Not too bad....

On my recent shopping trip and goal of $25.00, I ended up spending $32.00 after tax...I also did add juice, 4 oranges and 2 bottles of soda to my list...So all in all , it was a great trip.....However I did not use all the coupons that I had planned on because it was cheaper to buy another brand.....this is one important thing to remember when using coupons, it is NOT ALWAYS cheaper....I did score a pretty good deal on the hot dogs...I bought 2 packages at $1.09 each and used a $1.00/2 coupon, making them about .59 each....and they are the jumbo size which will make them last a little bit longer for our family...the smaller ones my girls will each eat 2 at one meal, but the jumbo ones they will only eat 1. Definately a good deal!!! I did check the reduced carts but did not find a single thing...bummer...but next time I go, I might hit the jack pot :-)It just all depends on the day..I also buy alot of things in the reduced cart for our local food pantry...its a great way for us to be able to donate alot of stuff each month but on a budget....I did score my free bottle of Herbal Essence Shampoo/cond combo which was great...I don't need shampoo right now but I put it in my stock pile so it will be there when I do..I recommend everyone stockpile when you find a good deal...Over the summer, Menards had dish soap on sale for $1.00 several times, and it was for the large bottles...so over the summer we went and bought 6 at time...and now we prob have about 20 bottles stockpiled and I prob won't need to buy any for several months...Even with coupons, I rarely get the large size dish soap for $1.00...we don't have a dishwasher so we go through the soap like crazy...always great to have alot on hand.....:-)