Score at Kroger!

We are in a very tight spot right now financially. We always have a tight budget but we are squeezing every penny for it's worth right now. We had several unexpected costs come up. For those of you who live tight like we do you understand how that throws things off. Because of this our grocery budget is smaller than normal. I went into Kroger today to get essentials only & with cash in hand. I was holding my breath that my $100 would make it! Normally I shop about twice a month and have about $225. This time I was going in with less than half that.

This is what I came home with. I was extremely pleased! At one point I looked up & the register said $199. Ack! It was still climbing & didn't even add in TN's 9.75% tax yet. I about fell on the floor! How could that have happened? Then all at once the Mega Event savings clicked in on the register & the numbers started rolling downward. I almost cheered! Now we were down to $117 & that wasn't counting my coupons. As our friend punched in each coupon Sweet Pea & I watched the numbers fall. Finally we got to $97.22! I grinned at Sweet Pea & she grinned back. We made it UNDER $100! I proudly brought home our groceries & the change to Dave. =0)
Here is what we got with our $:

1 - 21 lbs. turkey
1- 20 lbs. turkey
2 boxes of tissues ($1/each - I had to get a bit softer b/c of our colds)
8 cans Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup (38cents/can)
4 cans Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup (38cents/can)
12 cans Carnation evaporated milk (15 cents/can)
2 boxes Stove Top Stuffing (75cents/each)
9 cans Kroger peaches in light syrup (49cents/each)
4 - 28oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes (99 cents/each)
2 - 24ct. Stayfree pads (99 cents/each)
8 rolls of Bounty paper towels (sale & coupon)
1 - 10lbs. bag of potatoes ($3.99)
10 boxes Annie's Organic Mac & Cheese (49 cents/each)
2 boxes Life cereal ($1.49/each)
3 - 4pk Danimals yogurt ($1/each)
4 - 4pk Activia yogurt ($1/each)
4 - 4pk Dannon Light & Fit yogurt ($1/each)
2 tubs Best Life buttery spread (49cents/each)
1 jar Chi-Chi's salsa
24 ct. Advil (50 cents)
2.5 lbs. red seedless grapes
4 on the vine tomatoes
1lb. asparagus
1 container Organic Honest Fruit Punch ( free)
2 bags Pepperidge Farm chocolate brownie cookies (99cents/bag ~my splurge for Dave & I)
1 box Pepperidge Farm natural crackers (99 cents)

I'm especially thrilled with the turkeys. They were on sale from $1.49/lb. to 69 cents/lb. That's more than 50% savings! We will use them for soups, casseroles, sandwiches & other meals. The bones will be great for broth. These will go a long way in feeding my family of 7.

I'm feeling happy & blessed with our savings today. My greatest reward was my husband's compliments & praise. That was worth more than the $130 we saved. Much more! =0)

Can You Believe It?!?!?!?

I WON!!!!!!!!

Today Boo & I stopped in at Kroger's to pick up a few groceries for our special dinner tonight. We saw they had a little tent set up right inside. They had Titan paraphernalia all over. We looked around but there was a big crowd so we went shopping. Later we heard over the loudspeaker that they were giving away Titan's tickets. They announced the first giveaway and then the 2nd. I started thinking I would kick myself later if I didn't' at least check it out. First I went up to see if it cost anything to enter. I finally made my way through the crowd and found out no purchase was necessary. Yay! Then the guy saw me & gave me a ticket. I made my way back to Boo & less than a minute later they were reading off the winning numbers. I couldn't believe it! They were calling out MY numbers!!!!!!! I thought I was misreading it at first and the lady started reading the numbers again. By then people were looking all around for someone to claim the tickets. I squealed, " I think that's ME!!!!" and went running up through the crowd with Boo right behind me. They gave me the envelope with the tickets, had me open it up & took our picture. We were ecstatic!!!! I could hardly wait to get home & tell Dave! We quickly finished our shopping bubbling over with excitement. I drove the 5 minutes home with the tickets clutched in my hand. We burst out of the van once we reached our driveway & I told Dave. He couldn't believe it! I told him they were his. An early anniversary gift.

I can see God's hand all over this. I know God timed this entire blessing from start to finish. I am deeply thankful that He gave me these tickets so I in turn could give them to my sweet husband. Dave even asked me to go with him. It will be so neat to see an NFL game in the stadium. We can hardly wait!

And THANK YOU, Kroger for this giveaway!