Let's go Krogering....

I've dabbled in coupons for years, but honestly, as of late, I tend to forget to bring the coupons with me to the store (ugh!) However, when I got the flyer stating that Kroger was going to double all coupons up to a $1 for one day only....I started to hyperventilate! Wow! That could come out to saving ALOT of money.

I called our 24 hour store @ midnight to see when the doubling actually started and he said - oh right now :) So, I was already up and awake and decided to head out with all my coupons. I don't do my weekly shopping @ this Kroger, so it made for an even longer trip, as I didn't know where everything was located. Plus, you're going through all your coupons. I got there a little before 1am, and the there were over 30 people in line, with 2 cashiers?!?!? WHAT?! You'd think that they would have been more prepared since they were the ones hyping it up...oh well. Anyway, I had plenty to do while they waited. I went up and down every aisle, checking for sales, figuring out how much I'd save on each item, contemplating was it worth it, do I need it, etc. I did purchase items I wouldn't normally buy, but when it's free, or nearly free, how can you resist? I have NEVER filled my cart like I did this morning. Almost 2 hours later, I was in line but thankfully it had died down. There were only about 8 of us there (all moms without their kids....all tired...but all excited to see what kind of damage we did) We all chatted with each other, read magazines, and talked about how we were going to try and figure out where to put all our stuff & get some sleep before our kids woke up in a couple of hours!

So, it was my turn. All items added up, then my Kroger card deals, then my e-coupons that I've added to my Kroger card, then my physical coupons (internet printables and newspaper coupons). I couldn't believe it....it was like winning the jackpot in Vegas or something. I purchased 110 items and used 94 coupons! I saved 73%! Talk about making it work! It was WELL worth my time and energy. Of course, it was 3:30am when I got home and I realized that I now had 110 items to bring into the house without waking the others who were sleeping. The sackers were great @ Kroger, by really being careful to sack all perishables together and putting in one basket, then putting everything else together in another. The guy then walked me out to my car, put all the non-perishables in first, and the perishables next, so that when I got home, I could just take out the stuff that needed to be put away. The rest could wait.

So, of course, I had to take pictures :)


After a couple of hours of sleep (Maggie doesn't know what sleeping in is...yet!), I went through my coupons again and decided that since I did so well, I was going to hit up the other Kroger this afternoon. This time I ended up with 67 items and using 59 coupons. Cha-ching!


In the end, I bought 179 items & used 153 coupons. My totals (before coupons) came to $502! My total out of pocket expense for ALL these items: $131!

Now, that's what I call making the system work for you!

The fun part was trying to find a place to put all this stuff....
Frig, freezer, pantry, kitchen cabinets and even the garage...FULL!

While it was exhausting, it was actually pretty exciting. Call me crazy!

Did any of you go Krogering?