Flyer Shopping Success

In my last post I talked about going grocery shopping with a list that was based on flyers. My plan was to save money. Overall it is kind of tricky to gauge how much I saved because that shopping trip included a several things other than just food. And where food was concerned I also had to “stock up” on a few items. 

Overall though I think we did quite well. When I subtract all the extras we had a grocery bill of about $150. That included fruits, veggies, frozen goods, meats, dairy, and other grocery aisle items. Not too bad considering that will feed our family of five for the whole week. 

Sadly though we still had to spend quite a bit in addition to the grocery bill. But where I could I still looked for the on sale items. 

Miscellaneous items included:
coffee maker (only $15!) 
hair elastics
deodorant
toothbrushes
conditioner
diapers
wipes 
gauze
kettlebell

I also squeezed in a trip to the bulk food store. I heart the bulk food store. The one I go to is local and has a great selection plus all sorts of wonderful kitchen gadgets and such. For the most part nothing I picked up there was “necessary” but it is part of what I consider stocking up. I spent just over $50 there BUT that included a jar of coconut oil. I heart coconut oil as much as the bulk food store even though it cost $20!! 

I also splurged there and picked up the ingredients to make some copy cat Holy Crap cereal (I’ll post on that later).

While I wish we hadn’t had to spend quite so much I know that if I use the same plan of attack next week that our bill will be a lot lower. No need for many of the miscellaneous items, no need for a trip to the bulk store and a lot of what I picked up this week will last over the next few weeks (and some up to a month at least)

To sum up...A) we saved money (or so I think) and B) I can have nice warm meals ready for when Daddy gets home instead of him popping out to the store C) No more store trips during the week will greatly alleviate the extras we don’t need. 

I am giving myself a pat on the back. 

PS: Bonus Item...I had a Joe gift card so before hitting the grocery areas I took a quick spin through the clothing. I knew I wanted a new workout top so I went straight to the clearance rack and found a cute top. Regular price $20, on sale for $10 and with my $10 gift card the top was FREE! Can’t beat free. 

Flyer Shopping

So confession, I've never been a very good meal planner and grocery shopper. Yes I meal plan from time to time and yes I make a pretty good list to keep me on track at the store but I have shall we say, expensive food taste. I know what I like and I make what I like. However that doesn't mean it has to cost an arm and a leg. We also don't get flyers so I don't usually have my finger on the pulse of what is on sale so when I make a list I just go with what I feel like. Normally that leads to a large grocery bill.

In our neck of the woods too coupons really don't do much for us. Canada does not have the same coupon extremes that the United States has. It has always been that way. An additional beef I have with coupons is that the majority of coupons are for processed and packaged goods. Things with lots of food additives and dyes and artificial flavours. Things we do not buy much of. You usually don't get coupons for apples and bananas and ground turkey.

Anyways, moving on. I've also sort of been doing the flyer thing somewhat wrong. I make my list and then look at the flyers to see where things are cheapest, but 90% of the time what is on my list isn't on sale. Today though I had a personal epiphany. What if I look at the flyers online to see what is on sale, make a list of what I like that is on sale and then base my meal plan off that. Like a light bulb. Who knew flyer shopping was like rocket science??

Ergo, I have my meal plan, my strategic list and a plan to hit four different stores. Will this help? Not sure. Will it be cheaper? Should be but again I am not sure. I'll be popping out shortly for this epic grocery run. I will check back in later to report on my success.