Pirates do a lot of things (except for the vegetable types), and plundering happens to be one of them.  For pirates of old, the purpose of plundering was to get things at little or no cost to the pirate.  Now, of course, we all know that what those pirates were doing was illegal…not to mention mean.  And in the end, it did, often, end up costing the pirate quite a bit:  eyes, legs, lives, reputations, etc.

Well, here at The Pirate Mom Dot Com we don’t condone that kind of plundering for reasons of morals and safety.  But we do condone a more modern…and legal…type of plundering:  ruthless and cutthroat bargain hunting!  Argh!

I’ve been writing a little bit for the past several months about my couponing adventures and such, but for the sake of encouragement, to both myself and any interested readers, I thought I might post monthly about my plundering conquests.  I’ve always been a bargain shopper when it came to clothing, items for my home, things for the kids, etc., but as for groceries, with the exception of buying non-name brand items, I pretty much just bought what I needed, when I needed it, without much thought to what I was paying for those products.  Now, with a little bit of time set aside each week, for coupon organizing and carefully planned grocery shopping trips and a lot of help from the website www.southernsavers.com , I’ve made MAJOR dents in our grocery bills.

Here’s a breakdown of this month’s shopping:

Early in January, our household was in need of a lot of groceries!  We had been out of town for a week for Christmas, and basically all we had left were some two-week old gingerbread men, so I had some major shopping to do.  On a Saturday I went to two different grocery stores in order to get the best deals, Publix and then Kroger.  At Publix I spent $47.30 and saved $64.02.  The weekly BoGos (Buy-One-Get-One-Free) really help with the savings at that store.  Here’s how the savings broke down…

Remember Publix stores in most areas will accept competitor coupons, and they double coupons up to $0.50 in value.

At Kroger, the damage was not as great.  Kroger has the better prices for things that are not on sale, so I bought quite a bit more there at regular price.  Like I said, I was desperate to get our pantry back in order, so I had to spend $123.72, and I only saved $32.90.

Our Kroger also doubles coupons in the same manner as Publix, but they do not accept competitor’s coupons.  Also, when you spend certain amounts at the stores, you can get a little bit of a discount at their gas stations, which we use almost exclusively.  After these two trips, we were set for many meals at home, with only the occasional milk or deal-seeking runs.

About mid-month, Publix had a particularly good ad, and I was able to spend $66.49 and save $86.94.  I saved almost $20 more than I spent!

On this particular trip, I was seriously tempted to give up couponing altogether, because my overly friendly cashier was so impressed with my savings that she insisted on high-fiving me and announcing to several other customers, baggers and cashiers about my successes.  Then they all applauded me.  I was momentarily embarrassed, but then I decided to just swallow my pride and take it like a pirate.  I was plundering…clap if you must, people.

Right before the end of the month I made one more trip to each store.  At Kroger, I spent $43.41 and saved $40.78.

Then I had another banner week at Publix where I spent $95.09 and saved $94.83.

Again, I had the zealous cashier, who remembered me this time and almost called me by name (“Karen”), high-fived me again, and made a little trumpet with her hands before she announced…loudly…what I had saved.  I’m fully expecting for her to get on the loud speaker the next time I go through her line.  Oh well….it’s better than at Kroger where they sigh and roll their eyes when you hand them your stack of coupons.

Okay, so I spent a grand total of  $376.01 for the month.  That includes everything:  food, snacks, diapers, toiletries…you name it.  It doesn’t include a couple of runs for essentials like bread or milk, but even with those things you’re looking at about $400 a month for a family of five (six, if you count Clara).  Not bad, if I do say so myself.

On another note, January is good time of year to scour the clearance racks.  Retail stores are wanting to clear their shelves for their new inventory, so you can find some deep discounts on clothes, toys and other things.  I’m always on the look out for clothes for Cap’n Jack Henry in particular, since he’s the fastest growing pirate around here.  Here are a few things I found this month…

Pirate pajamas at Target….

Even at the full price of $15, I’m not sure I could have resisted, but I only paid…

$3.74…can you believe that plunder?!

This is a little off-topic, but can you help me settle something here?  Look at this…

Is that another pirate mom, or just a very effeminate male pirate?  These are the things that keep me awake at night.

Then I also picked up a couple of tee-shirts that he can wear this spring (or even now layered with a long-sleeve shirt)…

I paid about $4 for the baseball one, and $1.74 for the superhero one.  Gosh…for $1.74 I would have bought him one with Strawberry Shortcake on it!  (Just kidding, Big D.)

Goodwill stores are a great place for plunder.  I found these shoes for $3, and they still had a regular store’s tag on them, so I’m assuming were never worn.

Now, if the little turkey would just start walking, they would be useful for something other than just a fashion statement.

Please feel free to share about your own plunderings.  I’d love to hear about them, and I’m sure other pirate shoppers out there would too!