This Week's Kroger Run

Now we're getting into the nitty-gritty of how all of this works. Another commandment I should add to the Six Commandments of Couponing, or whatever I called it, is this: 

7. THOU SHALT KNOW YOUR STORE'S COUPON POLICY

Every store is different. Here's what I know about Kroger. Kroger will double coupons up to a face value of $.50. That means if you have a .45 coupon, it's really worth .90 for you. Another important point about Kroger: when an item is Buy One Get One Free (henceforth forever known as BOGO) you DON'T have to buy two to get the sale price. Buy one and you get it for half price. Each Kroger probably has it's own idiosyncrasies, so double check with your store manager if you're unsure.

So here's what I accomplished at Kroger this week for $23.17: (Oh, and there were three boxes of the Fiber One bars, but I've already opened two of them and put them in my stash, so they're missing from the pick.) :)

 And here's the rundown:

*2 x  Quaker Rice Cakes: Sale price .99 (used $1.00 off coupon)= free + $.01 in overage each

*Kellogg's Pops Cereal: Sale price $2.59 (used .70 off coupon) = $1.89

Smithfield Bacon (BOGO) : Two for $5.00

Jimmy Dean Sausage (BOGO) : One for $2.50

*3 x  Colgate Toothpaste: Sale price 1.50 (used $.75 off coupon) = .75 each

*Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks: Sale price $1.99 (used .50 coupon-doubled) = $.99

Baked Beans: Sale Price $1.25

Log Cabin Syrup: 2.49

Bisquick: 3.35 (used $1.00 off coupon) = $2.25

*3 x  Fiber One Bars: Sale price 2.59 (used .50 coupon-doubled) = 1.59 each

Red Potatoes: Sale price $3.49

The great thing about Kroger this week is that if you bought ten items out of a select group of "mix and match" items, then you got an extra $5.00 off of your total. The items with an * are the ones involved in that deal. So if you check the prices and subtract .50 (the $5 split between ten items) you'll see that I got toothpaste for a quarter each, fruit snacks for .50, boxes of granola bars (my breakfast every morning that I work out) for $1 each, etc. This is why the ability to "stock up" is so important. If you can get toothpaste for .25, you should grab several. And combining the coupons with the deals made the $5 deal really easy to reach without spending very much at all. I spent $8.00 and got $5.00 back. I probably could have done even better at Kroger this week, but we have a guest this week and there were things that I HAD to buy whether they were on a great sale or not: bacon, etc. Another reason to stock up when you can: so you don't get stuck paying $2.50 for a bottle of syrup! :)