You know that feeling when you look at your grocery total and wonder, “How did we spend that much?” Yeah… me too. Any time we’re in a crazy season of life and I don’t have everything in check with grocery shopping routines I’m always reminded why it’s SO important. These small (or not so small!) savings really add up over time.
I am very serious about using Kroger’s digital coupons and weekly deals every single time I shop. This week’s haul (is for 10 days and you can find the meal plan that goes along with this shop here!!) is a great example of how a little planning can stretch your grocery budget in a big way — without clipping a single paper coupon or spending hours hunting for deals. I literally schedule a grocery pickup just like I always would, but use a little bit of planning and resourcefulness to get the most bang for our buck!
My Grocery Game Plan
Before heading to Kroger, I opened the app and clipped every digital coupon that fit our regular shopping list. I always start with the “Weekly Digital Deals” section — these are the ones you can use up to five times in one transaction.
Then I moved on to the “Savings” tab to grab the everyday coupons — things like dairy, frozen foods, and pantry staples. It takes maybe five minutes, but it’s so worth it.
This week, I planned out 10 days of meals around what was on sale:
- $1.49 pears (when it came time to pickup my order this was out of stock, but that’s OK!)
- BOGO pork loin (perfect for two dinners)
- $5.99 shredded cheese
- $1.39 Milk Half Gallon
- BOGO Petite Potatoes
- $4.99 Oscar Mayer Bacon
- $2.99 Oscar Mayer Lunch Meat
- $2.99 Pickles
- $3.49 Blueberries
- $7.99 Frozen Beef Patties
- BOGO Gala Apples
- $2.99 Butter
- 2/$10 Shaved Beef Steak
- $1.99 salsa
- $1 off Siete Chips
- $10 off $75 pickup coupon (one of my favorites when it pops up!)
These are all things that we would buy anyways! I NEVER buy things that we don’t eat already just because there is a sale or a coupon. It almost never works out for us and we just waste that money by not using the food or product.
💰 The Numbers — Before & After
Here’s the part I love showing you — the real numbers!
Below you’ll see my screenshot from the Kroger app that shows my total before and after coupons:
My Kroger Order Pickup Total
- Before coupons and deals: $232.46
- After coupons and weekly digital deals: $148.89
- Total saved: $83.57🎉
That’s over 55% off my grocery bill — and that’s just from digital coupons I clipped while sitting at my kitchen table.
You can see in the screenshot that I saved $39.76 in “Kroger Savings”. That just means that by being a Kroger rewards member I receive their sale prices and got that much off to start. I shopped strategically for sale items (like BOGO petite potatoes and BOGO gala apples). These are NOT coupons that you have to clip. They’re just the sale prices that you can get if you have a rewards account.
The fun part, at least to me, is the savings that is brought from coupons. So, I saved $43.88 by clipping coupons. As you can see this REALLY adds up.
If I had just walked in off of the street and not used a loyalty rewards account, I would have paid over $232.46!! That’s really incredible when you think about it. TWO trips of savings can totally pay for another ENTIRE trip to the store.
Final Thoughts
Every time I do a haul like this, I’m reminded that saving money on groceries doesn’t have to mean eating boring food or spending hours couponing. A few minutes of clipping and a little planning ahead really do pay off.
If you love seeing the before-and-after breakdown, be sure to check out my 10 day meal plan that is based off of these ingredients I picked up at a bargain!! Obviously, I do have ingredients that I didn’t buy this trip like rice, seasonings, and a couple other things as I’m sure you have too!
Happy planning and saving!