Winn Dixie Rock Star

I did it! I actually saved twice as much as I spent! Oh happy daaaaaay!

I took advantage of Winn Dixie's BOGO Free's and added in some coupons. Quite the victory :)

Happy Shopping

Last week at Winn Dixie we spent $28, and saved $27! It was glorious. We were really able to take advantage of a bogo free at Winn Dixie, coupled with some excellent coupons we had clipped. Today, I ran buy walmart and saved a 1/3 on my groceries using coupons printed from internet as well as ones from newspaper.

Also a highlight, when going through my catch-all drawer in the kitchen, I found a dollar off coupon peeled off a frozen pizza box and saved, which doesn't expire until 6/2010. Woot!

Happy saving people!

Tasty Noms

So at big lots a couple of weeks ago I picked up numerous boxes of Betty Crocker's "Complete Meals" in a variety of flavors:

These are inexpensive quick dishes by normal standards- around $3 usually at the grocery- but these had been marked down two two dollars apiece. I love these boxes as a quick easy meal that requires a little bit of stirring and no thought or effort. I emphasize the quote unquoteness of the title, however; for while betty claims the meal is complete, there is no vegetable in sight. I usually continue with the casserole concept, however, and add several servings of complimentary vegetables to whatever the dish is. Thus, for the cheesy taco bake, I will add frozen or canned corn or black beans. I dont add them until after cooking according to directions (save the last step of adding a topping, if there is one.) A favorite in our house is the chicken alfredo, to which we add one entire block of [thawed] frozen spinach. Delicious, fast, and comes out to no more than $3 to feed a family, especially since adding the vegetables really ups the filling fiber aspect of the meal, as well as adding needed nutrients. It may not be gourmet (we can't all blog about our adventures through Julia Child's cooking!), but it is tasty, satisfying, and very inexpensive.

Target/Big Lots Score

So yeah, I killed it with coupons and deals this weekend. At Target, by maximizing coupons and the current foods they had on sale, I saved $8, or cut a third of the grocery costs.

I also stopped by Big Lots, where I scored flavored wheat thins @ .75 cents a box! 33 cent tomato paste, and my favorite snack, pringle stix, at a mere 50 cents. FTW!!

Note that my total at Big Lots was a whopping 3.33, and I even bought a 4-pack of cinnamon applesauce too!

Name 'Splain

So I chose the name Happi Consumer for a reason. I get an intense feeling of happiness and satisfaction when I know I've scored an amazing price or deal. I feel a level of satisfaction that is almost unreasonable. Even today, I caught myself smiling as I walked into my part-time job at a non-profit, thinking of how successful my weekend shopping excursions were. It shouldn't come as a surprise, however; I am after all a consumer in a consumer society, and thus my ability to maximize my consumerism is an unsurprising source of, dare i say, happiness. If we were categorized as an agrarian society, the self-satisfaction and joy at a high yield or high profit crop turnout would be expected and encouraged, and thus the same should be for economic success in shopping. so there!

Heads up People!

I would love to win this, or for anyone who reads this blog [already] to win, check out the handy coupon organizer over at Moms Need to Know.

Hello World!

The purpose of this blog will be to document my effort to never spend more than $80 dollars a week on groceries. It will generally reflect an effort to save money, cut costs, and find good deals. Yay!