MMM: Sep: Week 1: $130.65

Stores: 2
Days spent shopping: 1
Coupons used: 0
Store preferred savings: $4.95

Aldi: $53.20 - 27 items
Dairy Items: 5
Fruit/Veggies: 7
Breads: 3
Canned Items/Pantry Staples: 6
Snacks: 1
Cereals: 2
Wine: 1
Frozen EntreesDinner Items: 2

Jewel: $77.45 - 19 items
Meat Dept: 4
Canned Items/Pantry Staples: 6
Deli Counter: 3
Personal Products: 1
Fruit/Veggies: 2
Bread: 1
Dessert: 2

July/Aug Tally: (xCoupon) 636.60 vs 587.12 (Traditional)

So for the first month when we tried this out, we did about half the month of July - Traditional won...but it may have only been because there was a week+ that JAU was without kids...and didn't shop, but instead ate out - absolutely understandable, MMM can officially report that she'd like to have had the same opportunity!

August was a bust - work got in the way...again, understandable.

September...the good comparison is ready to go & it will be a good comparison to see which shopping method really saves the most money.  Here is where the comparison begins...and it's a pretty fair beginning:
JAU - full time working mom: 2 kids in full day school, full time working husband
MMM - full time working mom: 3 kids: 2 in daycare, 1 in full day school, full time working husband

So now we both have to do the grocery shopping for the dinner every night...school lunches, etc.  Back to the routine for everyone.  Let the comparison begin.

Work got in the way...

Yes, work got in the way for JAU & I...we will be back - check back in a few weeks - September will be better...and let the comparison really begin!  We need to...I'm dying to know if couponing is worth it.

MMM: Wed 8/9: $8.42

I didn't bring my lunch again - even with that nice bread & lunchmeat (as well as some good leftovers).  Instead, I opt'd to eat lunch in some good company.  I think this type of activity will be a new trend.

MMM: Tues 8/8: $77.43

Jewel trip: 77.43

This was all the remaining from the weekend's normal grocery - along with some deals: ribs, pork tenderloin, etc.  I forgot where I put my receipt - but I think I'm done with groceries for the week.

MMM: 8/2 - 8/4: $40

We did good on vacation - we only ate out 2xs (that we paid for :)...thanks mom & dad ) - $40 for pizza.  Papa Johns...living it up like the college days.

MMM: Mon 8/8 $8.65

I almost forgot...I didn't pack my lunch on purpose...so instead I went out for lunch downtown - it was worth it!

MMM: Mon 8/8 $22.81

Getting back from vacation is tiring - I'm only making one trip to a store a day...might as well be extreme couponing :)

Target: $22.81
Groceries - trail mix, condiment sauce, 2 betty crocker individual dessert things, little raisin packs, jelly, condensed milk
Others - shampoo, ziploc snack bags, bathroom dixie cups

...Still not done with my full list...need to get to the main grocery store for the remaining items...that's tonight's chore.

MMM: Sun 8/7: $82.32

Grocery Stop (though not done with my full list for the week yet):
Trader Joes: $25.37
2 Bread, Veggie Kebobs, Hummus, Chili Sauce, Yogert & 3 bags of popcorn

Aldi: $56.95 (34 items)
5 drinks: Juice, OJ, Milk, Creamer
10 Fruits & Veggies
4 Snacks: Cottage Cheese, Fruit strips, yogert raisins, rice krispie treats
2 Condiments: PB, Katsup
3 cereal boxes
5 dairy: eggs, whipped topping, sour cream
2 boxes of cake mix
2 breakfast: waffles, bacon
Fudgesicles :)

JAU: Wed. AUG 3: $21.39

Dang, I need to get focused. Being out of town over the weekend has really thrown me off. Had to make a quick trip to Krogers again.

Krogers - $21.39
2 Cauliflower
2 Host donettes (this is what happens when you quick trip includes a kid)
2 salad mixes
1 can of tomatos
Bananas


Maybe MMM should get back from vacation so I can feel pressured to find better deals!!!

JAU: Sun. July 31st: $105.93

Not really a good couponing trip. We were out of town over the weekend and I wasn't prepared and had to run to the store quickly since it was so late and we have decided to start dieting, so had to shop.

Fresh Produce
Spaghetti Squash
yellow squash
Green Peppers
Asparagus
Salad Mix
Arugula
Spinach

Atkins
Breakfast bars
Shakes

10/10 deal so had to take advantage
6- toothbrushes
4- toothpaste

Miscellaneous
Mouthwash
2-Jello
2-Bacon
2-Eggs
2-precooked chicken packs for salads
butter
whole chicken

JAU: Thursday, July 28th: $2.33

Quick trip to Wal-mart to do some price matching.
Kroger had 10/$10 tooth brushes and tooth paste. But you can only use 2 like coupons. Walmart matches and doesn't have the coupon restriction so we got:

4- Oral B Indicator tooth brushes
6 - tubes of Crest toothpaste.

MMM: Wed 7/28: $22.46

Breakfast & Lunch treats - I figured I was downtown only once for the past 3 weeks, why not live it up...

Starbucks: $7.00 - Venti (yes, 20 oz) coffee & a doughnut
Macys 7th floor Cafe: $13.21 - delicious food & great company with my sister...no regrets of spending 13 bones instead of packing a sandwich from home
Starbucks: $2.25 - Afternoon Cool treat thing...where you get a Grande for $2 with your morning receipt.  I got a Mocha Coconut Frapuccino...who can say 'no' to that?

Fun without kids! (not so fun when you see what you spent)

OK - so while the kids are gone (this doesn't happen often) we live it up. We do very little eating at home. We eat out, see movies, etc... We get this once a year and this time it was for 10 days. So, I'm lumping this all into 1 post (which I will update until we are back to our typical family unit). Hopefully, this doesn't count against me.

Oh man, this is gonna hurt.

7-18 Lunch - JAU- $9.67
7-19 Dinner for family and In-Laws (for kid drop off) - $82.19
7-20 Dinner out - $45.69
7-20 Movie night - $5.75 (yep, had some coupons. That movie, popcorn and drinks for 2).
7-21 Lunch - JAU - $5.70
7-21 Dinner at home - $62.04 (OK we went crazy. Its Surf and Turf and we LOVE it.)
7-22 Lunch - JAU - $11.90
7-22 Movie night - $33.75 (We saw Bridesmaid and that is the funniest/raunchiest movie ever. Oh and dinner was popcorn.)
7-23 Lunch - $27.21
7-23 Movie - $5.75 (coupons again)
7-23 Dinner - $5.16 (OK so it was an ice cream dinner. shhh, don't tell the kids)
7-24 Brunch - $36.38
7-25 Breakfast - JAU - $4.72
7-25 Dinner - $33.68
7-26 Movie - $4.00 (coupons and free popcorn - SCORE)

JAU: Sun. July 24th: $84.06

I know I know, I've been terrible at posting. It's because the kids are out of town and we have been living it up. I don't want to post all of our eating out. :-)

Sunday, we did a little shopping. I actually took the DH along for once.

Kroger: $78.74
10 - 2 liters of soda
16 bags of water softner salt

Walgreens: $5.32
2 - 6 packs of Dove Soap Bars
1 - 6 pack - Charmin
1 - 8 pack - Bounty

MMM: Sun 7/24 $326.27

Big Grocery Shopping Day...and stocking up for a week's vacation at the beach (which constitutes an abnormal amount of snacks & drinks).  If we eat out this week - shame on us...I have too much fresh stuff in the house now.

Sams Club: $268
5 bath & kitchen supplies: Toilet Paper, Razors ($38!! What?!), Bars of soap, Paper Towels, Garbage Bags
11 fresh fruit, veggies, breads (2 two packs of bread, 2 packs of tortillas & xl pack of flat buns)
4 random snacks, granola bars, & juice boxes
2 whole roasted chickens
2 frozen things: tilapia & french toast sticks
2 big pack of yogert & string cheese

Aldi: $58.27
9 individually wrapped chicken kievs & steaks
3 Dairy: milk, sour cream, shredded cheese
6 bags of chips, pretzles, snacks
2 buckets of margarita & daquari mix
2 dessert mixes (Jello no-bake things)
3 pantry: bbq sauce, miracle whip, pancake shake-up
3 packages/bags of veggies

MMM: Sun 7/24: $32.08

Walgreens: $32.08
Allergy medicine, Floss, Rubbing Alcohol, Nail Polish Remover, Kids Vitamins

I'm thinking I paid full price, while JAU would probably have these in stock or a few coupons for a way better price.  I was shopping purely for need, not really for savings...but focused & walked out of the store with only the things from my list & nothing else.

MMM: Sat 7/23: $15.30

Friday Dessert out: $7.00
Saturday Morning Doughnut treats for everyone: $8.30

JAU: Sun. July 17th: $112.13

Lunch - $42.43

Couponing shopping trip. I pretty much had a coupon for everything I bought. If I didn't, it was at least on sale.

Walgreens - $8.53
2 - 6 pks Men's bar soap
4 - 20 ct pantyliners
2 - Deoderant
1 - taco shells

CVS - $12.30
3 - 12 pks pepsi
1 gallon milk
3 - crest kids toothpaste
3 - m&m's

Kroger - $48.87
10 - Flavored waters
9 - Rice a Roni
2 - Pasta Roni (Free with purchase of 2 rice a roni)
8 - toothpaste (Yea - I'm done buying toothpaste)
4 - stick butter
2 - Large shredded cheese packs
6 - baby shampoo

I wish I didn't have to add lunch in my total. Because for me, that was a pretty good day of shopping.

JAU: Fri. July 15th: $41.99

Lunch - $5.46

Dinner - $36.83

Cake for Birthday - $25.73 (not included)

MMM: Sun 7/18 $62.35

Grocery Shopping Day:
Aldi - $28.05
2 - Milk, 5 fruit/veggies, 3 frozen veggies/meats, eggs, hotdog buns, candy, babywipes

Jewel - $11.41
Rice Krispies, Cookies, Applesauce, bread

Jimmy Johns - $22.89
5 subs...poolside...they hit the spot last night for dinner, let's do it again for lunch at the pool today
(JAU...where are you?)

MMM: Sat 7/16: $14.53

Weekend dinner out...
Friday: $5 pizza with friends
Saturday: $9.53 2 Jimmy John's subs poolside

MMM: Wed 7/14: $39.52

Jewel, *last minute ingredients*: $39.52
1 - *Carton OJ*
1 - *Kraft Singles* (if I stopped at these 2 last minute ingredients, bill would have been about $7 - shoot)
2 - Bags of Popcorn - remembered about the outdoor movie night tomorrow night
1 - pack of 'Wet Ones' hand wipes - for outdoor movie tomorrow night (after park date...enough said)
1 - mix for Gluten-free Brownies - thinking son may have gluten allergy (steep $4.99)...trying this out
1 - Cheez-its - remembered we were out as passing by end-cap...marketing ploy worked - did I just say gluten-free?
1 - Pinot Noir - outdoor orchestra concert date night with hubby tonight
1 - small bakery made double chocolate cake...date night :)

MMM: Wed 7/14: $13.09

McDonalds for lunch for everyone :)  JAU & I decided to track dining out - since we could have eaten out of the kitchen's groceries, but chose not to.  Wait for another post today...I will have to run to the store for some 'forgotten ingredients' for tonight's dinner...extreme couponing would theoretically prevent this, but the items are perishables - so how does x.c. do that? I'm going to buy whatever is on sale, but know I will end up at Jewel - the stupidly most expensive, but most convenient.

JAU: Wed. July 14: $19.53

CVS - $10.81
4 - 12 pks of soda - 2.50 ea.

Target -$8.72
2 - 2 pks black Sharpies - FREE with coupon
1 - 10 pk pens - .02 with coupon
6 - 12pks poptarts - 1.50 ea. with coupon
(2 pks stickers for kids - not included in pricing)
Also used my Target card and got an additional 5% off my purchases.

MMM: Tues 7/13: $3.06

Jewel - $3.06 - Milk - forgot the milk, had to run out to get it after kids were in bed!

MMM: Tues 7/12: $58.46

Grocery Shopping: $58.46 - Aldi
5 - Fruit & Veggies
6 - juice
8 - pantry staples: Spaghetti, pickles, salsa, cherries, applesauce, peanuts
2 - cereal
6 - dairy: cheese, sour cream, butter
1 - bread
1 - frozen dinner

JAU: Tues, July 12th: $2.97

Quick trip to Wal-mart to order a birthday cake. Had to pick up a few things. No Coupons.
Food - @3.00
Stickers for kids - @7.00
Total with tax 10.57

Goal for tonight: Pop-tarts at Target for 2.50 and perhaps 12 packs of soda at CVS for 2.50. I DO have coupons for these. I also saw a deal on Sharpies at Target. Might have to pick them up if they are indeed free. Why not, right?