First off let us introduce ourselves. I am Richard and my lovely girlfriend Mari and I live and work in South Florida and are frequent visitors to Publix Supermarkets. We are professional thirty somethings who like to save money where we can so we can do other things with our money. What we found was by shopping the Publix circular each week we were able to bag some big savings on items we buy on a regular basis. We try to keep our shopping needs basic and avoid frozen foods, junk foods and prepared foods. Fresh fruit and vegetables are some of our most frequently bought items and chicken is the primary meat we purchase. Our goal is to spend less than $300 a month on groceries. The sales circular is in the local newspaper each Wednesday morning for the sale that starts on Thursday. If you don’t subscribe to the paper don’t worry, the circulars are available at the front of the store or on the company website. However, by subscribing to the newspaper you will find coupons on the items you regularly use and if you combine the coupons with the specials you will save even more. This can more than pay for the cost of a newspaper subscription. We have found that we can buy most items we need at a deep discount and stock up on some items we may not need right away. We hope you like our series and that you find your own special savings!
Here is what we found and what we bought for the week of April 17, 2008:
We went armed with Publix gift cards totaling $10 that we got for participating in a customer survey at the local Publix Greenwise Market earlier in the week and the specials we found in the newspaper the previous day.
Fresh Express Salad Blend – 2 for $4.00. We got 2 bags which will make about 4 salads. Yes it is prepackaged and therefor more expensive, but because of the special it is a good value.
Kraft Cracker Barrel Cheese – $2.89 for 10 oz. Sometimes there is a deal for the store brand (2 for $4.00) which is a little cheaper than this, but who knows when they will have that sale again. We bought 2-10 oz. packages.
Arrrid XX Anti-Perspirant Deodorant – Buy 1 get 1 free. Normally this is a purchase we would make at Target or Wal-Mart since toiletry items are generally cheaper there. But the special made it worth it. We spent a total of $2.99 on 2 of them.
Bananas – $0.69 per lb. No this wasn’t a discounted item, but this item is rarely on sale and it is a inexpensive and healthy food that we buy every week. We got 6 bananas for $1.57
Kashi Cereal – Buy 1 get 1 free. This brand and cereals as a whole tend to be a little pricey, but once again the special makes it a cost effective option. We got a total of 4 boxes for $6.78. Mari also loves this cereal and tries to buy it whenever it is on sale.
Campari Tomatoes – Buy 1 get 1 free. This is the first time we purchased this product. The special was enough to get us to try it. The regular price is $4.99 each so we got 2 lbs for $4.99.
Thomas’ English Muffins – Buy 1 get 1 free. This deal comes around quite often. We got 4 packages of 6 for $5.98. This is a good and quick breakfast food.
Publix Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast – $2.49 per lb. They have been known to offer this for $1.99 per lb. which is the best deal you will find but this week it was $2.49 per lb. which is still a steep discount of the regular $4.99 per lb. price. We saved a total of $10.68 on 9 chicken breasts.
Total Bill at Full Price: $83.36
Savings: -$38.40
Gift Cards: -$10.00
Total Spent: $34.96
58% Savings!
This week we well exceeded our savings goals and we bought items that we use every week anyway. All it took was a little patience in waiting for items to go on sale and stocking up when they do. Come back next week to see what we find!
