Saving Money Is Exhausting...

Maybe it's just because I'm pregnant, but saving money this week has worn me out! I had coupons and good deals to shop at 6 different stores. Let me do a quick recap...

It started with Publix. I had great coupons and they had great buy one get one free sales. By the time I walked out of there, I had $100 worth of groceries. And, I only paid $41. Sarah was very impressed. She even turned me onto a deal on Cool Whip. It was buy one get one. Each container was $1.99 . They had a coupon hanging on the door for $1 off two. We purchased 4 containers for $2. I also snagged four jars of Ragu for $2 after coupons and deals! I was riding pretty high!

The next day, we went to Greenville. I had coupons to get a $10 gift card at BabiesRUs if I started a registry. I was going to use that and a $5 off coupon to get diapers there. But, the diapers were $33 for a box that would cost $19 at other stores. So, I was about ready to walk out of there when I spied a bubble mower on sale for $13 (regularly $19). With the gift card, I snagged it for $3.77.

Tired as we were, I took the clan to Target. Being pregnant once again provided us with an opportunity to get another gift card! This time it was $20 if I started my registry. I love free money! We purchased a 76 count box of Huggies, a 16 pound bag of cat food and a few candy bars for $11 (after the gift card and $3.50 worth of coupons). By then we were all wiped and had to go home for naps!

Today I tried hard to finish the deal shopping. I stopped by Ingles and picked up some general groceries and some sale items. I managed to purchase two bags of Wacky Pasta for $0.08. I know, I'm so impressive! By the time I walked out, I had $39 worth of groceries for $20!

Then it was onto Bilo. The sales were not as impressive but there were a few deals to be had. They had my favorite mayo as by one get one. I only needed one and I had a $1 off coupon. Without a sale, it's $4.70 for one container. But with the sale and coupon, I managed to get it for $1.36. I also got two bottles of dressing for free (with coupons and sales). In the end, I picked up $23 worth of groceries for a little over $8.

Wishing the day was done, I headed on to Kmart to turn in another coupon. This coupon would give me a $10 gift card with a new or transferred prescription. Since I just switched to a new (and much cheaper) prenatal vitamin, the timing was perfect. However they didn't have those vitamins in. I don't get the reason why I couldn't have a different kind. My doc literally picked that one off a list from the insurance company. He told me he had no idea which one was which because they were all generic names. In the end, most of them have the same stuff. As long as the leave off the fish oil, I'm happy. I digress... So he has to order the different pills and I have to wait until Monday to decide if I want to get trash bags or a new pair of flip flops. Decisions, decisions...

After all of that, you would think that I would be finished. That was not to be. Sale papers are great, but they will never fully replace Walmart. Oh, I miss the days that I could be cavalier about food costs. Doing all my shopping at one store is so convenient. But in this economy and with our budget and desire to snowball debt, convenience is not an option. Saving money is the name of the game and this week I scored big time! Now I need another nap...