, we’re not going to eat Kleenex for dinner hehe. Our freezer and pantry has plenty of food, plus we’re going out of town in a few days, so I didn’t want to buy many perishables.
If you want to learn how to slash your grocery budget in just 5 days, check out the FREE Grocery Shopping Makeover Challenge!
Ibotta Savings: $1.75
Here’s the cash back I earned from Ibotta.
- 25 cents back on ‘any item’
- 25 cents on the sour cream
- 25 cents back on the vitamin water
- 50 cents on the Cottonelle toilet paper
- 50 cents back on the Cottonelle wipes
New to Ibotta? Click here to sign up, and get a $10 welcome bonus through this link!
Signing up through the app instead? Use code uwhaflc to get your $10 bonus.
Miscellaneous Savings:
Electricity credit:
A few week back, our power went out for about 18 hours. I have no idea why; there wasn’t a storm or anything. When I went on the DTE Energy website a week or so later to pay our bill, I noticed a message saying that people could apply for a credit if their power had gone out. Since ours had, I filled out the simple form. I was expecting a $1 credit or something, for the hours we were without electricity.
But when I got the bill, they had given us a $25 credit! Yippee!
Bath & Body Works:
Does anyone else get inundated with Bath & Body Works emails? Every once in a while, they’re useful. Their hand soap is the best, and we were running low, so I opened the email when I saw that they were on sale 6 for $18. I also had a coupon they had mailed me for 20% off, and one for a free item priced under $5.50.
I stopped in and got 6 hand soaps and a free travel-size body wash.
Sale + coupon = optimal savings!
Amount Spent: $15.26
Amount Saved: $26.07
Percentage Saved: 63%
Office Max:
I needed mailing labels to send out some invitations. I wanted to make sure Office Max had them in stock at my nearest location, so I checked their website on my phone. The website said they were on sale for $8.
When I got to the store, they were not on sale. I asked the cashier if they price match to the website, and he said they do. I just had to show him what I saw on my phone and he honored it.
Amount Spent: $8.48
Amount Saved: $6.35
Percentage Saved: 43%
Gasoline Savings:
Between doing the receipt surveys, and 2x and 4x fuel point promotions that Kroger’s been offering, I wound up with 40 cents off per gallon.
Amount Saved: $5.84
GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS FOR WEEK 22: $169.96
TOTAL SAVED YEAR-TO-DATE: $2135.13
Related articles:
-
Flat out broke? Start by doing these 5 things.
-
5 easy meal planning strategies for beginners
-
5 ways to save money on groceries without using coupons
-
12 things frugal people don’t do
You can read the rest of the How I Saved posts here.
Don’t forget to check out the Resources Page for tons of other money saving resources!
What are your favorite ways to save money?