Pick N' Save Double Coupon "Mini-Date"

I'm so stocked up on almost everything that I haven't made any grocery store trips for about a month other than to get milk, eggs, fresh produce and meat.  But this week Pick N' Save is having a great deal on Kellogg's cereals and we are running a bit low, so I decided to take advantage of the deal.  Combine that deal with double coupon day and hello, restocked cereal cupboard!  (By the way, "a bit low" at our house means we have fewer than 15 boxes of unopened cereal on hand.  Ha!)

But first, a story.  My husband and I spent part of our first date at a grocery store.  Neither of us were ready to go home so went to the grocery store, supposedly so I could pick up eggs since I was out.  (NOT!  I thought he was cute and funny and I wasn't quite ready for the date to end.)  Up and down the aisles we went.  While looking at the canned seafood, I grabbed a tube of escargot shells off the shelf and was waving it around wildly (I talk with my hands, big time), going on and on about escargot    All of a sudden, the lid popped off and they spilled all over the aisle.  Snail shells everywhere!  I was mortified, but he just chuckled and started picking up snail shells, so I started laughing and picking up shells, too.  There we were giggling like idiots, trying to make sure we had all 2 dozen of them stuffed back in the tube and back on the shelf before anyone saw us.  Well, I knew any man that could listen and apparently be fascinated by my rambling on about something as ridiculous as escargot, switch off my embarrassment with a sweet smile and be that chivalrous about the whole thing was definitely worth marrying. 

Flash forward several years:  Grocery shopping and life in general has become a lot more mundane.  With money very tight, we rarely go out and we hardly have any time for just the two of us to hang out together.  So we decided to make a "mini-date" grocery shopping without the kids.  Off to Pick N' Save for double coupon Wednesday.

The plan was to shop with two carts and each go through a different check out rather than do 2 transactions at one check out.  I had his list, along with coupons in the order to hand over all neat in an envelope and a similar envelope for me.  Right off the bat they were out of one of the items on both our lists so that threw my whole plan off.  I started switching out coupons from my back-up envelope and redoing the list and he started getting a little impatient (euphamism for "huffy"), and said, "Can we get going, please?"  To which I calmly replied, "Would you rather I do this in the check out line with 20 people behind me or would you rather I do it now and be done in 30 seconds?"  To which he replied, "Good point."  After that, it was just like old times.

For a glossary of terms and explanation of abbreviations I use, click here.

Hubby's Transaction:
2 Kellogg's Corn Flakes- on sale $2.50 ea.
2 Frosted Flakes- on sale $2.50 ea.
2 Corn Pops- on sale $2.50 ea.
2 Special K Multi Grain Crackers- on sale $2.50 ea.
2 Packages Rhodes Texas Rolls- $3.99 ea.
1 5lb. box Cuties Clementines-on sale $7.99
1.5 dozen eggs- $2.29 (no sale and it was a rotten price for these but we needed them and it wasn't worth going to another store for them)
Total before Pick N' Save card:  $38.26

Swiped PNS card, took off $10 from Kellogg's, $2 from Cuties and $.98 for 2 pkgs. Rhodes rolls
Used $1/5lb. box Cuties clementines MQ, doubled to $2
Used $1/2 pkgs. Rhodes rolls MQ, doubled to $2
Used $1/2 Corn Flakes MQ, doubled to $2
Used 2 $1/2 Frosted Flakes or Corn Pops MQ's, doubled to $2 ea.
Used 2 $1/Kellogg's Special K Crackers
Total after card and coupons (5 of them doubled):   13.28

My transaction:
Lucky Leaf Banana Cream Pie Filling- $2.49
10 Dannon Yogurts- $.71 ea. 
1 5lb. box of Cuties Clementines- $7.99
1 Wheatables Crackers- $2.50
4 Flipsides Crackers- $2.50 ea.
1 All Bran Crackers- $2.50
2 Corn Flakes- $2.50
3 Roundy's Green Bay Packers Limited Edition Cereals- $2.99 ea.
2 pkgs. Chinette Plates- $3.19 ea.
Subtotal before card and coupons:    $52.93

Swiped PNS card, took off $10 from Kellogg's, $2 from Cuties, $2.10 from Dannon yogurts, $6 from Packers cereal, and $1.38 from Chinette
Used $1 Cuties MQ, doubled to $2
Used $1 Lucky Leaf CAT that printed off from who knows what a few weeks ago, doubled to $2
Used $1/10 Dannon yogurts MQ, doubled to $2 (this actually wasn't scanning at all so the manager had to come over and manually take off $1 and since it was one of the first five coupons, I asked if it would double so she took off another dollar)
Used $1 Corn Flakes MQ, doubled to $2
Used $1 All Bran Crackers MQ, doubled to $2
 Used $1 Wheatables MQ, doubled to $2 (this was the 5th coupon to actually scan so it automatically doubled and I didn't realize about the extra double until I got home.)
Used $1 Flipsides MQ
Used $1.50 Flipsides MQ
Used $1.50 Corn Flakes MQ
Used 2 $2 Chinette MQ
Total after card and coupons:  $11.45

Together, Hubby and I got $91.23 worth of groceries (mostly cereal, crackers and Cuties), for $24.73, a savings of $66.50 or 73%.  Not bad, considering all those expensive Cuties and overpriced eggs.

As we were walking to the car with our loaded, combined cart he said, "That was fun," and smiled.  And I knew that any man who would go to the grocery store as a way to spend time with his wife, schlepp around a separate cart, hand over coupon after coupon in just the right order and then call the whole thing "fun" was definitely worth being married to.

:D