Ignore the artwork in the corner. The Glass Slipper has taken over the dining room table.
Prove to me someone from Kroger is not reading my grocery trips.
After last week’s disaster of a shopping experience, look what I received in the mail.
Ignore my worn out looking children. Soccer season is not for the faint of heart.
These paper coupons started showing up around Mother’s Day, and I don’t know what I did to make the Kroger fairies smile up on me. There appears to be no schedule, no rhyme or reason. One day Kroger just started sending me paper coupons. This is the third time I have checked the mail to be delighted and surprised by a fat envelope full of high value coupons.
And after last week and the crazy over budget situation I find myself in, they could not have come at a better time.
Have you noticed that paper coupons don’t seem as readily available anymore? Yes, you can print them from some sites, and sure sometimes you get a Catalina at checkout, but more and more it seems like retailers are going in the digital direction.
How do you feel about that? I know for me, when I entered the coupon game it was about 60/40 paper to digital and I just could not wrap my brain around the paper ones. I would see gals at the store with their binders of coupons, but it felt like every time I tried to hang with paper coupons, I ended up forgetting them, or dropping them, or a child would eat them.
I cut my savings teeth on Target Cartwheel, so transitioning that to digital coupons and rewards cards was an easier adjustment for me. But now that I’m a little more mature in my savings journey, I get very excited about paper coupons. Especially paper coupons that I can stack with my digital coupons. Ah, the joys adulating brings. Getting excited over coupons.
Know what I was NOT excited about? I learned this week that my Kroger does not do rain checks. It took me years to understand a rain check, just as long for a situation to appear where I needed a raincheck, and of course, my Kroger will let me have this experience.
For those who don’t know, a rain check is a store’s promise that the deal/coupon you would like to use will still apply for an item that is currently out of stock. So let’s say you went to Kroger, very excited about your Digital Coupon for one pound of shrimp for $4.97. And let’s say you got to Kroger and even though the deal had only been live for ONE DAY, they were sold out. Adios, shrimpies! Now if your Kroger did rain checks, you would still be able to apply that digital coupon to the shrimp whenever they got it back in stock. If your Kroger does not do rain checks, you would have to go home and write a blog about it and hope that the kind Kroger Fairies who have been sending you coupons read it.
- Bananas, 2.18 lb -$1.29.
- Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, pint (1)-$2.99. Buy 5, Save $5 brought these down to $2.99 each. Sometimes you just want the fancy ice cream.
- Boar’s Head Pepperoni, .75 lb-$6.74.
- Broccoli, 1.73 lb-$2.75.
- Green Beans-$1.24 lb. In-store sale, $.99 a pound.
- Heritage Farm Chicken Breasts, 4.71 lb -$9.39.
- Heritage Farm Chicken Thighs, 11.2 lb-$8.63. In store sale made these $.77 a pound!
- Honey Bunches of Oats (2)-$2.98. $1.49 each with Buy 5, Save $5.
- Kroger Ground Turkey, 1 lb-$2.59. Coupon took off $.70 from the original price!
- Kroger Milk, .5 gal-$.88.
- Kroger Sausage, 1lb-$0. Paper coupons for the win!
- Mangoes (3)-$2.64. $.88 each with an in-store sale.
- Monterey Jack Cheese-$4.05.
- Nectarines, 1.92 lb-$1.86.
- Private Selection Wheat Bread-$1.49. Coupon for $.50 off.
- Private Selection Honey Turkey, .5 lb -$3.55. $1 off Deli Meats with my fancy paper Coupon.
- Private Selection Pasta-$.10. $1 off with B5S5 stacked with a paper coupon for $.40 off. Ten cents for pasta, y’all!
- Private Selection Ice Cream, 48 oz -$3.99. Coupon for $1 off.
- Private Selection Ice Cream, 16 oz -$1.22. Paper coupon for $.45 off.
- Red Gold Canned Tomatoes (2)-$2.
- Red Leaf Lettuce, .6 lb-$1.01.
- Ribeye Steak, 1.64 lb -$11.50. $6.99 a pound. Sometimes you just want a fancy steak to go with your fancy ice cream, and for half off, why not?
- Roma Tomatoes, .84 lb-$.83.
- Vidal Onions, 2.09 lb-$2.07.
- Wishbone Salad Dressing-$.99. Down from $1.99 with B5S5.
- Yellow Peaches, 2.4 lb-$2.09. In sore sale, $.87 a pound.
- *Digital Coupon* for $3 off a produce purchase of $8 or more.
- Apps I’ll submit to: Fetch Rewards, Ibotta ($.10 Off Any Item, $.25 off Any Salad Dressing), CoinOut
Total Budget: $66.15
Total Spent: $75.86
Total Saved: $44.96
Deducted from Next Week: $9.71
All in all a very successful trip, managed to knock down some of my budget deficit and lucky for me I still have two weeks to get myself in order before the end of the month. Onward and upwards!
Does your grocery store send you paper coupons? Does your store do rain checks? Are the the Kroger Fairy? Tell me down below!
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 five 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!