My Harris Teeter Experience

I've been trying my hand at budgeting for a little while now. I can't say I'm perfect at it just yet, but I continue to try. I recently took a very small class about couponing to start building my foundation for becoming a better shopper. I can say I definitely learned a lot from the class.

Due to my schedule, I haven't quite found the perfect day or time to devote to couponing because it requires a lot of planning, effort, and coordination (To Do Item #1 - designate time for couponing). I'm not trying to become an extreme couponer, I want to invest in being a smarter shopper. I'm not going to go to 10 different stores and buy a million items, just because I have coupons! I want to buy items I normally buy from the fewest number of stores (2 or 3 at the most) at the best prices possible!

Again, I haven't quite devoted the time needed to the task, but I have done a few things so far. I've:

• Created an email account just for couponing (as signing up for different sites creates a ton of spam) and organized it for quick access
• Subscribed to a number of different brand and store sites
• Acquired a few more store loyalty cards
• Got a coupon notebook and baseball cardholders (to hold my coupons in the notebook)

Now, it was just my luck that Harris Teeter (HT) had Super Doubles this week. I had a very busy holiday, so by the time I got my email letting me know it was Super Doubles week, the sale was half over! I only had a few coupons, but I was determined to use them to my advantage. I'd been building a grocery list since before Christmas because I am also determined to cut down on shopping trips per month. I'm a very frugal shopper already, so HT has never been on my radar for ANYTHING!! BUT because I am determined I will make this thing work; plus I hear HT really isn't that bad.


Here's a picture of all my goodies from my first time out:

I went into HT with my grocery list and coupons in hand. I was only able to use 2 coupons during this trip, saving only $2.09, but there were excellent savings for VIC customers as well. I saved $44.02, using VIC alone, and spent $59.83 total!! I thought that was excellent for my first time at this "couponing" thing. My biggest buys were:

• 5 12 pack Pepsi products (3 Mountain Dews, 1 Sunkist, and 1 Pepsi) - buy 2, get 3 free!! (how that even makes sense, I will not be the one to ask!!)
• 12 cans of Green Giant's Vegetables - 2 (4 can packs) for $5
• 2 boxes of Mueller's Spaghetti Noodles - buy one get one (BOGO) free
• 4 cans of Cream of Mushroom (I love this stuff and always seem to need it!) - BOGO free

I gave myself a round of applause for this trip because after I left HT, I knew I had to go to Wal-Mart next…a trip that is never fun.