Wednesday Weekly Shopping: Hurricane and school shopping

I invite you to link up to your best grocery deals below, to inspire others to save more! 
 
This was an extremely busy week at the Frugal Follies household.

First, hurricanes have been on our mind for days.  Over the weekend, Hurricane Irene's projected path was headed right over our house!  As the week went on, the projected path moved further and further to the east, and we are no longer in any danger.  We fervently hope that the track will continue to move east so that no parts of the United States are threatened by this storm!

However, some close family members were visiting the Turks and Caicos Islands, which took an almost-direct hit from Irene.  Everyone is fine, and the storm has passed for the most part now.  But sitting through a howling hurricane is not the way you want to be spending a vacation!  And we spent much time checking every update to see how they were doing.

Meanwhile, I was getting my three kids ready for the new school year.  I have one in first grade, one in fifth, and my oldest just started ninth grade.  High school - it's a whole new ballgame.  So I spent lots of time shopping for school supplies, filling out forms, and getting the kids ready.

So... I didn't have much time to blog about my shopping trips this week.  But believe me, I did them!  I actually misplaced a couple of receipts, so this is based on my best guesses.

I went to Publix and got the free cereal deal, some cheap cookies, and some almonds, spending a total of $8.06 there.  I also went to my produce store, which didn't have too many good deals, and spent $4.23 on blueberries, red peppers, and green peppers.  And I made an emergency stop to Winn-Dixie to get milk (at full price, ack!) and bananas, as well as some BOGO Cheerios, for a total of $8.93.

I went twice to ALDI - once earlier in the week, once on Monday to pick up some hurricane and classroom supplies.  I spent $62.61 between those trips.

I made a quick trip to CVS, spending $3.45.  But I did most of my drugstore shopping at Walgreens, which had amazing sales on school supplies.  I also picked up some free Crest toothpaste and some cheap (after RRs) body wash, deodorant, and candy.  And then I used all those Register Rewards to get school supplies, using the in-ad coupons to make them an even better deal.  I spent $27.52 on those trips.

Overall, this week I spent $115.61 for items which retail for $208.94, or a 45% savings based on the retail value of the products at the stores where they were purchased.  (But don't compare percentages!)  My real savings (how much more I'd spend if I bought those items at the lowest possible regular price in my area) was $30.83, not counting the school supplies (since I don't what the cheapest regular price for them would be).

For the year (34 weeks), I've spent $2531.50 for items which retail for $4808.91, and saved $2277.41, or a 47% savings. That's an average of $74.46 spent each week for a family of five (husband, wife, and daughters ages 14, 10, and 6), including lots of fresh produce, dairy items, and kosher meat.

See all my shopping here.

How did your shopping go this week? What bargains did you get? Please leave a link to your blog post about your weekly shopping. The aim is not to brag, but to inspire!  Please link up directly to your post, not to the blog itself. I'd appreciate it if you put a link to Wednesday Weekly Shopping in your post as well. If you don't have a blog, please leave a comment!

(Due to my You Link, I Comment challenge this August, I will reading and commenting on every link listed here.  So please link up!)



For more great shopping deals and trips, please check out the bloggers listed on the left sidebar under Shopping Deals Linkups. There are lots of great ideas on each blog and I'm sure you'll find inspiration for you to save even more!