$204.79 in groceries for $81.84 (saving $122.94 or 61%)

I’ve heard from a lot of people that it’s hard for them to understand how couponing and price matching will save them money.  That’s understandable.  So, today I decided to do another visual comparison to try to help people that haven’t used KC Savvy Shopper see how coupons and price matching can save everyday families a LOT of money.

I decided to price match at Walmart-Legends, mainly because I wasn’t up to driving all over KC.  I am trying to get ready for our holiday party, which is tomorrow night and as usual, I’ve procrastinated to the last minute.  However, with a houseful of people coming, I know I need to stock up on some holiday essentials and thankfully, Price Chopper, Hen House, HyVee and Dillons have some amazing deals this week.

My total out of pocket cost for today’s shopping trip was $81.84.  (Please pay close attention to the stacked 12- packs of Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite since that is the dividing line.)

To help you visualize what that equals in groceries, I have divided the above picture in half to compare what $81.84 would have bought if I just walked into a store with my shopping list but with NO coupons or NO price matches verses  USING coupons and price matching. 

The picture below shows $81.84 worth of items at regular grocery store prices.  No coupons and no price matching.  Meaning, if I had NOT used coupons and price matching, this is what I would have been able to purchase with my $81.84.  Yes, that's it - it doesn't go very far.  (Notice it is the 3 12-packs of soda and everything to their left.)

Here’s the amazing part --- and the part that I hope will help new KC Savvy Shoppers see the big picture.  The photo below shows the rest of the items that I picked up on this same shopping trip, including 37 packets of UP2U gum.  Meaning, EVERYTHING right of the Diet Coke, Coke, Sprite stack (and in the picture below) – I got for FREE!!  (look at the first picture to help see the entire shopping trip) That’s the type of difference you can expect from price matching and couponing!    

On today’s trip, I used $67.50 worth of coupons and my total bill (if I didn’t price match and coupon) would have been $204.79 saving my family $122.94!