Not chicken dinner.

We had Mac and cheese and mixed veggies for dinner last night,   I made white sauce from a mix I made myself and added bits of cheese from the cheese drawer and cooked  added fiber pasta and a bread crumb and parsley topping with parm.   Added frozen mixed veggies .

The pasta was on sale for .69 and I had a coupon for .55 off two.   Net .42 and I used 3/4 of a package.   .(31.) The  mix was a pantry item as well as the breadcrumbs that were made from free bread I got from the bakery outlet and parsley.   We ised 1/2 a bag of veggies I got for .79 (.40) .  I used two partial bags of cheese ( with pesto ) from the grocery outlet and a couple more handfuls from the 2.21 a pound cheese from Costco wholesale.    2.50.   Total cost 3.21.  

Now, if you had bought cheese for 9.00 a two pound Block, and pasta for 1.59, and 2.40 a box bread crumbs.......you get the point,   The food would have been the same but the cost would have at least doubled.  

Yesterday I planned our grocery trip.  I added a couple of things that were unadvertised and good buys,   I spent 25.00

I got
A 2 lb brick of Tillamook cheese.
2 - boxes of rice crispies
2- boxes of high fiber pasta
1 box of ritz crackers
1 pie
2 packages of pepperoni
1 carton ice cream
2 lbs strawberries
2 wrap sandwiches.
2 - 2 lb bags frozen potatoes.


That is  far from a weeks groceroes, but a lot of food for my buck.  I used coupoms whenever I could.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cream-soup-mix

That's how you stretch a buck on groceries,

• Study the ads and plan your trip.  
• Match coupons to as much as possible purchasing only what you will eat.   
• Work around what's in season and on sale to plan meals.   
• Stock so that of there are no really good sales on a given week you can just buy the perishables you need to fill in meal plans.   I can usually sale the dairy, staples and meat and buy the best quality for the least price  of produce on season and use frozen to sub if I need to.    

Thanks

Jane