Shopping Trip 4/29: Kroger and Albertson's

I got a bit of a late start this morning, so I was only able to make it to two stores before I had to go home for lunch and naptime.  I plan to do the rest of my shopping later this afternoon.  I had to drop some things off at the library, so I decided to go to Kroger and Albertson's this morning, since they are only a few blocks farther.

My first stop was Kroger.  I was running low on pet supplies, so I stocked up on those here.  I needed some cat food, and I have to buy an indoor formula otherwise my two fluffy kitties get awful hairballs.  Kroger has a large store brand bag of this for only $11.39, which is $4 less than the Purina I usually get.  I also had three expiring coupons for $1.50/1 Tidy cats.  These were on sale for $4.99, so after my coupons they were $3.49.  Aldi's cat litter has increased from $3.69 to $3.99, and does not keep the smell at bay for nearly as long, so I splurged and used all three of my coupons today.  That should last us for a while.  I also had a coupon that I had requested by mail for $5/1 4.4lb or larger Pedigree dog food.  The 4.4 lb bag was actually on sale for $3.99 today.  I thought that the coupon would beep and they would need to adjust the price, but it scanned the full $5 off, so I actually made $1.01 on the bag of dog food.

Here is everything I picked up at Kroger:

Total Shelf Price:   $60.83
Total Sale Price:    $44.90
Price Paid After Coupons:  $28.40 + 1.72 tax =   $$30.12 OOP   50% Savings

I actually checked out in two separate transactions, and it wasn't to get away with anything using my coupons!  At first they were sold out of the pizzas.  When I checked out I asked the cashier, who paged someone.  The manager was walking by and heard the page, and pointed out that the freezer was being restocked as we spoke, so I went back and grabbed my pizzas.  Talk about good timing!

At this point, it was already lunchtime, but I still needed a few things from Albertson's.  Luckily, one of the things I needed was going to be lunch.  Their 8 piece deli fried chicken, which is not in the picture because my kids were devouring it while I arranged the groceries, was only $4.99.  It was a bit of a splurge, but I knew we'd be late getting home and I am still not feeling up to par, so today it was worth it.

Here is everything I got from Albertson's (minus the chicken):

Total Shelf Cost:  $58.94
Total Sale Price:   $30.94
Price Paid After Coupons:  $25.61 with tax    57% Savings

As you can see, most of my savings on this trip were NOT coupon savings (that was just over $5).  Most of my savings came from just buying items that were on sale.  They are having a "Crazy 8's" sale this week, and most of the items pictured above where on sale for just $0.88.  All of these items, especially the Hefty bags (which were shelf priced at $2.99), were great bargains even without the coupons.

You also see that I got meat and produce!  Two whole chickens, priced at just $0.49/lb (half price) meant I payed roughly $2.50 each for them.  I already have two whole chickens in my freezer waiting to be cooked, but I for $5 out of my grocery budget, I could not see passing these up since I can usually stretch one into 4 meals.   I also picked up a little over 2lbs of fresh green beans.  We had just used up the last of what I had gotten from the farmer's market a while back, and they have since gone up in price tremendously at the farmer's market ($3-4 for a small basket full).  My bag here is probably about 3 of those baskets worth, and I paid only $2.20 because they were on sale for just $0.99/lb.

So far this week, including the 20lbs of ground beef that I had my husband stop and pick up from El Rio Grande ($1/lb Wednesday only)--that is what the taco seasoning and pasta sauce is for, I have spent $76.43.  This is already over my weekly budget, and I'm not done yet.  I'm not really bothered by it though, because being right after pay day and needing so many pet items I knew I was going to spend a lot today.  I should be able to make adjustments later on in the month, especially since I've gotten my freezer restocked up with meals lately.

What about you?  How often is payday (once a month for us)?  Do you tend to spend more right after payday, or is it about the same amount from week to week?