Week 33: How I Saved $82 (and got a lot of free stuff!)

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Learn how to shop a Kroger Mega Event, get free stuff, and keep your grocery budget low with these easy money saving hacks.

Welcome to the 33rd week of the How I Saved Series! Each week I use my own shopping trips as examples of how to combine sales and coupons to keep your grocery budget low. Add in Ibotta rebates, and you’ll really be saving big time. If you want to learn how to shop a Kroger Mega Event, and other money saving tips, just keep reading!

If you’re new, you can check out the rest of the How I Saved Series here.

Tip: Check out the Money Saving Resources page to see what 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 the week of August 13 – August 19:

GROCERY SAVINGS:

KROGER:

Kroger is having another one of their fabulous Mega Event sales. Many items are quite discounted if you buy a certain number of them. This week the promotion was Buy 5, Save $5.

Here’s what I bought:

  • Spray ‘n Wash laundry stain remover (99 cents) – Mega Event priced at $1.99, less a $1 off newspaper insert coupon
  • Zone perfect bars 5-pack ($1.24) – On Mega Event for $2.99, with a $1.75 off one Kroger digital coupon
  • (3) Bush’s Savory Beans (25 cents each) – On sale for $1.25, less three $1 off one newspaper insert coupons
  • (3) Freschetta frozen pizzas ($3.04 each) – Mega Event priced at $3.99, with a 95 cents off each Ibotta rebate
  • Cottonelle toilet paper ($2.99) – On Mega Event for $3.99, less a 50 cents off newspaper insert coupon, and a 50 cents off Ibotta rebate
  • Scott Comfort Plus toilet paper – ($2.49) – On Mega Event for $3.99, with a 50 cents off newspaper insert coupon and a $1 back Ibotta rebate
  • (5) Suave Professionals shampoo and conditioner (FREE) – Mega Event priced at 79 cents, less two $2 off two newspaper insert coupons, and a $1.50 off one Kroger digital coupon
  • (2) Garnier Fructis shampoo and treatment (29 cents each) – On Mega Event for $2.29, less a $4 off two newspaper insert coupon
  • (2) Suave Men’s shampoo (FREE) – Mega Event priced at 79 cents, less a $2 off two newspaper insert coupon
  • Extra Chewy Mints (FREE) – On sale for $1.50, with a $1.50 off one Kroger digital coupon
  • Zone perfect bar (FREE) – Free Friday Kroger digital coupon
  • (2) Crest toothpaste (FREE) – Mega Event priced at $1.99, less two $2 off one newspaper insert coupons
  • Colgate Optic White toothpaste (FREE) – On Mega Event for $1.99, with a $2 off one Kroger digital coupon
  • Kraft shredded cheese (99 cents) – Mega Event priced at $1.99, less a $1 off one Kroger digital coupon
  • (5) Kroger shredded cheese (99 cents each) – There was a Friday and Saturday promotion where you got up to 5 for 99 cents with the Kroger digital coupon

Learn how to shop a Kroger Mega Event, get free stuff, and keep your grocery budget low with these easy money saving hacks.

I also had a 25 cents off ‘any item’ Ibotta rebate.

Amount Spent (not including Ibotta rebates): $28.95

Amount Saved (not including Ibotta rebates): $66.26

Percentage Saved: 70%

If you want to learn how to slash your grocery budget in just 5 days, check out the FREE Grocery Shopping Makeover Challenge!

Aldi:

Aldi is kind of magical because the savings is effortless. You’ll save 30-40% just by shopping there instead of other stores.

Check out my list of the best 70 things to buy at Aldi!

This week at Aldi, I bought:

  • Pasta side dish (79 cents)
  • 40 oz peanut butter ($2.49)
  • Mild pepper rings ($1.49)
  • Grape jelly ($1.39)
  • Sauerkraut ($1.69)
  • Butter quarters ($2.55)
  • 3 lb apples ($2.99)
  • Mandarin orange 4-pack cups ($1.59)
  • Cotton swabs ($1.89)
  • (4) Taco seasoning mix packets (29 cents each)
  • Bread (75 cents)

Learn how to shop a Kroger Mega Event, get free stuff, and keep your grocery budget low with these easy money saving hacks.

I use a collapsible shopping basket like this one for my Aldi shopping.

Amount Spent: $21.78

Amount Saved (assuming at least 30% savings): $6.53

Ibotta Savings: $4.60

As mentioned above, my Ibotta rebates were:

  • 25 cents off any item at Kroger
  • $2.85 on Freshcetta pizza (95 cents back on each)
  • 50 cents back on Cottonelle toilet paper
  • $1 back on Scott Comfort toilet paper

Learn how to shop a Kroger Mega Event, get free stuff, and keep your grocery budget low with these easy money saving hacks.

I earn cash back from Ibotta on almost every shopping trip. You can redeem your earnings for money or gift cards to zillions of places.

New to Ibotta? Sign up below and earn an extra $10 on your first rebate.

Click here to sign up for Ibotta, and get a $10 welcome bonus through this link!

Signing up through the app instead? Use code uwhaflc to get your $10 bonus.

Gasoline Savings: $1.16

Nothing too exciting here, but the Kroger gas station was priced at 5 cents less per gallon, plus you always save 3 cents off per gallon with your Kroger card, so I saved 8 cents a gallon.

Miscellaneous Savings: $3.49

I wanted some gold spray paint to spruce up a bulletin board, so I used a 50% off coupon at Michael’s.

Learn how to shop a Kroger Mega Event, get free stuff, and keep your grocery budget low with these easy money saving hacks.

 

A quick note: We also save money by doing as many things as we can ourselves: from yard work to car washes to house cleaning, etc. We try to not eat at restaurants very often either. All that adds up to a lot of savings each year!

GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS FOR WEEK 33: $82.04

TOTAL SAVED YEAR-TO-DATE: $3538.10

Related articles:

You can catch up on 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!

How did you save money this week?

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