Coupon matchups

Coupon matchups are when you find a good sale price and match it up with a coupon. There are web sites that do it for you. Couponconnections is a lady from Lynnwood, Washington. Krazycouponlady is another one. I'm not sure where she is located. Stacymakescents is from Virginia. I think she covers that on her u tube seminar. she is really funny and it is a fun video to watch. If you are not in a double coupon state, you'll have to take what she says about that with a grain of salt. Do a search on u tube and investigate the lady or ladies that work in your area.

They are very informative and you can watch them at your leisure.

The sites make it easy to coupon, they do the work for you. It takes time to do it yourself. Be sure to check the package sizes when you match a coupon. I keep my inserts in a binder clip. When I find a good match up for us, I go to my stash and clip the coupons I need. it saves a lot of time. I don't want to spend more time on couponing than I have to, I only buy a few things they print coupons for.

The ONLY place I have found in the PNW where you can make money on a coupon is Rite Aid. yesterday the mouthwash and toothpaste was FREE to begin with. A wellness card was all that you had to have. If you had a coupon to go with it, you were money ahead. Essentially,they paid me to take the toothpaste out of the store. I had the wrong coupon for the mouthwash. I would have been better off buying two toothpastes, but I didn't have another coupon.
I should have been better prepared.

All I paid for the toothpaste, mouthwash, glue, ruler, and notebook was part of the sales tax.

Wallgreens has the same kind of deals as well as CVS. We don't have CVS stores, and Wallgreens is not convenient for us. I usually only go there when I am leaving the Er at two in the morning LOL
we are supposed to get one in our neighborhood, they are building it. I am basing that info on the u tube videos I have watched.

I buy the Sunday paper at the dollar store. They keep them all week. You need to look at them, they don't always have the inserts. The first week of the month is best. The coupon class we went to suggested that you get one paper for every member of the family. That could get expensive. Since most of the things that there are coupons for are not on my shopping list, it's probably not worth the expense. you don't want to spend more money on the paper than you get money back on coupons. My husband does enjoy the funny papers and sports section !

I think if I found a really good coupon, I would see if someone wasn't going to use their coupons, or buy another papered it made sense to do so.
I have been averaging about six dollars a week on coupons. I usually have a savings printed on my receipt of 46-48 percent before I started couponing. Shopping wisely and eliminating the ready mades and snack foods is how you get to 1/2 price food. Couponing is the icing on the cake!

Most of my coupons are printables and I made a coupon binder for them. I used a binder I got at the flea market for a buck, and two page protectors I got at the dollar store. Page protectors were on the three for a buck list at rite aid, but ere were none with that price. Total cost 3.00 plus a set of picture sleeves. The picture sleeves work better for printable coupons since I don't clip newspaper ones till I need them. I
It is important to plan your trip and get your coupons together before you hit the checkouts.

Off the coupon subject of couponing...

The Betty Crocker website has a recipe for pizza bread. It sounds really good and a good after school snack!
I was going to share it, but am afraid of copywriting issues.

Our favorite still is banana blueberry bread.

I am working on a meal plan, specials list form or forms.

I guess that's all. Back to the ads and recipes Tommorrow.

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Jane

Monday madness

Today we went to rite aid and I got toothpaste, mouthwash, and paper supplies totaling a out nine dollars. The end out of pocket cost was 1.38 including tax.

We then went to Fred Meyers. I got sandals for the granddaughter for 2.00 along with some veggies and pasta sauce for .89.

I am not a Fred Meyer shopper usually. I had never got their ads before I started looking into couponing. I don't buy a lot of mixes etc, so I never saw a need to coupon. What one lady said on one of the numerous u tube videos I looked at while I was sick made sense to me. If you can coupon the things that you need that are necessities, that leaves more money for food. I still won't buy anything with a coupon that I wouldn't ordinarily buy unless it is free or near free and I can still use it. Today's mouthwash was free, and the toothpaste was more than free. The school supplies were free. Ice cream was 2 dollars, but I don't have a lot of room in my freezer right now. I froze corn on the cob when I got it for .20 and blueberries.

I just finished working on a coupon binder and some binders of recipes I downloaded from betty crocker website. I get them in the e mail periodically. I really like a lot of them. They use inexpensive sources of protein often and have a lot of vegetarian.

I guess that's all

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Jane

Coupon alert, updated

Rite aid has a up rewards on dental health stuff. Various crest products pay 2.99' get 2.99. I just love that word free. Dreyers ice cream is 2/6. When you buy 12.00 there is a 4.00 up reward. Maybe good if you can share the buy with your neighbor . There are coupons that give you money back to buy these. Also there are school supplies for free with a rewards card. The tea ismcheapermwith a coupon and rewards too.m the mayo is not a good buy I got some for 2.22 not long ago and my sister got hers for free.



The last update....I got it all for 1.38 OOP!




Fred Meyers ads run Sunday thru Saturday.

Tomatoes .88
Cherries 1.99
Peaches 1.49
Wallace Wallace onions.77
Squash .79
Cucumbers 2/1.00


Guess that's all

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Seriously sunday

My daughter and I went to the couponing class. She showed how she got some things for free. She was from Oregon; we don't get double coupons in Washington, except the rare time you can get a coupon for double at ALBERTSONS.


The cost of the class was free, and she served brunch and had door prizes . A remarkable display of generosity. Thank you Kristin and The people at the Open Bible Church. She mostly dealt with Target. I did t know that target has a second coupon thing that gives percentages off plus using target and manufacturers coupons.

Stacking coupons is when you use a manufacturers coupon with a store coupon. You cannot stack an electronic coupon. Electronic coupons are the coupons you load on your store card. Coupon policies are on the stores websites.

Kristin had a concept that tailors the amount you buy to the degree of rock bottom price as opposed to my wait till it's the lowest and keep six months. She generously gave is a chart of rock bottom prices. I didn't find her prices realistic for this part of the country. Still, the concept was there. It was a neat chart.

You can get the Sunday paper at the dollar store. Not every time does the Sunday paper have coupons in it. It's best to check before you buy it. She recommends that you buy one paper for every member of your family. I would buy one and look at it. If it has coupons for something. Want, to back and buy more.

A coupon binder is a good thing If you are going to be a serious couponer. She did stress to plan tour trip and have your coupons ready before you get to the checkouts. I like to use the couponconnections web site and pull from the inserts that I have clipped together and dated if I need a coupon. I keep my printable ones in a box with dividers. It is less paper to deal with.

Most coupons are not for basic food which is what I usually buy. We buy few cosmetic and household products. She makes her own laundry detergent and the savings are remarkable.

I look for ice cream coupons, especially blue bunny because it is lower in carbs. I find plastic snack lunch bags for my granddaughter for her school lunches. We use plastic reuseable bowls a lot too. Toothpaste is free often.
I find pasta coupons often. Some of the ready made meats have coupons and paired with a sale, are cheaper than scratch. You still have to deal with the fact that they have preservatives in them. I guess that the moderation word is appropriate! I pass most generally on the box mixes. I keep a cake mix for emergency purposes and some brownie mixes when I can get them for a buck. The last cake mixes I purchased were .07. Considering that it costs .075 for a cup of flour, that was cheaper than scratch!


I had done a lot of research before I went to the class. Since I was sick and had a lot of time to surf the Internet, I watched a lot of videos. My daughter had not. What I took away from the class was that Kristin ( I'm terrible at names) spent a lot of time putting together a wonderful class. The basics were covered and it was presented well with a lot of handouts. It was a fun morning with my daughter.

I didn't know about Target's three coupon policy, and that target has deals that give gift cards and you can do multiple transactions to make best use of coupons scenarios. I don't usually shop at Target the one time I checked food prices, they were high. I didn't think our Target had much food.

I guess that's all.

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Jane

Suddenly saturday

Today is the extreme couponing class. If I can sneak in a blog,I will, if not, I'll post after we get home. Last nights dinner was home made pizza. We had chicken and black olive on one and pepperoni on the other.

I got a box of blueberries at SAFEWAYS and froze them. We like blueberry banana bread and blueberries are rich in anti-oxidents.

I am over budget, but I have stocked a lot because of stores closing and getting well below target prices. I suspect that next month will compensate for it. I still averaged 70.00 last quarter and under 75.00 the quarter before.

The object is not to pay full price, and not have so much that anything goes to waste, that takes some food management to see something that needs to be used up and incorporate it into your meals, even I'd you have to change your plans. Meal plans can be altered, but you can get into real trouble if you don't have one. It's to easy to fall into the drive through or take out trap if you are tired and hungry and you have no plan and everything is frozen. Having things that cook quickly and defrost quickly save the day.

Chicken cubes, taco meat and hamburger crumbles work fast in a pinch as well as eggs.

My daughter and I dissected a hamburger meal box. We did a whole group of blogs on the subject. What came out of it was a scratch recipe for cheeseburger macaroni and a reprint of my no brainer( my nephews description) pasta.

No Brainer Pasta. Named because my nephew when he was single got this recipe and called it a no Brainer because it is so simple.

1) grease ( spray with cooking spray) a 9X13 pan.
2) pour a 1 pound package of UNCOOKED, DRY pasta in the pan. You do have to open the box! LOL
3) open a can of pasta sauce. Add pasta sauce and ONE can full of water to the pan. Stir.
4) cover with foil and cook for 45minutes at 425 degrees or until pasta is tender.
5) uncover, sprinkle with grated cheese and any leftover meat you have and bake at 400 degrees for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Allow a few minutes to rest for the cheese to cool a bit.

Meantime, you can set the table and make a salad. I love passive cooking!

I have been getting pasta as low as .38 and as much as .51. Hunts pasta sauce for .77 and .78.
Cheese is still at 2.18 on a big sale. I have stocked. Use any meat you have left over.
Cost 1.80 plus a left-over meat. ...about the cost of the box alone. I paid over 2.00 for the box.

I have been getting a lot of good recipes from Betty Crocker. I signed up for them on her website and they come in my e mail. The Betty Crocker web site also has coupons and a ap where you can google an ingredient
you need to use up and it tells you recipes that call for it. A real useful tool.

I guess that's all,

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Jane

Finally Friday 7/26/13

First of all, I need to address couponing. My daughter and I are scheduled to go to an extre couponers couponing class Tommorrow. There is a video on u tube ( Stacymakescents). She is from the south, so some of her ideas don't make sense for the entire country, but she is funny and I learned a lot. There seems to be one website that has a relationship with manufacturers to make coupons available. it is necessary to download aoftware to print the coupons.
I have had no problem with the software, and I have listened to lots of videos on u tube, no one has reported any problem. Stacy addresses the issue in her seminar. I am throwing ideas that have worked for me out there, what and how much you take from it, is your call.

We had shrimp vegetable pasta last night. The pic is on Janes Groceries On The Cheap Facebook page. I am yet again trying to eat down the stock. It shouldn't be hard this week, there are no good specials. I got some vegetables and a chicken from IGA Wednesday. I still need to fill in some vegetables and SAFEWAYS has Kleenex on a coupon that is not part of the food budget. When you stock ahead and there is a slow week, you are not stuck paying full price. If I had to go shopping this week, I would go to Winco and the bread store. The bread store only because we are due and it is on the way so I make best use of our gas. We get 50 miles per gallon on the highway. But still I like to be as efficient as possible.


Ok Meals. I need to roast off the chicken I bought Wednesday. It is really fast to put a chicken on the oven to roast and go about getting other chores around the house.

How to roast a chicken

1) wash everything well after using it with raw meat. I have a glass cutting board that I can put through the dishwasher. Not so good on knives, but sanitary.

2) wash the chicken, clean out the inside if needed. Salt it inside. Stuff the inside with anything you have hanging around. Today it will be a piece of onion that I have from last night. It might be a lemon, orange or an apple. Drizzle it with olive oil and rub in in--both sides, top and bottom.

3) season it with salt and pepper, Sometimes I add thyme, rosemary, or lemon pepper.

4) I have a thermometer that plugs into the meat and has a timer that sits on the counter. You program the timer to the degree of done that you want and the meat you are cooking. It buzzes at you when the meat is at temp.

5) place chicken on roasting rack in oven at 375 degrees. I set the oven for 1 hour, 20 minutes, but let the thermometer do it's thing.

If you don't have a roasting rack, rough chop potatoes and carrots and put the chicken on the potatoes and carrots.


buying a chicken.

Never buy a chicken that is less than 3 pounds. Three pounds is the break even point for the ratio between meat and bone. In other words, you are paying for too much bone, and not enough meat. Most deli chickens are three pounds or less. You, most generally, are paying twice the price for deli chicken and getting less meat. You are better off getting a 4-5 pound chicken at a dollar a pound. I am still finding chickens for a buck a pound.

I use a breast for a meal. The other side of the breast is cut up for chicken Cassarole or pot pie, or buffalo chicken pizza. The dark meat is portioned for BBQ or another meal. The bones are saved for soup. If I had a larger family and chicken was a buck, I would roast off enough chickens to cover one meal a week for the month.
It takes very little more time, the same oven, and less work.


Meals

1) roast chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, salad
2) buffalo chicken pizza, salad
3) hot dogs, potato salad ( the last of the hot dogs)
4) sirloin tips on rice, salad, fruit
5) vegetable sauced spaghetti, salad
6) Mac and cheese, green beans
7) salmon, pesto potatoes, carrots, glazed

These meals total less than 30.00 for four people. The power of 1/2'price shopping.


I guess that's all

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Jane

Coupon alert!

Be sure to check coupon connections. I missed a coupon in the Safeway ad for Kleenex. .79
Hot dog or hamburger buns .99


That's all


Thanks

Jane

Four plus One equals FIVE!

The basis for dinner when on a thrifty budget is five dollars for dinner for 4 people. Based on the hypothetical
Family of two adults and two school aged children. USDA stats are on the Internet based on levels of budgets and size and age of family members.

the secret to five dollar dinners is to keep the protein cost to about 2-3 dollars. If you average this, you can afford a more expensive cut of meat ever so often.

Ideas

Chicken

Buffalo chicken Pizza
roast chicken
BBQ Legs and thighs
Chicken soup
Chicken pot pie
Chicken and dumplings
Chicken noodles
Chicken burritos
Chicken salad

And many more


Ground beef is another very versatile protein. ground meat can be ground turkey, pork, or beef, or a combination of them.

Tacos
Meat balls
Meatloaf
Pasta dishes
Soups
Stuffed peppers


Pork

Chops
Sausage (dinner)
Sausage, Cassarole
Quiche
Pizza
Loin roast
BBQ pork sandwiches



Then there is rice and beans , cheese, eggs in any number of dishes
Breakfast for dinner is a real fun way to mix things up.


Bean and rice burritos
Mac and cheese
Quiche



Just a few ideas, the Internet is full of them I just saw a recipe for chicken chimichangas on Facebook. I need to figure out a substitute for cream cheese or see if the cost of it makes the dish prohibitive. I just love chimichangas! I don't get them since the restraint that I got them at charged us twice for the same meal and I had to fight three months and write the attorney general to get my money back. Apparently not all the chain restraints are owned by the chain!

I think the point is that you can eat really good on a budget if you get your basic food 1/2 price.
Buy your stock items and protein at rock bottom prices and buy your veggies in season. The vegetables taste better and cost less...a winning combo. The trick is being flexible and knowing your prices.


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Jane

Things your grocer doesn't want you to know!

I used to be the accountant for a wholesale grocer years ago. It probably will come to no surprise to you that the stores have spent great time, money and effort to ensure that you spend more money at their store.

They know that most people go right when they enter a store.
They know that the longer you spend in a store, the more money you will spend. That's why some stores are constantly changing their layout.

The more people you bring with you, the more you will spend.

People are lazy. They look in the middle of the shelf. Grocery stores get "rent" called slotting fees from manufacturers to show their product on the eye level shelves.
So look down and up on the shelves for the better buys.

It is no accident that the toys are next to the kids sugary cereal. Or that they have impulse buys by the checkout lines to tempt you while you are waiting.

There are stores that shall remain a secret that have a 42 percent markup. Probably because the more exoctic foods and the fancier the store, the more markup they have to have to make a profit.

Never go shopping when you are too hungry. You will be tempted by too many impulse buys.

That is one reason going to the store every two days to buy two days worth of dinners is a budget mistake. Another is it wastes time and gas. Going to a store only because they have the friendliest checkout personnel is another dumb thing. If going to the grocery store is your social time, you need to get a life! Lol

After you get yourself set up, you will find that you spend less time on the whole FOOD thing than you did before.

My whole life isn't getting food cheap. I run two businesses, write a blog, belong to a service organization for women, work, and run a house and Im a grandmother.
I just budget my time, like I budget my food budget.

I found a book on ground meat recipes for 3.00. It has a lot of good recipes. Anytime you can find an inexpensive bool from "Taste of Home" it is a good investment. I have written for them, and many other home cooks have as well. Their recipes for the most part are down to earth recipes that are very doable. If they call for a mix,just adjust the recipe to scratch.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jane

The ads

I got the ads today so I thought I would give You a heads up early. I went to Fred Meyer, they hd no hamburger, they did have black beans for .50.

QFC

BREYERS ice cream 2.99
Raspberries 3/5
Grapes 1.28
Cucumbers .69


TOP
London broil 2.99
Blackberries 2.00
Tillmock ice cream 2.99
Butter 1.99@@
Hagn tuna.88
Lettuce .69@@
Coffee 5.99@@
Plums 1.49
Zucchini 1.00

SAFEWAYS
Cantaloupe 10/10
4 lbs blues 9.99
Strawberries 2/5
Plums .99
Club sandwich 5.00

ALBERTSONS
Cantaloupe .39@@
Tombstone pizza BOGO
Butter BOGO
Cherries 3.99

IGA

Strawberries 2/5
Corn 2/1.98
Chicken .99
Eggs 1.49
Butter 1.98@@


That's about all. I am seeing plenty of fruit and vegetable buys, the only stock item I am finding is tuna .
I would say that it would be a good week to investigate winCo or rely on your stock. I think that there is a coupon out there for pizza.

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Jane

Fred Meyer and sloppy joes

I was not sleeping last night and got up for a little snack of some berries and watched Diners, Drive-ins and dives.
There was a guy making sloppy joes. He used a mixture of carrots and celery first, then added the meat. He used tomato paste and a little vinegar. I didn't see enough of it, it was fast, so I'll have to experiment. It just dawned on me that adding some veggies would stretch the hamburger and get some veggies in unsuspecting husbands or kids!

On to Fred Meyer. Their ads run from Sunday to Saturday and come. The newspaper. Imbought the newspaper from the dollar store, that is the second time that I didn't get the coupons, I was supposed to get coupons free from the times and that didnt happen either, I think that I will stick with getting my coupons on line for free. It's hard to find coupons for real food anyway.

Grapes .98
Strawberries 2.59
20 percent hamburger 1.99, limit 2 ****
Butter 2.00@@@
Vegetables, beans, or tomatoes 2/1.00 Limit 6 @@@
Fred Meyer coffe 5.99
2 lbs blues 4.98
Plums 1.49


@@@ means coupon needed from the newspaper ad. I don't know of there are any in the store.

The formula for ground beef price check is :

Price times 1. XXX. XXX is the percentage of fat. 2.00 a pound , twenty percent fat is 2.40.
Remember to fry your meat, drain it, and pour boiling water over it to reduce the fat. I return it to the pan with some water and the taco seasoning if I am making taco meat.

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Jane

The basics, part 3: cooking from scratch

Cooking from scratch strikes fear in many at heart. But, it's not as hard as its meant to be. I like to tell the story my daughter tells. She has been teaching low income and homeless kids for several years now. One day, she was eating with the kids and had brought some leftover Mac and cheese. A child at the table asked her of that was xxxxdelux Mac and cheese. She told her, no, it was some her mother made. The girl was in shock....your mother made Mac and cheese?

There are a lot of recipes that are as easy as making to same thing from scratch. Really, scratch cooking is a matter of mastering a few techniques. There are videos on the television and u tube all the time. There is a Martha Stewart series running on PBS. Whether you like her or not, she covers the basics quite well.

There is not much room for ready made food in a thrifty budget. That being said, there are a few things that are as cheap or cheaper ready made, and a few that the time involved to make them isn't worth the difference I price. Refried beans and tortillas come to mind. Instant mashed potatoes, some times of the year are cheaper in the pouch.
Beans have a very short fridge life. It is not safe to keep rice and beans very long. It is easier for me to use canned, especiallY if I can get them cheap enough.

The crock pot can be your best friend in the kitchen. There is something to be said for coming home after a long day to dinner waiting for you.

Pre cooking a batch of something takes almost no more time than cooking once, and you have several dinners done.
There are books out there that cook a whole months worth of meals in one day, and then the majority of dinner is done all month. I haven't the stamina to do that. I find that if I take one loss leader or really cheap meat a week and cook enough to cover us for the month, I am better off. I've paid the least I could for the meat, I have been able to control the portions so I have no waste, and I have cooked once and cleaned the kitchen once!

The major grocery chains rotate what they put on sale cheap. Typically, I

cook sausage crumbles from a log of sausage I get from Costco.

Cook 9 percent ground beef from Costco wholesale or SAFEWAYS

Cook several chickens when they are 1.00 a pound. ( see previous blog on the difference between deli chicken and scratch chicken) a real eye opener.

Cook a pork loin or beef roast

Cut up beef or pork cubes from a steak cut and braise them.

When the meat is already cooked, it makes cooking dinner really fast and less stressful at the most hectic time of the day for many families.


I did a whole series of blogs on a hamburger meal box. It, too, is a real eye opener.
There is my answer to hamburger pasta bake, my nephew named it no brainier pasta.

Basically, the more scratch you can make something, the cheaper it will be and the more nutritious it will be. The more control you have over what it has in it. There are many recipes that are what my grown children call no Brainer. When a recipe is really easy, and takes almost no non- passive time, it is easy to enlist an older child or spouse to start diner of you are going to be late.



When I make meal plans, I use a matrix so that we are well balanced and everyone is happy some of the time since I have a family with varied wants. My matrix is different than yours probably is and mine might change beforemthemdrought effects are over!


2 Beef
2 pork or chicken
2 vegetarian
1 fish

That's all I can remember to say. Please feel free to read other basic posts. I do it at least once a month.

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Jane

The basics part 2, shopping

To recap from yesterday. We have analyzed the grocery ads and picked the best TWO stores this week. We do this to make best use of specials and give us a couple of choices for the best produce. Plan your route and incorporate any other errands to maximize your gas.

Prepare for your trip.
1) check coupon connections,com or the coupon matchup in your area for any matchups that will work for you. Many coupons these days you can print right off your computer. Many are for garbage you don't need anyway, but I can usually gleam a few bucks. I have been getting toothpaste for free. Gathering enough to take a bunch to the women's shelter. my husband jokes that ill be the toothpaste "fairy". LOL. I have been getting Yoplait coupons a lot.
if you haven't already signed up for store cards, do it. Many have web sites you can download coupons from.

2) bring your grocery flyers, your list, your coupons, any list of coupons you down loaded on your store card. Get in the store, , get your list , and get out. The more time you spend in a store, the more money you will spend. There is a whole blog on the Phycology of retail.


3) Keep your eyes open. There are a lot of stores that carry food. Each one has their specialty items and their individual attributes.

WinCo and Costco are warehouse stores. At WinCo , you have to bag your own, so bring a helper and your walking shoes, it's huge. Costco has good prices on household necessities like TP and laundry soap.
The bananas are cheaper and lots of veggies and dairy are pretty stable prices. Winco has a very large bulk bin isle and is a price stable store, they have low prices all the time, no specials. Some things are just about rock bottom prices. You won't get the best buys on soap etc at the grocery store. The grocery stores margin of profit is too much.
This is probably a no Brainer, but the fancy alternative, we sell no xxxxx food stores are not your best friend for low income shopping.

The Dollar Tree has a fair amount of food. Sunflower seeds, pepperoni, and frozen vegetables are always low priced.

The bakery outlet covers your bread And a occasional cookie buy .

We have over-stock stores. Many times what they do have is a lot cheaper. Big Lots has a twenty percent off the entire store ever so often. I can usually score hunts diced tomatoes for the lowest price. hunts peels their tomatoes with steam, some other companies peel theirs with chemicals. grocery Outlet is good for regular coffee and cheeses. They have a wide selection of specialty cheeses and most at a good price. Their produce is not as good as I would like. Some prices are not cheaper than sale prices elsewhere, you have to know your prices.

Occasionally our drug store has good food buys. Not so much since the food isles have been replaced with booze.

Don't overlook the alternative stores, always check pull dates.

No ONE store is going to have the best prices.

We go to 2 chain stores a week. We hit the warehouse stores about every 4-6 weeks, and we hit the alternative stores when we are in the area for other errands. We hit the bakery outlet about every 6-8 weeks. I fill in with sale bread and refrigerator bread.

Set your grocery allowance per week. If you are on SNAP, divide the monthly allotment by 4.2. if you spend more one week because you have stocked or got a good meat sale, then back off the next week to compensate.

When you shop, you should get to the point where you can buy

A bulk meat purchase at a loss leader price.
Fruits and vegetables in season to round out your meals, and bread and dairy.
A stock item, or two that is at a rock bottom price.

Basically you are filling in your stock and adding your perishable you need to fill out your meals.

By purchasing a loss leader meat once a week and batch cooking it, you have a variety of meats, but you are getting your meat at the lowest price and making the most efficient use of your cooking time.
I rotate chicken, pork sausage at Costco, hamburger, pork loin or beef roast or London broil. It depends on what meat I can find cheap. I rotate the meat in the freezer and add a couple of vegetarian meals.

The object of your shopping is to feed your family real food, but not pay full price for anything.

The dreaded topic: junk food.
If you are on SNAP, it is based on the figures from the USDA chart for thrifty meals. It is on the web and updated every month or so, a couple of months delayed. It does not afford what my mother used to call peanuts, popcorn, and cracker jacks. In other words, the unhealthy food is not part of their plan. The good news is that of your children just HAVE to have a sugar coated cereal or other snack food, most of them have coupons you can find and they can be almost if not free if you live in a state that has double coupons. The mean person that I am, would let the kids find their coupons and sales to match them. If they want the junk food really bad , they will invest the time, if not, they will eat good nutritious food.

Admittedly, this shopping plan takes a little more time. You are trading some time for money. I always could find the time.

If you spend more time on the front end of the "get the dinner on the table train" and less time on the back end, you will be money ahead. You get PAID for shopping, not for cooking.

There are ways to efficiently put dinner on the table that take less time, making up for the time spent shopping more than one store. Scratch cooking is tomorrow's topic.

I do these basic posts monthly Each one is off the top of my head. I suspect some are better written than others, please feel free to look at other posts on the subject.

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Jane

The basics, part one, planning

I started this blog when it was brought to my attention that there were people that were running out of money before they ran out of month on SNAP.  In my opinion, no child should have to wake up to the insecurity of having no food in the house.  And, no child should have top ramen and potato chips for a diet.  I can't feed the world, but I can teach people how to feed their families on SNAP -and still have some food in the pantry at the end of the month.  

I was a single parent for seven years.  It was during the time of gas shortages and double digit inflation,  I didn't get a raise for three years.  I already knew some concepts from my mother.  I set out to learn everything I could about economizing on food.  I read everything I could get my hands on.  When I was in a position to not have to economize on food, it was a habit.  A habit that afforded us a better quality of life and the security of always having food in the house.

Groceries on the cheap takes a three-pronged approach to purchasing and cooking meals-- putting food on the table.

1. Planning and organizing
2. Shopping wisely
3. Cooking from scratch

I plan to cover the basics over the next three days.  I have done this about every month now, please feel free to re read older posts.  I type off the top of my head, every basic post is different.   A lot of it is just common sense.  

PLANNING AND ORGANIZING

Like anything worth doing,  a plan is a good step to insure success.  

• Start with a simple list.  List 7-14 meals that use inexpensive sources of protein that your family will eat.  The object is to get good food into your family's belly-- just at a cheaper price. No cheating, no boxed meals allowed.  in our house, inexpensive protein would be cheese, rice, beans, pork, chicken, ground beef and sometimes roast, and eggs.  

• Now write a pretend grocery list that you will need to cook these meals.  You will probably see a pattern of ingredients.  You  are basically going to cook from scratch.  If you have never done that, by the time you finish this, you'll be a pro at getting basic food on the table!   
• Make a list of shelf ready food that you will need  to make your recipes. There should, be a list of 10-15.  In our house it would be pasta, pasta sauce, refried beans, beans, diced tomatoes, black olives, instant mashed potatoes, some tuna and salmon, and some chicken noodle soup and green beans and corn.  
• Now, we are going to track the prices on these items. Using a notebook or a computer spreadsheet, list each item and the size of the package.  Now head a line:  date, store, coupon?  Final cost.  
• Use the ads you get in the mail to enter this data whenever  those items ( your stock items) are on sale.  Sales run in a 8-12 week cycle. You are  looking for what I call your target price.  Some people call it the rock bottom price.   This is not a  new concept.   Businessmen buy stocks low, and sell high.  You  are buying your food when it is a rock bottom price, and eating it when it is at a high price.  Why would you buy a can of pasta sauce for 1.59, when you can buy two cans for 1.57?  The difference is a second meal for the same price.  
• When a item ON YOUR LIST is at or below your target price, buy 1) as many as you can 
• 
  
• afford, b) as many as the store allows, or c) as many as you need to fill in your self projected allotment-- whichever comes first.  If I use something once a week I try for 24 cans.  If I use it once a month I keep 6.  Things like catsup, mustard, and mayo, I keep one ahead.  When I open my shelf can, I start looking for a good sale.  
• This is stockpiling to make sure you never have to deal with that dreaded F word....FULL PRICE.  This is not hoarding. We aren't buying hundreds of something we will never use or can't be used before it expires.  Most canned goods have a long  shelf life.  Pasta has a 8 year shelf life.  Canned meats and fish have a shorter shelf life-- like three years or so.  Not much different than our grandmothers did when they brought in the vegetables from the farm and canned them for the winter.  

When the grocery ads come in the mail, get a piece of paper and section it off in quarters,  place the name of a chain store on the top of each section.  Go through the ads and write down

       Anything that is on your staple list at a rock bottom price.  

       Anything in the produce line that is cheap that you can fill out a meal with.  

       Anything in the protein line that is on sale cheap.  

Now, cross off anything that is cheaper somewhere else.  , and anything you don't need.  

Pick the TWO best stores for the week.  Add any items that you need to replenish.

Write down a quick list of meals ( penciled in) from your inventory on the fridge and freezer and the pantry and grocery list.   Finish your meal plans when you get home from the store.  Many times , I have found that a meat on sale that  either doesn't look good, they don't have it, or it's just too big a package to be doable.  Ten pounds of pork loin that had already been frozen wasn't doable for me for example.  

That's all for today.  

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Jane 

The rest of the shopping

I finished the rest of the shopping  today.  ALBERTSONS has a good .25,.50.75.1.00 sale.  We had a good laugh when I asked where the enchilada sauce was ( it was .50) and the  guy  pointed it out right under the oriental foods sign.

Black sliced olives were .50.  8 ounce tomato sauce was a quarter.  Those are really old prices.  I am not familiar with the brand,  So  I bought a minimal of items. The red peppers were HUGE for a buck.  Ditto english cucumbers and baby carrots were a buck.  Most of the time I just buy bulk carrots, but sometimes a baby carrot is desirable.  Pork steaks were very cheap.  I didn't purchase them because I am we'll stocked and am using ground beef for my stock meat this week.
Sour cream was cheap, and I used coupons for the .50 Yoplait.

We went to business Costco.  I got ten pounds of 7 percent hamburger for less than 3.00 a pound.  Upon studying the marathon cooking recipes,I have found that many have few ingredients added to cooked hamburger crumbles.  It is just as fast and a lot more flexible to just cook and portion control freeze the crumbles.  Ir. one recipe calls for a layered casserole of a hamburger layer with cr mushroom soup and milk, hash browns, and cheese.   I would leave the  hash browns in their bag, the cheese in the fridge, and just bag the portion of hamburger.  It's so fast and easy to pull the there bags, open the soup and mix the meat and layer the casserole.  There are only two of us that eat meat, so I will be making more packages than the book calls for.  I purchased ten pounds rather than twenty.

We eat a lot of tacos through the winter.  It is easy to pull together if dinner needs to happen in a hurry.  Meatballs are a good mainstay because there is so much you can do with them and it is easy to pull as many as you need out of the freezer and be about cooking dinner.

• Meatballs and spaghetti
• Meatball subs
• Meatballs with gravy on noodles
• Meatballs with cream sauce on rice 
• Meatballs with gravy on mashed potatoes
• Meatballs in a vegetable based soup

I usually make up the meatball batch and portion control the balls with a portion scoop.  Bake them on a 1/4 sheet pan with a rack on top to drain the grease.  

Hamburger crumbles can go into any hamburger dish or sauce or on a pizza.  

I have started filling out a meal plan calendar that was on the book I just downloaded.  It doesn't have dates on the calendar , just boxes.  I am trying to use the meal plans based on what needs to be eaten in the fridge and pantry this paring down the pantry.  

I am still sitting close to budget, and we have stock.  The USDA stats are based on actual food eaten. In order to grocery shop on the cheap, you need to keep a stock.  Besides, of you are scratch cooking there are things that you don't use for one meal, catsup, mayo, baking staples, vinegar, oil etc.  

ten pounds of good hamburger cost me almost 30.00.  I would estimate that I can get 12 meals (for 4) out of it.  7 percent hamburger has little shrinkage and meatballs and meatloaf have extra ingredients and protein.  Off the top of my head 2.50 a meal.  That makes a five dollar meal very doable to add a starch and some veggies and or fruit.  

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Jane 

Year anniversary and updated notes

It has  been over a year since I started this blog.  in some ways, it seems like yesterday, and sometimes it seems like a zillion years ago,  I have learned a lot, and have hoped that I could reach someone that wants help lowering their food bill.

I spent some time this afternoon, researching enchilada sauce and people's grocery "hauls" .  Enchilada sauce  is really simple, but costs a lot to buy in a can.  Basically, from what I can gather, it is a white sauce that is made with water instead of milk with chili powder added to it.  Certainly, not hard, and certainly not worth the dollar plus a can price tag.

Enchiladas took on a wide variety of recipes from cheese, bean, beef and chicken and everything in between.  Some looked better than others.  Some presented themselves as a do ahead inexpensive meal-- a good addition to a on the cheap menu plan.

The grocery hauls were a real eye opener.  I guess we have never been rich, so the thought of paying 80-150 dollars a week and not getting Any real meals out of it is just bazaar.

One. lady spent  80.00 and got organic vegetables, milk, and one pound package of sausage for the weeks meals.   The stats say that we to the grocery store on an average of 1.5 times a week and twenty percent of our grocery items are snack foods and a very large percentage of our purchases are impulse buys.  The second lady spent 150.00 , most of it was pop and snack foods.  She was 1/2 way into the video before I saw real food and I didn't ever see a real meal.  Ie, protein , vegetable, and starch.

The secret to shopping on the cheap is to buy real food, skip the snacks, and stick to your list avoiding impulse purchases.  the secret to an extremely low food bill is not to be extreme.  Extreme couponing and buying 93 bottles of hot pepper sauce doesn't work, but neither does buying every speciality food in the store.  It's buying real food as healthy as you can make it.

Yesterday we had BBQ beef sandwiches, potato salad, jello salad and cucumber salad.  The baby of the family loves cucumber salad.  tonight we will have pizza to use up our other crust.  We have been eating a lot of fruit this summer because the prices have been good and when summer  is over, we will revert back to winter vegetables.  Well enjoy the fresh fruits while we can.
 I was trying to take pictures of a weeks worth of food, but it doesn't always work.  maybe next week.  I am not a good photographer, and some of our meals taste food, but aren't exactly picture perfect!

My daughter went to Big Lots after work.  Shoreline store is going to be a goodwill so everything is 1/2 price.  She stocked up on presents she knows are coming up, and got a potty seat for the baby before she needed it.  Big lots was already cheaper, and then she got 50 percent too.  She got a Madam  Alexander doll for the baby that was marked down, and then 1/2 price.  The  food was almost gone.  The  Lynnwood store is still open.

There is an extreme couponing class NEXT Saturday.  My daughter and I are going to go.  I did not use any coupons this week.  I pretty much stuck to fruits and veggies and bread.  The great buys just weren't happening this week.

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Jane

Downloaded book

Today I did something  I almost never do.  I downloaded a e book on once a month cooking mostly because it also had an extra bonus of batch cooking with ground meat.  She has a wide variety  of recipes and a mirage of tools to make monthly cooking a doable project.  I, however, am too old to pull that one off.  I don't have the stamina anymore.  Batch cooking is the best I can do without help.

The book printed quickly and I was able to bind it in three sections.  I bound the hamburger
Extra separately.  I'll try it as soon as I get ready to batch cook again.
Most marathon cooking can be broken down to several sessions.

The frugal moms guide to once a month cooking by Candice Anderson.  It's on her website and you can download with pay pal.

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Jane

The ads such as they are , updated

I guess we can't have good buys all of the time.  I for one am well stocked.  It's weeks like this that it is quite evident that it pays to stock when prices are rock bottom.

ALBERTSONS

 Bone in pork chops 1.29
Peaches 1.28
Ylait .50
Eggs . 79, limit 2 FSS only


ALBERTSONS specials
.25 tomato sauce, paste
.50 Beans , canned tomatoes, chopped olives
.75 crescent rolls
1.00 olives

HORMEL lunch meat 2.99

TOP

Grapes 1.27
Milk 2.59
Country ribs 1.99


QFC
Blues 4.99
Pork shoulder 1/79
Yoplait 10/5
Cherries 2.99
Lettuce .99

SAFEWAYS

Round steak. 2.69
Pork loin 1.99
Milk 2.69
Nectarines 1.79
Cherries 1.77
Blues Friday only 2/5

Thats about it.  There is a wide variety of prices on produce.  pork loin seems to be a good stock meat.  I am not familiar with the essentials brand at ALBERTSONS, but if the quality is there, the price is pretty much rock bottom.  nhave not seen .50 beans for some time.  As well as .25 tomato products. I think if you haven't used this brand before, I would buy one of what I needed to stock, and try them.  If I liked the quality, I would go back for more.

Otherwise, I would be tempted to go to Winco, even without an coupon.

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Jane

Protein Stretchers

I thought I would talk about what you can do to stretch the protein when you are making a dish with little protein.

  I ran across a recipe for a ham and veggie casserole with  a little,white sauce with cheese on it. I n that case I would mimic the tasts of the sauce and make a cheese biscuit to go with.  These  would also taste good  potato soup,or a salad with some meat in it.

I get a bag of ham cubes (about a 1/4 inch dice ) when I can find them.  I used to get them  cheap at grocery outlet.  I got them the last time at QFC.  They are not cheap at QFC, I watch for them.  Winco has  them cheaper if we get up there. H am is a strong taste and we can get several meals out of a 4 dollar or less bag...

• Ham, peppers and pineapple pizza ( split pineapple can from a sweet and sour pork or chicken. ( stair step)
• Ham and cheese quiche 
• Split pea and ham soup
• Ham and scalloped potatoes
• Ham and cheese pasta
• potato and ham Cassarole 

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Potato and Ham Cassarole 

Cut up:

2 Cups  russet potatoes, cubed

1 Cup carrots, sliced

1 cup celerymchopped, sliced

Cook , covered, in a microwave safe bowl with 1/2 cup water with a dash of salt about 5 minutes .  Add 4 T chopped peppers and onion ( TOTAL). Stir,  cook an additional 3-4 minutes or until the peppers and onion is crisp tender.  

Grease a microwave safe Cassarole.  Transfer the veggies to the casserole.  make 2 cups of white sauce with cheese,  pour sauce and 1 cup ham cubes into casserole and stir.  Heat for. 3-4 minutes.  

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Cheddar Biscuits  

place in food processor

2 cups flour

1T baking powder

2 T sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Pulse dry ingredients together.  

Add  6T butter and pulse until butter Los the size of peas.  

Add

4 ounce cheese, grated and pulse 3-4 times (seconds). 

Add  3/4 cup milk and pulse just long enough to combine wet and dry ingredients.  Do not over mix.  

Pat dough flat.  Cut Bisquits.  Bake 20-25 minutes at 450 degrees.  

Another way to boost protein is to add a pudding or creme brûlée for desert.

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Jane

Found recipes

I, while cleaning up the computer stand  waiting for the repairman to do his thing, found some sauce recipes that are much cheaper than purchased sauce.  Sometimes a sauce makes the difference between  something is really good, or ho hum.

Teriyaki Sauce

4-1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 T brown sugar
2 cups beef or chicken broth
2 T soy sauce
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tap ginger
Red pepper flakes



Sweet and sour sauce

4 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
Dash pepper

1 can pineapple chunks
1/4 cup vinegar

In a small bowl, combine first four ingredients. Drain pineapple, reserving juice.  Stir juice and vinegar into cornstarch mixture, stirring until smooth.  Stir into pan juices after cooking the meat of choice.


Microwave cheese sauce

In a micro safe bowl, melt 30-40 seconds
2 T butter

Stir on 3 T flour, salt and peppers till smooth paste.

Gradually add 1-1/2 cups milk
Cook 1-1/2  to 2 minutes until thick and bubbly, storing after 1 minute.

Stir in 1/2 cup grated cheese until cheese is melted.


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Jane