Publix Trip BIG savings!

Ok, I know I've said I love Publix, but I LOVE Publix! I got a $5/$30 purchase coupon in the mail from them, it was their Italian meal advertisement but for any groceries of course. Well, I also have a $5/$50 from Hitchcocks and Publix takes competitor coupons..

So, a quick lesson on maximizing a dollars off coupon..

1. Always use with coupons and get the items that become cheapest with coupons. For instance. If you do a b1g1f deal (which publix has often) for an item like Progresso chicken broth for $2.59. See, you can use 2 of the $1.25/1 coupons..making your final cost $.09 for 2 broths, but your TOTAL before coupons will be $2.59..so this will get you to your $30 to use your $5/$30 coupon...which leads me to..
2. ALWAYS give the $5/$30 or the $5/$50 or whatever FIRST, this is when your total is highest and you haven't lowered it with your coupons yet.
3. Get as close to the dollars off total as possible to maximize your savings. For instance if you need to spend $30, don't spend $50. Unless you were planning/need to. This way, if you have another $5/$30 coupon, you can use other items for that.
4. Use the "extra" money to buy things you NEVER get coupons for but need and this varies for different people. I like to get produce, you might want to get meat that is on sale, or organic items for instance. If you buy $10 worth of meat, you can consider that $5/$30 to be for the meat, so you are getting your meat 1/2 off.
5. When you can, add a mail in rebate item, especially with a coupon, to your order. This gets your order total higher, and you will get that money back! For example, if I had a rebate form for a Try me free Sure deodorant clinical and a $2/1 coupon for the product, I could buy the $9.99 item at Publix, get my total $9.99 higher/closer to my $30 requirement, then use $2/1 to lower my OOP, then get that money BACK, plus profit, when my rebate comes in!
   

Ok, I bought the following items, as pictured.

• 1 gallon of milk $2.99
• 6 Goodlife Cat food bags (had raincheck) $3.49 (used $3/1 coupons on each) Also note that cat food is not included in my household budget, so I will subtract the food cost at the end.
• 2 Progresso chick broth b1g1f @ $2.59/2. I used 2 $1.25 coupons, making it $.09 for 2
• Coffee Mate 16oz for $1.67. I used 1 $1/1 printed coupon from coffeemate.com = $.67
• Green Goodness Bolthouse farms juice $3.00
• Sabra Garlic Hummus $3.99 (missed the b1g1f sale!) Used $1.50/1 coupon = $2.50
• Rachel's yogurt $1.00. Used $.55/1 = $.45
• 2 containers Blueberries 2/$5.00
• Cantaloupe sliced $2.18
• Asparagus wrapped $2.49
• Grapes Red container $1.64
  
• Planters Cashews $4.69 (used my freebie Kraft coupon (up to $5) ) FREE
• 6 Progresso Soups @ $1.25 each on sale. Used 2 $1.10/1 & 1 $2/4 Q=$7.50 - 4.20=$3.30
• Used $5/$50 competitor coupon
• Used $5/$30 Publix coupon
• Total OOP = $18.66- $4.35 (includes tax) for cat food = $14.31 OOP

What do you think of that price? Remember, our Publix doesn't double coupons! I was in a rush too, or I would have maybe done a few more freebies and a rebate item to make my produce even cheaper, but I was pleased with this amount. The produce, great soup, milk, hummus and specialty juice are all things I spend more on usually, so nice to get so cheap! Thanks Publix!

Warmly,
Tracey C.
$787.16- $14.31 = $772.85 left in budget