September was a good month for grocery shopping. There were lots of good deals, plus Kroger doubled fuel points if you shopped on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I did almost all of my Kroger shopping on these days for that reason. After coupons and surveys, I managed to accumulate $0.80 off a gallon in fuel rewards! Andy and I both filled up at the same time to take full advantage of the full 35 gallons. He pulls on one side of the pump and I pull on the other, so we can pump gas until weve reached the limit. That little trick saved us $28 on gas just for that fill up!
Here are a couple of the September highlights, with all my totals below. I managed to stay $20 under budget in September which was pretty exciting, too, especially for all the deal shopping I did!
On September 6, I headed to Kroger to pick up the Friday deals of the giant boxes of cereal for $1.49 a box. I also had an another digital coupon for $1/1 so I spent $1.24 a box for these huge boxes of cereal to the delight of my kids. Kraft cheese was b1g1 so I spent $1.49 for each bar of cheese. LA Gel (for my husband) was on sale for $1.50, plus I had two printable coupons for $0.75/1. That made it $1 each. The Chobani yogurt and Mt Dew were free, thanks to digital coupons. Some of the other items were for a get together with friends. Those marked down everything buns for $0.49? Amazing! I will definitely buy those againif I find them marked down! I spent $31.15 and saved 52% on this shopping trip.
This was a big stock up trip to Kroger on September 20. It was a great mega sale and I do love a mega sale! After mega deals, coupons and regular sales, some of the highlights include Brawny paper towel ($4.99), Quaker oatmeal ($0.99), big blocks of cheese ($2.99), Moms best cereal ($0.99), Huggies baby wipes ($0.99), Goldfish ($0.97) and Palmolive ($0.99). I also bought Red Robin fries and Onion rings for $1.49, which made my husband very excited. I bought some more packages the next week with the same sale since it is much cheaper than eating out!
Kraft caramels ($1.25), Danimals yogurt ($1.49), family boxes of Nabisco crackers ($1.99), Olive Garden croutons ($0.99) and 12 clearanced applesauce pouches ($2.49) were some more of the highlights. Oh, boneless pork loin (not pictured) was $1.49/lb. Sadly, I only bought one and should have bought more for the freezer! On this Kroger trip, I spent $59.29.
Here is one more of my Kroger trips from September 26. Candy was half price so bought the giant bags of Kit Kats and 2 bags of Snickers for $3.50 each. This organic Seltzer water was $1.99 with the mega deals and the Quaker instant oatmeal was $0.99. I bought 2 boxes of the seltzer water (love the orange vanilla!) and 3 boxes of the blueberry instant oatmeal. My kids love plain oatmeal but this is perfect for a quick breakfast. Annies mac and cheese was also on sale for $1 and I had a b1g1 coupon as well as $0.50/1 which meant I paid $0.63 a box. On this trip to Kroger, I spent $26.16.
Here is a summary of all my shopping trips for September.
September
- 9/1 Meijer $31.21
- 9/4 Walmart $21.43
- 9/6 Kroger $31.15
- 9/9 Meijer $38.21
- 9/9 Kroger $6.49
- 9/10 Walmart $59.58
- 9/10 Aldi $21.25
- 9/17 Walmart $25.72
- 9/20 Kroger $59.29
- 9/26 Kroger $26.16
- 9/27 Kroger $59.56
- September Total $380.05
In October, I went slightly over budget by $1.59. We can count that as the extra food dye I spontaneously bought when decorating cookies with the kids! 
Here are some of my October shopping highlights.
Ive started stocking up on more of my staples at Walmart, now that Ive discovered our Walmart prices are lower than Aldi. Frozen cauliflower ($0.90), frozen peas ($0.76), frozen green beans ($1.21), carrots ($0.74/lb), and grapes ($0.99/lb) were some of my produce purchases. I also bought raisins ($0.90 for 6 boxes) for one of Nathans Kindergarten snack days. The frozen jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks were $1.88 and the chips were $1.12. Eggs were $0.65 for 18 eggs! Walmart is definitely the place to buy eggs now. I spent $36.42 on this Walmart trip.
I am shopping at Meijer less but occasionally the meat deals entice me back! On this week, it was large family packs of pork chops for $0.99/lb. I bought 2 packages which will easily get us 4 or more meals. They were huge pork chops! They also had a couple good $5 off 5 deals this week. After this promotion, No Yolk noodles were $0.89, refried beans (large cans) were $0.99, Nutri Grain bars were $1.39, Breyers ice cream was $2.50 and boxes of Larabars were $3.19. Like I said, good deals will always entice me back! I spent $29.74 at Meijer on this trip.
I love the Friday and Saturday deals at Kroger and generally wait to shop at Kroger until then. On this week, it was Kettle chips for $0.99 (limit 5), Jimmy Dean sausage for $1.99 and half price off all Halloween candy. I didnt buy a lot but I couldnt pass up a bag of Snickers (for my apple snickers salad) and KitKats (for the kids), both at $2.50 a bag.
Other mega deals included 4 packs of Dannon yogurt ($1), Fritos ($1.77), party pails of ice cream ($3.49), 32 ounces of cheese ($4.99), Lady Speed stick deodorant ($0.49 after printable coupons), and free cheese slices, thanks to a personalized coupon. At Kroger, I spent $43.22 and saved 54%.
I also did several big stock-up trips on toilet paper in October! That is what the Amazon order was. There was a prime deal for $10 off an order of 3, which made the price for 36 rolls of Scott toilet paper the best price I could find anywhere. I bought 72 rolls of toilet paper and OxiCleanafter I had already bought 36 rolls at Meijer earlier in the month. We should be set with toilet paper for quite some time now! Still, this is how I shop. I watch for the best deals and try to stock up then so I am never paying full price for necessities especially toilet paper, diapers, detergent and personal care items.
Here are the official totals from October.
October
- 10/1 Walmart $46.41
- 10/4 Kroger $18.33
- 10/7 Meijer $49.55
- 10/15 Walmart $36.42
- 10/15 Meijer $29.74
- 10/16 Amazon $43.84
- 10/18 Kroger $43.22
- 10/23 Fresh Thyme $15.68
- 10/23 Aldi $40.88
- 10/25 Sams Club $36.02
- 10/25 Walmart $41.50
- October Total $401.59
Whew! That is a lot of information. If you want to see my shopping trips as they happen, be sure to follow me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram where I share those trips and deals the day I buy them. Its easier for me to provide more detail that way, so if you want to buy the deals as I buy them, be sure to follow me over there, even as I will continue to provide recaps here on the blog.
Im excited for the deals to come in November and December. This is a great time to stock up on butter and lots of other baking items, as well as canned vegetables. Youre going to see me doing lots of stocking up now to save me from purchasing full price later! I highly encourage you to do the same. Its a great way to save money!
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