Couponing to Disney

There’s a first time for everything.

I’ve been doing these grocery shopping recaps for about a year and I thought I had seen it all. We’ve talked about budgeting, coupons, sales, the feelings tied to grocery shopping, shopping with kids, shopping without kids, the price of produce, and my cheese obsession. I didn’t think there was much new terrain to cover.

Boy, was I wrong.

You know how they say never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach? I would like to add, “never go shopping on a queasy stomach.” Quote me. I’ve lived it and I’m here to tell you my tale of woe.

Thursday morning my tum didn’t feel quite right. I wasn’t sick. No fever, or other tell tale symptoms. Just a general feeling of unease in my stomach area. It’s what my mom would call, “feeling unwell.” I didn’t need medicine, but maybe just a nice lie down in a quiet place.

What I got instead was a grocery trip to Kroger. Because people still gotta eat, even if at that moment I was hoping to never have to eat anything again. I would have given myself a pass, but we were literally down to, like, one onion and a dream. My kids don’t like dreams for lunch.

Speaking of kids. You know what’s more fun that shopping for food with an upset stomach? Shopping for food with an upset stomach and two children. Both of my girls chose this day to become shopping experts. They needed to measure each tomato, compare each chicken breast, wax philosophical on the life cycle of the pickle. I just wanted to get home and my girls were intent on performing on original production of “Grocery Trip: A Story of Food in 16 Parts”.

It should go without saying that I’m not 100% sure what food ended up in my cart. Because I couldn’t fathom cooking anything, I couldn’t really fathom buying anything. But I knew I needed to buy food because, as I stated before, people had to eat.

I had a list, I had coupons, but I also had a burning desire to get out of there. Which is how I made one of the big smart shopper mistakes. I had a coupon for .50 off Creamette pasta, which was supposed to be used up to five times. Wasn’t paying attention during the scan because all of my focus was on getting out of the store. I didn’t catch that the coupon hadn’t gone through until after I had paid.

Normally, I would have just turned right back around and joined the line at the customer service desk. I don’t know why, but there is always a line three people deep at customer service. Every single time. I’m wondering now if those people are paid to just stand there to encourage shoppers not to visit customer service.

But I could smell the fresh air calling me. Just a few steps away was the parking lot. And in the parking lot was my car. My trusted car, that would take me home. Home, where there were soft couches and quiet spaces to rest a weary mom.

You guys know what I did. I just ate that $2.50 and went home.

Where I fed my children chicken nuggets from the deli, something I never buy, but let’s be real. I wasn’t whipping them up a gourmet lunch today. Today we just needed to be thankful it wasn’t Onion DuJour.

I know some of you hard working mamas and papas have been in the same spot. And I am here to tell you what I wish I had told myself: just do the best you can do in the time you’re give. If this week you need to get in and out and serve up some deli chicken, then godspeed. There are 52 grocery trips a year. You can go easy on this one.

• Blueberries, pint (2)-$4.
• Celery-$1.39.
• Creamette Pasta (5)-$4.95. Ugh, I don’t even want to talk about it.
• Deli Chicken Nuggets-$2.85.
• Deli Chicken Tenders-$5.17. I had to get both because I didn’t know which one they would like!
• Heritage Farm Chicken Breasts, 5 lbs-$10.13.
• Kroger Bagels-$1.50. Saved .40 with a Digital coupon.
• Kroger Kettle Chips-$0. Free Friday Digital Download.
• Kroger Saltines-$1.29. The one thing I did want to eat.
• Mangoes (2)-$1.98.
• Merry Gouda-$3.29.
• Red Leaf Lettuce, .79 lb-$1.02. Gotta lay off that romaine until the recall is lifted!
• Red Snapper, 2.5 lbs-$13.26. Manager’s special!
• Ribeye Steak, 1.25 lb-$7.49. In store sale, saved about $6.
• Strawberries, 1 lb(2)-$4.
• Tomatoes on the Vine, 1.85 lb-$1.83.
• Top Round London Broil, 1 lb-$4.04. Manager’s special!
• Vidal Onions, 2.03 lbs-$2.01.
• Vlasic Purely Pickles-$3.37.
• Apps I’ll Submit to: Fetch Rewards, Ibotta (.25 off Any Item)

                         Total Budget: $110.08

                         Total Spent: $73.17

                         Total Saved: $16.45

                         Rolled Over to Disney Fund: $36.91

Even with some crazy impulse buys (hello, saltines), I was still able to get in under budget thanks to a record breaking good month of shopping for me. This means a nice chunk goes to the Disney fund. Hooray!

Have you ever had to go grocery shopping when you were feeling less than 100%? How did you do it? Tell me, so I may steal your secrets in case this ever happens again!

Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey three years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!