My Publix shopping trip + new series

Publix is having a pretty good sale this week with lots of baking supplies!  (Check out Southern Savers Publix list for extensive details.) 

Here is my shopping trip from this evening:

Total: $57.05

- $23.85 in coupons

I paid $33.20  (savings of 41%)

Price I paid after coupons:

• Ricola cough drops – FREE @ coupon (actually gave me 10¢ overage on each bag)
• Betty Crocker brownie mix – $1.02
• Nestle cookie dough – $0.82
• Nestle chocolate chips – $1.07
• Domino sugar – $0.49

Now while some of you might be amazed that I saved that much with coupons or that I saved that percentage off my bill (and yes, I am thankful for those savings), I am not quite as thrilled as you may think. 

You see, for the last 2 years I have paid $0.25/bag for Nestle Morsels, $0.50/package for cookie dough, and got brownie mixes for FREE or less than $0.50.  So these prices (although good and the best I have seen in many months) are much more than I am used to paying.  And I have spent $33 of my $40 weekly budget and still have some things I want to stock up on at Kroger during their Mega sale this week.

In light of that, I am introducing a new series –

“How to save $ when grocery prices go up … and coupon deals slow down”

I have been noticing again and again, over the last few months, that grocery prices are on the rise, shelves are empty more than they are full, coupon values are going down, store policies are getting tighter, and coupons just don’t seem to be as good.  Therefore, resulting in higher prices even for an avid couponer like me. :)

But there are some ways we can deal with it and still save money!  I hope to share some of these ideas with you over the next few weeks. 

And I would love to hear how you are dealing with the rising prices and slower deals – leave a comment or email me at centsiblesavings@yahoo.com.  I might just use your suggestion or comment in a future post.