It’s been awhile since I went on a bargain-picking supermarket shopping trip. I did one today at Kroger in Monroe, Mich.

You will not find on my blog detailed coupon scenarios that show how much product one can get for free, or 10 items of the same product for which multiple transactions were involved. What I show you are the groceries I buy and use in my own home, using the tricks I explain in the Grocery Shopping on a Budget sidebar.

This is my shopping cart. I paid $31.89 and submitted nine coupons at checkout. You will notice that some items are from the 10 Mega sale, others are store brand, others were couponable products, others were just the sale of the week.

That’s how you do it, shoppers. You don’t rely on just one money-saving trick at the supermarket. You use as many as possible.

A couple of points to make:

• We were completely out of cereal as of this morning. We normally don’t go through it as fast as we have been; but cereal has been a quick breakfast and sometimes quick lunch during what has been a more hectic few weeks than usual. But I bought only two boxes of Special K strawberry today. It was the best choice out of what my husband and I like and I could get a good price on. This will do for now. There was no need to pay full price today for additional varieties. After all, the grocery sales turn over on Sunday and Monday in the Monroe area.
• I was extremely flexible today with my shopping list. I made my decisions based on what I could get good prices on, what I knew I had at home, and what we would eat. The refried beans and salsa can go with chicken, beef, tortillas and cheese that I already have in the freezer.
• The granola bars, and candy bars you don’t see, are for my husband and I to take to work. You may think it’s pricey to buy snacks at the supermarket, and it can be. But are you going to the vending machines instead when you are at work or on the road? Stop that. Be your own vending machine.
• Fresh fruit prices do vary throughout the year, and I liked the prices I found on bananas and grapes. Buying fresh looked like an even better decision today once I saw what the canned and frozen fruit prices were posted at.