Small Town Savings--Mission Possible

• She is like the merchant's ships, she bringeth her food (and other things!) from afar
• She looketh well to the ways of her household

I've noticed myself slipping back into old habits of buying what I want instead of what I need or what's on sale, so I've decided it's time to tighten the belt and get back into the savings groove.

In addition the higher prices, fewer deals, and smaller coupons we've all noticed, I have the additional challenge of being in my small southwest Louisiana hometown for a while again, where the shopping venues are not as plentiful, nor as generous as some in larger cities. We have no stores that double coupons, only one of the major drugstore chains, and no national grocery chain stores except for Walmart. We do have a regional grocery chain which runs decent sales, but again, no double coupons (although I've read blogs that mention double coupons for this chain in other areas, our particular stores here do not offer that benefit) We do have several discount stores--Family Dollar, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree. But regardless of rain, sleet, snow, or small town challenges, our mission is the same

• Our mission, should we choose to accept it, (and you know we will) is to take the resources we have available to us--coupons, rebates, Extra Care Bucks (ECB), Register Rewards (RR) and weekly ad circulars--to get the things our families need and can use, all while keeping our total out-of-pocket (OOP) as low as possible. We fulfill our tasks at drugstores, grocery stores, dollar stores, and wherever we can find those bargains and frugal finds that benefit our families.

Just for inspiration, here are a few things I found this past week:

Brookshire Brothers

I still haven't gotten my coupon binder completely in order, but as I shuffled through my pile of clipped-but-not-filed coupons, I had several that were about to expire, so I tucked them into the fold of my list so I could check out prices and see if it was worth using them. I did find these:

• Velveeta, $4.49, less $1 IPQ (internet printed coupon), making these $3.39 each
• Kraft Parmesan shakers, $3.49, less $1 IPQ, or $2.49 each
• Betty Crocker instant potato pouches, on sale for $.85, less $.40 MQs, or $.45 each
  

These aren't the greatest bargains I've ever gotten, but the coupons made these cheaper than I ever would have found them, even on sale, in this area.

Walgreens

Walgreens is still a favorite shopping destination. This past week was a simple transaction:

• Colgate toothpaste, $2.99, less $.75 MQ, or $2.24, this generated a $2 RR (Register Reward) good toward my next purchase, making this net of $.24 each
• 12 Altoids, on sale for $.59 (this is a 70% savings off the regular price) (the sign stated limit 6, but the cashier told me I could get as many as I wanted, so I grabbed 6 more)

This isn't everything I bought this past week, but these are the savings highlights. How are doing on your Mission Possible deal shopping?

Getting back into my savings mode is one of the ways I'm looking well to the ways of my household, and incidentally, making it sing!

This post is linked to:

Making Your Home Sing Monday at Moms the Word

Until next time...