Crazy trip today.

My 3 year old USUALLY falls asleep in the cart on our Friday night shopping trip, but I couldn't even get her out the door this evening. She ended up falling asleep for a 3 hour nap, and we didn't get out of the house until almost 8. I had two trips planned for us, but there was NO WAY that was going to happen. I had to pick one store and run with it.

ALSO, after I paid, I noticed my total seemed kind of high. I ended up returning two items that I thought were on but weren't. Also, the Hormel dinners were buy one get one free, and I THOUGHT I paid for both of them. I had them double check, and they didn't see the discount either and credited me. Now that I'm looking at the receipt, I see it. Go figure. Bonus for me I guess. Which reminds me, I still owe them for a gallon of milk.

Sooo, my total after tax was $74.78. I got a refund of $16.00 something, which puts as at about $59.00 after tax. I also will get a UPromise credit for $2. 00 and change. Before tax, we managed to stay in the $50.00 range. This tax issue is really throwing me. I've gotten better at coupons, so it's messing me up to still spend tax on the pre-coupon amount!

BTW, coupon savings including UPromise coupons today was $20.50! That might be my highest coupon total ever. Sure wish I had a savings breakdown on sale prices too. I hate the Hy-Vee doesn't do that!

And, finally, I tried to take a picture because I like that best, but it was TOO MUCH STUFF!

Here we go...

2 dozen bakery cookies
1 box of Bagelfuls
2 tubs of Philadelphia whipped cream cheese
1 CA Pizza Kitchen flatbread
2 Digiorno flatbreads
6 8 oz cans of generic tomato sauce
1 big can of pinto beans
1 big can of kidney beans
1 big jar of McCormick chili powder
1 big tin of McCormick black pepper
1 small bag of Millstone coffee grounds
2 Musselman's Healthy whatever applesauces
2 Pillsbury muffin mixes
2 cans of Pringles
1 Ronzoni Smart taste pasta
1 Ronzoni Whole Wheat pasta
1 Smuckers caramel ice cream sauce
1 bag of Snyders honey mustard pretzels
2 Hormel meat entrees
4 Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches
1/2 gallon of generic chocolate milk
1 Electrasol Powerball tablets
4 8 oz bags of Hy Vee cheese (best deal in town -- these are totally comparable to Kraft)
1 jumbo cantaloupe
1.97 lbs of Fuji apples
1.87 lbs of peaches
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Vidalia Onion
about 1 lb of 80% lean ground beef
1 bag of steam in bag shrimp

A good trip for the $50.00 price range I think! I felt like I got lots of stuff for my money! I am really in need of some good deals on some of our staples though -- like pasta sauce, peanut butter and juice. Maybe next week.

Also -- a frugal tip -- I made our favorite pasta casserole this week, but I am LOW on spaghetti sauce. I used one jar (instead of two) of our spaghetti sauce and added an 8 oz can of store brand tomato sauce ($.19 a piece today on sale.) I didn't mention it to the family, and no one noticed. I'm hoping to come up with some more frugal little tricks up my sleeve. Just based on that one little switch, I can see how doing that more often could make a big difference!