I have nothing in the pantry,and twenty-five dollars, what can I do?

This is an experiment that my daughter and I researched at the dollar tree.   The answer to I have nothing in the house and twenty five dollars to spend.   7 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for 24.00 for two people .  

Is is not what I would recommend you eat on a yearly basis:   It has a fair amount of carbs and no fresh food.   It's basically survival mode.  

Grocery list. Everything is a dollar

1 package instant oatmeal ( a canister would be better if they have it)
1/2 dozen eggs
1 carton almond milk ( our dollar tree does not carry real milk)
1 package  top ramen ( 5 or 6 depending on the package )
3 cans  pasta sauce ( sometimes there is a coupon so you get four for the ride of 3) this will be split into several meals)
1 pkg speghetti or pasta
1 pkg (2) brown and serve sourdough bread
1 steak
1 pork chop
1 pkg mixed vegetables
1 pkg stir fry veggies
1 pkg fingerling potatoes ( cook in the oven , smash, and broil ) or substitute instant mashed
1 pkg ( or two with a coupon ) pepperoni
2  packages cheese
1 pkg tortillas
1 pkg peppers (frozen )
2 pounds rice
1 lb beans or a can of chilli
2 portions salmon
1 package broccoli

Breakfasts :
Oatmeal (5 days) egg 2 days

Lunches
Top ramen or
Eggs (1)
Leftovers

Dinners

1. Speghetti with red sauce, sour dough bread.   Use 1 bread and all but 2T of red sauce.   
2. Beef soup.  Use 1 can pasta sauce, mixed veggies, top ramen flavor packet, water, and cooked steak that has been cut into small pieces..  And the other 1/2 of the bread.    
3. Pizza Quesedas.  Tomato from reserved sauce, pepperoni, cheese, and some peppers(thawed)  
4. Pork stir fry and rice .  Cook rice reserving 1/2 for another meal.  Stir fry pork chop, cut into small pieces, stir fry vegetables.  Serve over rice.   
5. Spanish rice .   Use pasta sauce , reserved rice, peppers. (Beans if you cook scratch)   
6. Burritos made with rice and  beans and cheese or chili over rice and Quesedas   
7. Salmon baked, fingerling potatoes, broccoli.    

That's about all.  Lots of food for 12.50 a person.    Or 1.77 a day.  

Thanks

Jane

Five meals under five bucks.

The premise of cooking in the cheap is to remain in the budget if someone in snap.   We are not on snap, but we eat less than snap, assuming snap is four dollars per person per day.  
To do that for a family of four, dinner needs to be five dollars.    That leaves enough for snacks, drinks (coffee, tea, milk, tea) and breakfast ( muffins, oatmeal, egg muffin occasionally. ) and lunch ( school, leftovers, pb&j, toasted cheese) .


Five  $5 dinners
This assumes you are finding RBP and usual stock items that are in a kitchen ( oil, vinegar, etc)

1) slow cooker sausage and bean soup.   Chicken stock, 2 cans diced tomatoes, 2 cans beans if choice, 2 stalks celery chopped, 2 carrots, chopped.  1/2 lb cooked sausage ( bulk) . Serve with cheese biscuits.

2) speghetti, red sauce, parmesean cheese for garnish, salad,   Speghetti .58, sauce .75, 1/2 lb ground beef 1.65, sour dough French bread .95 (Costco) , lettuce and tomatoes.  

3) chicken stir fry, rice.    Chicken ( 1/2 breast) 1.00, stir fry vegetables 1.29, rice. .67,

4) bean, rice, chicken burritos.     Burritos 1.00, rice .33, beans .53, chicken 1.25 cheese 1.25

5) ham and scalloped potatoes, broccoli .    Potatoes 1.00. Ham 2.00, broccoli 1.00.

That's two processed meats.  We have left the sausage out of the soup,mot still tastes good.
1 bag of rice cooked, save enough from the stir fry to put in the burritos.  


Thanks for stopping by

Please,share

Jane

Meal planning - my take

I a, seeing fifty page meal planning books on the Internet.    I'm f I had to fill out fifty pages, it wouldn't last very long time no! loL. I don't have that kind of patience.   Id rather spend my time on the front end of shopping,  planning a trip and making sir you have a good feel for prices is more important in my opinion.   I essentially get paid for shopping , not for cooking or planning.  

Everyone has their favorite meals.   We tend to eat th Mesa,e 7 or so meals over and over.  I try to shake things up and add some hing new, esp cially because we have a toddler in the house that needs to be subjected  to different tastes.  

I have a matrix for meal planning that helps speed things up.  We don't always fo,low it to the ,ether but it is a good jumping off point.   I made a work sheet that has two columns , one for what we have, highlignited needs to be used soon, and one what I need to purchase to fill in the meals. The left side of the paper  has seven boxes for dinner plans and one box with my matrix.   It makes meal planning a quick and easy project.  

I cook protein ( meat) as it comes home from the store of appropriate or soon thereafter.    It means that I can portion control it and freeze ot so we aren't eaten me the same thing four days in a row.  
The plan is to buy one loss leader per week, and bulk buy it and batch cook it.   Ot saves time, and more importantly, it saves precious time at the dinner hour.   Last night I cooked Mac and cheese from scratch and we had broccoli.   I cooked it at dinner time because I had a long list of things to get done yesterday.   I really wanted to take a nap.   Lol

This week I bought a foster farms chicken from Safeways for .88 (RBP) a pound - dove pounds and two pork tenderloins for two dollars a pound ( five dollars).  In order to stay  within a snap budget ( or less) dinner needs to average five dollars for four people.   This is really believeable and you can eat a variety of meals if you watch prices and portion control.

I saw a blog, ( nothing but love) on u tube where she made meals from the dollar store.  She states that things r made in the USA.   ( things made in China will have a 471 or 6 beginning) they do have gnocchi made in Italy.   I'm not impressed with the meat.  The stir fry peppers weren't the quality I would like, stir fry veggies are 1.29 at Winco.    I do like some seasoned fries they carry for 1.00 for 1.5 pounds ,     I couldn't find them last time.    Some brand name things are cheape r and most of the time they have the same pull dates as the other stores.    I don't buy much from the dollar store, but I can see if you really needed to put food on the table and had no money, it is doable.  She spent twenty dollars and got four meals for four and a couple of lunches.   Some things are cheaper at regular grocery stores.  

Yesterday I

1.  Rearranged and took stock of the pantry, no one what we had plenty of, and what we were short of.   
2. Made black and white rice crispy treats    
3. Took down and stored away the winter decorations so I can out up Valentine's Day soon. 
4. Made twenty ( actually thirty) milk carton boxes for Valentine treats for granddaughters preschool class    
5. Grocery shopped two stores.   
6. Put everything away, checked Ibotta 
7. Made dinner from scratch 
8. Made two new card cuts.   

It was a full day.   

Thanks for stopping by

Please share 

Jane

Winco trip

Winco does not publish ads.   They have some figures on favado, but often they are not right.  
We are very close to Winco and I know if the other stores are too high, I can probably fill on at Winco,  

Such was the case yesterday.    I went to Safeways,   Hubby had to work, so I had little time left to go grocery shopping,     I went to Safeways.   Everything was really expensive.   I saw no big bargains except fofor Foster Farms  whole chicken for .88 a pound,   I picked up some rice because I needed it, and some ice cream bars b cause the were the same price as Winco.  

At Winco today, I finished shopping,   We got some vegetables and fruit and I picked up pork tenderloin for two dollars a pound,    Ot mad Mateo tenderloins for five dollars.    I also got black beans for a lot cheaper than Safeways, as well as folders coffee.   Saurkraut was  a dollar and change in a jar.  

We also went to Costco to buy the usual things that we get at Costco.  Beer, bacon, bananas, blue cheese, I got granola, tomatoes, tortilla chips, Vitamins, over the counter meds with a three dollar discount and soda.  My soda became contaminated when I dropped a glass on the top of the jar!
All the best sail things that are cheaper than elsewhere.  It all ads up, but I only have to go once a month.

Knowing your prices, avoiding empty calories, high carb snacks, and buying when things are the cheapest goes a long ways to cutting your food bill on half.  

We eat well.   We eat a balanced diet.  I don't cook everything from scratch every night.   I batch cook.   It's more efficient for me that way and we resort to take out less.   We are the last thing from foodies, but I also feed us on less than half the USDA stats for poor people.   We aren't eating rice and beans every night.  

The ads

The ads for the week  of Jan 13 to 19th.   Albertsons and Safeways. Or Alberways as I am calling it.  

Chicken , signature farms, drums or thighs .88 at Albertsons
Chicken whole, Foster farms, .88 at Safeways

The rest of the first page  is identical for both stores.  
Milk 2/5@@
Soho .69@@
Crackers .99@@
Berries 2/6

fIve  dollar Friday  Safeways

Pork tenderloins ( may be a coupon? )
Salmon
Shrimp
Grapes 2/5

Albertsons
Loins or bratsgrapes 2/5

Buy 5, save 5

Ice cream 2.49
Cheese 4.99
Oatmeal 1.99
4 ft Greek yogurt 2.49


QFC

Blues 18 ounces 4.99
Breyers  2.88
Freschetta 3.99
Oranges .99
Grapefruit 2/1

That's about it.    Notemthat some prices are cheaper elsewhere.   Pick the stores that have the best prices on the things that you need to plan your meals or stock.   I'm not seeing a lot of stock things this week.   Other than tuna at FM that is also a good thing for outreach .  

Menus

speghetti with shrimp stir fry : shrimp, olive oil, tomatoes, red peppers.  
Chicken breast stuffed with pepperoni and cheese, peas and whole grain brown rice.  
Tacos, refried beans, brown rice.
Chicken stir fry with frozen stir fry vegetables rice ( from  yesterday)
Pork chops with dressing, peas and carrots.  
Pot roast soup. Cheese and crackers
Fresh fettuccini with Alfredo sauce. Mixed berries.    Cheese
Fish packets ,   Layer in parchment, spinach, white beans, cooked rice, fish and a green fresh veggie,    Seal up parchment packer.    Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until fish is done,

Safeways Haul

Safeways has buy one, get three free on pork chops.    The smallest package was 25.00 at eight dollars a pound.   I like the fact that that would make them two dollars a pound, but I wasn't hit in the head   with buying twenty five dollars worth of pork chops.

I bought
Pasta for .59
4 progreso souls for .75 each with manufacturers coupon.
Best foods 2.99
Eggs 2/3
Sharp cheddar cheese for 2 lbs 4.99
Klondike bars 2.88
Baby carrots 1.00
Blueberries 2/5
Package of six pork chops
healthy entrees 2.00 each for my lunches


Two dollar off coupon for quantity.


Total 39.34

That's about all.    Thanks.


Jane

Fred Meyer ad

Fred Meyer ad......my trip to Safeways later...

Boneless 1/2 loon roast. 1.99
Milk .99@@
3 lbs mandarines 2.99
Freschetta pizza  2/7@@
Bread/buns 3/4@@
Tuna 2/1@@. Limit 6
Cottage cheese/sour cream 2/4

The ads

We got Alberways ads and QFC.  

QFC is pretty much a bust.    They are pushing simple truth that has had some bad press lately.  
Oranges are .88, crackers are a buck.    Berries are 2/5.

Both other stores have eggs 2/3@@
Pasta sauce .99@@
Pasta .69@@
Mayo 2.99@@
Cheese 4.99@@

5 dollar Friday's
Blue Berries, 2/5
progress soup 5/5



That's about all.  



Jane

The basics

Groceries  on the cheap is a whole different way of grocery shopping than what a lot of people are used to.   The advantages are that you never have to pay full price for your core food and you always have something on the house to eat.    We eat well, and we eat on less than the four dollar a day figure that people have been throwing around.  

A few basic rules, and the. I will outline steps to get started.  

1. You want to pay the ( RBP) rock bottom price or what I call my target price, for the foods that you stock on a regular basis.   Often that is fractions of what they would cost if you went to the nearest store and bought your food as you use it.   
2. You want to avoid junk food.  It is better for your health, and better for your pocket book.   Those few bags of chips, even on sale, can jack your food bill up substantially.    
3.  You want to buy low and eat high, to take a premise from the stockbrokers.    Buy your food when it is the lowest price ( shelf stable), buy enough to last you until it is a low price again.   

Steps to get started.    This takes a little time. It will save  countless hours and money in the long run.   

• Identify seven to fourteen dinner entrees that your family will eat and that use inexpensive sources of protein,    In our family that would be beans and rice, cheese, hamburger, chicken, pork and or sausage, eggs, and ham.   
• List the ingredients that you use in a regular basis to make these meals.   We are talking scratch cooking made easy.    In our house that would be beans, rice, mashed potatoes, green beans, diced tomatoes, pasta sauce, tuna, pasta, corn, some canned soups.   
• Start a spreadsheet, or a notebook and track prices  for a while.   Soon you will have a good feel for the lowest price to be had.    If you are trying for four dollars a day or less, this is not a time  to be brand loyal on everything.   There are still a few things that I demand the best quality.   If we are going to eat inexpensive food, it's going to be good quality.  mixes usually don't give you the quality that scratch does, and often are no easier than making the product  from scratch.     
• Each week, go through the chain store ads for your area and identify what is on sale that is truly on sale.    You are looking for a) perishables that you are almost out of ...milk, sour cream, eggs, fresh fruits and veggies in season, b) stock items that are at a RBP, and a so called loss leader in the protein department.    
• Buy as many as you can of stock items to reach your self imposed limit.    ( as many as you will use before the next sale) ; buy what you,need and can I set up before it goes bad of perishables. ; and buy one loss leader protein in bulk that is enough for a months worth of that protein.   I get four meals out of a roasted chicken that I roast myself.   We eat 2 chicken or pork meals a week.   I need 1-2 chickens.   Batch cook, divide in meal sized portions, and freeze what you aren't going to use soon,   
• After you choose which 2 stores you are going to, plan your trip, get in and get out.  Preferably alone.   The longer you spend in a store, the more money you will spend.  The more people you bring with you, the more money you will spend. That's why going to the stories a daily or nearly daily is not a good idea.   

That's a lot to digest.    

Happy eating!    

Jane 

Winco

I looked at the fed Meyer ad, but didn't find enough to make me drag my weary vines up the road.   Lol.   I had, up Intel now spend 15.88 on food for the last week.    I added about fifty dollars with this trip.   I'll break it down by categories since win has no ad.  


Protein
ff whole chicken   1.08.
7 percent ground beef 3.38
Bacon ends .98


Frozen
Stir fry veggies 1.28
Peas 2lbs 1.68

Vegetables
Apples , several kinds .98
Grape tomatoes 2.28


Diced tomatoes .38
Bc cake mixes .88 (3) coupon .75

Notes

Tonight we are going to have stuffed chicken breast.  Themchickenbreasts were frozen and cheapest at grocery outlet.    The cheese to stuff them is 2.25 a pound (approx) at Costco wholesale.   Pepperoni is .50 with a coupon at dollar tree.     Rice, vegetable.  

I will make meat balls, taco meat, and crumbles with the hamburger and roast off the chicken tomorrow as well as frying the bacon onto crumbles for seasoning.   A little bacon goes. Long ways to make the ordinary taste simply divine.      I can work  about an hour and have about ten dinners set aside for a quick head start.  

If you are among the working poor, or have little children at home. It os an easy way to get a head start on dinner, and not spend much time .   When my youngest were littler , I would set certain jobs to get done while they were napping.     Scratch cooking when you haven't a lot of tome so doable and nice you are set up, you can shop 1/2 price pretty easy too.   Know your prices and take advantage of what's on sale.    Today, I bought six diced tomatoes.  They have a year out pull date and  at .38, they were a RBP.    My shelf is full, so I only bought six.   If I had no stock, I would have bought 24.    I use it for salsa, vegetable soup, chilli, speghetti sauce.   Nachos when fresh is,not an option.      It's a very versatile thing to have on the pantry.  

Thanks for stopping by


Jane

Notes on.....

Yesterday was national speghetti day........who dreams these things up?      

We had shrimp stir fry with olive oil, red peppers, grape tomatoes and parmesean cheese over tomato speghetti.  

It was fast.  My granddaughter and I had fun throwing the bag of frozen  shrimp on the floor to break it up.   Since I am not allowed to bend at the waist, I threw and she handed it back to me, throwing it a few times in between.    That was after we put the speghetti on the microwave to cook.   We proceeded to read a while waiting to thaw and the speghetti to cook.   Non passive time was really short.    

You don't have to be into cooking three course meals for hours to scratch cook and save money on groceries.    You also don't have to eat food from Mars that you can't pronounce, convince the family to eat, or isn't at a regular grocery store.  

I write this blog to help people eat on four dollars a day.   Actually, we eat on less than four dollars a day.    I'm coming from, been there, done that.   I was a single parent with almost no child support, and a low income.   I didn't get help.   Half my paycheck went to rent, the other half child care.    We eked out other expenses from the little that was left.     We didn't do it eating rocks or grains that cost eight dollars a pound.  

Having a rich person teach you how to eat on four dollars a day is about like a person teaching you how to parent that has had no children.    It looses some credibility.   I'm a libra that was an accountant for years.     Everything I read is tempered with a dose of  is it logical and is it balanced!  

Cheyenne. Beer bread is a real treat .   It's simple.  We always have the ingredients and it's quick.    There is a mix at the dollar store, but honestly, it only takes four ingredients anyway.   Bisquick, sugar, butter and beer.    Quick if you only count actual time spent cooking.  Passive cooking is the time  when something cooks without needing your attention.  Like putting somehing in a slow cooker and walking away.  

We should fet ads tonight, back later.  

Soup series no 5

Split pea soup  and beer bread


Yesterday I dug  myself out of bed and made split pea soup and beer bread.   I've been in bed most of the time since Wednesday with a massive ear infection.  What the ear infection didn't do, the meds to kill it did.   lol.  

I did manage to get Christmas taken down, some of the lights fixed on the tree, and some  work done in my studio. Two steps back, one step forward!  

Split pea soup and beer bread are good five minute ( non passive) kitchen time meals with wonderful inexpensive results.

Answer to a letter......

Dear groceries on the cheap,

I have a long commute from work.   By the time I get home the last thing I want to do is cook a meal for an hour.   What can I do to escape the drive through.  We want to turn over a new leaf and save money on the new year.   Signed, Janis in Chicago.    

Dear Janis, 

I can totally relate to your problem.    My family arrives home late during the work week.   We have an active three yo to watch while I cook and I'm old.     By that time of day, my get up and go has got up and went.    My solution may help.   

The grocery chains usually offer a loss leader of protein each week.  They usually rotate the kind if meat.   I buy a months supply of that particular meat  when it's on sale. Like if it's chicken, I will buy two chockens.  that's enough to get us to the end of the month.   I batch cook the chockens and seoarate them into eight meal portions and freeze them.    If it is hamburger, I make a meatloaf or meatballs, taco meat, and crumbles.    Pork loin gets cut into pick chops and a roast.   The roast can be roasted off and sliced thin for BBQ pork sandwiches for a weeknight meal.   

I make meal plans ahead for a week.    I have a matrix that suits our family.   Yours can be whatever suits yours.    With a plan, I may deviate from, I at least have a plan.  I don't have to think of the answer to what's for dinner!     

With th protein cooked, the rest of the dinner falls onto place with little effort.   I also keep a stack of pizzas I get on sale cheap to augment a really bad day.   I can add meats and cheese and dinner is virtually a no brainier.   Salad is always on the vegetable bin.   

From a chicken , I get 

1. BBQ  chicken pieces from the legs, and thighs.  Just thaw and brush with BBQ sauce and stick in  the oven with French fries and make a salad or fruit plate.   
2. Chicken pot pie using Bisquick crust.   
3. Roast chicken with mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies.    ( salad) 
4. Chicken breast sliced over dressing from dry bread cubes, Apple, cranberries, and some chicken stock, poultry seasoning.   
5. Chicken soup in the crockpot.    

We all know how many thousands of recipes that ground beef or sausage there are.    Keep frozen veggies and a bag of salad on the fridge.    

Hope this helps.   

Jane 

Budget detail for 2015

it is interesting to nite that we have had the big shakeup in our food chain stores in this part of the country.   Winco opened in our area mid- October.  

1 Q 2015.    Weekly average 74.70
2Q 2015.                                79.75
3Q 2015.                                81 07
4Q 2015.                                76.40
Average per week             77.98


That is up about three dollars from last year.   The third quarter is not a big surprise because that's when the new lack of canned goods hots the warehouses and the previous years pack goes on sale cheap.   It's a good time to stock.    Note we did not eat that much food a week, I have a bigger stock of non oerishavles on the pantry and freezer.    I am still running about half of USDA stats and less than the stats for snap.    We always have fresh fruits and veggies in the house and I mostly also accommodate a vegetarian and a diabetic and two picky eaters.    My daughter and granddaughter mostly eat lunch out of the house on weekdays.  

Soup series no. 4

Betty Crocker chicken gnocchi soup.  

How to cut your grocery bills in half. And balance

That's a simple answer to that.    Is the same answer to how to loose weight.   To loose weight, you either have to exercise more, or eat less.    To cut your grocery bill in half you either need to eat 1/2 as much, or spend 1/2 the amount for your food.    Since I am already below my target weight, as well as the rest of the family , we spend 1/2 on food.  

My daughter was expressing interest about a guy on the internet eating interesting food on three dollars a day.   I stopped to calculate the amount we spend per person on food on a normal basis.    I spent a whole lot over Christmas, buying more and more expensive items because it was Christmas and we were feeding extended family.   Because if the way we grocery shop, it is hard to break out.   I'm averaging 75-80 a week and that covers having a large stock of food ( non perishables) that is carried over from week to week.   We , I estimate actually eat about soxty five dollars a week-- about two dollars plus change.    A little disclaimer, my daughter and her daughter eat lunch out of the house  five days a week.   My daughter buys their alternative options sources for a few meals.   That could only be done because I almost n e v e r pay full price for food.    If I can get a good brand of food , and get it for 2 or 3 for the price of one, it seems ludicrous buy one and then pay fill like the  next week for another.   🍎
Last night, we had taco pie.   We made two pies, one from real hamburger, and one from TVP.  My daughter ate the TVP, we ate the hamburger, and cooked something  different for granddaughter because she isn't fond  of taco pie.   We put  tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream on the pie.

Now, we are going back to my series on soup.   We like soup, and it is a good way to stretch the dollar and is filling and warm on these cold, blustery days.   Some of the time, it can be cooked in the  crockpot which makes meal  time flexible and a lot less hectic.

We went to Fred Meyers for probably the last grocery shopping trip of the year.    I did buy good
quality grocery bags with Christmas motives on them for .37.   I plan to "wrap" our resents in them next year.   One of the ways you can cut the expense of a lot of household things is to buy things with seasonal icons on them and use them all year.   One time my mother found kitchen towels for a dime.   She each of we girls a dollars worth.    We used them for years.    I don't really care what pattern my kitchen towels are, they just need to dry the dishes.   LOL.

 Eating a well  balanced diet is key to good health, in my opinion.    It has been that way for years.  .  Grandparents are living to be well past their 80's .   So many people are taking whole food groups out of their diets.  Some are at the advice of their doctors because of health issues. Some, I suspect are doing it because it is the "thing" to do.    Taking a food group out of your diet is a big step.  You are upsetting the balances in your body.   If you are not going to a nutrition expert and finding out what you need to put the balance back, you are asking for trouble. You might be trying to fix something that isn't broke. And breaking somethng  else.    It's kinda like not buying makeup to save money, and then going to the big bucks store and buying a five dollar coffee.


We all know that too much fat, sugar and salt are bad for us.   Our bodies need a certain amount of those things  to run properly.   Even a diabetic diet has to have some carbs.   When you take whole food groups out of your diet and you don't get good expert advice on what're eat  in its place, you are laying with fire.    Moderation is the key in my opinion.  Add being a icky eater and .....

The media and Facebook etc. is full of articles everyday about how some food item is causing some disease.   There is almost always a contradictory article.   Now I just  read where we should  be eating  butter because vegetable oil is not good for us.   Don't eat butter because it causes heart disease, don't eat vegetable oils because it causes cancer-- and on it goes.

   I put  well balanced food on the table.   I buy the best quality I can find .   I just buy it in sale.    Almost every basic item in a grocery store goes on sale at sometime.

Now, if the picky eaters ....that's a whole other topic!  

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

New Years coming.......5 easy to do hacks to cut food costs

Five easy steps to start saving money on food.

1. Start saving the crusts from bread and any leftover buns.  Breadcrumbs can be as much as 2.40 a pound,    Why pay that for someone else's dry bread?    I put bread crusts on a sheet pan and leave them on the counter for a bit.   Then I put them on a cold oven and let get dry.    Break them up and pulse on a food processor.    When I didn't have a food processor, I went outside with a box grater and a sheet pan.   The birds got the flying crumbs left over.  
2. Make your own pizza sauce.   Until I watched some grocery hauls, I didn't know that there was a thing called pizza sauce.   I buy small cans of tomato sauce when they are about .25.  I use part of one and add Italian seasoning to it.   The remainder I freeze for another pizza or put in meatballs or loaf.   
3. Put two ( or more ) snack or quart bags in the freezer door.   When you are chopping anything that can go on a pizza. Chop a little more and place in a " vegetable bag".   Ditto  cooked meat.  I put meat on its separate bag.   When you have enough, make individual pizzas.    
4. Save the little bits and pieces of cheese and make 4 cheese Mac and cheese.   
5. Research mix recipes ( see older blogs) and start making one mix at a time to replace any mixes you usually buy.   Ranch dressing is the one of the easiest.   

Five easy hacks.     

Thanks. Jane.  

Fred Meyers ad

Fred Meyers ad for tomorrow
Just a note that anything that is a typical holiday meal ingredient is price matched at Winco.  

Rib eye roast 5.97.  Limit
Broccoli .99
Butter 2/5@@
Blues 2.99
Starbucks pods 5.49@@
Tillamook ice cream 2.99@@
Bacon 2/7@@
Oranges .88
Green beans 1.79
Ny roast 4.97

That's about it

Tools.- kitchen management

Kitchen management .   Organization is one of the keys to saving money and not wasting food.  
A few forms done  on the computer make it quick and easy to manage shopping and dinner.  

Kitchen management/ meal plans 

• A spread sheet can track a RBP  of an item and where you got it.    You are not tracking every item you buy, just the ones you buy on  a regular basis.   For most people, that is  about fifteen things.   
• Analyzing the weekly ads just takes a piece of computer paper divided in sections,  often mine comes from the recycle bin.  
• Coupon book.   A binder from the goodwill, plastic sheets for baseball cards/ and or photo sleeves , and a package of dividers from the dollar store.     Add a cheap calculator, small scissors and a red pen Ina pencil case from the dollar store.   

• Meal plan / kitchen management sheet has columns for what's on the fridge that you need  to eat, what you need to buy to fill in, and days of the week to make meal plans.   A matrix tailored to your families likes makes planning easier.    

Coupon book.  

Coupons are found everywhere.   On packages, electronic ones ( harder to manage) I guess mark them in your grocery list.   Newspaper inserts .  Some inserts come on our mail now.   Some are in the Sunday paper.  They don't come in holiday papers and Proctor and Gamble comes the first  Sunday of the month.     You can buy the Sunday paper the saturday before at the dollar tree. You can download coupons from your computer, two per month per coupon at coupons.com.   Filter food only. Pick just the ones you would likely buy and do it early on the month.   The coupons come out 

the first of the month, there is a limited amount of coupons that can be printed, and when they are gone, they are gone.    They will e mail you if more are loaded.   

Ibotta is a rebate tool.   I check the Ibotta list after I get home from the store.   If there are things I bought, I check the item, take a pic of the bar code, and take a picture of the sales slip.    It's an easy way to save a few extra dollars.    I, working towards an Amazon card but you can have Starbucks, movie tickets, wall,art and a host of others.    

Hope this helps.    A little planning can save a lotion time and money.     Once you are set up, it doesn't take much time.   

Winco and Costco's

Winco had five pounds of French fries for 3.18.   We are having them for dinner.    They don't look bad.    Klondike bars are 2.96, saurkraut 128 in jars,    Costco has finish tabs for the dishwasher for 14.49 less 3.50.   Bananas are 1.39, 3 lbs bacon are 14.99.


That's about it.  

We hav had birthdays and Christmas parties.    Soup thread will continue next week before Christmas ..  

Happy Holdays.


Jane

The ads

Safeway and Albertsons

spiral ham 1.68
Rib eye roast or New York  7.77
Mandarines 3.88
Yams .99
Pineapple 2.99
Chuck roast 3.99
Pork loon crown 3.99
Pork loom 3.99


Same food, different prices

Food.                                           Albertsons.                                Safeways
Fresh turkey.                                    1.99.                                        1.99
Butterball.                                         2.19.                                        2.29
Pie.                                                    6.99.                                        7.99
Brown and serve rolls                        2/4.                                          2/4
Brie                                                    9.99.                                       9.99
Pistachios.                                          3.99.                                        2/5


Albertsons
Bottom round 3.99
1/2 ham 1.88
Ground beef 3.99 ( 7 percent)
Salmon 9.99


5 dollar Friday
Chicken tenders
Berries 2/5
Cupcakes (12)


Ground beef 3.69(15percent)
****************+++++++++
Coupons  -   The same for both stores.  
Cool whip .88
Bc cake mix .99
Campbell's soup .79
Cascade ice .50
Red Barton 3/10

*******+++++++++++
Safeways
Bottom round 3.99
Shrimp 6.99
Salmon 9.99


Friday only
Berries 2/5
Chicken tenders
Most th



Or-----for anything that is a typical holiday meal check Winco first they will match the best price.    Saves a lot of hassle.  


QFC

Ham.  1.69
Cooks portion 1.29
Mandarines 3.88
Broccoli. .99
Rib eye.  9.99
Sirloin tip roast bogo. Ref price 6.99
Butter 2/5
Tillamook 5.99
Turkey 179
Berries 2/5
Blues 299
Shrimp 6.99



Beef tenderloin 19.99 a pound   -

That's about it


Thanks

Jane

Soup no 3 Cheezy potato

Cheesy potato soup from thembetty Crocker on line cook book.  
Picks without bacon and parsley garnish.  
Easiest soup I think I ever made.

Soup , no. 2

Tomato basil, Gorgonzola soup and crab cakes.

@

Soup series - No 1

Yi

Soup series no. I

Crockpot soups are a good way to have a hearty, hot dinner on cold, blustery, days.   Especiall when it's the  busy Holiday season.



You,can sign up for e mail at Betty Crocker , or they have an online cookbook.   It is well worth the
effort to download.    You can plug in something that you need to use up and they will give  you a recipe.  

Happy  Holidays.

Jane

Fred Meyers and notes

Fed Meyers ad

Milk .99@@
Ribeye 5.97
Turkey breast 149
Shrimp 6.99
Cool whip .79@@
Hills hire sausage 2/5@@


Umpqua  ice cream 2.99
Kraft dressing 1.99
Gold medal flour 1.49
Cheesecake 12.99
Pumpkin pie 3.99
Apples 1.29

Spiral ham coupon 10.00 for flame crafted bone in

That's about it.

Winco has they will meet the lowest price of the chain stores on a select list of holiday fixings.  


I have started a series of soup recipes.   It's that time of year and I downloaded a bunch of recipes from Betty Crocker.  

Last night we had a sausage, bean and potato soup and cheesy biscuits.  
Tonight we are having crab cakes. But I'll start the rest ifmthemstory Sunday.  


Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

The ads

QFC

Simple truth chickens are .99 a pound,  I can't find anywhere the answer to the question, where are they from?    I did find that they are a brand of Kroger and that they are being sued for mislabeling?  Or something of the nature.  

Grapes 1.68
Milk .99


Buy 4, save 4
Kroger ice cream net 1.8
Sugar .99
Freshetta 4.99
Nathan's 2.99


Safeways
Sirloin tip roast 3.99

five dollar Friday
Naval oranges
Oatmeal, peanut butter, bars 3/5



Brown or powdered sugar .99@@
Butter 2/5@@
Flour 1.89@@


Buy 5 save 5
Cereal 2.99$$

Buy 4. Save 4

Albertsons
15percent hamburger, bottom round, cross rib 3.99

Coupons the same as Safeways.

That's about it.


Thanks
Jane

Winco haul

Winco haul 36.13 less .25 Ibotta .  

Chicken thighs .68 a pound, grown in the Pacific Northwest.    

stretching your protein dollar.

By far, food is the most expensive discretionary so ending category on a budget.....at least of the necessities and protein is usually the most expensive category of food.  

Meat prices have risen remarkably in the last year or so.    It is not unusual to pay five dollars a pound or more for what we used to pay two dollars for.    Chicken is still a bargain for a buck a pound for whole chickens.    It takes about ten. Invites to put a whole chicken on the oven to roast and another ten to disinfect the kitchen. Counters and utensils.  Rotisery chicken is at least 1.67 a pound at Costco.   The chicken comes from draper valley.  Chicken breast is the most expensive way to buy chicken..sometimes as costly as beef.   If I want a boneless , skinless chicken breast, I buy a picnic pack when it is 1.25 a pound and break it down into meal portions and debone the breast.   It takes a few tries, but it's not hard to debone a chicken breast.  

I bought a pack of small eye of round steaks from Winco last week,   They were 9.09.   We had 2 of them that I cooked in the grill pan.   Last night I cut them across the grains very thin and stir fried them with stir fry veggies from Costco in the freezer section.    Add brown roce and dinner was done.   I still have enough for another meal or two.   Four meals for 9.00 is 2.25 a meal.  That is close to my target cost and I can average it with Mac and cheese or breakfast for dinner.  

I have been getting hamburger for about three dollars a pound for the good low fat kind lately.   When I do I make meatballs, meatloaf, taco meat and/or crumbles.   Portion control goes a long ways to stretch your dollar.   There are a lot of recipes for ground beef out there.  The recent information I have read lately says that we need six  ounces of protein a day and some of that should come  from eggs.  Yes, eggs.   I would refer you to an earlier post.   Moderation, in my opinion, is the key on food.  Remember when eggs were bad for you!   Times change and I for one am not going to buy into  all the hoopla.  Of you take a food group out of your diet , you need to replace the nutrients that you would get from that food group with something else.   Unless my doctor tells me something is not good for me to eat and I consult with a nutrition expert( not my cousin or the lady next door) I'm going to eat a variety of things in moderation from the basic food groups.   Just my opinion. I do believe all of us. Should watch our fat, sugar, and salt consumption.  

You can still get pork at a reasonable price.  Sausage is cheapest at Costco.   There are a lot of coupons for sausage and port tenderloins.   I try to limit our processed meat consumption to once a week.   Pepperoni is fifty cents a package for Hormel with coupons at the dollar tree.   A few sliced added to vegetables and olives on a pizza goes a long ways.  Buffalo,chicken pizza so another pizza alternative that stretches a piece of leftover cooked chicken.  

From a whole,chicken I get, 2 chicken breast halves. BBQ chicken from the dark meat, and soup from the bones.  Usually for meals from a five pound, four to five dollar chicken.   The break even ratio for a chicken is three pounds -everything after that is gravy.    In other words, if you buy nature pound chicken  you are paying for half bones, and half meat.  

Using eggs, cheese, and beans and rice for a few meals a week, stretches the protein budget.

If you have a soup or something that is lower on protein tan you want, consider adding a yogurt parfait, ice cream, pudding, custard  or other desert or side dish that boosts the protein.  

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Notes on drugs.....

I discovered a few things lately that might help people that have to take drugs.    Unless you have fantastic insurance, allergy meds and diabetic test strips can be cheaper over the counter than buying them with copays at the pharmacy.    

The generic Zyrtec was two dollars more than the copay for a month to buy a years supply at Costco.  

Nose sprays are a lot cheaper too. 

Test strips can run a dollar each.   I got 100 test strips for less than 25.00.    Before you fill a prescription, you may want to check Walmart, SAMs club, Costco or Amazon.    

Just a thought.    I'm all about loving well on a small budget.    

Fred Meyers

tomorrow's Fred Meyers ad

Pineapple fresh .99
Apples .99
Ex peel shrimp 5.99

Canned fruit 100
Kroger ice cream, 1.99@@
Sour cream/ cottage cheese .99@@
Fred Meyer coffee 4.99

Mandarins 3.99
Pears .99
Whole fryer .99


About all.   My guess is that  I would lick chicken for our stock meat this week.  

Thanks formatoppingmby

Please share

Jane

Reprint...and your food has what in it?

And your food has what in it? 

I'm confused, I'm irritated, I'm full up to my eyeballs of people telling us that this, that and the other thing is bad for us.  If we believed  every unscientific study and persons opinion on food, we wouldn't eat anything and the things that we ate would be on such short supply, most of us could not afford  them.

• Don't drink diet cola
• Don't eat fish
• Don't eat chicken
• Don't eat pork
• Don't eat beef
• Don't  eat soy beans, they are chemically engineered
• Don't drink coffee, drink coffee
• Don't eat vegetables unless their organic
• Wait, bananas are a waste to buy organic
• Don't eat apple sauce, it has arsenic in it
• Don't eat tuna, it has lead in it
• Don't eat preserved meats.  
• Don't drink milk. , wait, drink milk, but it doesn't build bones like we always thought 
• Don't eat eggs
• Don't use aluminum foil
• There is plastic in McDonald's food.  
• Don't drink water out of a plastic bottle, don't drink tap water, 
• Don't eat food packed in plastic , cooked in plastic, or packed on a tin can. 

For every opinion, someone has a different one.  I, for  one, am discusted, confused, and sick and tired of people telling me every two minutes that something more is bad for us.  Most of the time, there is no scientific research to back them up and they change their mind weekly.  

The USDA has  a lot of intelligent people working to see that we have safe food.  It probably is true that too much of any one thing can hurt you, we all need balance in our lives.  I can totally understand the concern that we are feeding our children too much refined sugar and salt.  It is hidden on all kinds of things.   Sugar and carbs and salt are a necessary nutrient in our diets--in moderation.  A thrifty diet can still  manage salt and sugar intake.  A thrifty meal plan can also afford a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Wash 

your fruits and vegetables, peel them if it makes sense.  Eat a wide variety of them.  Defat  your meat and use the leanest meat you can afford.  A three to four ounce portion is enough. 

I think what I am saying is that I am going to do what makes sense to me to provide a balanced diet for our family.  If  I can reduce our sugar, salt, and fat content, I will.  But I am not going to react to every sensationalist put there that believes every study, scientific or not about our food supply.

I remember years ago when the city wanted to put a high priced day care in a building and eliminate the no frills affordable one.  The children were getting the same education.  They colored on the back side of used computer paper.  They still colored.  I remembered telling the city council that we would all like to drive sports cars and live on mansions with servants, but the reality is that  most of cant afford them.  A fancy day care is nice, but it will do people no good if it costs more than they earn.
Ahh...reality strikes again.


Enough of a soapbox.

I am trying to teach people how to stretch a buck, because I know how.  Because some people either want or need to.  The interest rates are going up and we are getting a little more interest on our money, but getting your food for 1/2 price is like getting 50 percent interest.  I think I can safely predict that the bank is not going to give us 50 percent on our money in my lifetime.  ! LOL

I am also trying to make it believable in this day and age of soccer practice, dance lessons, work and managing a home .  We all have busy schedules.  It breaks my heart when I hear of children eating corn and watermelon for dinner...can we see pure sugar!   Or top ramen and potato chips.  It is totally doable on food stamps to eat a well balanced diet of good, regular food.  it just takes some food management skills and some effort.

Whether you read my blog to hear me rant and rave....LOL or to get a more efficient way to cook meals, or a new recipe, or you just want to save money, I hope you are getting something  out of this and that you will share so I have a better chance of reaching people that want or need to save money on food.


Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

The ads

Ads are here.  

Albertsons

Seasoned chicken breast b1 G3 free.   No origin on meat @@
Round roast 3.88
Apples .99


Five dollar Friday
Pacific cod
Berries 2/5
Pomegranates 3/5
Donuts - a dozen
English muffins 3/5
DiGiorno

Milk 2/5@@
Vegetables/tomato sauce 2/1@@
Oranges .79
Limes 4/1

Coupons
Chili .99

Safeways
Seasoned chicken breast B1, get 3 @@.   No origin in meant
Apples .99
Limes 4/1


5 dollar Friday
Pomegranates 3/5
Berries 2/5
Dijorno pizza
English muffins 3/5

Milk 2/5@@
Veggies, tom sauce 2/1@@


Coupons
Chili .99

QFC
Oranges .69
Milk .99

Buy 4, save 4
Sugar .99
Cheerios 1.69
Kens dressing 1.99
Salad oil 1.99
Kroger ice cream 1.88
Dryers 2.99



Berries 2/5
Apples .99

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Haul

I did not go to Freddie's.    Ad to follow.   I went to dollar tree...looking for something I can't find! Lol. And Winco.   Our grocery total for November was 68.00 a week.   I'm sure it was because of Winco.   I was hitting closer to eighty.    We do have a considerable stock. It is that time of year when we have the donut hole and stock items are on sale.  

Grocery outlet had hash browns for 2.50.  --enough for about four meals.   dijourno  pizza was 1.99.  
Sliced cheese was the usual 2.39.    Blue cheese was 1.99.

Winco had several beef roasts well under three dollars a pound.    16 ounces of marshmallows were. Dollar.   Brownie mix .98, cake .88.  I noted good prices, but can't remember all of them.   Refried beans .88, taco shells a dollar, pasta .88 , but Barilla was too high.    No sugar added Klondike bars were just under three.  

Fred Meyers. Milk .99@@
Raspberries 4/5
Cheese 5.48@@$$ ( 1.00 coupon out there)
Naval oranges .99
Cucumbers 2/.99
Shrimp 6.99 lb


That's  about it.  

Jane

We survived. ,

Black Friday and I didn't go near a mall.   My daughter and I left baby with grandpa  and we went to the dollar store, Safeways, and Walgreens.    I left Safeways with nothing,   All the prices had been raised for the last minute shoppers.    Dollar tree had Christmas sox for granddaughter, some foil paper, and Betty Crocker sweet potatoes , and a soy candle.    I did get my diabetic chocolate and some 1/2 price fingernail polish.   At sixty dollars a pop for nails, I do my own.  lol.

Thanksgiving week in general is not  a good week to shop.   Winco kept up the special pricing. Other stores did not.   Stove top stuffing was 250 at Walgreens.    One of mine was a buck, the other one was free.   Knowing where and when to buy something is key.   As well as knowing what not to buy.   I usually buy very few stove top stiffing packages, also on on no buy list of breadcrumbs. ( why throw away your bread heels and buy someone else's dry  bread.) , chips other than plain taco chips for nachos, bottled pop and juices, kool aid, except for clay for the children) , hamburger helper, or rotisserie chicken unless I'm in a real pinch.

Anything that is easier to make by hand or has no food value in it is not on my list.   Bagged lettuce is healthier than when you cut it yourself.  Studies have shown there is more germs on a head of lettuce that you wash yourself at home than there is a bag of lettuce.

I am going to post meal plans next.   I try for five dollar dinners - a dinner for the typical family of four,: two adukats and two school aged children.    That is the magic. I bet that will leave enough for lunch and dinner on a for dollar a day budget ( the professed snap amount) and leave something for stock.

1. Vegetable bean soup, sour dough baguette.   
2. Pork tenderloin, mashed sweet potatoes, Cesar salad,
3. Mac and cheese, peas and carrots.   
4. BBQ chicken , seasoned potato wedges, mixed vegetables. 
5. Tacos , refried beans, rice,
6. Fish packets 
7. Spaghetti, red sauce, green salad, sour dough baguette.   

Notes 

1) vegetable bean soup. : combine in crockpot

     2 - 15 ounce cans of diced tomatoes , 2 cans of beans, drained and rinsed. ( I I've two different beans) , a quart of chicken or vegetable stock ( from better than bullion) , 2 carrots , two celery ribs, chopped or sliced and sautéed  until limp.   Cover and cook on low for 8 -10 hours.   Serve with arm cheese.   

2) pork tenderloins I got on sale on five dollar Friday at Safeways with a two dollar coupon found at coupons.com.  Betty Crocker makes sweet potatoes in a packet available at the dollar tree.   Ceased salad was left over from thanksgiving,    If it wasn't thanksgiving. I might make a green salad.   

3) Mac and cheese.   I use any shaped pasta I can find cheap that is a good brand. Economy isn't about buying the cheapest thing you can find.    The last batch I got was rotini brand for .49 at QFC.   When I can, I get double fiber.   Cream soup base recipe is on line.  It comes from  Taste of Home.    

I use a variety of cheeses, clean out our cheese drawer.  Grocery outlet is a good source for cheese.   

My target price is two dollars, I have been finding it for 2-2.50.  Mixed vegetables were cheapest at Costco for a five pound bag.   

4) BBQ chicken is from chicken parts set aside from roasting a chicken. Hear them on the oven and brush with BBQ sauce.   Seasoned potato wedges are made in America at the Dollar Tree and 1.5 pounds are 1.00. 

5) taco shells are cheapest at Winco as are refried beans (.88) rice makes a complete protein for the vegetarian.   Hamburger was purchased ( 7 percent) for 2.99 at Fred Meyers.   I made meat balls, a meat loaf, and fried the rest as crumbles and froze it.   

6) fish packets .  Fish was at Winco.  Layer on parchment on individual packets : spinach, cooked rice, white beans, fish, a green vegetable.   Seal parchment to make a package, and bake on sided cookie sheet or pan for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until fish is done and flakes. 

7)  add meat to hunts pasta sauce ( I paid .75 at the dollar store with coupon, but it's always a dollar or less someplace. ) pasta was .49 for veggie pasta at QFC.   Baguttes are at Costco wholesale or the bakery outlet for about a dollar a piece.  There is also some at the dollar store.  

One last note.  The only way you can keep the prices of meat down and maintain quality and variety, is to watch for the loss leader in any given week.   Shop  two stores, ( sometimes meat and oroduct doesn't look so good when you get to the store. Give yourself options. ) buy one meat a week in bulk - as much as you will need for that kind of dinner for the month.   Batch cook it if that is appropriate, and portion control it on freezer bags and freeze.  It makes dinner time a lot more efficient, and cooking and cleanup a cinch!   If  there are no good buys on protein, skip one and buy two another week.  

That's about all.    

Thanks 

Jane 

Grocery hauls

I have been stuck in bed for some time this week.....so I made use of my time watching grocery hauls on U TUBE.   I have come to the conclusion I am  in the middle of the road between... Let's buy a whole lot of junk food and processed stuff and let's buy the most expensive food in the store and ... I'll leave that to your own ideas.    lol.

Middle of the road and moderation have been my mantra for a long time now. So many people say they are lactose intolerant, that never were before.  I'm wondering if it is because they choose or their doctors choose for them to be gluten free or vegetarian.   I'm wondering if cutting a food group out of your diet changes the PH or whatever balance in ones gut.   Not a nutritionist, just a guess.  

I saw a lot of four hundred dollar hauls that could be reduced to well under a hundred.    Knowing your prices and shopping multiple stores is the key.    No one store has the best prices on everything.    Some stores are notorious for being the best price on a particular thing or type of thing,    It doesn't mean that you need to go to five different stores in one week to buy your food.   You go to two stores, plan your trip for economical gas and time, and buy a supply.  

For those on the Seattle area....

Dairy is cheapest at Costco, except milk that is a dollar with on ad coupon about every three weeks or so at Fred Meyers.    Sour cream and cottage cheese is a dollar sometimes at Fred Meyers,    Grated cheese is cheapest at Costco wholesale, and sometimes at grocery outlet (bogo).   Sliced cheese so hands down the cheapest at grocery outlet.    I grated my own cheese from blocks a few weeks go. I found that we went through two big plastic containers instead of about 3/4 of one in a week.    I think the finer grate goes further.   My RBP on cheese is two dollars a pound.  I, coming close with coupons and watching where I buy it.    You are almost always going to spend more buying 8 ounce containers.   Grated cheese freezes well.  You can cook it frozen.  It thaws quickly.   When cheese is on sale in small packages, do the math.   It's a retailers trick to out small packages on sale, expecting people will either not know their measurements or won't bother to do the math.

I watch buy xx save xx deals.   It's a retailers trick to get you to buy a lot of stuff you don't need on the first place.   I bite on them if I can match a manufacturers coupon with the sale and l can identify enough things at a good price that we will actually use.    Usually they have a few things for a buck that you can fill in with that sometimes are a buck all the time at certain stores.

Thinking that it all averages out if you buy from one store is a mistake.   Some prices are good, others at not so good.   You are better off buying what is a good price at two stores.   You have a choice of what produce looks the best, and you are getting the best of both stores.    Lately I have been hitting Kroger and Winco.  I have found that the prices are not as good at Safeways as they used to be before Haggens bought them out.

Don't box yourself in, think out of the box.    There are a lot of stores that carry a limited amount of food.   I'm not talking the quick marts.   But if you go to a store like big lots or a drug store  for something else, keep your eyes open, know your prices, and always check pull dates.  

About all for now.


Thanks

Jane

Fred Meyers

the paper today had small inserts if ads for the other grocery stores.    Winco and grocery outlet do not have ads.   Winco you can see at favado, but they aren't always accurate.    If you have waited until the last minute to buy turkey dinner, you are usually paying full price.    Winco has lowest prices guaranteed from the get go.  

Fred Meyers.

Turkey .69 with a extra purchase of fifty dollars.
Asparagus 1.99
Satsumas 3.88
Dryers ice cream 2/5@@
Butter 3/5@@
Ritz 3/5@@
Sour cream .99@@
Cake mix 1.00
Pumpkin pie 3.99
Cranberry sauce 2/3
Cream of mushroom soup 1.00
Stove top 4/5
Olives 3/5
Crescent rolls 3/5
Green beans 1.79


Notes :
If you bought cream of mushroom soup a few weeks past with a coupon it would be .49
Cranberry sauce is bogo at grocery outlet for .40.
Stove top was free at Winco.   It has been a dollar  all over.
Pumpkin pie is a bit cheaper at Winco.   Probably cheaper at Costco if u can use their size.
Crescent rolls were cheapest at QFC with coupon and buy ten promotion.   You can still get them cheaper with a coupon at Winco.   I think 147 and there is a coupon for 1.00 off three on today's paper.
Olives ate cheaper at Winco for Lindsay and there are coupons out there.
Cake mix was .88 late October at Winco.

It pays you to buy non perishables before the holiday.  It was the time to stock up.


Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
,

Winco and.......

Winco is the cheapest on thanksgiving ingredients.   There is a coupon for crescent rolls and black olives out there.  

Albertsons
Turkey.  Free with 150 more in purchases ( EX150)
.68 with ex 50. Limit one
Safeways
Ditto

QFC
.69 with ex 30

Winco
.63 with no limit and no ex.

QFC
Clementines 388
Broccoli or cauli.  .99
Tillamook cheese 5.99
Dryers 2.99
Berries 2/5
Green beans 1.79
Sweet potatoes .99
Cool whip 1.50
Pie 3.99
Stove top 150 ( I got it for free last week at Winco.

Safeways
Yams .99
Potatoes .99
Green beans 1.99
Fold gets 6.99@@
Olives .99@@$$. Cheapest at Winco
9 inch pumpkin pie 9.99.   ( not a bargain. )

Albertsons
Pie 10 inch 6.99
Green beans 1.99
Potatoes .99
Yams .99
Coffee 6.99@@
Cream cheese 149@@$$

Thanks for stopping by
Place share

Jane

Winco and thanksgiving prices

We just went to the dollar tree and Winco.   I got fruit snacks and men's sox for the homeless bags at dollar tree.  And sparkely  sox for myself...can you spell glitter!  

Winco has a gallon of milk for free and cookies.   I got the gallon of milk for us and the cookies for the daycare.   I thought granddaughter would enjoy sharing with friends at snack time.   

Crescent rolls were 1.48 and I had a dollar coupon.   

Cucumbers were .48

Pumpkin pie 3.48.  I can't make it for that.   

White bread .88

Acorn squash .68

Lindsay olives .87- $$

Small tomato sauce .29

Best ground beef 3.18

Extra large hummus. 278

Turkey is .63 a pound ... No spending restrictions.

I got .75 Ibotta.    

Thanks for stopping by

Please share 

Jane 

Four dollars a day books.

There are a lot of books out there that tote that they can teach you how to feed your family on four dollars a day.  They are assuming you are paying that nasty f ford ( full price) for your food.    Some of them go on the premise of not eating meat and eating rocks for dinner.   Some are more adventurous and assume you can get your family to eat food from Mars , find food most of us can't pronounce, let alone find at a low cost.    Earth to people: you can't buy two dollar a serving oatmeal and still eat three meals a day on four dollars.    Maybe that's new math!  Ha ha .   I did find a good book on Amazon kindle for a dollar.  I'll try to link or at least identify it below.  

I'm not going to write a book.    Grocery outlet has a free one that does the job quite well.     I write this blog free of advertisements.   I'm not in this for the money,    I just want to help real people get reasonable nutrition on a small budget.  My premise is that if you spend more time on the FRONT end of the dinner on the table train, and less on the BACK  end you will be better off.   Getting your real food half off or more means you can have enough food and a variety of food and still maintain an emergency stock.  

It's just a different frame of mind,    Why pay 1.59 for a can of green beans, when you can pay .33 or .50 and get three times as much!   Then, you eat three times, not once.    You can rinse the food and reduce salt.   Don't put  salt on your food.   Don't salt food while cooking it.    There are ways to reduce salt , sugar and fat without paying someone not to put it on your food in the first place. .   It like going to the gas station and paying someone not to put gas in your car.   Doesn't make sense to me.   They leave  out an ingredient in your food and then charge you more because they saved money not putting the ingredient in  there.    Really?  

I digress.  

It's a different way of grocery shopping.   The net results is you pay 1/2 price for your food, you have a stock in case of an emergency, and you always have food on the house.    There is a certain sense of security in that idea.    And it has saved my behind more than once.

This takes time.   It doesn't happen overnight.    Even of you had a great influx of money, low prices don't happen on everything everyday.  I make up the time I spend on management by spending less time in the kitchen.  We are not foodies.  No one in this family would appreciate the fact that I spent all day in  the kitchen.    I have done the food management thing for years, even when I had three children at home and held down two jobs and maintained the housework.

Key points

1. Never pay full price  know the RBP on the things you use on a weekly basis.   We are talking shelf ready staples.   For us that would be diced tomatoes, canned beans, green beans, frozen veggies, refried beans, black olives, instant mashed potatoes , rice, pasta, pasta sauce.    Pretty soon you will instinctively know who has the best prices on those products and can watch the ads for the RBP.    Favado isn't always accurate, but a good benchmark.   Ads come in the mail and Fred Meyers is in the Sunday paper.   You can buy the Sunday  paper on Saturday before at the dollar tree.    
2. When something is at a rock bottom price buy whichever comes first of a) the amount the store will allow ( limits) b) as many as you can afford, or c) as many as you need to fill in your self imposed limit.   ( I keep a three- six month supply of anything that isn't perishable and on my stock list or as many as I think we will use until the next sale .   This is especially true of typical holiday sales.  Like catsup in  the summer.  
3. Use coupons wisely.    I wouldn't spend more than ten to twenty minutes a week on coupons    I date inserts, look quickly through them for things we eat on a regular basis, and file the inserts. in a monthly file folder.   I keep back three months.   Favado will match coupons for you and tell you where to find the coupons .  I don't buy anything with a coupon that I wouldn't buy anyway, unless it's free and I can use it or know someone that can     I have been finding four dollar off dog food.    We don't have a dog, but my SIL has three.    I love that word free.    It goes a long way to enhance your quality of life of you don't have to pay for something you  need.   
4. Ibotta is a rebate ap.  when I get home from the store, I match up anything that I have purchased with their list for that store   I watch a quick video while putting the food away and snapshot the bar code and sales slip and they put money in my account,  get to ten to twenty five dollars and they will give you a gift card that you want,   Anything from Starbucks to wall mart or Amazon  it's a way to get fresh food discounted.  
5. Sign up for store cards.    They give you better prices    QFC also gives you free things and coupons based on your purchases    
6. Dairy perishables   I buy yogurt wherever it is less than fifty cents  there are always coupons to go with it too.    Milk is cheapest at Fred Meyers about once every three weeks or so.   It's a buck a 1/2 gallon.    Other dairy is cheapest at Costco.   The large cartons have about a month pull date   Eggs are cheapest at Fred Meyers or Costco.   Five dozen lots are the cheapest, but you may have to split one with another family, we found we don't use that many eggs . 
7. The only way I have found to save on fresh produce is to watch for a 5 dollars off of 15 type coupon at some stores. Or using  Ibotta    Not all stores are the same on produce   I'm really picky at grocery outlet and Winco   That being said, I got oranges at QFC that were moldy in two days   We did bring them back for a refund. That didn't happen at grocery outlet.  I was told I had to talk to the guy that was running from the building!   lol.    Produce at a low cost is only good of it is edible .  You can pretty much have quality control with buying the same name brands of canned or boxed goods. That doesn't happen with produce.
8. Know your prices, when buying protein, pick one loss leader of the foods on your meal plans, and buy enough to feed your family for the month of that particular meat or.....   In other words, if we eat beef twice a week, I will buy enough for 8 meals of ground beef when it is really cheap.    I got four percent hamburger for 2.99 a pound last week.  I also get whole wa grown chickens for a buck a pound    I've got them for as cheap as .50.   Grated cheese is cheapest at grocery outlet or Costco wholesale  buy one thing a week, buy enough for the month, cook it in bulk  and portion control it onto bags in the freezer.   This saves time and money.    Rarely have to spend more than a half hour or less cooking  dinner  ( non passive time) .   
9. I use forms to manage it all.  Simple concise  fast forms!    

That's it on a nutshell.  I go into retailers dirty little secrets and other things in detail on past posts.  

That book: feed a family of four or more on 200 dollars a month.   

Thanks for stopping by 

Jane 

Costco

we found ourselves in need of a to run and I had errands to run on the east side.   I never go to Costco without watching , but keeping in mind what we actually need and rbp's.

Kirkland T.P is 15.99
5 baguettes are 4.79
5 lbs of frozen mixed veggies were 3.49 (.70 a lb; .79 for 10 ounces at fm)
Bananas 1.39
Vegetable base is 10.99.  
Eggs 4.29 for 2 dozen - pull date Christmas!  


Thanks

Jane

Meal plans

Meal plans help to assure that food is not wasted.  i developed a meal plan template to make meal planning quick and easy.  These days, the less time spent on meal prep the better.  I spend more time planning my shopping and less time cooking,   It makes things more cost and time efficient,   I get paid to shop in savings,

Step by step process.   

The form  has a column of food on hand.   Clean and arrange the fridge to reflect the things that need to be eaten shortly.  Write  down the perishables and meat that you have in stock.   Highlite or mark with a star the things that need to be eaten soon.

I have.

1. Cottage cheese
2. Carrots 
3. Acorn squash
4. Sour cream
5. Fresh green beans 
6. Eggs 
7. Spinach, fresh
8. Blackberries
9. Apples 

Develop a matrix .   It makes planning easy and quick if you have an outline.   Ours is 2 beef, 2 chicken or pork, 2 vegetarian and a fish or shellfish.    Yours very well may be different,    Some people go with types of meals-- like soup, breakfast, etc.   or have fourteen meals and rotate the same meals.   

A second column is for food  to be purchased.    Hold off on this one until you finish planning.

Now fill in the seven blocks .

1. Breakfast for dinner : yogurt parfaits, eggs, toasted English muffins   Yogurt parfaits are yogurt, blackberries (or blueberries when I get them cheap) and topped with some granola.  Granola is at the dollar store (Chex) English muffins are usually cheapest at Fred Meyers .  
2. Vegetable bean soup.   Cheese biscuits 
3. Pork tenderloin. Baked acorn squash( with butter and brown sugar, cinnamon dash , spinach salad . I got pork tenderloin for 2.50 at Safeways a few weeks ago.  Froze it.   Squash was .68 at Winco.    
4. Chicken nachos.    Costco is the cheapest usually on nacho chips.   Diced  tomatoes make salsa in a pinch , use up sour cream 
5. spaghetti  and meat sauce, spinach salad. ( brown and serve baguettes are cheapest at wholesale Costco.  I keep them in the fridge and they take less than 15 minutes in the oven.   They are usually about a dollar a piece.    Pasta is on sale now for fifty cents when you buy 10 of a list of things at QFC.   Hunts   pasta sauce is cheaper most all the time than scratch.   I never pay more than a buck, the last batch I got was .75.   
6. Sloppy joes. French fries, vegetable sticks.   ( I got carrots at QFC with a five dollars off fifteen coupon.   24 ounces ( 1.5 pounds) of seasoned potatoes made in America are at the Dollar Tree, bins Re cheapest at Winco, and I use a recipe I found in a family circle years ago. Manwich has been on sale for eighty cents lately.   
7. Fish packets .   Tilapia is at Winco.   Layer on parchment paper individual portions ( dollar tree) spinach, cooked rice, or instant soaked in water, a few white beans, the fish, and a green vegetable.    I bought just what we needed at qfc.    Seal up the packets, and place on cookie sheet with sides.    Bake at 400 for half an hour or until fish is flakey.  

Note: it might sound like I run all over town to shop.   Not so.    I shop in bulk and freeze or refrigerate.    I usually shop two stores.   Get in and get out.   Put on blinders to anything that isn't on sale or the RBP.   Avoid snack tyoe items.amd sodas.     Use coupons when I can.  These meals average less than five dollar a meal for a family of four.  ( assuming two adults and two school aged children) .  

Hope this helps.   It's easy I be overwhelmed, but planning uses up what you need to use up and makes the what's for dinner question more manageable.   

Thanks for stopping by

Please share 

Jane 

Sunday ads ......turkey!

The cheapest price on turkey I have found is either free at Fred Meyers with a hundred fifty dollar purchase.   At Fred Meyers, you have a wide variety of things, not just food to purchase.    or it is .69 a pound with a thirty dollar food purchase ( the turkey doesn't count) .

QFC
mandarines   3.99
Pumpkin pie 3.99

Still buy 10, save 5
Stove top .99
Sugar 1.99
Crescent rolls 1.38 - $$
Butter 2.49

Fred Meyers
Milk .99@@ ( note it is free at winco)
Bread  3/4@@
Vegetables frozen .79@@
Betty Crocker   boxed potatoes .89
Pumpkin pie 3.99
Jello 1.00
Frozen entrees .89
Red Barron 3/10
Cool whip .79@@


That's about all.

Bargains......

Wednesday, my hubby went to get a free oil change and a free haircut..     Score forty dollars.    I went  to Winco and got paper towels for less than Costco with a coupon.  Like about half.     I also got another twenty cent ibotta.  

Today we went and I got a haircut.  QFC netted a fifty six percent savings on tomatoes, pasta, and veggies.     Five  dollar off fifteen on veggies. And five off of ten items netted a lot more than just the five dollar savings.  Last week I got 69 percent plus.   ( almost 70) .   I hit three stores last week and averaged twenty five dollars each.   It was a good week to stock.   Tomatoes are .49 at QFC, chili is a dollar and I have coupons.    Pasta is 49.   You don't have a lot of selection on the pasta, but at that price, I can live with it.    My daughter is a vegetarian and we go through a lot of pasta.  

At Fred Meyers, Four percent hamburger and .99 Foster farms chicken meant that I got two loss leader meats this week.    It makes up for the weeks that I got none.    I roasted the chicken and made meatloaf, meatballs, and crumbles with the hamburger ( 3 pounds,) the chicken was 6.5 pounds.    This saves time and money.   I spend more time shopping and less time cooking.  I probably spent an hours a week shopping .  I get in and get out of a  store.   I just get what I need to buy. Impulse buys will kill your budget.   I was an accountant, so prices are easy for me to remember.  I know the RBP of the staples we buy in a regular basis.   If you know the staples, the rest will take care of itself.    I'm not too worried about the cranberry sauce I will buy once a year.    It's the green beans that I use a lot because it's about the only vegetable everyone will eat, or the diced  tomatoes that I use at least once a week.  
I know who typically has the lowest prices on certain things, but always keep my eye open.   We use few paper towels.   A 12 pack will last us six months.    Winco had brawny for 11 dollars and change and I had  a dollar coupon.  That was almost half of Costco's price according to favado.   Favado isn't
always correct.   I try to use paper products sparingly.   Not always an easy task with a three yo in the house.  

Now that I have rambled at three .v  in the morning. I hope this helps.  

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

   We have had roast chicken, chicken pot pie, and I will portion control the rest for the freezer.   We had chicken with stove top stuffing that I got for free at Winco and green beans that were  .33 .  That meant that dinner was a total of 1.33 not counting cooking supplies that are too small to cost out ( butter, salt, oil etc.  ) another night, I made meat balls, added tomato sauce that was leftover from homemade pizza another night, and peppers from the freezer.   The tomato sauce cost twenty five cents and the peppers were six for three dollars at grocery outlet.

Grouping errands saves gas.   Meal plans help use everything up.   Being flexible helps.    Last night my husband didn't get the  fish from the freezer to thaw in time, we had pizza.    I got pizza on sale with coupons for 2.38.   I just add things to it.   A bag of spinach at Costco goes a long ways.  

The ads...such as they are.......

QFC has a two week ad last week.  There is still time to make a planned trip.    Fred Meyers wasn't bad, I only,bought sale items , preferably with coupons,  

The only ads I got were for Safeways and Albertsons or  Alberways ha ha

Safeways
Turkey free with 150.00 purchase, or .68 with fifty dollar purchase.  
It makes for sense to me to wait and see what Freddie's brings to the table,    At Fred Meyers you can buy any number of things for your minimum purchase.  

Five dollar Friday
Shrimp
Cherub tomatoes


Eggs 1.99@@
Crea m of mushroom soup .69@@-   Not...its .59 at Fred Meyers and there are coupons out there.  

About it

Albertsons
Pork chops 1.99
Eggs 1.99@@

Five dollar Friday, sat, sun
Tomatoes

Same turkey offer

Coupons
Cream cheese .99

About it.   Most of the prices are cheaper at QFC or Freddie's.  
Winco has free cookies and a gallon of free milk in a flyer in the mail.  
Most of all the prices are either cheaper at Winco or Kroger stores.  

Cream of mushroom soup is 59 at Fred Meyers until next Sunday.  There are coupons for .40 off of four.   Fred Meyers limit is six.  
Marshmallows are cheapest at Winco.  
 You can load a coupon at fc for five dollars off of fifteen dollars worth of produce.    That's 33 percent of you stock to often dollars.  
Green beans are cheapest at Winco.
Vegetable pasta is. 49 at QFC when you buy multiples of ten things.  

Jane