Grocery Shopping 101...

Today was payday, i.e. grocery shopping day. :)
I spent some of yesterday clipping and printing my coupons, organizing my menu and shopping lists, etc.
Today, I left the house on my mission...Chipper decided to go with me. I think he was expecting about an hour trip through Aldi and Wal-Mart and we would be done. Well, he got a reality check.

Started at Aldi to grab everything I could get in my buggy there. Then, it was off to Sam's to buy our meat items for the month (at least). Walgreen's, Target, and Wal-Mart followed. Now, I don't usually trek to all of these stores...usually just two or three (max). BUT, each store had some AMAZING deals that I just couldn't pass up. It took me a couple hours to gather all of my goodies, but I'm a bit of a lollygagger when it comes to shopping. I like to browse around, even with no intention of buying. I tend to like to see everything that's available on the shelves. :)

Target - Saved $28.78 off of a $56.07 purchase. That's over 50%!
Walgreen's - Saved $49.29 off of an $85.94 purchase. That's almost 60%!

I am so proud of myself! I am still rather new at this, so it probably takes me a little longer than the more seasoned bargain-sniffers, but I am still very proud.

Here are the items I purchased today...

Totaled $230...Groceries, household items, and personal care items for more than ONE WHOLE MONTH!
This includes $80 of meat products that we divide up into portions for the two of us and freeze individually. Also includes personal care, several healthcare items, and a few specialty items.

Tip to remember: I purchase all of our meat in bulk. Hamburger meat, steak, pork, etc...all of it in bulk.
I then divide it up into servings for the two of us and freeze it.
We divide hamburger meat into 8 oz. portions and put in freezer bags and the flatten it out. It stores easily and because it is in smaller portions, it thaws VERY quickly! All you have to do is pull one bag of meat out of the freezer and it is thawed in less than thirty minutes. We do this with pork chops, pork roast, pork loin, etc. Large pieces of meat get cut and divided out into one-meal portions and frozen. Makes life SO much easier!!!

The best part about this day...the realization that grocery, household, and personal shopping for me is D-O-N-E for the month of March! WAHOO!!!!