There are different ways to meal plan. Meal planning is a necessary part of a organized kitchen on the cheap. Planning helps not waste food and keeps the take out gremlins away.
A matrix helps too. If you have some kind of an outline, it’s easier to plan efficiently. We use a protein based matrix. 1 beef, 1 fish or shellfish, 2 vegetarian. , 3 chicken or pork. Some people use a standard ten meals—one for spring and simmer, one for fall and winter and make ten meals that they make ver and over. This makes a standard grocery list and makes it easier to bulk purchase food.
Bulk purchasing sources of protein on a rotation basis saves a lot of time and money . Simplify, save money, and always have food in the house.
Having a couple of days that are stable go tos helps too, We have pizza and breakfast for dinner. Breakfast for dinner is a family affair and everyone cooks. Pizza is easy and cheap and a family favorite. Both are versatile .
Pinterest and a good cookbook keeps your meals fresh.
A quick inventory of your pantry and freezer gives you a sense of what needs to be used up soon.
A meal plan can be varied dur8ng the week. Plans can change, but having a plan is a good base.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Monday, March 26, 2018
Monday Kitchen Management
We had a houseful of guests last night, so I made the vegetable bean soup and a loaf of bread. A vegetarian soup is a good way to please everybody around here.
Refrigerator Bread is a recipe I found on the Internet . It is King Arthur Refrigerator bread. It takes a matter of minutes and makes multiple loaves. Sixty four cents makes 2-3 loaves depending on the size of your loaf. Or, about 21 cents a loaf. A little more work than peasant bread, but about the same price.
Finding scratch recipes that are efficient and taste good is not hard. It makes a difference in how things taste, and reduces your exposure to those ingredients you cant pronounce.
Your food shouldn’t be a science experiment and your food bill shouldn’t be an arm and a leg.
You can eat well on four dollars a day. I’m not going to tell you that you can feed the 17 yo linebacker on that, but you can do it for a regular family.
Eating and exercising some portion control is a good thing. If you can't see any white of your plate you are probably eating too much. We have a problem with obesity in this country. A lot of it in my opinion is due to portion control. 4 ounces of meat is ample unless you are building muscle for some reason. Que the 17 yo linebacker. Check with your nutritionist. We still eat more than the RDA of nutriments.
Buying your food at a rock bottom price and paying attention to labels and pull dates is a good thing. We got organic diced tomatoes this weekend for 3/1. They have an April 2018 pull date. We ate them last night. I’m sure that food doesn’t go from ok to spoil on a designated date. We should have some wiggle room. But I don't tend to be adventurous. That’s why I suggest a 4-6 week supply of food. That is enough to cover yourself if you have a family emergency, but not too much so that you are strapped for cupboard space and have trouble keeping up with it. There is just some smug satisfaction of knowing you beat the system and have yourself covered when life throws you a little curve ball. Studies have shown that the stress of not having food in the house can reduce your life expectancy. So can drinking sugar laden drinks.
Refrigerator Bread is a recipe I found on the Internet . It is King Arthur Refrigerator bread. It takes a matter of minutes and makes multiple loaves. Sixty four cents makes 2-3 loaves depending on the size of your loaf. Or, about 21 cents a loaf. A little more work than peasant bread, but about the same price.
Finding scratch recipes that are efficient and taste good is not hard. It makes a difference in how things taste, and reduces your exposure to those ingredients you cant pronounce.
Your food shouldn’t be a science experiment and your food bill shouldn’t be an arm and a leg.
You can eat well on four dollars a day. I’m not going to tell you that you can feed the 17 yo linebacker on that, but you can do it for a regular family.
Eating and exercising some portion control is a good thing. If you can't see any white of your plate you are probably eating too much. We have a problem with obesity in this country. A lot of it in my opinion is due to portion control. 4 ounces of meat is ample unless you are building muscle for some reason. Que the 17 yo linebacker. Check with your nutritionist. We still eat more than the RDA of nutriments.
Buying your food at a rock bottom price and paying attention to labels and pull dates is a good thing. We got organic diced tomatoes this weekend for 3/1. They have an April 2018 pull date. We ate them last night. I’m sure that food doesn’t go from ok to spoil on a designated date. We should have some wiggle room. But I don't tend to be adventurous. That’s why I suggest a 4-6 week supply of food. That is enough to cover yourself if you have a family emergency, but not too much so that you are strapped for cupboard space and have trouble keeping up with it. There is just some smug satisfaction of knowing you beat the system and have yourself covered when life throws you a little curve ball. Studies have shown that the stress of not having food in the house can reduce your life expectancy. So can drinking sugar laden drinks.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Meal Plans
Meal plans keep you organized and on track. They help in kitchen management and make life a lot less hectic come mealtime.
- Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad
- Out , potluck, refried beans (scratch)
- Pizza
- Roast Pork, mashed potatoes, honey ginger carrots , pickled beets
- Vegetable bean soup, rolls
- Pork sliders, oven fries, vegetable platter
- Breakfast for dinner
Notes
- Meatballs are at winco.
- Chicken pizza , -ranch dressing, chicken, blue and mozzarella cheese, red peppers Homemade pizza dough costs .19 and takes less than 5 minutes.
- Roast pork does double duty,
- Vegetable bean soup is made in the slow cooker part of the insta pot. Make beans first.
- Pork sliders use dinner rolls.
- Refried beans are made in the insta pot. Easy.
- Breakfast for dinner is a quiche.
The buying of a core list of ingredients and buying them at low prices , you can always have some food in the house on a limited budget and eat well. Buying versatile bulk meat in rotation based with sale prices affords you the luxury of. A varied diet and low-fat meats.
Our 2017 food costs averaged 55.05 a week. So far , our food costs are at 50.00 including a bulk chicken purchase.
Costco and Grocery Outlet Haul
Costco
Bananas 1.39
Pickles 6.89
Total 8.28
Grocery Outlet
Beets , canned, sliced 3/1
Organic diced tomatoes 3/1
Gingerbread Nature Valley Bars 24 ea .99
Sliced cheese 2.00
Total 8.98
Month total including bulk chicken purchase is at 49.45 a week.
Bananas 1.39
Pickles 6.89
Total 8.28
Grocery Outlet
Beets , canned, sliced 3/1
Organic diced tomatoes 3/1
Gingerbread Nature Valley Bars 24 ea .99
Sliced cheese 2.00
Total 8.98
Month total including bulk chicken purchase is at 49.45 a week.
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Don’t let a “special” that isn’t a special fool you.
Safeways/Albertsons has a coupon “special” in their sunday insert. Think about this a minute.
Get a “FREE” 18 count eggs if you buy 50.00 worth of. Participating food. 18 eggs last week at Winco were 1.44. The percentage of discount is less than 3 percent.
Asparagus is 1.27, its .99 at Fred Meyers.
Canned vegetables are .79....that’s the price at the DT every day. And, they are .50 at winco.
If they are giving you less than 5 peracent and they are charging 30 percent more on their products, you aren’t better off.
File this under when is a bargain, not a bargain .
Get a “FREE” 18 count eggs if you buy 50.00 worth of. Participating food. 18 eggs last week at Winco were 1.44. The percentage of discount is less than 3 percent.
Asparagus is 1.27, its .99 at Fred Meyers.
Canned vegetables are .79....that’s the price at the DT every day. And, they are .50 at winco.
If they are giving you less than 5 peracent and they are charging 30 percent more on their products, you aren’t better off.
File this under when is a bargain, not a bargain .
Fred Meyers ad for Sunday
Spiral sliced ham 1.27
Oscar Mayer Bacon 3.99
Asparagus .99
5 lbs mandarins 3.99
Cantaloupe 2/4
10 lbs potatoes 1.99
Cream cheese 3/5
Marshmallows. 1.00
Buy 6, save 3.00
Cream soup. .49
Butter 1.99
Oscar Mayer Bacon 3.99
Asparagus .99
5 lbs mandarins 3.99
Cantaloupe 2/4
10 lbs potatoes 1.99
Cream cheese 3/5
Marshmallows. 1.00
Buy 6, save 3.00
Cream soup. .49
Butter 1.99
Friday, March 23, 2018
FRIDAY: RECIPE
PORK LOIN IS 1.59 AT COSTCO BUSINESS. THERE IS A 2.00 OFF STICKER ON IT TO BE USED AT THE REGISTER. THAT MAKES A 10 LB LOIN 1.39.
Butchering a pork loin is a matter of slicing it. Cut the ends off up about two inches to make the meat a even cylinder. Cut stew meat or slice for stir fry. Now cut a 6 inch or so roast off one end.
You should be getting to the center. Cut center cut pork chops anywhere between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch thick until you have another roast left. Bag and label with what it is and when you bagged it. We put portions in a quarts bag and put the quart bags in a gallon bag. I cut the fat layer off of chops , but not roasts.
Pork Roast.
Mix 2 parts olive oil to 1 part ranch dressing mix. ( make your own )
Add a squirt of Dijon mustard and minced garlic.
Use a 1.5-3 pound roast
Spread on roast. Place roast, fat side up in a roasting pan with a rack.
Heat oven to 350 degrees for an hour or until the roast has an internal temperature of 145 degrees.
We use a thermometer with a probe and set it to pork, well done. It just makes our life easier.
Having the right tools makes a big difference in your cooking skills and saves a lot of time. Time is money when you send it plannng a shopping trip or making meal plans. Proper planning can save you 1/2 on your food bill. Keeping on top of what’s in the pantry , freezer, and refrigerator saves a lot of money.
They say that we waste 50 percent of our food. That’s hard for me to believe, but every amount you throw away is something that could have been eaten. Portion. Control means a lot. Give children a reasonable amount. If they want more , give them more. I’m not talking about sweets; but rather the dinner part of a meal. We dont have desert every meal. Its not good for you or necessary. There are a lot of ideas out there on how to reinvent a leftover. A sirloin. Roast can become a roast beef a jus sandwich , That pork roast can become sliders. Cooked chicken can be any number of things.the possibilities are endless.. Pinterest is full of recipes.
Keeping on top of the refrigerater contents is a good way to use your resources.
Butchering a pork loin is a matter of slicing it. Cut the ends off up about two inches to make the meat a even cylinder. Cut stew meat or slice for stir fry. Now cut a 6 inch or so roast off one end.
You should be getting to the center. Cut center cut pork chops anywhere between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch thick until you have another roast left. Bag and label with what it is and when you bagged it. We put portions in a quarts bag and put the quart bags in a gallon bag. I cut the fat layer off of chops , but not roasts.
Pork Roast.
Mix 2 parts olive oil to 1 part ranch dressing mix. ( make your own )
Add a squirt of Dijon mustard and minced garlic.
Use a 1.5-3 pound roast
Spread on roast. Place roast, fat side up in a roasting pan with a rack.
Heat oven to 350 degrees for an hour or until the roast has an internal temperature of 145 degrees.
We use a thermometer with a probe and set it to pork, well done. It just makes our life easier.
Having the right tools makes a big difference in your cooking skills and saves a lot of time. Time is money when you send it plannng a shopping trip or making meal plans. Proper planning can save you 1/2 on your food bill. Keeping on top of what’s in the pantry , freezer, and refrigerator saves a lot of money.
They say that we waste 50 percent of our food. That’s hard for me to believe, but every amount you throw away is something that could have been eaten. Portion. Control means a lot. Give children a reasonable amount. If they want more , give them more. I’m not talking about sweets; but rather the dinner part of a meal. We dont have desert every meal. Its not good for you or necessary. There are a lot of ideas out there on how to reinvent a leftover. A sirloin. Roast can become a roast beef a jus sandwich , That pork roast can become sliders. Cooked chicken can be any number of things.the possibilities are endless.. Pinterest is full of recipes.
Keeping on top of the refrigerater contents is a good way to use your resources.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Winco Haul
Winco Haul.....I am still on budget
Pickles 1.48
Salmon burgers 4.28 lb
Pie 6.48
Frozen veggies .99
Frozen veggies .88
Darigold butter 2.98 less coupon 1.98
Hamburger buns 1.07
Black beans , bulk .83 lb
Green grapes 1.98
White bread 1.18
3 lbs onions .98
Total 24.85
Thursday Notes : dispelling myths
The internet is full of myths.....wives tales, ......people’s perceptions .....
Grated cheese costs more than buying a brick and grating it yourself.
Cheese is cheese . A pound of cheese is a pound of cheese. Check the price per pound. Often, grated cheese is cheaper than the brick. You can freeze grated cheese and that allows you to buy it when its on sale. We toured the tillamook factory. They make cheese is huge bricks. It goes to a chopping block where a cutter comes down and cuts the blocks of cheese into two pound bricks. The cheese that is left over goes into what looks like a buss boy tray and is taken to the shredder.
Its hard to make bread from scratch.
There are easy ways to make bread. Peasant bread is a good start because the hardest part is taking the temperature of the water and dealing with a 450 degree oven. Then, you can go on to other breads. Peasant bread takes 10 hands on minutes and they are spread between two days.
You can’t eat good food on 4.00 a day.
Yes, you can eat good food on 4.00 a day. I was trying to cut our food bill down as far as I could because I write this blog. It was a game. I was shocked when I stopped to write a grocery shopping class and discovered that we were actually eating on less and had been for 15 months. This also covered feeding grandchild some ( she eats at home and at our house) and grew a pantry.. We eat good, old fashioned food. Three squares a day. Salmon, pork loin roast and chops, 7 percent fat hamburger, boneless skinless chicken breast from Washington. We dont just eat beans, and we dont shop at the whole paycheck food store. There is a happy medium.
Clipping coupons takes a lot of time and you get a whole quarter back.
It takes about ten minutes to print coupons the first day of the month. Cutting time and putting them in a binder can be done watching TV. Ditto flipping through an insert from the paper and cutting what you are likely to buy. It saves up to 25.00 a month if you aren't a prepared food buyer.
Ibotta and such apps profile you and you loose your privacy.
The truth is, none of us is immune to being profiled. . Everything we do we are being watched —everything from being on Facebook to using a store loyalty card. We don't live in a box.
Grated cheese costs more than buying a brick and grating it yourself.
Cheese is cheese . A pound of cheese is a pound of cheese. Check the price per pound. Often, grated cheese is cheaper than the brick. You can freeze grated cheese and that allows you to buy it when its on sale. We toured the tillamook factory. They make cheese is huge bricks. It goes to a chopping block where a cutter comes down and cuts the blocks of cheese into two pound bricks. The cheese that is left over goes into what looks like a buss boy tray and is taken to the shredder.
Its hard to make bread from scratch.
There are easy ways to make bread. Peasant bread is a good start because the hardest part is taking the temperature of the water and dealing with a 450 degree oven. Then, you can go on to other breads. Peasant bread takes 10 hands on minutes and they are spread between two days.
You can’t eat good food on 4.00 a day.
Yes, you can eat good food on 4.00 a day. I was trying to cut our food bill down as far as I could because I write this blog. It was a game. I was shocked when I stopped to write a grocery shopping class and discovered that we were actually eating on less and had been for 15 months. This also covered feeding grandchild some ( she eats at home and at our house) and grew a pantry.. We eat good, old fashioned food. Three squares a day. Salmon, pork loin roast and chops, 7 percent fat hamburger, boneless skinless chicken breast from Washington. We dont just eat beans, and we dont shop at the whole paycheck food store. There is a happy medium.
Clipping coupons takes a lot of time and you get a whole quarter back.
It takes about ten minutes to print coupons the first day of the month. Cutting time and putting them in a binder can be done watching TV. Ditto flipping through an insert from the paper and cutting what you are likely to buy. It saves up to 25.00 a month if you aren't a prepared food buyer.
Ibotta and such apps profile you and you loose your privacy.
The truth is, none of us is immune to being profiled. . Everything we do we are being watched —everything from being on Facebook to using a store loyalty card. We don't live in a box.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Chain store ads
QFC
Buy 6, save 3
Marie Calenders frozen dinners 1.79
Cottage cheese. Sour cream .79
Sweet baby rays .99
Pillsbury rolls 1.49 - coupon on multiples 1.00 on three
—————-
English cucumbers..99
Milk .99
Cream cheese 3/5
Saturday only digital coupon
Sugar 4 lbs .99
Safeways
Ham 1.37
Shank half or whole .97
Starkest tuna @@. .59
Bread 1.49 @@
Lean ground beef 80/20 1.99@@
Kens dressing 1.99 - @@ paper coupon, ss, .75 off
@@ in ad coupon store card
Buy 6, save 3
Marie Calenders frozen dinners 1.79
Cottage cheese. Sour cream .79
Sweet baby rays .99
Pillsbury rolls 1.49 - coupon on multiples 1.00 on three
—————-
English cucumbers..99
Milk .99
Cream cheese 3/5
Saturday only digital coupon
Sugar 4 lbs .99
Safeways
Ham 1.37
Shank half or whole .97
Starkest tuna @@. .59
Bread 1.49 @@
Lean ground beef 80/20 1.99@@
Kens dressing 1.99 - @@ paper coupon, ss, .75 off
@@ in ad coupon store card
Tuesday Notes
Its the first day of spring and I want to talk about the snowball effect. Not too strange, we hae had snow this late before. Saving money on groceries to reach a bottom line is like rolling a snowball from a mass that fits inside your fist to the size of a snowman head. It might take some time, but it has a great reward. Savings amass with time.
I priced a jar of ragu for 2.00 this morning at Wallmart on line. We paid .79 with a sale and coupon .
That’s roughly 1.20 per jar. We bought 4 for a total savings of 4.80. Now, if I took that 4.80 and I added .20 cents to it and bought 2 lbs of cheese at safeways, I would have 2 lbs of cheese an 4 jars of pasta sauce for about the same price as I would have if I just went to wallmart and bought the jars of pasta sauce. Stay with me.
I bought pasta sauce and saved 4.80
I added .20 and bought cheese 5.00
Saved 7.00
Now I have: 4 jars of pasta
2 lbs of cheese
Take the 7,.00 saings on the cheese and buy
English muffins, whole wheat
Bagels, whole wheat
Hot dog nuns
Rye breads
Now you have
4 jars of pasta
2 pounds of cheese
A package of bagels
Hot dog buns
Rye bread
English muffins
And you have 3 dollars left/
That buys the hot dogs to go with the buns
Now you have spent 8.00
And you hae
4 jars of pasta
2 pounds of cheese
4 packages of bread
And a package of Nathan’s hot dogs.
Or \another way to look at it is that you got 34.00 worth of food for 14.80 for a savings of 19.20.
I priced a jar of ragu for 2.00 this morning at Wallmart on line. We paid .79 with a sale and coupon .
That’s roughly 1.20 per jar. We bought 4 for a total savings of 4.80. Now, if I took that 4.80 and I added .20 cents to it and bought 2 lbs of cheese at safeways, I would have 2 lbs of cheese an 4 jars of pasta sauce for about the same price as I would have if I just went to wallmart and bought the jars of pasta sauce. Stay with me.
I bought pasta sauce and saved 4.80
I added .20 and bought cheese 5.00
Saved 7.00
Now I have: 4 jars of pasta
2 lbs of cheese
Take the 7,.00 saings on the cheese and buy
English muffins, whole wheat
Bagels, whole wheat
Hot dog nuns
Rye breads
Now you have
4 jars of pasta
2 pounds of cheese
A package of bagels
Hot dog buns
Rye bread
English muffins
And you have 3 dollars left/
That buys the hot dogs to go with the buns
Now you have spent 8.00
And you hae
4 jars of pasta
2 pounds of cheese
4 packages of bread
And a package of Nathan’s hot dogs.
Or \another way to look at it is that you got 34.00 worth of food for 14.80 for a savings of 19.20.
Monday, March 19, 2018
Notes from the grocery class.
Yesterday my daughter and I hosted a Cut your grocery bill in half class. Here are a few bullets to ponder.
- Buy thing in bulk when it makes sense: Flour, rice, oatmeal. That 7 dollar bag of flour can save you a hundred dollars replaeing store /manufactured frozen items.
- Keep a basic inventory of the things you use on a regular basis every week and buy a 4-6 week supply of them when they are at their RBP.
- Keep a small notebook 📓 to record prices of your key items until you find the RBP in your area.
- Efficient scratch cook. Find recipes that are easy and use the instapot, slow cooker etc to minimize your time in the kitchen. You basically get paid for planning and shopping wisely at two stores in the form of savings. You don’t get paid for cooking.
- Use coupons, ibotta, sales, closeout bins and basket coupons wisely to save money any way you can. Coupons.com, ibotta,
- There are some people that are on U-tube that are great sources of information. Betty Crocker on line cookbook is free. Substitute ready made products with scratch if you can. There are more people. Freedom Homestead, Big Famiy Homestead , She’s In Her Apron, April Holly Smith to name a few.
Kitchen Management - March 19, 2017
Its that day again, Kitchen Management, and today is a busy day for us, so something will have to slide until tomorrow. Tuesday is errand day, and we have to do the errands today too. We hae all been there....life is sometimes a juggling act. LOL
This is a good day to put on a pot of soup. I will sub for pizza night. Soup always works when I have a meeting early evening.
- Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead.
- Wax the refrigerator
- Disinfect the counters and sinks and drains.
- Wash the kitchen floor.
- Make soup
- Wash root veggies with vinegar water
- Make vegetable platter .
- Straighten the pantry.
- Log the cash for groceries.
I’m sitting at 50.00 this week. A lot of it was pasta sauce because I got it for super cheap with coupons and a sale. That’s under four dollars a day per person.
Reminder of meals : adjusted
- Roast chicken with oven roasted veggies
- Soup
- Spaghetti and meatballs. Salad
- Tacos, Spanish rice
- Salmon, baked potatoes, green beans
- Chix nuggets, (homemade) oven fries, vegetable sticks.
- Breakfast for dinner.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Meal Plans
Meal plans make life easier and help to state off the take out demons.
- Roast Chicken , Oven roasted veggies
- Pizza
- Spaghetti and meatballs, salad
- Tacos, Spanish rice
- Salmon , baked potatoes, green beans
- Chicken nuggets, oven fries, veggie platter
- Breakfast for dinner
notes:
Chicken is a dollar a pound.
Pizza costs 1.05 a piece for cheese pizza. You can add pepperoni , sausage, or multi veggies
Spaghetti and meatballs are from sales at safeways and Fred Meyers.
Tacos are from .48 taco shells and hamburger with homemade taco seasoning.
Salmon is from winco
Chicken nuggets are homemade by dipping nuggets in butter and dredging in a mixture of dry bread crumbs, parm cheese and chopped nuts.
Breakfast for dinner is a hit around here.
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Fred Meyer ADS for sunday
10 percent fat hamburger 3.77
English cucumbers .99
Grapes 1.29
Berries 2/5
Cantaloupe 2/4
Milk .99
Heritage Farm drums or thighs.../79 Note: this is Tyson chicken.
Cream cheese 3/5 - 1.67 ea
breakfast sausage. Jimmy Dean 2/7 or 3.50. - it has been 6.50 at qfc.
1/2 Pork Loin 1.99 ( not my buy price, but note the differen in price between taking a few cut off a loin and buying the already cut pork loin chops. Remarkable
Note : Pork Loin chop 3.99: as apposed to Pork Loin that was .99 a few weeks back.
Buy 6, save 3, Mix and match, you dont have to buy six of one thing.
Ritz crackers 1.79
Ragu 1.29 - check coupons
Baby Ray bbq .99
Sour cream/ cottage cheese .79
English cucumbers .99
Grapes 1.29
Berries 2/5
Cantaloupe 2/4
Milk .99
Heritage Farm drums or thighs.../79 Note: this is Tyson chicken.
Cream cheese 3/5 - 1.67 ea
breakfast sausage. Jimmy Dean 2/7 or 3.50. - it has been 6.50 at qfc.
1/2 Pork Loin 1.99 ( not my buy price, but note the differen in price between taking a few cut off a loin and buying the already cut pork loin chops. Remarkable
Note : Pork Loin chop 3.99: as apposed to Pork Loin that was .99 a few weeks back.
Buy 6, save 3, Mix and match, you dont have to buy six of one thing.
Ritz crackers 1.79
Ragu 1.29 - check coupons
Baby Ray bbq .99
Sour cream/ cottage cheese .79
Comparing prices....
I just looked at a u-tube comparing boneless chicken to boned chicken quarters. It wasn’t what I would call a scientific comparison. Boned chicken is probably 1/2 bone and 1/2 chicken unless it was a very fat chicken. Our chicken quarters were 1.28 a lb. chicken thighs were 1.00 a pound. It is dark meat. At 1.28 a pound, you are most likely paying 2.56 a pound. The chicken breast at Fred Meyer is 1.99 a pound. The Zaycon chicken is .99 a pound.
You cant comare apples and oranges and come out with a scientific comparison. You can tell which choice is the cheapest.
Its easier to compare like things, We are all about finding the RBP on most of the things we buy. I’m not going to drive miles and miles to find a bargain unless I intend to go once and bulk buy something that makes it worth my while. Zaycon saved me at least 40.00. Heck yes, I will drive five miles to save 40.00 once. I’m not driving 5 miles to save a quarter. Its all about common sense.
No food will do your family any good if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal.
You cant comare apples and oranges and come out with a scientific comparison. You can tell which choice is the cheapest.
Its easier to compare like things, We are all about finding the RBP on most of the things we buy. I’m not going to drive miles and miles to find a bargain unless I intend to go once and bulk buy something that makes it worth my while. Zaycon saved me at least 40.00. Heck yes, I will drive five miles to save 40.00 once. I’m not driving 5 miles to save a quarter. Its all about common sense.
No food will do your family any good if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal.
Friday, March 16, 2018
Let’s talk money......
In the year of 2017, we spent on avrag 55.05 a week. 4.00 a day for my husband and I totals 56.00.
But, that amount covered our food, our stocked food, and partially feeding our granddaughter. She eats at her house and our too.
We eat meals from Pork Loin, boneless, skinless chicken breast, hamburger, eggs, cheese, bacon, and beans. No, Virginia, we dont just eat beans......
We can do that by using a variety of tips and tricks to lower our food bill.
Efficiently cook from scratch. Buy buying certain things in bulk, you can save a lot of money. There are easy 5 ingredient or less recipes all over the Internet. A 6.99 cent bag of flour can save you the cost six times over. Artisan bread, 10 hands on minutes, a quarter. Cheese pizza 1.05 , muffins .35 plus the fruit. Pancakes far cheaper than 3.00 a small bag. Or 8 small waffles for over a dollar.
We also buy oatmeal .085 a serving, and rice at .02 a serving. That’s a ton of savings.
Find the RBP on the things you buy on a regular basis to make dinner and buy enough to last you 4-6 weeks at the lowest possible price. Use Ibotta, coupons, and sales to cut your costs
Buy your basic meat at RBP in bulk. Buy enough of that meat to last you for however many meals you will cook it during a 4-6 week period. Bring it home and portion control it into meal sized portions. I cook hamburger and freeze it in meal sized portions in quart bags and then a gallon bag that I label with the type of meat and the date. We rotate pork loin (.99-1.69), chicken breast (.99-1.77) and hamburger 80/20 that we fry and de-fat. ( 2.00-2.44) . If there is a hunk of beef that is low fat and cheaper, we will grind it ourselves.
Plan your meals. Make a plan, or plan to fail. If you plan your meals and keep a stock, you will always have what you need to make your meals. A little kitchen management picks up the slack and preps ingredients for the meal. You can prep, clean the fridge, and rotate a deep clean chore in about an hour. It saves a lot of time at the hectic meal time.
4 steps, they all take a little work, but they all save time and /or money. Master one at a time.
You should cut your food bill. Ours is 1/2 the USDA stats for thrifty. We eat well.
But, that amount covered our food, our stocked food, and partially feeding our granddaughter. She eats at her house and our too.
We eat meals from Pork Loin, boneless, skinless chicken breast, hamburger, eggs, cheese, bacon, and beans. No, Virginia, we dont just eat beans......
We can do that by using a variety of tips and tricks to lower our food bill.
Efficiently cook from scratch. Buy buying certain things in bulk, you can save a lot of money. There are easy 5 ingredient or less recipes all over the Internet. A 6.99 cent bag of flour can save you the cost six times over. Artisan bread, 10 hands on minutes, a quarter. Cheese pizza 1.05 , muffins .35 plus the fruit. Pancakes far cheaper than 3.00 a small bag. Or 8 small waffles for over a dollar.
We also buy oatmeal .085 a serving, and rice at .02 a serving. That’s a ton of savings.
Find the RBP on the things you buy on a regular basis to make dinner and buy enough to last you 4-6 weeks at the lowest possible price. Use Ibotta, coupons, and sales to cut your costs
Buy your basic meat at RBP in bulk. Buy enough of that meat to last you for however many meals you will cook it during a 4-6 week period. Bring it home and portion control it into meal sized portions. I cook hamburger and freeze it in meal sized portions in quart bags and then a gallon bag that I label with the type of meat and the date. We rotate pork loin (.99-1.69), chicken breast (.99-1.77) and hamburger 80/20 that we fry and de-fat. ( 2.00-2.44) . If there is a hunk of beef that is low fat and cheaper, we will grind it ourselves.
Plan your meals. Make a plan, or plan to fail. If you plan your meals and keep a stock, you will always have what you need to make your meals. A little kitchen management picks up the slack and preps ingredients for the meal. You can prep, clean the fridge, and rotate a deep clean chore in about an hour. It saves a lot of time at the hectic meal time.
4 steps, they all take a little work, but they all save time and /or money. Master one at a time.
You should cut your food bill. Ours is 1/2 the USDA stats for thrifty. We eat well.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Winco Haul
Winco Haul
Green grapes 1.98
Celery .88
Bluebrrries 3.98
Tomato grape .98
2% milk 1.28
Salmon 4.98
Romas .88
Green chillis .66
Black olives .78
Cucumbers .68
Cottage cheese 1.98
Winco stuffing .75
Gala apples. .88
5otal 29.98
Retailer’s Dirty Little Secrets.....
It has been a while since I have addressed this issue. I have been researching a little m,ore for an class, so I have found more....
Food for thought.....70 percent of a stores profit comes from impulse buys. There gai is your loss.
It is no accident that the first thing you see when you walk into a door of the store is something tempting you. Winco has junk food , tons and tons of junk food. Topped off with a bakery cart. They want you to lower your resistance and fill your huge cart.
We have bags that clip on the grocery cart. This instantly shrinks the cart. It also keeps the food off of the bottom of the cart . Studies have shown the a big percentage of those carts have fecal matter on them. Yuk is all I can say.
Their slow music can add 12 percent to your cart.
Bringing family members with you can add 10 percent PER person to your cart.
Face it, you can’t do the math in your head and make good decisions if you are distracted with a child whining they want something that has been strategically placed in their eye level, or how many of us have got to the veggie department to have a child announce that he has to go potty? LOL
Its money in the bank to leave them home with the other parent. If you are single, consider trading babysitting duties with another parent. Or see if you can leave them with a family member.
The best bargains are often in the back corner of the store. After they show you the two dollar plus for six English muffins in the front of the store (Fred Meyers) , they have 12 English muffins for 1.67 back by the eggs. Ditto sandwich rolls at winco.
Manufacturers pay slotting fees. Basically, that is rent for the eye level shelves. When its a big retailer, they can pay as much as a million dollars for end caps and eye level shelves. The retailers no doubt are passing that expense on to you. The grocery stores make more money from slotting fees than they do selling food.
Store brands are cheaper than their major brand counterparts. Often, they are the same item, in a store brand wrapper. Years ago, my sister worked for a frozen food distributor. She got to bring home the transition labeled boxes of veggies. They had two wrappers on them. The .66 milk green chillies that are winco brand are .66 cents. The name brand is 1.28.
In the UK, they figure that 20 percent of the customers give them 80 percent of their profit. Its the customers that fill their large carts.
Stats show that if you touch a product, you are more likely to buy that product.
Non food items have the largest markup. The store cant buy the quantity that other retailers buy. You can be much better off buying that article with a coupon somewhere else.
Eggs, sugar coated cereal and diary have the Biggest markup in the store.
Those fancy stores have a huge markup on everything. To their credit, when you carry a lot of specialty items and a lot of items, it just cost more to keep track of all that. More to stock, more to inventory. You are going to pay for the experience.
Those racks by the checkouts are nothing but a blast of impulse stimuli.
I did see an eyeglass repair kit. It was inexpensive and a real life saver if you wear glasses.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Chain store ads
QFC was a two week ad last week.
The highlights are
- Oranges .67
- Draper valley whole chicken .88
- Berries 2/5
Digital coupons
You can use up to 5. That should mean that it is a store coupon and paper coupons should be able to be matched. Don’t quote me on that, but I heard that someone cleared that with Kroger.
Cheese 2.49 a lb- my highest target price, but its not bad
Pasta 1.00
Alberways
London broil 2.99
Pasta .48 @@
Pasta sauce 4/5 look for prego coupons @@
Cheeese 4/ 5@@. Thats 2.50 a lb.
My protein rotation would be chicken at qfc and /or cheese .
For the three of us, we can get 4 meals from a 5 lb chicken.
Don’t buy a chicken that is much less than 5 lbs. (4.40)
My stock buy would be pasta sauce and pasta from safeways. That’s 1.75 pus meatballs for a dinner for 4.and an extra meal of pasta. Meatballs are 2.00 a bag at Winco.
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
10 hacks to save money and make life easier.
Part of Groceries on the cheap is that you may spend a little more time planning a grocery haul ( when you are dealing with a basket coupon or a buy xx, save xx sale. ) I am not going to tell you that it takes no time to make sure things are put in the pantry in some assemblance of order. Or that studying the ads and meal planning is not time consuming.
I study the ads in our area and I meal plan on line. You can use all kinds of ways to mealplan that doesn’t take time. My mother used to schedule the same meal for a specific day. We could tell what day of the week it was by what she was cooking when we hit a the door from school. Other people write down 10 meals that they cook on a regular basis and rotate them three times a month.
There are , also, people that meal plan once a month. All of these meal plans are flesxible. We don’t necessarily eat Mondays meal on Monday. It’s whatever works.
Because we all wear many hats, i make up the time I spend planning by cutting time on the cooking end. I make money (save ) planning, I dont make money cooking.
I study the ads in our area and I meal plan on line. You can use all kinds of ways to mealplan that doesn’t take time. My mother used to schedule the same meal for a specific day. We could tell what day of the week it was by what she was cooking when we hit a the door from school. Other people write down 10 meals that they cook on a regular basis and rotate them three times a month.
There are , also, people that meal plan once a month. All of these meal plans are flesxible. We don’t necessarily eat Mondays meal on Monday. It’s whatever works.
Because we all wear many hats, i make up the time I spend planning by cutting time on the cooking end. I make money (save ) planning, I dont make money cooking.
- Make your own bread crumbs with heels and dry bread. Get it out of the plastic wrapper before it grows hair. Before I had a good food processer, I used to dry it by putting it in the cold oven until it was dry. Then I put a grater on a sheetpan and went out on the deck and grated it.
- Make your own cream soup base. It saves a lot of money and doesn’t take much time. There are two receipts, one is low fat, the other low salt.
- Making your own ranch dressing mix, onion soup mix, taco seasoning and seasoned rice mix saves bundles and you can make one a week easy. Good way to teach children fractions and measurements.
- Buy broken nuts in the bulk isle. (Winco) . You don't have to chop them much and they are ready for coating chicken or to put in cookies.
- Making a quick muffin is a way to feed children breakfast fast and it saves a lot of money. Breakfast muffins can be made ahead and frozen if they last that long.
- Buy pizza sauce from the DT. Put it in a ice cube tray and freeze. When frozen, dump the cubes in a zip lock bag and store in the door of the freezer. 2 “ice cubes” cover a home made pizza.
- Pizza crusts are .19 when made with a bulk flour and yeast. Flour, salt, yeast, water and 2 tsp of olive or veggie oil. It takes about 3 minutes and pizza dough bought at the store is between 1.50 an 2.00/.
- Homemade pizza (cheese) is 1.05 a pizza when made with sourced products. One day next week cheese is 2.00 a lb at Fred Meyers. I often get it for less than 2.50 a lb. Pepperoni is a dollar at the dollar store. Pepperoni coupons don't work for the small packages, but a few veggies added to the pizza and you can get away with 1/2 a package of pepperoni.
- Hard cooked eggs are a snap when you bake them in the oven. Put eggs , once each in muffin cups. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes . Immediately, remove the eggs (a spoon works well) to an ice bath. The eggs cook perfectly every time and peel easy.
- Doing a little prep when you have time and the house is 🤫 quiet can save a lot of time later. You are doing things in batches and it takes less time with less clean up.
- Deli containers are .50 each at Amazon. They stack and take less space .
Monday, March 12, 2018
Monday Kitchen Management
Not happening tomorrow. Guess that means today. (Sunday). They are cutting our power tomorrow to replace the power poles. We arent changing the clocks either...why do it twice. The clock on the stove is especially difficult.
Reminder of meals
Reminder of meals
- Chicken pot pie
- Hot pockets
- Roast chicken
- Chicken nuggets
- Nachos
- Salmon
- Breakfast 4 dinner.
- Cook chicken for the pot pie
- Wash salad greens
- Mark chicken to thaw.
- Make beans
- Make 2 week bread dough
- Clean refrigerator and dump everything dead.
- Wash kitchen floor
- Disinfect countertops and sinks and drains.
- Wax south side cupboards.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Meal Plans
Make a plan, or plan to fail. Meal plans dont have to be a drawn out affair, but plans enable you to eat better and be more organized about it. Taking a few minutes to do prep work I call kitchen management, keeps the kitchen clean and takes away a lot of the stress during the hectic dinner hour. Your meals are 1/2 done an life is easssy.
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Pizza Pockets (homemade)
- Roast chicken, oven roasted veggies
- Homemade chicken nuggets , oven fries , veggie platter
- Nachos
- Salmon, baked potato, salad, bread
- Breakfast for dinner: French toast, fruit platter, bacon?
Notes:
- I bought pillsbury pie crust at GO for 1.50. It is a double crust, so I will use one crust for chicken pot pie . Add cooked cubed chicken breast from the insta pot, whit sauce from cream soup base, and frozen mixed vegetables.
- Pizza pockets are made from the other pie crust. Add lettuce and tomato salad..
- Roast chicken, and oven roasted veggies. You would be surprised how good one roasted radishes are.
- Homemade chicken nuggets. Chicken is cubed from a chicken breast. It is not re constituted chicken. Breading is bread crumbs from stale bread , chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts) and parm cheese. We don't buy parm cheese in a can, or bread crumbs. Why pay upwards of 2.40 a lb for someone else's dry bread. Its so easy to pop crusts and leftover bread into the food processor and whirl it. ( granddaughters favorite job) . Parmesan cheese in that cardboard container is just nasty. Its been hanging around the store, has a lot of wood pulp in it to keep it from caking. And, I have got more volume for less money fresh at Fred Meyers and winco. Oven fries are potatoes, scrubbed with vinegar water, cut into wedges, and tossed with olive oil and garlic pepper. Yum.
- Nachos are a favorite, especially on movie night. We got tortilla chips for free this week at qfc. Add cooked hamburger, beans, cheese, diced tomato, black olives, and mild peppers.
- Salmon is still 5.00 a pound at winco in the frozen food section. Add a salad and peasant bread. Peasant bread is a no brainer and made in 10 minutes hands on time. And, that is spread out between two days. Baked potatoes are easy. LOL.
- French Toast is made with french bread from the Orowheat cart at the DT. Add eggs and milk and some cinnamon. Bacon was three dollars a pound for one day at qfc. Fruit from last week. It pays to have appropriate storage containers..who let the gas out!
Notes: Class
I heard someone on a u tube channel say that the word cheap means inferior quality. That’s probably true. With tounge in cheek, we named this blog. We dont purchase cheap food. This is good food, cheap. You can buy the exact same thing in three different stores and pay three different prices. Why not pay the lowest price? Its to your own advantage.
I am teaching a class on grocery shopping and meal planning / recipe gathering, probably next Sunday at our local library. FREE: Handouts and a crash course in lowereing your food bill. There is limited seating so I need to know who is coming.
This is not hoarding, it is keeping a responsible amount of food to take care of your family when bleep happens. Face it, there is a lot of piece of mind that goes along with being prepared. We all buy house or renters insurance, and it is against the law not to buy car insurance. Why not hae enough food to carry you over a rough spot— especially when it cost no more money. It saves money in the long run, because you can go on no spend months if you have a heavy expense month and not sacrifice anything. Its a win: win situation .
We spent 55.05 a week average in 2017 . That’s about 1/2 the USDA stats for my husband and I. And....we supplemented granddaughter and built a stock. We ate well, and Virginia, we didn’t eat beans every day. LOL.
I am teaching a class on grocery shopping and meal planning / recipe gathering, probably next Sunday at our local library. FREE: Handouts and a crash course in lowereing your food bill. There is limited seating so I need to know who is coming.
This is not hoarding, it is keeping a responsible amount of food to take care of your family when bleep happens. Face it, there is a lot of piece of mind that goes along with being prepared. We all buy house or renters insurance, and it is against the law not to buy car insurance. Why not hae enough food to carry you over a rough spot— especially when it cost no more money. It saves money in the long run, because you can go on no spend months if you have a heavy expense month and not sacrifice anything. Its a win: win situation .
We spent 55.05 a week average in 2017 . That’s about 1/2 the USDA stats for my husband and I. And....we supplemented granddaughter and built a stock. We ate well, and Virginia, we didn’t eat beans every day. LOL.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Fred Meyers for Sunday
Finally, after a dry two weeks, there are some good prices. This is the Thursday that there is a ten percent discount for military and veterans. The insta pot is on sale for 79.99.
There is an additional 70 percent off apparel and shoes.
Corned Beef Brisket 2.49 for point cut , 3.49 for flat cut
Cabbage is .49 a lb
Free milk with 4/8 dollar cereal General Mills.....usually you can find coupons. 2/25 smart source 1.00
Grapes 199
Apples 1.49
Berries 2/5
Avacados .99
Organic blueberries 3.99- .22 an ounce.
Frozen berries 3 lb 6.99- 14.5 cents an ounce
Kroger sausage 2/5
FF boneless, skinless, chicken breast 1.99 ( high)
Farmland bacon 4.49 - look for a coupon smart source 3/4 for .75
Biscuits 10/10 - you dont have to buy 10
Kroger ice cream 2/5
Spaghetti 1.00
Digital coupons
Sunday , march 18 only
Turkey breast .88 lb
———-
Saturday, March 17 only
Cheese 3.99 - thats two dollars a pound....buy price
Thursday, march 15
Nathans 1.99
These take a digital coupon and you can buy 5
It’s rotation time for cheese
There is an additional 70 percent off apparel and shoes.
Corned Beef Brisket 2.49 for point cut , 3.49 for flat cut
Cabbage is .49 a lb
Free milk with 4/8 dollar cereal General Mills.....usually you can find coupons. 2/25 smart source 1.00
Grapes 199
Apples 1.49
Berries 2/5
Avacados .99
Organic blueberries 3.99- .22 an ounce.
Frozen berries 3 lb 6.99- 14.5 cents an ounce
Kroger sausage 2/5
FF boneless, skinless, chicken breast 1.99 ( high)
Farmland bacon 4.49 - look for a coupon smart source 3/4 for .75
Biscuits 10/10 - you dont have to buy 10
Kroger ice cream 2/5
Spaghetti 1.00
Digital coupons
Sunday , march 18 only
Turkey breast .88 lb
———-
Saturday, March 17 only
Cheese 3.99 - thats two dollars a pound....buy price
Thursday, march 15
Nathans 1.99
These take a digital coupon and you can buy 5
It’s rotation time for cheese
Friday, March 9, 2018
GO haul
Grocery Outlet Haul
Many items were .50 or a 1.00/.
Salad .50
Syrup 2.00
Cake mixes .99
Cookie mix 48
Pie crust 1.49
Sliced cheese 2.00
Black olives
Turkey lunch meat 3.00
Berry muffins
2 cups baking mix
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1cup sour cream
1 cup berries
Mix dry ingredients.
Mix eggs and sour cream
Dust berries with a couple of tablespoons of dry ingredient,
Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients,
Fold in berries
Place in lined muffin cups
Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes
A good way to use up sour cream .
I always have some , but we go in spurts and use a lot, and then, not so much.
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1cup sour cream
1 cup berries
Mix dry ingredients.
Mix eggs and sour cream
Dust berries with a couple of tablespoons of dry ingredient,
Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients,
Fold in berries
Place in lined muffin cups
Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes
A good way to use up sour cream .
I always have some , but we go in spurts and use a lot, and then, not so much.
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Practical Thursday Notes
Rotation Meats
One easy way to cut your protein costs is by adapting your food purchases to a rotation meat . By simplifying your meat purchases to cuts that are versatile, you keep variety in you meals, and cut costs. This means that you can buy larger quantities for less money and portion control your meat. This makes for less waste.
A pork loin can cost as low as .99 a lb. Costco business has them for 1.59 with a 2.00 discount on the bag at checkout. That makes the ten pound pork loin 1.39 a lb. My top buy price is 1.69. You can make pork chops, pork roast, pork stew meat, and stir fry from the scraps. To exemplify, center cut pork chops can be 3.49 a lb.
Boneless, skinless , chicken breast can be purchased for 1.77 here. I bought direct from the farmer for .99. Split chicken breast has the rib portion on it. If you cut the rib portion off, you can cook it and pull the meat from the bones . The bonus is chicken stock. A hack I learned from a utube friend, April, is to set your slow cooker on low before you go to bed. ( bones, veggie scraps, and a few herbs, water up to within an inch ) in the morning, you hae broth and bones you can pick the meat from. Picked meat can be tacos, cassarole, soup, nachos, etc. Chill the stock and defat it before freezing . Leave head room in your container.
We put each chicken breast in a separate quart bag (cheap ones at DT) and put the batch in a gallon bag with the date and chicken breast marked on the bag.
Hamburger is a whole lot more efficiently cooked in batches. Cook it until no longer pink, de-fat it, and bag in portion controlled batches. Cooked hamburger is easily thawed and is a great time saver at dinner time. You can also portion off enough for hamburger patties or homemade meatballs. I have found, however, that meatballs are cheaper bought frozen. I save the inside wrapper of things like cereal, or baking mix to use in place of wax paper separating beef patties. It is also good if you are making cutlets, or crushing crackers.
The other rotation weeks can be used for eggs, cheese, and beans.
No, Virginia, we don’t just eat beans. LOL.
One easy way to cut your protein costs is by adapting your food purchases to a rotation meat . By simplifying your meat purchases to cuts that are versatile, you keep variety in you meals, and cut costs. This means that you can buy larger quantities for less money and portion control your meat. This makes for less waste.
A pork loin can cost as low as .99 a lb. Costco business has them for 1.59 with a 2.00 discount on the bag at checkout. That makes the ten pound pork loin 1.39 a lb. My top buy price is 1.69. You can make pork chops, pork roast, pork stew meat, and stir fry from the scraps. To exemplify, center cut pork chops can be 3.49 a lb.
Boneless, skinless , chicken breast can be purchased for 1.77 here. I bought direct from the farmer for .99. Split chicken breast has the rib portion on it. If you cut the rib portion off, you can cook it and pull the meat from the bones . The bonus is chicken stock. A hack I learned from a utube friend, April, is to set your slow cooker on low before you go to bed. ( bones, veggie scraps, and a few herbs, water up to within an inch ) in the morning, you hae broth and bones you can pick the meat from. Picked meat can be tacos, cassarole, soup, nachos, etc. Chill the stock and defat it before freezing . Leave head room in your container.
We put each chicken breast in a separate quart bag (cheap ones at DT) and put the batch in a gallon bag with the date and chicken breast marked on the bag.
Hamburger is a whole lot more efficiently cooked in batches. Cook it until no longer pink, de-fat it, and bag in portion controlled batches. Cooked hamburger is easily thawed and is a great time saver at dinner time. You can also portion off enough for hamburger patties or homemade meatballs. I have found, however, that meatballs are cheaper bought frozen. I save the inside wrapper of things like cereal, or baking mix to use in place of wax paper separating beef patties. It is also good if you are making cutlets, or crushing crackers.
The other rotation weeks can be used for eggs, cheese, and beans.
No, Virginia, we don’t just eat beans. LOL.
Thursday notes
First: Flour prices have taken a hike. That translates to higher prices on pasta and bread. Another reason why it is a good idea to stock. It doesn’t make the prices any cheaper, but it pads the way so the shock is a little diminished. I did discover that delivery flour is 7.59. Bought at costco it was 6.99. It was previously 6.39. It still makes a loaf of bread for .25.
The bargains the last two weeks have been minimal. We have basically two corporations that control most of the market. Kroger owns QFC and Fred Meyer. Albertsons owns Safeways and. Albertsons.
Then, we have Winco, Costco, and Grocery Outlet. When we had the debacle of Albertsons selling to Haagen and Haggens going bankrupt and selling back to Albertsons, the prices at Albertsons and safeways took a big hike. I can imagine that all the legal fees took a toll on profits. At Kroger, qfc is the more expensive and the more full service store in relationship to Fred Meyers. Winco is no frills and employee owned. I do find that if you ask a question at winco, you get an informed answer, or they point you to someone that can accommodate you. Costco is turning into a food from Mars store. More and more, I am finding that the basics like oatmeal, yeast, and cornstarch are missing or they are out of and they have plenty of hemp, seaweed, and cage free eggs.
Grocery Outlet is appealing to the ‘special’ crowd as well. There is some bargains, but a lot of organic. My experience with organic has been that two days after something hits the door, its growing hair prettier than mine. No food is going to do your family any good if you are feeding itnto the garbage disposal. Our farm lands have been farmed for hundreds of years . To accept that all those pesticides used for years have completely disapated from the soil is not a logical conclusion for me. Going organic costs 38 percent more than regular food. The real truth is that you cannot buy organic on a four dollar a day budget. It is not practical to go to the store every day and buy just
what you are going to eat that day.
We are not store or brand loyal, thats how we eat well on less than four dollars a day.
.
The bargains the last two weeks have been minimal. We have basically two corporations that control most of the market. Kroger owns QFC and Fred Meyer. Albertsons owns Safeways and. Albertsons.
Then, we have Winco, Costco, and Grocery Outlet. When we had the debacle of Albertsons selling to Haagen and Haggens going bankrupt and selling back to Albertsons, the prices at Albertsons and safeways took a big hike. I can imagine that all the legal fees took a toll on profits. At Kroger, qfc is the more expensive and the more full service store in relationship to Fred Meyers. Winco is no frills and employee owned. I do find that if you ask a question at winco, you get an informed answer, or they point you to someone that can accommodate you. Costco is turning into a food from Mars store. More and more, I am finding that the basics like oatmeal, yeast, and cornstarch are missing or they are out of and they have plenty of hemp, seaweed, and cage free eggs.
Grocery Outlet is appealing to the ‘special’ crowd as well. There is some bargains, but a lot of organic. My experience with organic has been that two days after something hits the door, its growing hair prettier than mine. No food is going to do your family any good if you are feeding itnto the garbage disposal. Our farm lands have been farmed for hundreds of years . To accept that all those pesticides used for years have completely disapated from the soil is not a logical conclusion for me. Going organic costs 38 percent more than regular food. The real truth is that you cannot buy organic on a four dollar a day budget. It is not practical to go to the store every day and buy just
what you are going to eat that day.
We are not store or brand loyal, thats how we eat well on less than four dollars a day.
.
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Chain store ads
Alberways: Albertsons and Safeways.
Bread .78@@. (In ad coupon )
Eggs .98 @@
Yoplait 10/5
Friday only
Classico 3/5 (ibotta)
Ice cream 2/5
QFC
Digital coupons
Ice cream 2/5
Chobani 10/8. Ibotta makes it more than free.
Pasta 1.00
Saturday only digital coupons -up to 5
Bacon 2.99- up to a lb package....watch your weights
———-
Draper valley whole chicken .88
Oranges .67
Strawberries 2/5
Cucumbers .99
This is a two week ad, but there is not much in it.
Winco as well as taken a big hike with anything that has flour in it. I have not been to regular costco to see if flour has taken a hike there too. I still see bread at the dollar tree for orowheat. Sometimes you can get bagels, an other rolls as well.
Eggs today were 1.44 for 18 at winco.
Costco has a special on zip lock bags.
Zaycon has boneless, skinless chicken breasts for 99 again. Code word CHICKEN99.
Bread .78@@. (In ad coupon )
Eggs .98 @@
Yoplait 10/5
Friday only
Classico 3/5 (ibotta)
Ice cream 2/5
QFC
Digital coupons
Ice cream 2/5
Chobani 10/8. Ibotta makes it more than free.
Pasta 1.00
Saturday only digital coupons -up to 5
Bacon 2.99- up to a lb package....watch your weights
———-
Draper valley whole chicken .88
Oranges .67
Strawberries 2/5
Cucumbers .99
This is a two week ad, but there is not much in it.
Winco as well as taken a big hike with anything that has flour in it. I have not been to regular costco to see if flour has taken a hike there too. I still see bread at the dollar tree for orowheat. Sometimes you can get bagels, an other rolls as well.
Eggs today were 1.44 for 18 at winco.
Costco has a special on zip lock bags.
Zaycon has boneless, skinless chicken breasts for 99 again. Code word CHICKEN99.
Tuesday Notes
In 2017 , we spent 55.05 a week on food. Part of that went to stock. USDA figures cost of food at home as actual food eaten; not food ready to eat. There was an article on facebook produced by one of our tv stations about a fellow that eats for 50.00 a week.. not the family, just him. That’s more than we eat for two of us plus a good part of granddaughter. She eats at home too, but we eat dairy and meat.
We eat well, we eat regular food. Meal plans show the same things many families eat. The difference lies in when and where you buy your food. Convenience spells $$$. If you want your groceries delivered, if you want to go to the most convenient store and throw anything you want into a cart and fill the cart, you are going to pay for that privilege. 70 percent of a grocery stores profit is in impulse buys. If you want to spend less, you have to do a little planning and buy your groceries in a different way.
I happened on to a unreal realization. I had a coupon for a free cake mix. It was Betty Crocker. Somehow, I hadn’t downloaded the coupon correctly. It rang up at 2.39. The same cake mix at Christmas time was 1.79 at another chain store. I had recently bought the same cake mix at a discount store for .88. That’s a 1.50 spread. It is not as much what you buy, but when and where you buy it.
There’s a phenomenon called the snow ball effect. Basically, if you take the savings you make on one thing and spend it on another money saving thing, your savings grow. Like starting a small snowball and rolling it in the snow to make a snowman.
If I was going to do one thing to get started, I would go to my warehouse store and buy a 25 lb bag of flour, a 20 lb bag of rice, and a 10 lb box of oatmeal. This starts a snowball.
1/2 cup raw oats makes a bowl of oatmeal. It is as much nutrition as four of those packs of oatmeal that are ‘instant’ . One cup of water, 1/2 cup of oatmeal in a bigger than you need bowl for 1.5 minutes makes a bowl of oatmeal. Not much more time than that envelope. The envelope costs ten cents. The 1/2 cup costs .085. Four times the nutrition for less money. I add a banana, or put a 1/2 a lunchbox apple cut in small pieces to the oatmeal. Cinnamon sugar is good too. You can feed a family of 6 on a dollar.
Rice purchased in bulk costs .02 a serving. That ready rice is about .50 a serving.
Flour is the biggest money saver. Ten minutes hands on time makes a loaf of peasant bread with almost not expertise. The hardest part is taking the temperature of the water and using good hot pads to take it out of the oven. The cost is .25 . The cost of buying that bread is upwards of 3.00.
It cost pennies to make those waffles or pancakes you buy ready made in the freezer section. The
bag of pancakes I checked on was 3.00. A couple of cups out of that bag makes enough pancakes to almost buy the bag. Ditto muffins. There are recipes that take almost no time. My mother taught his at age 9 to bake. Enlist help. There are breakfast muffins that take almost no time and are a good thing to have if you have children that rush out the door before breakfast.
bag of pancakes I checked on was 3.00. A couple of cups out of that bag makes enough pancakes to almost buy the bag. Ditto muffins. There are recipes that take almost no time. My mother taught his at age 9 to bake. Enlist help. There are breakfast muffins that take almost no time and are a good thing to have if you have children that rush out the door before breakfast.
These three things will free up enough money to start a stock. Set aside five dollars a week for a small family. This is the only time consuming pencil to paper ( or computer spread sheet) thing to do and you only have to do it once. List 10 meals that your family eats that use inexpensive cuts of meat. Its probably no secret that you aren't buying much steak 🥩 on four dollar a day budget.
We buy pork loin, hamburger, and boneless, skinless chicken breast. We fill in with cheese, beans, and eggs. These can average two dollars a pound. Again, its not what you buy, its when and where you buy it.
After you write the ten meals, make a list of the shelf stable ingredients that you will need to make the meal. Most families have a list of 10-15. Track these items for price a few weeks. It should become clear soon what store and price is a RBP. The lowest price you can buy this item for. Me aware of the fact that you cant necessarily be brand loyal. Store brands are often the name brand with a different label. Now, when you find that item at its rock bottom price, buy 5 dollars worth and stash it. You are going for a 4-6 week supply. That’s because some items have that rotation for sales by the stores. A four to six week supply means that if you eat spaghetti and meatballs once a week, you will need to stock 4-6 pasta sauces, spaghetti, and meatballs. We use 1/2 a box of spaghetti, because that is four servings. I cook 1/2 a box because , otherwise we would waste 1/2 a box. I recently got spaghetti for .50 a box. I also got pasta sauce for a dollar in a jar. I can always get it in a can for a dollar at the dollar tree, but it is less than that at winco. Meatballs are two dollars at Winco in the freezer section. I can’t make meatballs for two dollars a pound.
We only buy ready made when it is cheaper or a lot less time consuming than scratch.
Now, to recap, you have freed up some of your previous budget with making bulk decisions on basics. You have identified what meals you cook and what ingredients can be stocked and set aside a minimal amount to start stocking.
Make a plan, or plan to fail. Meal plans are a intricate part of slashing you food budget. It only takes a few minutes . You don’t have to get crazy. Just jot down the basic main dish. Most of us sere the same sides with a particular meal. How many times have you had spaghetti and meatballs with french bread and a green salad. LOL.
Stocking means you will have a short grocery list. You will get to the point where you are going to the best store and buying dairy, fresh fruits and veggies in season, and restocking anything that is a RBP.
Next: rotation. Meat. An important part of groceries on the cheap . Stay tuned for Thursday.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Kitchen Management
Kitchen management is a tool that takes away a lot of the stress of cooking dinner during the most hectic hour of the day in some households. It makes cooking dinner easier and faster. It can also deep clean the kitchen by rotation and save the project of spring cleaning.
Reminder of meal plans - for 2
Reminder of meal plans - for 2
- Pork chops , mashed potatoes, salad 1.87
- Pizza 1.05
- Tacos , Spanish rice, 1.65
- Chicken parm 2.12
- Salmon, Spanish rice, mixed veggies 2.99
- Roast chicken, roasted root veggies 1.79
- Breakfast for dinner 2.64
- Average 1.00 a plate. This more than comes in the perimeters of a 4.00 a day budget. Its not what you buy as much as when and where you buy it.
- Wash kitchen floor
- Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead.
- Wash the vegetable bin and line with a clean kitchen rag or paper towel.
- Wash salad greens and place in container
- Mark day to thaw chicken and pork chops on meal plan .
- Wash potatoes, carrots and radishes with vinegar water and dedicated veggies brush.
- Clean toaster tray
- Put oven vent screen through the dishwasher.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Meal Plans
We are still trying to eat down the freezer and going to try for a no spend month. The joy of stocking is that when you are having a month with extra bills, you can float for a month. We can do this on about half of what other people spend on food. Welcome to groceries on the cheap.
- Pork chops, mashed potatoes, salad
- Pizza
- Tacos, Spanish rice,
- Chicken parm, Cesear salad
- Salmon, Spanish rice, mixed veggies
- Roast chicken , roasted root veggies
- Breakfast for dinner. : Egg muffins, bacon, fruit
Notes:
Pork chops were from a pork loin purchased for a dollar a pound.
Pizza is a good , cheap, everyone likes meal. Cheese is under 2.50 a lb. Some of it I got for 1.85 a pound
Tacos are still a good buy because we made hamburger for 2.40 a lb and we make our own taco seasoning.pre-cooking and de fatting hamburger makes meal prep a snap. While the meat is simmering on the stove with a little water and seasoning, you can chop lettuce and tomato. The cheese is already grated in a lock n lock i the fridge. Spanish rice does double duty for another meal.
Chicken parm uses breaded chicken breast bought on sale. (Part of our freezer eat down) add spaghetti bought for 50 cents and pasta sauce. We got pasta sauce for .59 in a close out bin with a basket coupon . Otherwise, we pay less than 1.50.
Salmon is 5.00 a pound at Winco. Mixed veggies are ones we got on sale for .88. They have taken a hike and I am watching for a sale or coupons, or both.
Roast chicken is from 1.77 a lb chicken breast and we will use carrots,potatoes, and radishes if I can find them within reason. Radishes take on a sweet flavor when you roast them
Breakfast for dinner is everyone’s favorite and a family affair with everyone cooking something.
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Fred Meyers for sunday
Strawberries 16 oz 1.77
Boneless 1/2 loin. BOGO - there is no regular price listed , buyer beware
Oranges .99
Toothpaste 1.00 - coupons?
Biscuits in a tube 1.00
That’s about it. Food has taken a hike. Its harder to find a bargain.
alberways three day sale : SMT
7 percent fat hamburger 3.49
Lettuce .79
Cheese 2 lb 4.99. Note FM wants 4.00 for one pound.
Best foods 2.88@@
C of sea tuna .58@@
Coupons: clip or click
Pillsbury cake or brownies .99
Pasta .79
Skippy peanut butter 1.99
Boneless 1/2 loin. BOGO - there is no regular price listed , buyer beware
Oranges .99
Toothpaste 1.00 - coupons?
Biscuits in a tube 1.00
That’s about it. Food has taken a hike. Its harder to find a bargain.
alberways three day sale : SMT
7 percent fat hamburger 3.49
Lettuce .79
Cheese 2 lb 4.99. Note FM wants 4.00 for one pound.
Best foods 2.88@@
C of sea tuna .58@@
Coupons: clip or click
Pillsbury cake or brownies .99
Pasta .79
Skippy peanut butter 1.99
Friday, March 2, 2018
Friday Recipe : Stir fry
Stir fry sauce:
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbls lemon juice
1 tbls corn starch
1 tbls brown sugar
1 tsp minced garlic
Pepper
Mix together in a small bowl.
3/4 lb stir fry meat ( pork, beef, or chicken.)
1/2 an onion, sliced thin.
1 bag of stir fry veggies or equivalent fresh veggies
Place 1 Tbls olive or vegetable oil in a skillet and stir fry meat until almost done. About 2-3 minutes. Remove meat from skillet. Add veggies and 1/4 cup water. Cook until veggies are cooked. About 3 minutes. Return meat to skillet and add sauce. Stir. Cook until the sauce thickens. About 2 minutes. Serve with rice.
Notes:
Stir fry meat can be cut from the ends of a pork loin, as part of a sirloin roast or steak before you grind it into hamburger, or from a chicken breast.
Lemon juice is cheapest bought in a bottle. I have even seen it at the DT.
My family doesn’t eat onions, I might substitute celery cut on the diagonal.
Top ramen noodles can be substituted for rice if you are in a hurry.
Stir fry veggies are about 1.50 at winco. Frozen vegetables have taken a hike in price lately. I am looking for a coupon and/ or sale.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Grocery Hauls for this week
Note: we are eating down the freezer to rotate stock.
Winco
2 baby cans sliced olives: .70
1 lb peppercor salmon
Hoagie rolls 2.98 (12)
Roma tomatoes at .88
18 count eggs 1.44
Sliced Swiss cheese 4.32
Total 15.97
The Swiss cheese was cheaper than the slices at GO by 25 percent
18 eggs were cheaper than 1.5 times the 12 egg price.
QFC
Grapes 3.41
Not a special trip
Fred Meyers
21.39
Total 40.77
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Chain store ads
QFC was a two week ad last week.
Grapes 1.77
Milk .99
Blues and rasp. 2/5
Alberways
Strawberries 2 lbs 3.88
Mayo. 2.88@@@
Chicken of the sea tuna .58@@.
Pepperoni 3.49 look 4 coupon
Not a good week for bargains.
Grapes 1.77
Milk .99
Blues and rasp. 2/5
Alberways
Strawberries 2 lbs 3.88
Mayo. 2.88@@@
Chicken of the sea tuna .58@@.
Pepperoni 3.49 look 4 coupon
Not a good week for bargains.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Justifying a 25 lb bag of flour
The last quoted price of flour at Costco is 6.90 for 25 pounds, or 8 cents a cup.
Things that more than give you a good return on your investment.
Things that more than give you a good return on your investment.
- Pancakes cos 3.00 a bag. Two bags almost pay for the 25 pound bag.
- Muffins cost .35 plus any fruit you add. The cost of a dozen muffins is 5.00.
- Peasant bread cos .25 to make. He equivalent loaf of bread is 3.00 and up.
- Magic mix makes a cream soup base. The cost of a can of cream of mushroom soup is well over a dollar.
- Pizza dough costs 1.50 to 2.00 / it takes about three minutes and cost .19.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Monday Kitchen Management
Kitchen management is a tool that saves time and stress during the hectic dinner hour. Prepping for meals makes dinner a snap and keeping the kitchen clean on a rotation basis is a good thing too.
Meal plan reminder:
Meal plan reminder:
- Pork chops, dressing, veggies
- Pizza
- Salmon, seasoned rice , peas and carrots
- Chicken Parmesan, salad
- Meatballs and gravy , mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables
- Stir fry chicken and rice, mandarin oranges
- Breakfast for dinner
- Wash kitchen floor
- Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead.
- Wash and disinfect countertops and kitchen sinks and drains .
- Thaw pork chops
- Make pizza dough
- Make sure seasoned rice mix is made
- Straighten pantry.
Pork chops are browned and put on top of dressing and finished off in the oven.
Pizza is a family favorite and cost about 1.05 for a cheese pizza. Add toppings from leftovers.
Salmon was 5.00 a pound at winco and wash frozen/
Chicken parm.....spaghetti noodles cook in the insta pot for 2 minutes in a quart of liquid. Instant release.
Meatballs are two dollars for almost a pound at winco.
Chicken breast is cooked in the insta pot from frozen in 8 minutes to 12 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken. Probably less if using flattened chicken breast coming in a frozen bag.
Breakfast for dinner this week is egg muffins, bacon and fruit.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Fred Meyer haul
Total 21.39
Buy 5, Save 5
4 v8 juice at 1.89
1 peanut butter at 1.99
Romano cheese 4.99
Granny Smith apples at 2.08
Organic green peppers 2/1
Blueberries 3.77
—————
Buy 5, Save 5
4 v8 juice at 1.89
1 peanut butter at 1.99
Romano cheese 4.99
Granny Smith apples at 2.08
Organic green peppers 2/1
Blueberries 3.77
—————
Meal plans
Meal plans take away the anxiety.of answering the question: What’s for dinner? It just makes things more organized and when you add a kitchen management hour, life is a whole less hectic during the dinner hour.
- Pork chops, bread stuffing with craisens and apple, broccolli
- Pizza
- Salmon, seasoned rice, peas and carrots
- Chicken Parmesan, salad
- Meatballs and gravy, mashed Potatoes, mixed veggies
- Stir fry chicken , rice, mandarin oranges
- Breakfast for dinner.
Notes:
- Pork chops are from a pork loin bought for a dollar a pound. Bread stuffing is from day old bread. Appples were bought in a bag with a discount from qfc. They are lunch box apples, that is, they are small enough to put in a lunchbox and with children, there is less waste.
- Pizza is one of the least expensive meals you can make if made from scratch.
- I purchased salmon from winco. It is peppercorn salmon and was five dollars a pound package.
- Rice can be double duty so you cook once, eat twice. It is purchased in bulk at costco. Thecost is two cents a serving. Chicken was purchased for 1.77 a lb for boneless, skinless breast. However, my next purchase is .99 a lb at Zaycon .
- Chicken parm and meatballs are part of our freeezer eat down program. Both easy meals.
- Breakfast for dinner is a favorite here. Its a sunday everyone cooks family event.
This blog is written on the premise of a four dollar a day budget. That is supposedly the amount of snap money. We live in one of the seven highest COL cities in the nation. There is always a way to cut costs and still keep within a budget. The premise is that if you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more is not hard. I have fifty years of experience, having lived through double digit inflation and no raises for three years as a single mother. I have been published in Woman’s Day and Taste of Home magazines. My husband and I raised three children.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Fred Meyer ad for sunday
Ground beef alert .....1.99 for 80/20 limit 4
Blueberries 3.77
Country oven bread .99
Mandarins 5 lbs 4.49
Pork 1/2 Loin 1.99 (that is the top of the RBP.
Cantaloupe 2/3
Sour cream 4/5
————
Buy 5, save 5
Cheese 4.99
Peanut butter 1.99
V8 1.99
Kind bars 1/99
Blueberries 3.77
Country oven bread .99
Mandarins 5 lbs 4.49
Pork 1/2 Loin 1.99 (that is the top of the RBP.
Cantaloupe 2/3
Sour cream 4/5
————
Buy 5, save 5
Cheese 4.99
Peanut butter 1.99
V8 1.99
Kind bars 1/99
Friday, February 23, 2018
Recipe: vegetarian pizza
Not vegetarian...just add chicken pieces
Pizza crust; par bake for a few minutes
Brush dough with olive oil. Sprinkle with dried basil. Use 1 Tbls each
Topping:
2 medium tomatoes, sliced thin and deseeded
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced thin
1 cup frozen broccolli, thawed and drained.
Salt, pepper,
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until crust is done.
Add 1 cup (4 ounces ) mozzarella cheese
Bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese has melted.
Add ins; RED PEPPER FLAKES/ AND OR DICED COOKED CHICKEN
Pizza crust; par bake for a few minutes
Brush dough with olive oil. Sprinkle with dried basil. Use 1 Tbls each
Topping:
2 medium tomatoes, sliced thin and deseeded
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced thin
1 cup frozen broccolli, thawed and drained.
Salt, pepper,
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until crust is done.
Add 1 cup (4 ounces ) mozzarella cheese
Bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese has melted.
Add ins; RED PEPPER FLAKES/ AND OR DICED COOKED CHICKEN
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Ideas from the ads
Cheese is 2.50 a lb (the top of the RBP) at Fm. You have to buy 5 things, It is like 1.28 for 8 ounces at Winco, Chicken is .87 at FM and it’s washingtin grown. It’s almost always a better deal to buy chicken that is local. A lot of fruit is a buck at FM .
Milk is 1.79 @@ at safeways. Hot dog buns are .79. @@ Hamburger is 80/20 is 2.49. @@
The last page I missed because I was doing it with the on line ad. Holidays make the paper ads late in the mail.
Alberways
Cheese, 8 ounce bags 2.50. They are more money than Winco, but you dint have to buy 5 like FM.
That’s about all on the last page.
Green beans are 75 cents. Winco has a case of 12 for 5.00. It’s not what you buy, it’s when and where you buy it,
Meals
Milk is 1.79 @@ at safeways. Hot dog buns are .79. @@ Hamburger is 80/20 is 2.49. @@
The last page I missed because I was doing it with the on line ad. Holidays make the paper ads late in the mail.
Alberways
Cheese, 8 ounce bags 2.50. They are more money than Winco, but you dint have to buy 5 like FM.
That’s about all on the last page.
Green beans are 75 cents. Winco has a case of 12 for 5.00. It’s not what you buy, it’s when and where you buy it,
Meals
- Pizza 🍕 a kid favorite and can be super cheap. A scratch crust costs .19. With cheese at 1.25 for 2 cups or 1.28 at Winco., cheese should cost .65. Add part of a DT jar of pizza sauce ( makes 5 pizzas) and top with keftiver veggies and or chicken bits or pepperoni . The DT has pepperoni for a dollar and you can use 1/2 a package with other toppings. Total cost 1.54.
- Chicken , potatoes, a vegetable and bread. A five pound chicken costs 4.35. Even a family of six should be able to get 2 meals or more out of a chicken . Roast chicken , chicken pizza or chicken cassarole, and chicken soup. Figure the first meal 2.35. Add potatoes at .20 cents a pound ,40 for four, a bag of frozen veggies is 1.00, and bread .25. Total 4.00
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Chain store ads
Alberways
Pork loin chops .99
Grapes 1.99
Boneless chicken thighs or breast 1.69
Pasta sauce, Classico 1.99
French bread 🥖.99
QFC
Saturday only, digital coupon.
Yoplait yougert mega pack 8
1.99
———-
Grapes 1.77
Milk .99
Pie 2.99
Fresh berries , blue, raspberries 2/5
Note this time of year, the frozen is a better buy,
———-
Buy5, save 5
Fruit, frozen 2.99
Kraft singles 2.99
2 pk cream cheese 2.99
Skippy peanut butter 1.99
————
Pork loin chops .99
Grapes 1.99
Boneless chicken thighs or breast 1.69
Pasta sauce, Classico 1.99
French bread 🥖.99
QFC
Saturday only, digital coupon.
Yoplait yougert mega pack 8
1.99
———-
Grapes 1.77
Milk .99
Pie 2.99
Fresh berries , blue, raspberries 2/5
Note this time of year, the frozen is a better buy,
———-
Buy5, save 5
Fruit, frozen 2.99
Kraft singles 2.99
2 pk cream cheese 2.99
Skippy peanut butter 1.99
————
Wednesday Notes
Last night we went out for snacks with friends, I had a flat bread with chicken, bacon, so,e chopped tomato and a drizzling if a sauce. It would make a good meal with a salad and would use leftover chicken and bacon. Not that we would ever have a piece of leftover bacon. 😆
Ideas for non conventional meals are all around us. Pinterest and u tube are great sources of inspiration. I have found that life is so much easier when we have a small stock of food on the house and snow doesn’t clog up our wheels. I don’t have to go out if I don’t want to. It makes life a lot easier. Getting to that point takes a little time, but in the long run it is a lot less stressful. Now I go to the store to fill in what I need — mostly fruits and veggies and dairy. I always check the pantry before heading out and can see at a glance if we are running low on something and know to watch for a sale.
Getting there is easy, but takes a bit of time if you don’t have an influx of extra cash. Its a good way to use a few dollars of an income tax return. Otherwise You can take baby steps.
Ideas for non conventional meals are all around us. Pinterest and u tube are great sources of inspiration. I have found that life is so much easier when we have a small stock of food on the house and snow doesn’t clog up our wheels. I don’t have to go out if I don’t want to. It makes life a lot easier. Getting to that point takes a little time, but in the long run it is a lot less stressful. Now I go to the store to fill in what I need — mostly fruits and veggies and dairy. I always check the pantry before heading out and can see at a glance if we are running low on something and know to watch for a sale.
Getting there is easy, but takes a bit of time if you don’t have an influx of extra cash. Its a good way to use a few dollars of an income tax return. Otherwise You can take baby steps.
- Start with a less than 25.00 purchase of staples at Costco or your warehouse store Here, we can get a 20 pound bag of flour and a twenty pound bag of Quaker Oats. That alone saves a bundle Add a 3.55 bag of yeast.
- Start setting aside five bucks a week for a stockpile. Make a list of your top 10 easy, eco omical meals. Now list the ingredients you use for those meals. We, like a lot of families eat a lot Of Italian and Tex mex.
- Watch sales and buy anything you use in a regular basis to make meals. Our list would be cans of green beans , cans of corn, diced tomatoes , pasta sauce, pasta. I add diced green chillis from Winco for .66 and sliced black olives A few instant mashed potatoes are good because they work in a pinch when you are short of time or the potatoes are bad. Little by little, it will grow After you master that, go on to rotation protein.
- Choosing bulk meats that are versatile for meal planning. At our house that would be boneless skinless chicken breast , pork loin, and hamburger. Add cheese and beans . I want to average less than two dollars a pound I’ve been getting pork loin for between a dollar and a dollar and sixty nine cents. I got chicken breast for a dollar, but they are 1.77 a lot of times at Fred Meyers (Kroger) . I like nine percent fat hamburger, but recently bought 80/20 for 2.66. We eat beef once or twice a week. It also helps that we eat vegetarian meals twice a week. Rotation protein is a concept where you watch for a RBP on you chosen meat and buy enough for a month to six weeks. The next week, you find a different deal . If you eat pork once a week, you need enough for 4-6 meals. Then watch for a chicken or beef good sale . When you get it home, portion control the batch and freeze. Cook it if it makes sense . Some people make freezer meals . I dint want to fill the freezer with food that didn’t have to be frozen in the first place. I cook hamburger and de-fat it and freeze it in portion controlled bags. I use cheap quart bags and put them in a labeled gallon bag.
- Buy dairy when it is on sale. Some pull dates are out a month. Fred Meyers usually has it for cheap once or so a month. I buy Costco butter unless I can find it cheaper. QFC has had it on a digital coupon for 2.00 lately. Watch for coupons I got Darigold for 1.50.
- Learn the RBP for the things you buy on a regular basis. Don’t buy anything if it isn’t your price unless it is a dire necessity. Prices cycle, if you get enough for a month to six weeks, you can just about bet you will find another sale. The exception will be seasonal items. Baking items are best bought at Christmas holidays and Easter . Ditto cream of mushroom soup. BBQ sauce and suddenly salad along with ketchup will be on sale at picnic time.
If this is over whelming, take one step at a time.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Costco and Winco haul
we are at 55.00 a week for feb. less for January. We have a good start on next week.
Costco
tortilla chips 3.59
Bacon. 4. 13.49
Bananas 1.39
Romaine 3.79
Total 29.05
Winco
Tomatoes 1.28
Cucumbers .33
Cream cheese 1.46
Parm 2.18
Peppercorn salmon 4.98
Total 11.72
Costco has no regular eggs. The tomatoes and cream cheese were too expensive . It seems as though Costco is catering to the wat we used to call yuppies.
Costco
tortilla chips 3.59
Bacon. 4. 13.49
Bananas 1.39
Romaine 3.79
Total 29.05
Winco
Tomatoes 1.28
Cucumbers .33
Cream cheese 1.46
Parm 2.18
Peppercorn salmon 4.98
Total 11.72
Costco has no regular eggs. The tomatoes and cream cheese were too expensive . It seems as though Costco is catering to the wat we used to call yuppies.
Why buy a 20 lb bag of flour.?
If you are trying to lower you food expense as far as you can lower it, buying a bag of Costco flour can save a bundle. There are lots of recipes for mixes that save time in the kitchen. Bread recipes are out there that make a loaf if bread in 10-15 minutes hands on time. The savings are remarkable. The last bag of flour cost me .08 a cup.
Costco large muffins Re a dollar a piece. A batch of muffins cost .45 dozen . It can be cheaper, depending on what you put in as an add on,
Bread can cost between .25 and .30. The same bread can cost 3.00. That’s a remarkable difference.
Pizza crust. The dough can be 1.50-2.00 at the grocery store. It costs .19.
Pancakes are pennies, they cost upwards of two dollars at the store ready made.
Ditto waffles.
In short, the difference between homemade and ready made is remarkable and can save tons of money.
Costco large muffins Re a dollar a piece. A batch of muffins cost .45 dozen . It can be cheaper, depending on what you put in as an add on,
Bread can cost between .25 and .30. The same bread can cost 3.00. That’s a remarkable difference.
Pizza crust. The dough can be 1.50-2.00 at the grocery store. It costs .19.
Pancakes are pennies, they cost upwards of two dollars at the store ready made.
Ditto waffles.
In short, the difference between homemade and ready made is remarkable and can save tons of money.
Got 20 pounds of flour, now what do I do.?
Yesterday, I made a dozen blueberry muffins. It took just a few minutes and used 3/4 of a cup of blueberries . I could have added Apple and cinnamon, or raspberries and a crumble topping,
You can make a baking mix with canola oil or butter. Today, I have pancake mix. Pancakes,a little turkey bacon, and fruit in season makes breakfast for dinner, Turkey bacon is a at the dollar tree— name brand,
Pancake mix
4 cups flour
3 Tbls baking powder
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3 Tbls sugar
Stir all ingredients together and store in a container with a tight fitting lid, Attach the directions to the container,
To make
1 cup mix
1 TBLS oil or melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg
Mix wet ingredients,
Stir dry ingredients , measure mix,
Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, dint over mix,
Drop quarter cup of batter onto griddle or frying pan that has been sprayed with oil, or is non stick. Cook until sides are dry and bubbles appear on top . Flip and cook the second side.
Serve with powdered sugar dusting. Or syrup.
You can make a baking mix with canola oil or butter. Today, I have pancake mix. Pancakes,a little turkey bacon, and fruit in season makes breakfast for dinner, Turkey bacon is a at the dollar tree— name brand,
Pancake mix
4 cups flour
3 Tbls baking powder
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3 Tbls sugar
Stir all ingredients together and store in a container with a tight fitting lid, Attach the directions to the container,
To make
1 cup mix
1 TBLS oil or melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg
Mix wet ingredients,
Stir dry ingredients , measure mix,
Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, dint over mix,
Drop quarter cup of batter onto griddle or frying pan that has been sprayed with oil, or is non stick. Cook until sides are dry and bubbles appear on top . Flip and cook the second side.
Serve with powdered sugar dusting. Or syrup.
Monday, February 19, 2018
Getting started
This concept of just buying what you need to supplement what you already have sounds overwhelming esiciakky if you now barely make it from payday to payday. It is possible. It takes time, I maintained and built our stock last year on 55.05 a week fir 3 of us, my daughter pays for her daughters food, we just supply her groceries that are meat and dairy because she is vegan.
First, take some baby steps to lower your food bill with the idea that you can use the “found” money to stock. Try cutt8ng out any pop and snack type chips etc.. Buying a whole jar of applesauce and a few snack cups from the DT that have screw on lids will help.
First, take some baby steps to lower your food bill with the idea that you can use the “found” money to stock. Try cutt8ng out any pop and snack type chips etc.. Buying a whole jar of applesauce and a few snack cups from the DT that have screw on lids will help.
- Buy a bulk bag of flour, rice, and oatmeal . This is about 25.00 at Costco.
- This is a breakfast go to that costs eight cents a serving and feeds a family of six with a little fruit for a buck.
- Rice is dirt cheap per serving. I use the insta pot, but my mother used the microwave to cook it. Rice pudding, rice with either a Chinese , American, or Tex mex flair works with a lot of meals. At two cents a serving, it stretches your starch budget.
- Flour is a good versatile means of cooking. pancakes. Waffles. Muffins, Bread, cookies. Noodles , pizza dough, The last calculation for Costco flour was eight cents a cup. That makes pizza dough nineteen cents. My daughter paid two bucks and she still had to roll and bake it. It takes about three minutes and you do t ha e to knead it. My granddaughter at 4 could roll a crust, you can also pat it into imdividual pizzas 🍕 or into a large circle or rectangle to fit a cookie sheet or baking pan. Muff8ms are a great go to for breakfast. They cost pennies vs dollars fir ready made.
- Next, use what you saved on inexpensive shelf stable food that your family will eat and that you use on a regular basis. Right now, Winco has green beans and corn fir five bucks a case. That’s the price of a big bucks coffee. That’s 41.5 cents a can. I saw them well over a dollar at FM this week.
- Anither mainstay at this house is diced tomatoes. Watch for a sale. I paid as little as 39 cents. I only buy diced. You can put them through the food processer or blender and make sauce, reserve the “juice” and replace the water when you make rice. You can use the drained tomatoes in salsa oron top of nachos instead of fresh in a pinch. I use them for stock with vegetable or chicken stock in soup. I want .49 or less
- Invest in beef boullion and chicken boullion . The price of about three boxes of stock will give you many cups of stock . Another pennies vs dollars. About 3.50
- Pasta sauce can be really expensive. Look for sales and sales with coupons. Coupon.com has a new load the first of every month. You are allowed to print two coupons. Check them early for coupons. I want close to a buck.
- Try to set aside five bucks a week. No room ? Use the flat free boxes from Costco and put them under the bed if you have to
- Keep you eyes peeled for inexpensive meals your family will eat that scratch cook efficiently. If it takes all day, it isn’t sustainable.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
DT and FM hauls
Dollar Tree
Cranberry, whites chocolate cookie mix
Thomas Bagels
12 grain bread
Hoagie rolls
Pizza sauce
Total 5.00
Fred Meyers
Cantaloupe 1.50
Prego pasta sauce 3/5
Granny Smith apples 2.01
12 English muffins 1.67
2 pears 1.07
bacon 4.49
Strawberries 1.67
DT bread
Total. 18.10
Total 23.10
Cranberry, whites chocolate cookie mix
Thomas Bagels
12 grain bread
Hoagie rolls
Pizza sauce
Total 5.00
Fred Meyers
Cantaloupe 1.50
Prego pasta sauce 3/5
Granny Smith apples 2.01
12 English muffins 1.67
2 pears 1.07
bacon 4.49
Strawberries 1.67
Total. 18.10
Total 23.10
Meal plans
Meal plans make it easy to stay on track and avoid the take out demons.
We are still trying to eat down the freezer in preparation for a bulk meat purchase.
We are still trying to eat down the freezer in preparation for a bulk meat purchase.
- Sausage bean soup. Bread
- Pizza (sausage) you guessed it, hold from the soup for a second meal
- Baked potato bar - chicken, sour cream, sauce
- Chicken fettuccine, green beans
- Tuna cassarole with peas
- Tacos, refried beans, Spanish rice
- Breakfast for dinner
Notes
- Sausage was FREE at QFC. Hold some (1/4 ) pound fcooked for pizza
- Pizza....scratch crust .19 cents. Use cheese for two dollars a lb . Fm has it 2.50 buy5, save 5 and Winco had it fir 1.2X an 8 ounce bag last i was there
- Baked potato bar. Use cook once, eat twice chicken and sour cream . Potatoes were 1.99 for 10 lbs at Winco last
- Chicken fettuccine-recipe on blog
- Tacos use cheese and taco meat already cooked, Spanish rice usessome tomato boullion or sauce from cut to,atoms you saved. Scratch refried beans - insta pot or slow cooker. Freeze leftovers
- Tuna cassarole, use homemade soup base and frozen peas
- Breakfast for dinner - anything you want including quiche, salad, or pancakes or waffles. Turkey bacon is at the DT.
Meals to cook when you have nothing to cook.
Its no secret, the basis of Groceries on the cheap is to stock when things are at a RBP and rotate what you buy. It takes a while to get to that point, but you can do it even on a low budget. The key is in the budgeting and not buying junk food. Oh, cue the groans from the junk food lovers. Lol. Hey, it’s not even good for you!
Having the luxury of knowing there is always food in the house 🏡 takes a lot of stress away, They have proven that poor people have a shortened life span because of the stress. No child should have to grow up wondering where the next meal is coming from.
Oh, what do you do before you commit to a life change ?
There are meals that use ingredients that are really cheap, it helps to set yourself up with the basics
and a few appliances as soon as you can that make life easy. This is especially true of people that are trying to juggle many hats. An insta pot and food processer are basic tools that make kitchen life efficient, I saved enough to pay for the insta pot just not having to buy ready rice and canned beans.
Let’s get to it
Having the luxury of knowing there is always food in the house 🏡 takes a lot of stress away, They have proven that poor people have a shortened life span because of the stress. No child should have to grow up wondering where the next meal is coming from.
Oh, what do you do before you commit to a life change ?
There are meals that use ingredients that are really cheap, it helps to set yourself up with the basics
and a few appliances as soon as you can that make life easy. This is especially true of people that are trying to juggle many hats. An insta pot and food processer are basic tools that make kitchen life efficient, I saved enough to pay for the insta pot just not having to buy ready rice and canned beans.
Let’s get to it
- Potato soup with or without bacon or ham
- Cheezy potato soup
- French toast. There are oven recipes out there
- Mac and cheese
- Spaghetti and meatballs
- Omelets - fill with cheese and any vegetable you have
- Frittata - rice, eggs, corn, cheese
- Impossible pie
- Cheese and bean enchaladas
- Hot dogs and oven fries , veggie sticks -if you are really short, make dough and make pigs in blankets. Buns aren’t hard to make, but they are time consuming,
- Baked potato bar
- Fried rice
- Burrito bowls
- Rice and beans
- Soup- any but vegetable bean costs out at about 2.50 for 6 quarts.!
One if the first bulk buys I would make would be a 20 ish pound if rice and flour and a ten pound bag of oatmeal. I buy ours at Costco, but I’m sure sams club has them if there are still sams clubs around. Of you don’t have a membership, you can usually find someone that will help you that does.
A serving of oatmeal costs .085 . That makes six servings less than a buck including a splash of milk and a little fruit.
Beans are a penny a serving and rice is three cents. Buy them at the DT,
If you can make your own pizza crust and a quick dozen muffins, that saves bundles too. A pizza crust with Costco bulk flour costs about 19 cents, It takes about 3 minutes, My 5yo granddaughter can do it, Muffins can be done in about 5 minutes and any child over ten or so as long as they are able to handle the oven without burning themselves, can bake muffins, My mother had us baking at 9,
Unless it’s in sale elsewhere, buy bread at the DT. They also have brown and serve rolls. Not the best ones I ve ever had, it they work if you have to. Learn how to make peasant bread, It’s easy, again a older child can do it, and it takes no kneading. I would handle the oven. It is rustic like the name Implies , but it is a good accompaniment to a good bowl of soup or stew.
I want food I can make with not much hands on cooking. It was that way when I was holding down sometimes 2 jobs with three kids and a house to run, now it’s that way for health reasons. It just works.
I want food I can make with not much hands on cooking. It was that way when I was holding down sometimes 2 jobs with three kids and a house to run, now it’s that way for health reasons. It just works.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Saturday night, I have six people and 60 bucks.
Fred Meyers has chickens tomorrow for .87. Get a five lb one, This should yield you 2 legs, 2 thighs, and one breast cut in two for a meal. Add potatoes and a veggie .
Take the broth and rice (DT) and some veggies and make soup in the slow cooker. Add rolls or biscuits .
Pizza casserole or pizza
Mac and cheese , vegetable
Rice and beans
spaghetti sauce and spaghetti
————-
Fred Meyers
Chicken
Milk 1.79
Check the spaghetti for .50 spaghetti
Prego 3/5
Check the space by the eggs English muffins should be a huge package for 1.67. (3/5)
Total 12.93
Winco
Carrots 2.28 fir 5 lbs
Potatoes 10 lbs 1.99
Celery .99
Peas 1.00, sometimes .88 and corn
2 cans diced tomatoes .58
4-8 8 ounce pkgs of cheese at about 1,28 a pkg. I think they are Winco brand. Get regular and pizza cheese if you can
1 pkg meatballs 2.00
20.82
Dollar tree
Pizza sauce
3 pizza crusts - unless you can make it yourself - pizzas are 2 indiciduals to a package, cost of home made is .17.
Rice
Beans
Macaroni - try to get a value added box. Normally I would have bought boxes when I can get them for .76 with coupons.
Bread -5
Total 12.00
Total 46.75
Add eggs 2 dozen where ever they are close to a buck. Winco did it lasts week. Add some fresh fruit at a dollar a lb or less .
Following the on the cheap way gives you the luxury of not being stuck. If I had a few bucks, I would buy a case of green beans at Winco.
Chicken Alfredo
Chicken Alfredo - serves 4
1 lb chicken breast , cooked and cubed.
1/2 lb fettucini
1-1/2 cups milk
5 T butter, cut into small pieces
Dash of nutmeg, pepper
3/4 cup parmesean cheese
1 lb chicken breast , cooked and cubed.
1/2 lb fettucini
1-1/2 cups milk
5 T butter, cut into small pieces
Dash of nutmeg, pepper
3/4 cup parmesean cheese
- Cook the pasta according to package directions,
- Bring the milk to a boil in a skillet, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes
- Remove skillet from heat , add drained pasta to skillet
- Toss, add chicken, spices, and most of the cheese.
- Toss again and pit remaining cheese on top
FM Sunday ad
buy 5; save 5
2 lbs cheese 5.00
Frozen fruit
Snap peas .99
Skippy peanut butter 1.99
Strawberries 3/5
FF chicken whole or thighs .87
Milk 1.79
.99 sale
Apples
Pears
Oranges
Blood oranges
Prego 3/5. Look for coupons
2 lbs cheese 5.00
Frozen fruit
Snap peas .99
Skippy peanut butter 1.99
Strawberries 3/5
FF chicken whole or thighs .87
Milk 1.79
.99 sale
Apples
Pears
Oranges
Blood oranges
Prego 3/5. Look for coupons
Friday, February 16, 2018
Feeding hungry mouths on a budget
Protein and grains stay with you. Carbs go into your bloodstream quickly. Fat fills you up.
Ideas you can use, Kids, especially growing teens just can’t get enough to eat.
Ideas you can use, Kids, especially growing teens just can’t get enough to eat.
- Have a number - like maybe 4 - things that are FREE. That is to say, they can make themselves and eat when they are hungry provided it isn’t an hour before dinner, With my children it was air popped popcorn , ramen noodles, beef and bean burritos, and PBand J. I would change the ramen out to a baked potato 🥔 these days, They are things that get protein into the children and aren’t garbage,
- I would buy a bulk bag of flour, rice and oatmeal. @@Costco. That would be about less than 25.00. You can make bread for as low as .25. Easy bread. You can get orowheat with healthy grains and bagels, buns, etc at the dollar tree. There are some coupons out there. Save the inserts. If you don’t get the later, it’s a dollar at the dollar tree (DT) and you can get it Saturday. Mark the date on the front. Rice in bulk calculates to a few cents a serving. Oatmeal is less than ten cents a serving and fills a kid up. Use 1/2 cup per serving. We add fruit and a splash of milk.
- Buy meat in bulk and limit your choices to things you can get for an average of 2.00 a pound, Buy limiting to a pork, a beef and a chicken, you can buy in bulk and rotate what you buy based on RBP sales. Recently we got pork loin for a dollar at Fred Meyers. I got chicken for a buck in bulk at Zaycon. I get boneless skinless chicken breast at FM for 1.77. You can almost always get whole chickens for a buck a pound. Hamburger is more expensive, we just eat it once a week. If another cut is cheaper, we grind our own. Not serving a piece of meat is always a stretcher. Sloppy joes go further than hamburgers. Serve children smaller portions and offer seconds if they eat the first portion ...and their veggies .
- Eggs are a good source of protein and I can still find diktat a dozen eggs. My family loves impossible pies. A good dinner that stretches.
- Growing up, we never saw a can of pop, a bag of potato chips , a specialty child food., or a fresh piece of fruit except bananas that were given to us. No kool aid. We just didn’t see junk food. I do always have fresh fruit in the house fir granddaughter. Snacks didn’t happen.
- A lot of child friendly recipes can be made cheap. Cheese pizza cost 1.05. Burritos can be made with a combo of meat and beans,
- Beans (pinto) are cheapest at the DT. Made in USA, no gmo.
- Hearty soups can simmer a,omg in a slow cooker and are a good , cheap meal.
- The more cheap, efficient, scratch meals you can make the better, the less ready made foods the better.
Its not what you buy, it when and where you buy it.
Winco haul
Note that cases of corn or green beans are five bucks. That’s less than 50 cents a can.
Sour cream 2.22
Hot dog buns 1.07
Milk 1.49
Olives .88
Strawberries 1.98
Tomstoes .99
Potatoes 10 lbs 1.98
Total 11.37
This month sitting at 50.00 a week
2016. 72.00 week
2017 55.00 a week
2018 50.00 a week
Includes building a small stock.
Note that cases of corn or green beans are five bucks. That’s less than 50 cents a can.
Sour cream 2.22
Hot dog buns 1.07
Milk 1.49
Olives .88
Strawberries 1.98
Tomstoes .99
Potatoes 10 lbs 1.98
Total 11.37
This month sitting at 50.00 a week
2016. 72.00 week
2017 55.00 a week
2018 50.00 a week
Includes building a small stock.
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Chain store ads...finally
Our world has been crazy the last month. It f8nnally caught up with me. ......just got the ads last night .
QFC
Chuck roasts or London broil BOGO, no prices here, you have to judge when you get to the store,
Strawberries 2/5
DIGITAL COUPONS - YOU MUST DIWNLOAD BEFORE YOU GO TO THE STORE.
Lean cuisine 4/6
Cheerios 1.79
Chobani 10/8
Tide 3.99
Spaghetti .50
Frizen fruit 2.99
————
Grapes 2.49
Pears .99
Avocados 4 ea 2.99
Alberways
Apple juice .99@@
Bread .79@@
Greek yogurt .88@@
Oranges 3 lbs 3.47
Apples .99
V8 2.50
Digiorno 5.49 $$. There are paper coupons
Friday only
Dijorno 5.00$$
@@ means with in store ad , you can’t match with a manufacturers coupon
$$ means there are paper coupons you can use out there. Usually in an insert or on line at coupons,com
QFC
Chuck roasts or London broil BOGO, no prices here, you have to judge when you get to the store,
Strawberries 2/5
DIGITAL COUPONS - YOU MUST DIWNLOAD BEFORE YOU GO TO THE STORE.
Lean cuisine 4/6
Cheerios 1.79
Chobani 10/8
Tide 3.99
Spaghetti .50
Frizen fruit 2.99
————
Grapes 2.49
Pears .99
Avocados 4 ea 2.99
Alberways
Apple juice .99@@
Bread .79@@
Greek yogurt .88@@
Oranges 3 lbs 3.47
Apples .99
V8 2.50
Digiorno 5.49 $$. There are paper coupons
Friday only
Dijorno 5.00$$
@@ means with in store ad , you can’t match with a manufacturers coupon
$$ means there are paper coupons you can use out there. Usually in an insert or on line at coupons,com
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
QFC Haul and lesson learned.
QFC Haul
5 lbs gala apples 5.99 less 60 cent coupon or 5.39 Florida 5 lbs or 1.078 a lb
2 blueberries, , 2 raspberries 2.50 each
1 lb sausage free.
45 percent savings
The lesson
Its not what you buy, it’s when and where you buy it.
BC cake mix was supposed to be free with a coupon at qfc. Somehow I messed up the download. The reality became clear when the charge for the cake was 2.39.
Here is the reality
QFC reg price 2.39
Safeway reg price (dec) 1.79
Winco price twomweeks ago .88
Same brand, same mix
Swing is 1.50. That’s a lot of money.
The upshot of that is that you can compound your savings by using that 1.50 to buy something else that is at a RBP.
5 lbs gala apples 5.99 less 60 cent coupon or 5.39 Florida 5 lbs or 1.078 a lb
2 blueberries, , 2 raspberries 2.50 each
1 lb sausage free.
45 percent savings
The lesson
Its not what you buy, it’s when and where you buy it.
BC cake mix was supposed to be free with a coupon at qfc. Somehow I messed up the download. The reality became clear when the charge for the cake was 2.39.
Here is the reality
QFC reg price 2.39
Safeway reg price (dec) 1.79
Winco price twomweeks ago .88
Same brand, same mix
Swing is 1.50. That’s a lot of money.
The upshot of that is that you can compound your savings by using that 1.50 to buy something else that is at a RBP.
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