Savings ...

Big E and I have been on a savings trip of late. Maybe it stems from having Jessica starting college or maybe it stems from Obamanomics. Either way, we are seriously trying to cut a few expenses.

So, in the vein of cutting cost, here are a few of our shopping trips this weekend...

1. Publix trip 1 - The total value of the items purchased was 34.20 (that includes the taxes too). The total amount paid "out of pocket" was 15.87. That is equal to a savings of 54%. The savings would have been a LOT better but we did not have coupons for Lucky Charms (yes, these are essential).

2. Publix trip 2 - The total value of the items purchased was 59.84 (again it includes taxes). The total amount paid "out of pocket" was 29.60. That is equal to a savings of 52%. The savings would have been a LOT bettter but we did not have coupons for milk, lettuce, taco dinners (2), velvetta cheese, or marshmellows. In fact, if we only purchased items with coupons we would have been around 78% savings.

3. Last, we made it out of CVS for only 15.33 today. For that, we managed to take home the following ...

2 Composition books with 100 pages each
2 Boxes of Panty liners
2 Revlon make up (lipstick and mascara)

Essentially, we only paid for the makeup today. In addition, we ended the day with more CVS money for next week than we started this week. All in all, that is a good CVS trip. If you aren't a CVS Extra Care bucks member, you really need to consider joining.

While that doesn't break down all purchases in detail, let me assure you that we did pretty good.

I've talked about stockpiling in the past, we are so far ahead with the typical personal items (deodorant, toothpaste, shaving and hair stuff, etc) that we have resorted to family and charity donations. We are doing really well with paper items too. To give you an example, unless toothpaste is free, we aren't buying.

We are struggling a little with some food items but only because I have concentrated on the personal items. In reality, I don't seem to find near as many food coupons as I do personal item coupons. With three girls that are going different directions, personal items are probably more important than food items.

What are you doing to save a little money? Leave me a comment with some good ideas.