My totally rad grocery shopping trip!

I just returned home from doing some grocery shopping at Wal-Mart (and fighting the crazy Memorial Day crowds... whew!), and I must admit that I am so darn proud of myself! I planned out this shopping trip on Sunday of last week, after reading the Wal-Mart flyer and going through my growing inventory of coupons. A few of the things on my list I purchased without coupons or sales because they were things we needed, but the majority of my shop was focused on combining store sales with manufacturer's coupons. I purchased 26 items and used coupons for 15 of them. Here's the skinny on the deals I snagged (and a pic as well):

• Fresh strawberries: $1.50
• Breyer's coffee ice cream: On sale for $2.25 - $1.00 coupon = $1.25
• Fresh corn: 5 ears for $0.85
• Mama Lupe tortilla chips: $1.58
• Pringles chips (2): $1.50 x 2 - $1.00 coupon = $1.00 each
• White Cloud toilet paper, 4-pk: $2.00 - $1.00 coupon = $1.00
• Haribo gummy bears (a treat for my baby!): $0.97
• Jello gelatin (2) x $0.50 each and pudding (1) x $0.84 - $1.00 coupon = $0.84 for all three
• Large eggs: $1.00
• Triscuit: $2.00 - $1.00 coupon = $1.00
• Wheat thins: $2.00 - $1.00 coupon = $1.00
• Velveeta shells & cheese: $1.50 - $1.00 coupon = $0.50
• Crystal Lite: $2.98 - $1.00 coupon = $1.98
• Whisker Lickin's cat treats (2): $1.26 x 2, B1G1 = $1.26 for both
• Hunt's ketchup: $1.64 - FREE coupon = FREE
• Vegetable oil: $2.28
• Kraft poppy seed salad dressing: $1.58 - $1.50 coupon = $0.08
• Special K with red berries cereal: $2.00 - $1.00 coupon = $1.00
• Raisin Bran Crunch cereal: $2.50 - $1.00 coupon = $1.50
• Reynold's foil: $1.52
• Sara Lee bread: $1.78 - $1.00 coupon = $0.78
• GV hot dog buns (2): $0.69 each x 2 = $1.38

Total spent: $25.71
Total savings (just in coupons, not counting sales): $14.96
My best estimate of what I truly saved, when counting some amazing sales: $25.00 or 50%
The average price I paid per item: $0.99

Tomorrow I'll head to Target to purchase some chicken, cat food, cat litter and a few other random things we need. And I also plan on stopping by my local Country Mart to buy some in-season produce (cabbage, avocadoes, cucumbers, bell peppers) that are super cheap.

I'm learning that couponing pays off the longer you do it. When I first started, I only had a few coupons to work with, so I wasn't getting the best deals possible. Now I have gobs of them saved for when a sale arises, and I'm making it a weekly (sometimes daily) habit to read the store flyers that come in the mail and in my email inbox.

Yay for saving money! :)