1. Look through the flyers to see what's on sale.
2. See what coupons you have to match up to those items on sale.
3. Make sure there are no bonus points coupons for any of the stores that you are going too.
4. Plan route, so you go the quickest way possible.
5. Get ready to go out, which means starting the car and warming it up, as it's still freezing bloody cold. Due to the cold weather go pee.
6. Get dressed and go to car, remembering to take coupon book, flyers, purse and grocery bags. Get in the car and remember you've forgotten the bonus points coupons for Zellers.
7. Go back to the house and find the coupons, and gosh it's bloody cold again today, so better pee again.
8. Get back in the car and drive off.
My first port of call was Sobeys where they had Green Works laundry detergent on sale for $6.49, I had $3 off coupons so picked up five of those. Bill came to $21.67 after the coupons were taken off. Discovered I only had $20 in my purse, then the cashier announced I had $5 worth of points I could cash in, so all in all that cost me $16.67.
Next stop was the bank, too cold to get out so went through the drive through and deposited my $5 Pinecone Survey cheque as well.
Next stop gas station to put gas in my car. $1.119 per litre, however had coupon for 10 x CDN Tire money so came out of there with $1.05 in CDN Tire money. Saving that up not sure for what.
Popped into Zehrs as they had Sunlight Laundry Detergent on sale for $4.14, had $4 worth of coupons so picked up three and 8oz of mushrooms on sale for 99 cents and a dozen bread rolls with 50% off. Spent $13.01 in there and saved $6. Made sure to keep that receipt to one side as we save Zehrs cash register receipts for the church. I think they get 1% back on the receipt.
I then went into Zellers and things went down hill fast from there. They had Green Works cleaning products on sale and the Supervisor decided I could only use one coupon per purchase. I had 9 coupons and so I had to do 9 transactions..........totally wrong, but I could only argue with her for so long. Needless to say cashing out took forever. I bought a few other things as well and my total came to $26.54 and I used $25 in coupons. Now I should have had another $3 in coupons, but I see she didn't take that coupon of :o( I did however receive a bonus of 35,000 HBC points when I put the stuff on my card. I then in turn paid off the balance on my HBC card.
I then drove to the other town close to me as No Frills is there and a great dollar store. Picked up some good deals in No Frills, including lean ground beef at $1.88 per pound and pasta sauce at just under 50 cents per can when you bought 12 cans, so stocked up on those things. All in all I spent another $33.88 there; will say though I didn't feel as though I got a lot for my money there.
I am stocked up on laundry detergent now for the year. Probably have enough cleaning wipes for the next 6 months or so. Enough dish washing liquid for the rest of the year and enough toilet bowl cleaner for the next six months or more. Below is what I picked up on Friday, I have another "stash" of dish washing liquid, toilet bowl cleaner, and cleaning wipes downstairs.
I left the house around 9:30 am and got back in the house at 12 noon. I wouldn't have been so long but for the Zellers fiasco.
I had put my shopping away and of course peed again and was sat down eating my lunch by 12.20pm. Thank goodness I don't have young children as I wouldn't have been able to do all that in one go.
Oh and the snow plow driver is lucky I am not a violent person, as otherwise I would have hit him. He drove too close to the end of the driveway and dumped another pile of rock hard ice/snow on the end of the driveway. Good news for the mail lady, she isn't the most annoying person now, the bloody snow plow driver is!!
Did I mention:
I HATE WINTER!!!!!
16 comments:
what a day! I am tired just reading it. Stay warm and cosy now and enjoy some hot chocolate.
The only thing I can say for all this winter is that the ticks should be in shorter supply this spring! At least, Pollyanna would say so. ~Liz
that's is a schlep!!! But good savings...where do you get your coupons???
I will give that undone pepper casserole a try our next freezer day, thanks for the idea!
I am awfully sick of winter as well....I think I am in grieving for Hawaii....
I love No Frills.
I hate winter too, especially the length of it.
I'm having a giveaway on my blog Gil, so come on over.
I don't like grocery shopping either, especially in the winter when you can barely move for all the layers...hauling my michelin man padded body into and out of the car is exhausting!
Jane x
You can save your CT money and use it to buy a gift card ( and use the gift card to pay for gas), at least that's what I can do here!
I love those coupons and that Canadian Tire money. It really adds up quickly if you get your gas there. Heh, sending warm weather your way. It's getting to +5C tomorrow, +2C on Mon. and +5C on Tues. Our snow was melting yesterday. Hugs
Wow....great savings... Where do you get all your coupons from?
Don't forget that Shoppers has a surprise gift card this weekend if you spend $50 or more. Will be stocking up on Baby Formula and Diapers.
Yes, I was imagining all that with a couple of pre-schoolers in tow. Nope, just wouldn't work. Of course, if i were that young again I'd have more energy wouldn't I?
I'm amazed at the effort it takes to shop smart.
Winter has to end sometime, doesn't it?
I presume you shopped for such large quantities because that will save you going again for ages? That is because you live a long way from the shops, yes? and you don't like shopping? I used to do a monthly shop when the boys were little, but then they started eating more and there wasn't room in the house for it all. Now I shop once a week and try not to go in betweentimes.
You must have sighed a big sigh of relief once you got it all packed away and sat down for a cuppa?
Gill,
I'm getting tired of Winter also. Only 39 more days till Spring!!! I really can't see any of this snow melting till May. We are just buried.
You got some great savings on the cleaning products. I have never tried green works. What is it that you like about it compared to other brands? Hubby usually does most of the shopping after work so I'm guessing he has his favorites, but sometimes I just hate the smell of these products that he buys.
And you are right we went shopping together today and grocery shopping is a pain in the ass. I'm also sick and tired of the beggars at the end of the check out who want to bag your groceries and don't have a clue how too. Hubby brings tubs and wants to do it himself but you still feel guilty about not giving money to the beggars(charities of the month or organized sports teams)
Shopping has taken on a whole new dimension some days.
Hope the temperatures start to rise soon Gill, but is still only February. A x
Boy, reading about your shopping trip made me happy that I don't have a car, as I can't even be tempted to stock up on stuff and drive to different places that have sales like you do! I go to one grocery store and one pharmacy and if the stuff I need is on sale I buy it, otherwise I buy it anyhow lol Since I have to carry my grocery bags myself and get on and off the bus and walk with them, I can't have too much stuff or else I am going nowhere fast!
That sounds like quite a productive morning. How lovely to have your grandparents' China.
I enjoyed reading about your day, especially when the store names were so familiar. They don't really do coupons here in Finland. A few of the chain fast food places have coupons now and again and grocery stores might have a coupon a few times a year in their newsletter but nothing like in North America.
I always say go pee every time the opportunity presents itself...I can distinctly remember when I was younger thinking I would NEVER be that way....
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