Tops Markets Shopping Trip – October 7, 2012

This morning, I headed out to Tops Markets to take advantage of some of their sweet deals for this upcoming week. The cereal deal is definitely at my stock up price, with the Multi-Grain Cheerios coming out FREE and Honey Nut Cheerios and Cocoa Puffs only coming to $0.40 after coupons are doubled. Also, with the $0.50/2 Betty Crockers Potatoes printable coupon and the sale, that means for every two I buy that I am receiving one of them for FREE. Adam loves to eat these for a quick meal, and they end up coming out cheaper than the Aldi’s brand. Not pictured is the 10 extra Smart Ones I bought so I can have room on the table for the picture.Here’s what I did this morning:

TRANSACTION #1

Buy (20) Smart Ones – 5/$10
Buy (4) Heniz Gravy – $1/1
Buy (6) Betty Crocker Potatoes – $1/1
Buy (1) Earthbound Organic Lettuce – $3
Buy (4) Multi Grain Cheerios – 4/$6
Use (2) $4/10 Weight Watchers Smart Ones printable
Use (3) $0.50/2 Betty Crocker Boxed Potatoes printable and use $0.50/2 Betty Crocker Boxed Potatoes (SavingStar.com)
Use (1) $0.75/1 EarthBound Farm Organic Product printable
Use (4) $0.75/1 Cheerios Multi Grain or Multi Grain Cheerios Peanut Butter Cereal printable
OOP = $40.50

They forgot to double one coupon, but they can fix that. So it looks like this will end up under $20 once that is fixed

TRANSACTION #2

Buy (4) Cocoa Puffs
Buy (4) Honey Nut Cherrios
Use (4) $0.60/1 Cocoa Puffs or Cocoa Puffs Brownie Crunch Cereal printable and use $0.50/1 Cocoa Puffs or Cocoa Puffs Brownie Crunch Cereal (SavingStar.com)
Use (4) $0.60/1 Cheerios Honey Nut Cereal printable and use $0.50/1 Cheerios Honey Nut Cereal (SavingStar.com)
OOP = $2.40

I paid a combined total of $42.90 OOP for what should have cost me $137.17. The total OOP will lower after the coupon that did not double is fixed. If I were to factor in the SavingStar eCoupons, my actual cost breaks down to $41.40. I also earned $0.40 off per gallon, and I am close to earning $0.50 off per gallon. I did e-mail Tops Markets because I think I should have earned more GasPoints, so I want someone to take a look at it to see if I am right or wrong on that.

To calculate my percentage saved to not include GasPoints earned, I factor in the following:

• Calculate Total Savings: $137.17
• Add my total OOP + eCoupons savings: $41.40
• Subtract the OOP from the Total Savings: $95.77
• Divide $95.77 by the total savings of $137.17: 70% saved on my shopping trip

If I were to also consider that I’ve earned $0.80 off per gallon for my 33 gallon gas tank, that is a savings of $26.40 in gas the next time I need to head to the pump.

Not bad considering I feel a bit rusty! I haven’t shopped at Tops Markets lately so I even had to brush up on some pointers. My savings might improve by a percentage once they fix the coupon that did not double, and once I receive my answer on the GasPoints. I am waiting for some coupons to come in the mail, and I will be headed out again this week to take advantage of some more Betty Crocker Potatoes and Chef Boyardee. I am also hoping to stock up on some more cereal with more coupons. None of the cereal expires until September 2013, and we go through cereal like crazy. Great stock up prices this week for stuff we already buy.