today's shopping trip and a note

First off, I'd like to thank Sheri at Swag Grabber for making the Price Point Spreadsheet.  I took this with me today to start filling out, and was shocked to find out that everything I priced was cheaper at Target than it was at Publix!  This really opened my eyes!

Payless
First on my list of stops today was Payless Shoes.  I needed to pick up a pair of shoes to wear to my nephew's Christening next week, so I googled and found this 15% off coupon to bring with me!  Also, since I only bought one pair of shoes, the cashier told me that if I bring back my receipt and make another purchase I can still take advantage of the BOGO sale.
1 pair black fancy-ish sandals
--(1) 15% off coupon
Total Savings:  $3.45 (15%)
Out of Pocket Total: $20.91

Publix
Peaches
Jif Peanut butter
Publix Peanut butter
AAA Energizer Batteries 8 pack
2 reusable bags
--'Buy theirs, try ours' promo: FREE Publix peanut butter
--(1) $0.55/1 Publix PB coupon
--(1) $2/2 reusable bags (Peelie from the batteries, made the bags FREE)
Total Savings: $6.16 (33%)
Out of Pocket Total: 12.40

Target
40 Fancy Feast Appetizers
5 Mott's Apple Juice
--(20) BOGO Fancy Feast Manuf. coupons
--(20) BOGO Fancy Feast Target coupons
--FREE $5 Target gift card with purchase of 5 Mott's items
Total Savings: $56.76 (83%)
Out of Pocket Total: 11.85

Tracking prices

When you see an item on sale in a store's weekly flier, you usually assume that you're getting a good deal, right?  Well, that's not always the case.  Sometimes stores just want you to think that so that you'll spend money.  So what can you do to get around that?  Track the cost of items that you buy often, and at the different stores that you shop at.  Sheri at Swag Grabber recently posted a spreadsheet that she made that makes it easy for you to do this.  Here is the post where she has the file as well as tips and instructions on how to do this.  Even if you are like me and not quite so organized, you should have at least an idea of the price point for the items you buy often.  You should also have a limit of how much you're willing to pay for an item, and using Sheri's tips and spreadsheet will help you to figure out what that limit is for you.