Hi Dad,

I know you’re interested in people saving money, so I thought I’d tell you about my Rainbow shopping trip today.  I attached a picture of everything I bought, with a list at the bottom.  Today is double coupon day at Rainbow.  You can double 5 coupons up to $1/ea with a purchase of $25 or more.

The full price for all those groceries without sale prices or coupons is $141.26. This is how I used to shop — very little regard for sales or coupons.

Factor in the sale price and the cost would be $101.00 — a savings of $40.26. This  also resulted in a $10 coupon good on my next order along with a free milk coupon good on the next order.

My price was $42.85 — a savings of $98.41 from full price and $58.15 from sale price.  I did it by matching items on sale with coupons and splitting it into 4 different transactions allowing me to double 20 coupons.  With the exception of the bananas, crackers, and muffin cup liners, everything I bought was on sale or had some sort of deal attached to it.  I also used the $10 coupon and free milk coupon right away, which was possible since I had 4 transactions.

I’ve spent the last 6 weeks building up our pantry and freezer which allows me to shop this way — just the sales.  I plan our menu one month at a time based on what we already have.  But, I do adjust it, if necessary,  based on what I may have bought.  For example, the cabbage will need to be eaten this week.  So, I’ll change one of our meals to incorporate it in.  But, I’ll only use what ingredients I have on hand, so no quick trips to the grocery store.

Here’s a picture of all my groceries:

Here’s the stuff I ended up getting for free:

• 4 cans of Campbell soup
• 1 gallon of whole milk
• 3 frozen Healthy Choice meals
• 2 packages of Yoplait Delights
• Welch’s grape jelly
• 1 lb of green split peas

Here’s the complete list of what I bought:

• 2 gallons whole milk
• 4 Tombstone frozen pizzas
• 2 Pop tarts (12ct)
• 2 Cheerios
• 1 Lucky Charms
• 1 Reese’s Puffs
• 1 Cocoa Puffs
• 1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch
• 1 muffin cup liner
• 8 Yoplait yogurt
• 3 Yoplait Whips
• 2 Yoplait Delights (4ct)
• Welch’s grape jelly
• 3 Land O Lakes Butter w/Olive Oil
• 4 Campbell Soup (Cream of Broccoli; Broccoli Cheese; 2 Beef Consommés)
• Saltines
• 4 Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers
• 3 Healthy Choice frozen meals
• Dawn (19oz !!)
• 2 Speed Stick deodorant
• 2.25 lbs banana
• 2.25 lb cabbage
• 1 lb green split peas
• 10 lb bone in ham (this will be 3 meals for us: ham/cabbage/potatoes; creamed ham on toast; split pea soup)

Well, this it for my Rainbow shopping trip!

Georgette