Posted By FarmerJ on May 13, 2009

Why is it that as each month passes by, it seems to be doing so at a much quicker rate?  Leave it to the little tasks we are supposed to do at the first of each month to make a person feel like they are a complete slacker, huh?!

The month of April proved to be a little unusual when it came to my shopping.  I think part of it was due to the fact that I decided to do the major replenishing of the pantry shelves without waiting for the Commissary Case Lot Sale in May.  I really did a lot of thinking, plotting and planning and came to the conclusion that although I may pay a few pennies more per item at the local grocery store than I would at the Case Lot Sale, I would likely lose those pennies saved at the Commissary in the cost of fuel for me to drive the nearly 175 miles one way to get there ~ not to mention the time involved in driving…oh, and the tip for the Carry Out Assistant who would insist on taking my bags to the truck.

So, since I hadn’t purchased things like tuna and shortening since leaving Arizona ~ almost a year and a half ago now ~ it was time.  There was one lonely Chicken of the Sea swimmin’ around, or flappin’ around…whatever it is chickens of the sea do, and the shortening tub had been scraped clean.

I still waited for things to go on sale, but once they did, I didn’t just buy two or ten that I had coupons for.  I purchased twenty or forty-eight to carry us through for a while again.  As a result, the overall amount we spent for groceries in April was more than we’ve been spending, but still very little considering the amount of food we got.

There really isn’t one particular shopping adventure that made me thoroughly giddy, but some of the better deals I remember include the Old Orchard juice for .49 cents per bottle; the Pringles for .18 cents per can [oh, how I love those Cheese-Ums Pringles!]; and, the Campbell’s soup for .09 cents per can.  We’re also stocked with Listerine and Rembrandt mouthwash for the next three years ~ all of it free.

I’m somewhat saddened that Walgreen’s has discontinued its Easy Saver program.  But, I’ve noticed that they’ve been ramping up their Register Rewards opportunities, so I’ve been having a lot of fun learning how to maximize my Monopoly money there.  So far, the results have been great ~ I’ve been using the Rewards I earn one week to pay for items the following week, meanwhile earning more Rewards in the process…which equates to no out-of-pocket expenses and lots of free products.

So, with all of that said, for the month of April we ring in with:

• Total Number of Items for Free = 31
• Total Number of Items for $.01 – .50 = 83
• Total Amount of Rebates = 0

April Monopoly Money Savings = $182.23

Year-to-Date Monopoly Money Savings = $660.16

Cha-ching!

Categories: Simply Saving
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