Shopping Slip-Up #7: Don't Come Up Short

After receiving a $10-off Safeway coupon in the mail last week, I decided to brave the brick-and-mortar store and use it.  The coupon stated that I needed to spend $50 or more.  Piece o' cake.  So I drew up an order at home, targeting all the best deals, and using my online coupons.  I brought the order up to $60, in case they were out of anything, I'd still clear the required $50.

Went to Safeway today, with only 1/4 of my kids, which was nice. And she even slept through the whole thing, although it took a while to find a cart that didn't have shuttering wheels or some sort of funky wobble to it. Baby doesn't like a bumpy ride.  I had to walk around and gather my own groceries, which I'm not used to, but whatever.  They were only out of one thing on my list, but my order still cleared $50, so on to the checkout I went.

The order came to $108.13, but after I swiped my club card, came down to $38.12, even before the checker had swiped my $10-off coupon. WHAT! I had saved too much!? I wasn't sure whether to be happy I'd saved more than I had expected to, or disappointed that I couldn't use my coupon for another 10 bucks off. The checker pointed out that my coupon didn't expire for a while, so I could use it on my next trip. (Thanks, lady.) Still baffled by my unexpected discount, I looked over my receipt in the car and found a $12 credit. Oh, yeah. I had a $12 credit on my account from a previous online order. I forgot. Damn. And since I already counted this credit in the previous order, I can't count it on this one, too, so my savings only came to 54%. ...meh.

Which brings me to another point: credits from online orders.  One way or another, discounts are sometimes not credited upon checkout, so I need to check each one off my receipt after I get my orders. If I'm out a significant amount, I'll call Safeway and let them know, and they'll credit it to my next order. And they round it up to the nearest dollar, which is a nice practice.

Here's today's order, originally $108.13, down to $50.12 (54%):

8 large navel oranges: 28¢ each (67%)

1 Pillsbury Brownie Mix: 99¢ (67%)
4 Red Tomatoes On-the-Vine: 57¢ (63%)
6 Campbell's Chunky soups, assorted varieties: $1.25 each (58%)
2 Heinz Squeeze Ketchups: $1.79 each (51%)

4 Barilla Pasta Sauces, assorted varieties: $1.76 each (50%)

4 Ocean Spray Craisins: $1.75 each (50%)

4 Oroweat Bread Loaves: $2.50 each (50%)

4 Quaker Instant Oatmeal: $2.40 (50%)