Zero to Stockpile Challenge – Cindy’s Shopping Trip #15 – Decaf Coffee, Cheese & More

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Zero to Stockpile

I can’t believe there are only 3 more weeks left of the Zero to Stockpile Challenge. My goodness it went so fast. Well, not really at the beginning. It went slow. But boy, now that my stockpile is rockin’ and shopping is a breeze, it’s going really fast.

I have to tell you, the highlight of my week was opening the mail and finding one of my $5 Catalinas for a ShopRite deal I did. The catalina didn’t print so I filled out the form through Catalina Marketing. It took a good seven weeks to arrive and I was starting to think it wouldn’t come. But, there it was, in my mailbox.

Onto my spending….

So far this week I have only spent $48 which I’m so happy about. I do have plans to head back to ShopRite today or tomorrow to pick up the corned beef that is part of the 4 day sale. I know it’s on sale next week again but we celebrate Pat’s birthday with corned beef and cabbage so I’ll need a bunch.

I also plan on getting more of the Chock Full o Nuts coffee. Guys, it includes decaf! Decaf is usually not included in the sale prices so I’m pretty happy about that. I’ll also be getting the Advil Deal (they were out when I went), Stainmaster Deal, Centrum Deal and more of the ShopRite Cheese. I’ll be using my $7.50 in catalinas to pay so I should walk out paying less than $10. It depends on the size corned beef I can score.

Although I didn’t get anything knocked off my need list below, I did stock up on a few things including decaf coffee, shredded cheese and more pork.

Because I get these questions when I post my shopping trips, I’m going to try to answer some of the most common questions/comments now.

  1. Why didn’t you do this deal or that deal?: The point of the Zero to Stockpile Challenge is to show you that you don’t have to do every single deal out there, and you especially don’t need to be carrying more than one store loyalty card. I’m doing the deals that are important to my family. Yes, I may do a deal if it makes me money but sometimes I don’t have all the coupons, ecoupons or rebates available to me making it, not as great a deal for me. And, so I just skip it.
  2. There was a coupon/rebate for that, why didn’t you use it?: I don’t have all the coupons available for every deal for a few reasons. First, maybe my inserts didn’t have them. Second, if it’s a printable, I might have reached my limit on the prints. Third, for rebates, I might have already used the rebate or I don’t have the rebate available to me. There are times when the deal is good enough even without coupons to take advantage of it. I don’t want to pass up a great price on something just because I didn’t have a coupon.
  3. That item was available at a lower price at such and such a store. Why did you buy it at a different store?: Probably one of the main reasons I bought it at the store I did and at the price I did is because I didn’t want to or have time to go to another store for that item. While I’m known to run into stores for one deal, it’s usually because I’m passing that store on my regular errands. If that is the case, I’ll do the deal at the other store. If I have to make a special trip just for one item, it’s not worth it to me in time and gas.
  4. Why do you buy so much meat? Won’t it go bad before you can use it?: Your freezer is your friend. Stocking up on meat when it’s at its lowest price is one of the best ways to save money on your groceries. Most meats can stay in your freezer, if packaged properly, for up to a year. That’s plenty of time for me to eat up the meats I buy.

Remember, this is real life shopping. I’m not shopping for a great blog post picture or for a great Instagram picture. This is my real life shopping, big or small, perfect or imperfect.

Here are the items I still need to stock up on. Some of these items I already have in my stockpile but would prefer to have more:

  • Canned Tuna
  • Paper Plates
  • Napkins
  • Tomato Paste
  • Tomato Sauce
  • Foil
  • Band-Aids
  • Dental Floss

Hope your stockpile is getting bigger and your grocery spending is smaller.

Be sure to visit the Zero to Stockpile page so you can read all about this Challenge I gave myself and how you can do it as well.

My Budget Tracking

Here is what I bought and how much I spent. You can see my progress by viewing the following documents:

If you are unsure why I increased my budget or why I donated my entire stockpile, you can read more about that here.

This Week’s Shopping Trip

This List Has Expired

ShopRite

Rite Aid

Aldi

CVS

FINAL RESULT

Show More

Pictures of My Current Stockpile

A Note about my stockpile pictures. I did some reorganization of the stockpile. If you remember, I had one big closet (the one with the wire shelves) that I used for paper products. Switching over to rags and cloth napkins has now freed up a big amount of space in that area of my stockpile since I don’t need a huge paper towel or napkin stockpile.

So, I turned that space into an overflow area of, not as often used, items from my kitchen. Mostly serving pieces and appliances I don’t use all the time.

I felt pretty confident combining everything into 3 shelves since I’m in week number eight and have the majority of items stocked up on.

Updated after this shopping trip!

Left: Freezer
Center: Beauty Products, paper (left side)/Cleaning Products, paper (right side)
Right: Food

Tips to Follow My Journey

  1. Follow me on my Instagram account where I post, via my IG Stories, all my day to day!
  2. Join our Zero to Stockpile Facebook Group.
  3. Sign up for the Zero to Stockpile Newsletter

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