Saved 72% This Week

I've been debating what to do with this year's grocery budget. Since my oldest left for college, I've been able to reduce my spending to about $40 a week, but I find myself unable to buy anything at full price.

So, for 2010, I've decided to keep my budget at $50 a week. I'm going to try to buy everything we need for $40 and leave myself $10 a week for splurging. This way I won't have to fret about buying something that is never on sale, the price of a really good loaf of bread, or cuts of meat or fish that I will never find for $2 a pound or less.

So this week I splurged on - nothing. It might be harder to pay full price for something than I thought.

Walgreens

I was planning on getting back to Walgreens for some more cookies and to use the rest of my Finish coupons, but it was way too cold to make one more stop. Hopefully, it'll warm up a bit tomorrow.

Before sales & coupons: $40.68
Total spent: $1.97
Total saved: $38.71 for 95%

Schnucks

I don't know what was going on at Schnucks today, but almost every coupon beeped - even the Cream of Wheat coupon that was taped to the package and the Ragu Catalina from my first transaction. To make it even worse, my favorite cashier wasn't working like he usually does on Friday afternoons. Somehow, I survived the sighs and grunts of the cashier.

Before sales & coupons: $44.88
Total spent: $12.73
Total saved: $32.15 for 72%

Dierbergs, Sappington Farmers' Market & Johnny's Market

I don't know what I was thinking by making all these stops - cherry picking is a warm weather sport. Anyway, I picked up the potatoes at Dierbergs; broccoli, romaine and apples at Sappington Farmers' Market; and sausage and muffin mix at Johnny's.

Comparable Schnucks price: $26.97
Total spent: $11.96
Total saved: $15.01 for 56%

Aldi

Comparable Schnucks price: $16.08
Aldi price: $9.01
Total saved: $7.07 for 44%

Weekly Totals
Before sales & coupons: $128.61
Total spent: $35.67
Total saved: $92.94 for 72%

Splurge funds: $14.33