I stopped by Safeway yesterday to pick up a few things:

Forgive the ugly picture, my tablecloth was in the wash! 😉

Total spent: $38.81
Total before coupons: $49.14
View receipt

Got:
1 box of Born Blonde hair bleach – I needed this so that I can change my hair color! Price: $10.99
.5 lbs of organic, fair trade Millstone coffee – on sale for $9.19 per pound, used one $1.50/1 coupon from the 07/11 Red Plum newspaper insert, which doubled; final price: $2.60.
2 lbs of brown rice – price: $2.99
1 package of Lay’s Kettle Cooked Potato Chips – regularly $2.99, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.77; this stacked with a $1.00/1 coupon from the June issue of All You magazine, which also doubled; final price: .27 cents.
1 box of bullion cubes – price: $1.50
1 package of tortillas – price: $1.99
1 package of toilet paper – regularly $6.49, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $4.88. That’s a decent price for this area, so I thought I’d stock up.
1 dozen eggs – price: $1.69
3 bags of frozen spinach – on sale 3 for $4.00
1 lb of butter – regularly $2.99, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.99.
One 4-pack of Yoplait Yo Plus – on sale for $2.29, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.79; this also stacked with a .50/1 coupon from the 07/11 Smart Source newspaper insert, which doubled; final price: .79 cents.
One 4-pack of Yoplait Delights – on sale for $2.29, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.79; this also stacked with a .50/1 coupon from the 07/11 Smart Source newspaper insert, which doubled; final price: .79 cents.
1.83 lbs of bananas – price: $1.26
2.12 lbs of grapes – price: $2.08
1 head of red leaf lettuce – price: .99 cents

I thought I was done shopping for the week – until I realized yesterday morning that we were almost out of coffee and sugar!

Total spent: $3.14
View receipt

Got:

11.5 oz store brand coffee – price: $1.99

1-lb sugar – price: $1.15

I normally buy different coffee, but we only had $4.80 left in our Grocery Challenge budget since we ate out earlier in the week, so I just went for the cheapest of the cheap. I may prefer my special Millstone blends, but I will drink any coffee just so long as I have it! Plus, we still have a little of the “Good” coffee left, so I’ll just mix that in with this store brand stuff until Week 3 starts on Sunday!

This brings our running total for Week 2 to $48.34.

Total spent: $19.22
View receipt

Got:

1 packet of gravy mix – price: .69 cents. I was surprised at how expensive gravy was at Safeway. The last time I bought gravy was at Costco, and I got a huge container for about $5. I know I could make my own, but I opted for convenience this time!
1 can of of tomato sauce – originally .50 cents, marked on clearance for 50% off – making the final price .25 cents.
1 dozen eggs – price: $1.69
1 quart of half & half – price: $3.99
1 gallon of milk – price: $2.39
4.58 lbs bananas – price: $3.16
1.61 lbs of oranges – price: $1.59
1 package of celery – price: $1.69
2 ears of corn – price: .80 cents
1.26 lbs of apples – price: $1.88
1 2-lb bag of carrots – originally priced at $1.59, used one .50/1 coupon that I got from writing to the company. Final price: $1.09.

I had a pretty funny experience while I was in Safeway. The can of clearance tomato sauce that I bought had the original price marked as .75 cents, but rang up as .50 cents – .25 cents cheaper than I was expecting. I went over to customer service and explained it to them, and they said that it was fine, but that they appreciated my honesty. Well, I got out to my car and started to unload the groceries, and saw 3 cases of beer sitting underneath my bags. Obviously, I didn’t buy any beer on this trip! I went back into the store and showed the checker what had happened – the lady in front of me was buying a lot of beer, and apparently forgot to take 3 cases of it; so the person bagging my groceries assumed it was mine. What was funny about this was that no one could believe that someone would actually bring back 3 cases of “free” beer – everyone’s jaw dropped, including the lady at customer service who I had just spoken to!

This trip brings my total for Week 2 to $45.20. $27.45 of this was spent on groceries, while the remainder went to dining out.

I did a few deals on Sunday, and brought home $67.65 worth of groceries for $17.06:

Transaction #1:

Total spent: $10.73
Total before coupons: $19.83
View receipt

I am pleased to announce that Safeway has gone back to its old policy on printable coupons – no more “50% of the value” rule! Click here to read the updated policy. The only exception is that you may not redeem “Free” printable coupons, so I will continue to take those to Fred Meyer.

So bearing that in mind, here’s what I got:

2 packages of Goldfish crackers – on sale for .88 cents, used two .50/1 printable coupons, which doubled; final price: Free plus .24 cents overage.
1 bottle of Ocean Spray Blueberry Juice – on sale for $1.50, used one $1/1 printable, which doubled; Final price: Free! (Thanks to Frugal Living NW for the tip!)
1 bottle of Powerade – on sale for .88 cents, used one $1/1 coupon good on any Powerade that I got through RecycleBank, which doubled; Final price: Free plus .62 cents overage.
2-lb bag of cheese – price: $3.99
1 gallon of milk – $2.39
1 bottle of Suave conditioner – On sale for $1.79, used one free coupon from the recent Facebook promotion. It automatically took off the full value of the coupon, which was $3.00, so I also received $1.21 in overage.
1 Sunday paper – price: $2.50
1.85 lbs bananas – price: $1.28
1.78 lbs of grapes – price: $1.76
2 bags of Fresh Express salad – on sale for .99 cents each, used two .55/1 coupons that I got by writing to the company; Final price: .44 cents each.

Transaction #2:

Total spent: $1.46
Total before coupons: $14.95
View receipt

I had read that there was a “Buy One, Get One Free” Stayfree coupon in this week’s Sunday paper, and since I had already planned to do a few more transactions to use up the rest of my $2/1 Stayfree coupons, I looked through the paper after I bought it and tore out the coupon. Then I loaded my groceries in the car and went back through the line again!

Got:

5 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy 2 or more; used four $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled, and one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 06/27 Red Plum newspaper insert; The “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon automatically took off the full value of the coupon, which was $3.49, so I also received .50 cents in overage. Final price: $1.46 for all five.

Transaction #3:

Total spent: $1.96
Total before coupons: $11.96
View receipt

Got:

4 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy 2 or more; used four $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled; Final price: .49 cents each, $1.96 for all four.

Transaction #4:

Total spent: $1.96
Total before coupons: $11.96
View receipt

Got:

4 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy 2 or more; used four $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled; Final price: .49 cents each, $1.96 for all four.

Transaction #5:

Total spent: .95 cents
Total before coupons: $8.95
View receipt

Got:

2 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy 2 or more; used two $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled; Final price: .49 cents each.
3 tubs of Gold ‘N Soft Margarine – while flipping through the 06/27 newspaper for the Stayfree coupon, I also found two coupons for Gold ‘N Soft Margarine located in the Smart Source insert. So I picked up three tubs of margarine for .99 cents each, and used one .50/1 coupon and one $1.50/2 coupon, which doubled; Final price: Free plus .03 cents overage.

I stopped by Safeway yesterday to pick up supplies:

Total spent: $38.00
Total before coupons: $57.49
View receipt

Got:

1 bag of dried split peas – price: $1.45
1 bottle of Ken’s ranch dressing – on sale for $1.50, used one $1/1 coupon from the 5/9 Smart Source newspaper inserts, which doubled; final price: Free
Half gallon of half & half – price: $3.99
1 carton of Tropicana Orange Juice – on sale for $3.50, used one free coupon that I received through their “Juicy Rewards” program. It automatically took off the full value of the coupon, which was $3.99, so I also received .49 cents in overage.
1 8oz block of Tillamook extra sharp cheddar cheese – on sale for $2.50, used a $1/1 coupon, which doubled; final price: $1.00. A friend of mine got this coupon when she went to a cheese festival, and she very thoughtfully sent it to me!
100-count bottle of ibuprofen – price: $5.99
2 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy two or more; I used two $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled – final price: .49 cents each.
5 packages of Ranchers Reserve steak – there was a coupon for $5 off Ranchers Reserve beef with any $25 or higher beef purchase in the Safeway sales flier; I like to utilize meat coupons whenever I find them, and this was perfect timing to take advantage of the sale since I have used a lot of meat from the freezer recently. I got five different packages of steak, which added up to $25.18 – making the final total $20.18 for all five packages after coupon.
2.46 lb of bananas – price: $1.70
1.34 lbs of oranges – price: $1.33
1 head of red leaf lettuce – price: $1.00
10-lb bag of potatoes – price: $1.78
2-lb bag of carrots – regularly priced at $1.59, used a .50/1 coupon that I received by writing to the company; final price: $1.09.

Jai also picked up milk and half and half on Sunday, for a total of $5.78. Our allotment for the Grocery Challenge is $25 per person per week; our total spent on food for Week 1 so far is $36.81.