My 11/13/10 Visit to Hannaford

I took a trip to Hannaford yesterday and my 2 goals for grocery shopping were to not use any grocery coupons - aside from the $5/$50 coupon that I had from the first time I used my myHannaford stickers (I know, I know, the complete opposite of what I am usually preaching about) and to walk out spending under $50 to feed my family of 3 nutritious dinners for 5 nights and also my honey lunch for 5 days. I also wanted to make sure that I purchased a Hannaford Helping Hands box - but still stay under my $50 budget.

I wasn't sure it would be possible to do this, but amazingly enough, it was!

First things first, my honey's lunch:

• Freihofer's Country 100% Whole Grain Bread, 2/$5
• Ace of Diamonds Solid White Tuna 4-pack, $3.49
• Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad Mix, $1.99
• French Onion Sunchips, $3.79

My honey had very specific requests for what he wanted to take for lunch this week. He loves the Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad mix and likes to add tuna to it. He also wanted to take tuna for lunch this week. And he feels that no lunch is complete without chips, so I got his favorite - French Onion Sunchips.

Now just to be comparative: the Price Chopper around the corner from my house sells the same French Onion Sunchips for $3.99 and the same Freihofer's Country Bread for $2.99.

The rest of my shopping went something like this:

• 4.59 pounds of Boneless Skinnless Chicken Breasts, $1.99/lb = $9.13
• 9 oz. Hellmann's Light Mayo (for honey's lunch box), $2.69
• Hannaford Medium Shells, $0.89 (for the Macaroni and Cheese I'm going to make later in the week)
• Knorr Cheddar & Broccoli Rice Side Dish, $1 (for dinner to go with our grilled chicken breasts)
• Gaspar's Chourico, $4.99 (to go in both our Macaroni and Cheese and also a Cheesy Chorizo Potato Soup I'm going to make this week)
• Hannaford Natural 2% Sharp Cheddar Cheese, $2.79 (for the Macaroni and Cheese and Soup) (Compare to Price Chopper brand cheese, $2.99)
• Hannaford Brand Diet Ginger Ale, $0.88 (compare to Price Chopper  brand, $1.19)
• Hannaford Brand Caffeine-Free Diet Cola, $0.88 (compare to Price Chopper brand, $1.19)
• Minute Maid Pomegranate Lemonade, $2.49 (this was a luxury purchase - definitely not a necessity)
• 1/2 gallon Hannaford Skim Milk, $1.55
• 1/2 gallon Hannaford 2% Milk, $1.73
• Hannaford Helping Hands Box, $10

The total for all of this was $51.24 (after applicable taxes) - I wasn't sure if I could use my $5/$50 purchase because I didn't know if it would count with the $10 Helping Hands Box. Sure enough, it did!

After my $5/$50 coupon I spent, $46.24 - definitely coming in under my $50 budget, was able to give a Helping Hands box, and I received my coupon booklet from my $10 Helping Hands box donation. I also scored a $1/1 Hannaford Brand item coupon for my next visit because I scanned my myHannaford sticker!

All in all an amazing shopping trip at Hannaford!