After eating from our pantry for most of the month, it was time to restock the fridge and use some good coupons before they expired at the end of the month.

Total spent: $38.76
Total before coupons: $79.99
View receipt

Safeway was absolutely packed with people getting ready for the holiday weekend, so it was utter chaos for all the staff trying to keep up. Our tourist town attracts many people, but our stores are smaller and don’t quite have the capacity to accommodate them properly. As a result of everyone being so rushed, there were two mistakes on my receipt – I was overcharged for one item, and undercharged for another. I didn’t notice it until this morning, because I had added up the total beforehand, and estimated that it would be around $36.48 – I had a few purchases where the price would be determined by the weight of the item, so I knew my figure would not be exact. When the total came up as $38.76, I was satisfied that it was correct, so I just quickly scanned over the receipt and left the store. Looking at it again today, I noticed the errors and determined that I was overcharged by a total of $2.79. I don’t think it’s worth my time to go back – plus, I’ve been meaning to make time to take in the receipt for the “Do not double” coupons which were doubled, so as far as I’m concerned, we’re even now!

.60 lbs of organic, fair trade Millstone coffee – the sign advertised the coffee as being $8.99 per pound, and I used one $1.00 off Millstone coffee coupon that I found in the coffee aisle. However, the receipt shows that it was rung up accidentally as “Select” coffee at $6.99 per pound – $4.19 for .60 lbs.
1 8-pack of Pepsi – on sale for $3.34, used one free coupon that I received by writing to the company. The coupon took off the original price of $4.39, so the final price was free plus $1.05 overage. I also paid 40 cents for the bottle deposit.
1 box of Kraft Mac & Cheese – regularly $1.55, used one free coupon that I got through Facebook – final price: Free
20 Yakisoba bowls – yes, more of these! As I mentioned previously, I participated in a few coupon trains last month, and had ten Yakisoba coupons that I received that were expiring at the end of May. These happened to be on sale for .89 cents each – making the final total after coupons .39 cents each. We love these and I thought that was a decent price, so I got 20 altogether and paid $7.80.
4 cans of BumbleBee tuna – on sale for $1.00 each, used two $1.00/2 coupons that I received through RecycleBank, which doubled – final price: .25 cents each.
1 12-pack of bath tissue – on sale for $5.99, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $4.99. I only bought one, but I was charged for two by mistake.
2 18-count packages of eggs – regularly $2.19 each, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.49 each.
1 two-pound bag of cheese – price: $4.49.
1 half-gallon of half & half – price: $3.99
1 pound of butter – regularly $2.99, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.99.
1 gallon of milk – price: $1.99
2 packages of Stayfree pads – regularly $3.49 each, used two $2.00/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled; final price: .99 cents each.
1.96 lbs of bananas – on sale for .69 cents per pound, final cost: $1.35
8 ears of corn – on sale for .25 cents each, final price: $2.00
1-lb bag of Earthbound Farms organic celery hearts – regularly $2.99, used one free coupon that I received by writing to the company – final price: Free!
2-lb bag of Earthbound Farms organic, washed & ready to use baby carrots – regularly $3.99, used one free coupon that I received by writing to the company – final price: Free! Who says you can never find coupons for produce?
1 10-lb bag of potatoes – on sale for $1.48
1 jar of Marie’s Potato Salad Dressing – regularly $3.99, Safeway was offering this free with any 10-lb bag of potatoes.
1 package of tofu – price: $1.99. I’m bummed because I have a bunch of coupons for free Nasoya tofu, but all the stores in my area stopped carrying it!

I then used $6.80 in bottle return slips to bring the final total down to $38.76. I had some cans that I needed to return anyway, so I did that before I went shopping. When you return cans at Safeway, you get a voucher for the amount of your bottle refund which can either be cashed out at the checkstand or used like a coupon towards your shopping trip, which is what I did.