A tale of two milks.
It was the best of coupons, it was the worst of coupons.
This post was supposed to be about strategically purchasing staple items. It was supposed to be a nice moment where I show off how I learned something from the Saving to Disney course, and you all would read it and you would be inspired. Then maybe you would read the Saving to Disney course and it would change your shopping habits for life. You would comment on one of my posts something like, “Yes girl, me too!” And I would be like, “Oh, wow, [YOUR NAME HERE] really gets me.” So I would comment back. You would comment back. I would comment again. So on and so forth until we became best friends. We would have amazing Best Friend Savings Adventures and I would probably blog about them, and you would comment on those blogs too, although now it would be all hilarious inside jokes on account of us being best friends.
But thanks to the milk, that will probably never happen.
Here’s how milk ruined our potential best friendship. Long time readers will remember that I buy my eggs at Target. While I do most of my shopping at Kroger, for some reason the eggs at my Kroger are double to triple the price of eggs at Target. So every two weeks I load the little B ladies in the car and we drive the extra 15 minutes to Target where we buy eggs, and the occasional cleaning product or other crazy discounted home need item.
One of the great tips of Saving to Disney is to shop around at various grocery stores, if location permits. Sale prices of staple items are always changing. Just because Kroger has it cheaper this week, doesn’t mean Meijer won’t have it at an even lower price next week. By keeping track of weekly ads for a few favorites, you’ll save yourself money in the long run.
The Weekly Add for Target informed me that milk would be a dollar cheaper than it was advertised at Kroger, and I had a 5% Cartwheel coupon. Looks like this week would be eggs and milk, amirite? I buy the milk, it’s a dollar cheaper than Kroger, I’m patting myself on the back for a deal well scored. Amazing, inspiring blog post here I come.
Then Kroger releases their weekly ad on Thursday. There are a couple of good in-store sales, most notably this gem: If you spend $8 on already discounted cereal, you get a free gallon of milk. No points for guessing who was completely out of cereal and needed to stock up. $2 a pop for honey Bunches of Oats is a great deal.
Which is how I ended up here.
On the plus side, I now have all the milk. Maybe we can still be friends. I’ll invite you over…for milk and cookies.
- Bananas, 1.84 lb-$1.01.
- Boar’s Head Pepperoin, .5 lb-$3.22.
- Blackberries, pint-$2.79.
- Gouda-$3.49.
- Green Grapes, 2.21 lb-$2.14. In-store sale for less than $1 a pound!
- Heritage Farm Chicken Breasts, 5.4 lbs-$10.75.
- Honey Bunches of Oats (4)-$8.
- Kroger Crescent Rolls (5)-$5. 10 for $10 (of 5 for $5) with in-store sale.
- Mangoes (3)-$2.37. In-store sale for .79 a piece.
- Milk, gallon-$0. Free with all that cereal.
- Nathan Beef Franks (5)-$10. $2 each with a *Digital Coupon*.
- Roma Tomatoes, 1.5 lb-$1.49.
- Romaine Lettuce, .97 lb-$1.50.
- Strawberries, 2 lbs-$5. 2 for $5 in-store sale.
- Strip Steak, .6 lb-$4.54.
- Apps I’ll Submit To: Fetch Rewards, Ibotta (.15 off Honey Bunches of Oats, use 5x, .25 off Any Item)
Total Budget: $50.18
Total Spent: $61.25
Total Saved: $33.56
Deducted from Next Trip: $11.07
What do you do when you end up with more of an item than you bargained for? Any ideas on what to do with two gallons of milk? Wanna be my new best friend? Give me all your thoughts in the comments!
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!
Kristin Basbagill says
French toast (breakfast for dinner.) or if you are desperate you can freeze milk. Some people like it some don’t
Kristen says
Ohhh, I hadn’t even thought of French Toast! Love it!