In the Midnight Hour

I'm going to blog about me for a minute - really about my (somewhat) new obsession with coupons. It is no secret that we have a large family (although I hear the large family is making a come back!) and that we are on a very tight budget. It is also no secret that 3 of our children are growing boys with appetites that won't quit. So - I have been learning the art of couponing and trying to save, gather and generally eat well and pay less. Today was Kroger Food Stores massive coupon deal. It may be the first time they have done this - but for one day only they doubled coupons valued (up to) $1. That is huge! So - another super saver friend of mine made a few phone calls and we found a 24 hour Kroger that would be honoring their advertised coupon mania beginning at 1:30 in the AM. So - we devised a plan and had a party at Kroger with a meeting time of 12 AM!!



Because my sweet provider husband works hard for our money during the wee hours of the morning - I took my kids to my parents house (which is strategically located less than 2 minutes from said Kroger) and put them to sleep on their couches. I settled in with a book (Same Kind of Different as Me - that is a whole new post - AWESOME) and waited until it was time to leave. I arrived in the parking lot at 11:50.

We really thought we were going to be among the few crazy people at the grocery store in the middle of the night. We asked the stocker to take our picture - he thought we were crazy!

This next picture was taken discreetly over my shoulder (because I didn't want people to think I was weird). TONS O PEOPLE! And - there may have been some fighting, biting and hair pulling going on!!

A few leisurely hours later this is what my cart looked like - and we hadn't even made it to the fresh meats yet!

We got in the longest line known to man at 2 AM. We talked, browsed magazines and made friends with all the other people in line!

Why so long of a line, you ask? BECAUSE THERE WAS ONLY ONE CASHIER!!! I am guessing they also did not think there were too many crazies out there, either - well - they were wrong! Look at all those empty registers and the poor lonely cashier number 8! (She told us she had been there since 2 that afternoon - she was tired!)

When I am at Kroger I like to wait to give them my PLUS card because I like to see the grand total and then watch all the Kroger savings drop off and then give my coupons - it is a weird rush, I guess. Anyway - the cashier had been saying that sometimes when people wait they may not get all of their Kroger savings. So - I said it was ok to scan at the beginning and she said - No - let's wait and see what it does (kind of like a who was right? kind of thing) Well - my total was $328.77!!! Heart Attack! I have NEVER spent that much on groceries. Anyway - I give her my card and she scans it and the computer did nothing. NOTHING! what? She did it two more times and by now I was panicked. Then she laughed and said - just kidding - she had pretended to scan the Kroger card and really scanned my office depot card to be funny. It was pretty funny! Well - my total after PLUS card and coupons was $177.99!! SWEET! Not too shabby for my regular grocery shopping and all my bonus coupon items!

When I got in my car after loading my stash it was 2:48 AM! What a night!

Today I put all my goods away and my pantry and freezer are packed to the absolute limit!

Yes - this is 11 boxes of unopened cereal put up for the day when we may need it. What you don't see in the above picture are the 7 boxes we have open in the bottom of the pantry. We love cereal!

...and my freezer! No more room for anything! I am blessed to have an additional freezer in the garage and until recently hadn't really needed to use it! It will be in use by september, I guarantee it! I am getting ready to start doubling up on my recipes that can be frozen and putting one back every time I cook that particular meal.

A big part of this grocery trip last night was getting ready for THREE kids to be in school next week. Yes - NEXT WEEK!! I will have to make 14 lunches a week to meet the needs of my children while away at school. My goal is to have anything that can be separated and put in a baggie already done so all I have to do is grab and go. I also heard (from my same savvy coupon friend) that freezing PBJ sandwiches is easy so I will be making an entire loaf of PBJ sandwiches and using my Pampered Chef sandwich press to make my very own uncrustables! Lunch making should be a breeze this year! Wish me luck and happy couponing!

A

p.s. - my super saver friend has a savings blog. if you go to her blog http://www.becentsible.blogspot.com/ you can get tons of money saving ideas!