How do you spell coupon .

I went to Walgreens and rite aid coupon book in tow.
I spent nine  dollars and change


I got
Daisy cottage cheese
6 ounce total toothpaste
2 speed stick deodorants
2 pkg sugar free Russell stover chocolates
Six bars soap
1 fingernail polish

Sunday ads

I got the ads yesterday, but didn't have time yesterday.

Fred Meyers

Corned beef brisket 1.97
Pears .68
Cauli, broccoli .88
Starbucks k cups 5.99@@$$
Milk 4/5 ( second we of the month)@@
Bread 3/4
Dreyers 2/5
Grapes 2.48
Yoplait 10/5$$

Fred Meyer veggies 12 ox frozen .69@@

Walgreens
Toothpaste with coupon FREE with rewards.
Speed stick deodorant.  2.00 with a coupon in the paper makes it a dollar.

I've lost Rite Aid  add.   I didn't find anything spectacular.  I need to spend my four dollars up reward.  My chocolate sugar free is 2/3 .  

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Jane

Yesterday

Yesterday's trip was interesting to say the least.  We went to grocery outlet.  I found good potatoes and strawberries .  The specialty cheese as non existent.   We went to SAFEWAYS, the dollar store ( one stop) and QFC on the way home.

Milk
Yogurt with a coupon
2-2lb bricks of cheese
Blue cheese

Bread
Cake
Pie
Pumpkin bread mix

Strawberries
Blackberries
Blueberries
Carrots
 celery
Potatoes
Frozen blueberries
Peppers
Salad greens
Broccoli


Beef tips (2 lbs)
Pork loin (5 lbs)
Bacon
Pepperoni

Split peas (2)



I, still sitting at sixty two or so dollars a week average.   My stock protein is pork loin and cheese.  Last night we had a bacon turkey,cheese panini  and some cherry pie.  Pie at QFC was cheaper than I could make it for and it was right out of the oven.  Yum.

Know your prices, stock when prices are low, stick to budget.  If you spend more one week, spend less another week.  Use coupons judiciously. I only used 2.75 in coupons.  Two for meat, one for yoghurt.  I am due to download recipes and coupons today.  I got sleeves for my recipe book so that they keep clean at the dollar store. Pepperoni is .50 with a coupon.  A little bit goes a long way on a pizza along with olives and cheese and peppers.  I chop and freeze peppers. They are a good addition to a recipe for colour.

I got the best quality of produce at the best prices shopping more than one store.  Blackberries ranged from four dollars to 1.50.  Frozen blues were cheaper.  They are both rich in antioxidants and easy to add to recipes.  

Breakfast for dinner  is a good way to stretch a dollar. Pancakes or waffles with some bacon and fruit works. Or make yoghurt parfaits with some granola and blueberries.  .  Kids love  it.  Quiche is another hit  in this family. Stuffed baked potatoes bar is another hit.  Bits of taco meat, chili, broccoli, cheese, salsa, sour cream.....   Mac and cheese is another favorite. You can make soup from just about anything.  Slow cooker recipes are all over the Internet.  Some of them are a bit too fat laden, or have too many expensive ready mades in them, but recipes can be adjusted or passed over for more healthy  ones.  

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Jane

Friday shopping trip

This should prove interesting. I did not really go shopping last week.  I picked up a few things on sale  with coupons or rewards at the drug stores.  To say that the food isles at the drug stores were limiting would be an understatement , but if you know your prices you can score.  That goes for the overstock stores too.  Grocery outlet is mostly groceries.  I tend to stay clear of the produce unless I am going to use it immediately.  It's not as fresh as I would like it.  You save  NO money if it goes bad before you can use it.  big lots has a few isles, but what they have can be a bargain.  I passed on the fruit cups for the backpack kids because they were set in jello.  I think they want more pure fruit.  I get no sugar added if I can.  I am truly against filling a child with  16 grams of refined sugar.  LOL

Winco had better prices last summer.  I still managed to find a few bargains and they do have the most extensive bulk food isle I have ever seen.  I do wish that they had dry milk.  There are mixes that take dry milk, but it is more expensive than regular milk.


I actually have a need list this week.  That hasn't happened in a long time.  The specials are almost non existent and the ads are getting smaller and smaller.  My plan is to go to grocery outlet, SAFEWAYS and QFC and see what I can accomplish.  

I hear that ALBERTSONS is going to buy out SAFEWAYS in our area.  It was predicted that we would wind up with a few companies controlling the grocery market.  That is a little scary to me. If that happens Kroger ( Fred Meyers and QFC) and ALBERTSONS will pretty much have the market. TOP foods is pushing a lot of organic and farm raised etc.  I don't know of they are trying to enter the specialty store market, or just trying to be a hybrid.  As it is now, I am finding the best buys at QFC and SAFEWAYS.   I am beginning to see a pattern  between Fred Meyer and QFC.  ALBERTSONS is pushing their own brand a lot, and it seems to be an ok quality and much cheaper.

It will be interesting what the justice department thinks about that move!  

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Jane

To Thursday.

It's Thursday.  I had another bout with Mr. Barrett, so I didn't sleep last night.  Baby came up to visit really early, because her mom had to of to the dentist before work. Ugh!   I digress, this is  about food.

What to do with what you got.

There is not a lot of sales this week.  Cheese is  on a good sale several places.  If  you already have some bricks; grate it , add a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch to it, and freeze it.
I have run on to a couple of new Mac and cheese recipes lately that kick the childhood favorite up a notch.  Pasta is .79 at Fred Meyers threw this Saturday. Milk is  on sale at ALBERTSONS, as well as clams.  Can't you kist smell the clam chowder.   LOL.  I have,  however , got clams for a dollar recently. SAFEWAYS has pork loin for 1.99.  The only problem I see with that is that you have to buy the whole thing and it has already been frozen. They have pot roast for 2.99.  That would've a nice treat.   Shrimp is five dollars a pound., a nice  treat too.  I usually stor fry ot with some veggies, my husband would eat a whole pound by himself!

Campbell's soup is .69, and there are ten cent per coupons out there.

Top foods has diced tomatoes for two bucks.  That just goes to show you that not everything in an ad is a real sale.  I pay a buck for those cans.  Even of you buy two small cans for .68 each, you won't have two bucks.  Sometimes,  smaller cans are cheaper.  You really need to know your prices.

I guess it doesn't matter whether you have the same prices in your neck of the woods or not, knowing your prices and taking advantage of a good sale to use the products in your meal plans is a good way to cut your food bill. Once your stock is built, just add the things that you don't normally buy to keep your mealtimes fresh.  Add veggies that are in season and inexpensive.

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Jane

Wicked Wednesday - the ads

I actually got the ads in time this week, such as they are.  I, not seeing many real sales,but here goes....

QFC

MANDARINS 3.99 (3 lbs)
Broccoli,cauliflower  .99
Blackberries 2/3
Pie 2.99
Smoked sausage 3/10$
Yoplait 10/5$$
Tillamook cheese 4.99----only FSS


TOP
TILLAMOOK YOGURT 10/5
Tillamook cheese  4.99
Strawberries 5.98

SAFEWAYS
Pork loin ( whole) 1.99
Dreyers 2.99
HORMEL entres, Lloyd's tubs bogo$$

5 dollar Friday
Shrimp
Pizza
Cake mix/ brownies 5/5

ALBERTSONS
Milk 2/5@@
Strawberries 2.99
Grapes 2.99


That's about all.   If I was going to buy a batch cook item , it would be the pork loin at SAFEWAYS. Provided it looked good and wasn't too big.  If it os too big, you might split it with a friend.

Otherwise, it would be a good week to stock up on cheese, it is 2.50 a pound several places.
Pasta is still .79 at Fred Meyers. M

There isn't  a lot in any ad, and the ads are getting smaller and smaller.  Ot might be a good time to explore Winco or Costco wholesale.

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Jane

Terrific Tuesday

It's  Tuesday.   Last night my husband made Mac and cheese with blue cheese and ham.  It actually tasted good, I wouldn't have out those flavors together. Betty Crocker this week has macaroni with ranch and bacon. Bumping the flavors of Mac and cheese up a notch can make dinner more interesting-- spice up the winter blues.

I never pay more than a dollar for pasta.  Lately I have been getting it for around .75.  I have also got it  for fifty cents more frequently,  I have got it for as low as .38.  I have not found coupons for regular pasta lately.  I have found some where double white fiber worked.   Lasagna is almost never on sale.   I have made noodles from scratch, but not since cooking school.   It's a long arduous task, and I don't find the time is  worth the difference in price.  We don't have lasagna often.

One of our favorites is stir fried shrimp and veggies with olive oil on spaghetti noodles. I can still get shrimp at Safeways  for five bucks occasionally.

We have a standard outline for meal plans. It makes the task easy.  I work the meal plan to include what perishables  are on sale cheapest and what is on the fridge that needs to be eaten.

Four plus one is five: four people! one meal! five bucks.   That doesn't mean every meal has to be  five   bucks.  It means seven meals have to be 35.00.  Averaging affords you some more variety and a treat every now and then.   If one meal is a frittata, you can afford shrimp another day.  I can still  find cheese for two bucks a pound occasionally.  I want to stay close to a max of  2.50.  They ate predicting eight dollars a pound.  It will pay you to stock a little.  Too much will go bad before you can use ot.  I grate cheese and freeze it.  Toss it with a little cornstarch to keep it from clumping together.  Most of our cheese os grated anyway.  Costco wholesale os the best price I have found so far.

2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish or shellfish

This is our  matrix. Yours may be different.
 Starting   with a plan and  backing into it by using the perishables at your disposal is an easy way to assure variety of meals and use up what's on the fridge.

For instance. I got pizza crusts on sale cheap at Big Lots 20 percent sale. We might have a Buffalo chicken pizza this week.  


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Jane

Monday madness

I hate extremists.  I'm sure as people they are very nice, kind, wonderful people.  So I guess what I should say is that I hate extreme attitudes.  It's like it is out of balance with reality.  I think a lot has to do with the extreme reality shows on tv, some of which I don't think have a lot to do with reality.  LOL. Who really cooks their lasagna in the dishwasher.  And what savings is there in that. Or buy several  hundred bottles of pop.  No one  needs 100 bottles of pop.  I went the first  18 years of my life maybe having two glasses of pop, and that was root beer floats.  I guess I am too much of a libra and like balance and some degree of moderation and reality.

I didn't grocery shop this week per say.   I usually can get that project done on about an hour, maybe an hour and twenty minutes,  I spent more than an hour yesterday because we went to the drug stores and big lots and took the baby and her mother with too. Now I remember why I used to leave the children with their father when I went shopping.
It's just too hard to concentrate.  I had planned my trip so that I knew exactly what I was going to buy at Walgreens and Rite  Aid.  Walgreens took a bit longer because the toothpaste didn't ring up with it's Catalina.  It wasn't in  the system yet.  I think they're  still training people and getting the bugs worked out in a new store.

Big lots has a small section of food, and their sanitary supplies are the cheapest I have found .(besides the free ones I got at Rite Aid.)   They had their 20 percent day.  It was crowded and hard to move down the isles. When you a twenty percent markdown to already cheap prices, you have really good buys.  I didn't get a whole lot, but what I did get was a remarkable price.  Things that would normally cost 2.50 I got for .80.  I got chocolate ice cream wafer cookies for .80.  Craisens for 2.00.  Three pizza crusts for 2.20.     Too bad it only happens three times a year.  And, they don't take coupons or snap.

I digress.  Shopping alternative stores takes some time because they have a limited amount of product and specialize in certain products.  No one store has the best prices on everything.  I tend not to go to the alternative/ overstock stores every week.  I go when we are out of  or running low on certain  things and we are in the area for something else-- probavly every four to six weeks.  This week it just coincided with the twenty percent sale and I did not go to the chain stores.  I spent a total of 25.00.  I at least doubled my money .

It might seem that my whole life is shopping.  Not so.  I write  a blog every morning.  Other than that, I spend an hour or so a week shopping and about 15-20 minutes planning my trip.  When I can get in and out of a store with a list, I spend a lot less time that the person that wanders up and down the isles putting whatever looks good in their cart; or like the people I see that stand and ponder every selection like it's a life or death decision.

I thought this recipe I found sounded nutritious and would taste good.  There are mixed vegetables at the dollar store.  I pay .50 to a dollar for pasta.  It is .79 at Fred Meyers this week.  I make chicken stock from the bones off the chicken when it is that week. And cheese is what's left over.  It was on sale last week.

Extreme Mac and Cheese

1-1/2 cups uncooked macaroni
1 package mixed veggies California blend ( broccoli, carrots , cauliflower)

2 cups white sauce made with 1/2 chicken broth and 1/2 milk
2 cups grated, assorted cheeses

1 tsp dry mustard, or a T Dijon.
Salt, pepper

1) cook macaroni according to directions on package.  Add veggies during the last 4-6 minutes of cooking time. ( or thaw on the microwave). Drain and place in 9X13 greased pan.

2) meanwhile, make 2 cups of white sauce using I cup chicken stock and 1 cup milk.

3) add cheese until you get a thick cheese sauce and add mustRd, salt and pepper.

4) add cheese sauce to macaroni in baking pan and stir.

5) bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until dish is warmed through.

12 servings.


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Jane

Pressure cooker split pea soup.

Tonight we are  having split pea soup cooked in the pressure cooker.  I have ham cubes and will fry them and add them to the half a pot that my husband and I will eat.

Today, we went shopping to rite aid, where I purchased ice cream for two dollars a carton and rolled my up rewards up to four.  I also bought a toothpaste for .75 and picked up cream of mushroom soup for .90.   It's easy to score at chicken noodle or tomato, but cream of mushroom is harder.   I got two breakfast drinks for my daughter for free. Actually, she got one, and I got one.  We paid 1.50 and got a 1.50 Catalina.

Big lots was twenty percent off  the whole store,  they do this three times a year.  I bought pizza crust.  Chocolate ice cream wafers.  They had craisens and dried prunes.  They market dried prunes as tiny fruits for kids and charge an outrageous  amount for them.   I tried my granddaughter out on craisens and she was just fine with them.  A whole big bag for less than a few tablespoons.

I am up to twelve tubes of toothpaste.  I think at the end of the month I'll take another trip to the women's shelter.

There was s o m e discussion on another thread about eating very stale dated canned goods.  My mother always said, when in doubt, throw it out,  your health is not worth saving a couple of cents.
The USDA and other sources all say that canned foods that are acidic, like tomatoes, are good for a year after the pull date, other foods like green beans are good for two.  That is the minimum amount.  Of COURSE, IF A CAN IS BULGING OR SEVERELY DENTED, THROW OT OUT.  Always error on the side of caution.  I usually try my best to rotate our stock and use things up before the pull date.  I don't use anything much past it's pull date.  You only have one body and botulism kills.


I guess  that's all

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Jane

Weaving the thread

I thought I would talk about rolling over reward dollars.  Every drug store chain that has a rebate type plan calls them a different name.  Basically it is a rebate on something you buy.  Sometimes it comes out as a Catalina with your receipt and sometimes it gets credited to your store card.  Either way, it's like money in the bank.

The skeptics would say that it's just a ploy to get you to come to the store again.  Heir right.  But, you can turn that ploy to your best advantage.  Again the retailers are hoping you fill your basket with a load of stuff.  You can beat them at their game.

I have an earlier post that outlines how much stuff that I basically needed that I got for thirty dollars. I got that by rolling over the dollars and using those dollars to get more free stuff.  It's not a bargain unless you can use the things and they are not frivolous things.  There comes a time when you can't roll over because you hit a wall.  I ended with two cases of paper towels.

Last week, I started again.  I got a tube of toothpaste for more than free using a coupon.  They paid me to take it out of the store. Part of the free was a three dollar up reward.  I will take my three dollars and buy 2 cartons of ice cream for 3.99 with a two dollar up reward.
I will pay five dollars and get a four dollar up reward.

Let's recap

Toothpaste.   Paid three dollars, got three dollars.
Ice cream, paid 8.00, got four dollars

Toothpaste, 2 ice creams, net eleven minus seven equals four dollars.

Paid four dollars for 1 tube of toothpaste and two cartons of ice cream.


I did the same thing at Walgreens

I bought a two tubes of toothpaste and paid with a coupon and their reward.
I spent three dollars and got three dollars.

I then bought a carton of eggs for 1.29, six ounces of turkey bacon, and 4 energy saver light bulbs.

2 large tubes of toothpaste, dozen eggs, turkey bacon and 4 energy saving light bulbs for 3.60.  Less than the price of one toothpaste.

Before you are sure I am a hoarder of toothpaste, I might explain that my husband has dubbed me the toothpaste fairy.  I try to get as many tubes of toothpaste as I can for free or nearly free and when I have a batch, I take them to the women's shelter.

It's kind of fun to see how long you can weave the thread. I only buy something I would buy anyway. I hadn't bought makeup for a couple of years, and I probably would not have bought such expensive light bulbs, but they were a good investment for free.

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Jane

Sunday ads

I got the paper today so I thought I would get you a head start so you could do any match ups at your leisure.  The coupon matchup sites are probably not up for Sunday yet, but it wouldn't hurt to try or use your own instinct.  I have also got to down load this months coupons yet.  Along with fixing the old credit card machine at work and cleaning house for grand baby's  2nd try at a birthday party.

Your paper should have smart source and p and  G.  I didn't find much at P&G .  There are more Colgate coupons than there are crest.  I'm saving it because it doesn't take up much room and it doesn't matter whether it goes on thos months recycle or next!  

Crest pro health at Walgreens is 3.00, 1.50 reward, .75 in the P And G.  Nets .75.  That's still too much for me because I do it for charity and I want free or nearly free to stretch my charity dollars.
It might, however, work for you.  Also there is a Kellogg's breakfast drink or coffee drink for  FREE.  
Cream of mushroom soup is .99 .  I would check coupons on that.

Fred Meyers   Remember this is for tomorrow.

Strawberries are 2/4
Yoplait 10/5$$
Barilla pasta .70@@ limit 4 - check coupons
Fruit pies 2.99
Radishes are two for a dollar.

Note: you can't make a fruit pie for 2.99 barely.  A nice Sunday dinner treat.
Radishes are really good oven roasted with other root veggies.

Rite aid.
I have three Rite Aid dollars.  I believe that they are for toothpaste and I can't use the dollars on toothpaste that I get on toothpaste.  Otherwise, toothpaste is 3.49, 2.50 up reward leaves .99.  If there is a coupon a buck, it will be free.

FOLGERS coffee is 6.99 with a 1.00 up reward.
BREYERS ice cream is 3.99 with a 2.00 up.  Which makes it 1.99.  Limit two.

That's about all. Thanks for stopping by
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Jane

Saturday Notes

I was hoping I was going to be able to reach some more people, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen on the venue I thought it was.  I'll keep trying.  Sooner or later I'll not the right people if I keep trying.

Kinda like the cupcakes for my granddaughters birthday.  My daughter made a batch and they were ruined. So I got up last week at six am and made another batch.  Party was cancelled because of snow.  I get to try that action again this morning. LOL

I digress.

I was thinking last night about the fact that if you have enough money, what's for dinner takes a back seat to everything else that is going on in your life.  Of you are poor, by choice or circumstance, what's for dinner takes on a more meaningful importance.  It's  like the situation that arises of you have a serious disease that is not under control. It tends to consume  your life.  

I went to the mall yesterday, something I almost never do.  I had to get a gift.  I always check the sale racks when I am there.  I found no clothes for myself.  I did find two party dresses for my granddaughter.  One is just right for Easter and the other with a moderation of a new ribbon sash will be perfect for her birthday party.  One was 90 percent off plus 15 percent.  4.65 from 54.00.  One was 80 percent off plus 15 percent.  ( 6.80) .  I love those kind of bargains.  The last time I bought myself anything it was a sweater for 1.54 including our almost ten percent sales tax.  I don't spend my life shopping, but with an evil eye, you can find bargains wherever you go.  

Which brings to mind another tip.  Lots of stores carry food.  We have warehouse stores ( Costco, SAMs club ) , overstock stores ( Grocery  Outlet, Big Lots) , the chain drug stores have food and sometimes with a bargain can be cheap.  They also have rewards and you can score big time of you are diligent at analyzing the ads and the coupon matchups.  There is also Winco which is in a category all it's own. It is no frills and you bag your own groceries. Some things are cheaper and they have a very complete bulk department.  It's a bit far for us to go on a regular basis, but we do go when they send us a coupon for ten bucks off of fifty dollars, or when the other stores are slow on specials any particular week.  ( about every eight weeks or so.  We also go to the bakery outlet at the same time. I buy double fiber bread and brown and serve baguettes .  They hold a long time on the fridge and are a lot cheaper than buying a baguette in the store.  I could make my own, but when I did we would be inconsistent in our eating habits  and I was baking bread to throw away.  It just didn't make sense.   I found a recipe for Amish bread that is sour dough, it should be inexpensive and easy.  

Betty Crocker sends me recipes weekly.  Some of them are really good.  Many can be adjusted to be on the cheap.  Many times if something calls for a mix or a food that is really expensive or you don't have, you can substitute without making a measurable difference on taste.  My sister gave me a substitution cookbook one year, but I also have googled when I needed a sub and have found a good answer.  It's well worth your while, should be a trusted site, and also gives you high dollar coupons often.  I average six dollars a week on coupons. Not exactly extreme couponing, but that totals about 312.00 a year.  To me on our income, that's a chunk of change!   That's like getting an extra pension check!   See rite aid saga-- man earlier post. 

If you are just looking to save a little money, are looking for a way to be more efficient on the kitchen, or are on a very thrifty budget, self imposed, or not, this blog can help you.  Please let me help you and someone else may need help.  

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Jane 

Finally Friday-- the basics

This is usually the day we grocery shop.  Last week I spent 126.00.  Because there were a lot of good buys.  Thos week,I am only seeing a few things on my target prices, and  I have a stock of both. It gives me the luxury of staying home and catching up on the laundry.  LOL.  I may bake bread and prep next weeks meals.

This is usually the time of the month that I recap the basics.  This time I'm going to do it in bullets .  If you have questions or want more detail, please comment below.  If you aren't signed up on google, you can comment  anamous.

Groceries on the cheap takes a three disciplined approach to getting food on the table.

• Planning and organizing
• Shopping wisely
• Cooking from scratch 

Like everything in life, it starts with a plan.  

•  Identify the inexpensive sources of protein your family will eat.  In our house that is eggs, cheese, rice and beans, chicken, pork, and beef.  
• List 7-14  meals that your family will eat.  Start a cookbook with the recipes .  I use a three ring binder and plastic page protectors so they stay clean.  
• List the shelf ready or frozen ingredients that you use on a consistent basis.  We use diced tomatoes, beans, refried beans, tuna, instant mashed potatoes, some  green beans, pasta, pasta sauce , black olives.  This is your target list ( no reference to the department store,  ) 
• Start a price list.  It can be a notebook or a spread sheet on the computer.  The heading should 
• be the name of the product and  the size of the package.  Then do a line that has the date, store, how much you paid, ( or advertised price) and if you used a coupon, net cost.  You are tracking a basic few foods that you use on a regular basis. 

Most of this organization is a one time only project.  You will save a lot of time and money in the long run.  

When you get the grocery ads for the week.  

• Sit down with a piece of computer paper.  I use something out of the recycle bin.  Section it off. Top  each section with the name of a store.   Start listing any perishables that are a good price.  ( produce and dairy)  and anything that is a good price on your target list.  Find the meat that is a " loss leader" .  This week In Seattle, it would be chicken for a dollar a pound at SAFEWAYS.  
• Now, cross off anything you don't need and anything that is a cheaper price elsewhere.  You should have two stores that are shouting "pick me pick me " by now.  
• Go to those stores, buy the list and anything you need, and get out.  The longer you spend in a store, the more you will spend.  
• Remember, you are only buying real food.  No sugar coated cereal, chips, and the like. Junk food will jack up your bill and defeat your purpose.  You want  to get to the end of the month on budget and with food in the pantry.  
• With your price book, you are looking for the rock bottom price ( RBP)  on the foods that you eat on a regular basis.  That should be about ten - twelve items.  You are going to stock these items when they are at their RBP and stock enough to last you until they go on a RBP again.  Most stores work on a eight to twelve week cycle.  Of I use an article once a week, I keep 24, of I use it once a month, I keep six.  Things like mayo and catsup I keep one ahead.  When I open the one in the pantry, I start looking for a sale. 
• The main object here is to NEVER PAY FULL PRICE.  If you are paying full price, you are wasting money.  You might as well put your money on the fireplace and burn it.  Now, that being said, there will always be times when you just can't find a bargain or you miscalculate a sales rotation.  And, building your stock will not happen overnight.  It happens a can at a time.  It doesn't cost any more money than you are spending now, but it takes some time.  Your budget is the same whether you buy a can of pasta sauce for 1.59, or you buy two cans for 1.56.  The difference is that you are eating twice, not once.  Pasta has an eight year shelf life.  I pay anywhere from .50-1.00 for pasta, tops.  Once I got it for .38.  
• Use coupons for things you would normally buy on a thrifty budget.  There are a lot of coupons out there for junk food and cosmetic type things you don't need.  But there are also some for necessities and things that you would normally buy.  Printable coupons are on a web site called coupons.com. There are other sites, but most of them use the same data base.  The coupons are listed at the beginning of the month. They are rationed and they only can print so many.  Get there at the first of the month for the best high figure coupons.  You can print two coupons per product.  I buy a Sunday Newspaper  at the dollar store every Saturday or Sunday. Save the coupon inserts.  I put them by month in a binder clip.  
• There are coupon matching sites everywhere,  they take the ads for a particular area and match the sales with the available coupons. They either link your coupons, or they tell you which insert they are in,  I only put printable coupons that are for products I will use in a coupon binder with tags that section off types of food and cleaning and personal  products.  One matchup site in Seattle is couponconnectionsnw.com.  If you are not in Seattle, google coupon matching/ ( the nearest big town you live by)  ie.  Coupon matchups / Portland, Or.  This is a wonderful time saver.  These should be free, and if they ask you personal info or want money, move on because there are free sites.  
• I don't want to spend more than ten minutes or less a week couponing.  This is not about hoarding or spending a forty hour a week coupon quest.  I download once a month  keep my inserts and pull them when the matchups show me a good bargain.  I love the word FREE when it is something I can use.  I get toothpaste and deodorant and soap for free.  I save up the toothpaste for the women's shelter.  The dollar store accepts coupons ( dollar Tree) . You can use two per family per day. You should never have to pay for soap, deodorant or toothpaste.  
• A thrifty/ SNAP budget doesn't leave much room for specialty foods or junk foods or meals on a box ( ready mades) .  Scratch cooking doesn't mean you have to slave over a stove all day.  There are plenty of recipes all over for things you can make easy.  The slow cooker can be your best friend.  My daughter and I dissected a hamburger meal box.  The results were remarkable. ( see an earlier post) .  If you analyze what is ( or is. Ot) in there, you probably would never buy another one again. 

Living on a thrifty budget or on SNAP, doesn't mean you have to sacrifice good nutritious food.  No child should have to exist on top ramen and potato chips every night for dinner, and no child should have to suffer the insecurity of waking up to a pantry that is empty.  

Knowing how to shop and cook wisely can make the difference between running out of money before you run out of month and resorting to top ramen and potato chips or chicken fried oatmeal, or eating well and having food in the pantry at the end of the month. 

Thanks for stopping by

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Jane

Terrific Thursday : what to do with what you got

Yesterday, we had a stirfry and rice.  I cleaned out the vegetable bin.  Safeways has chicken for a buck a pound.  I can get a roast chicken dinner, a chicken pot pie, BBQ chicken and chicken noodle or vegetable soup out of a five  dollar chicken.  Ot takes ten minutes for me to put a chicken in the oven to roast.  The savings over a deli chicken are remarkable.  Never buy a chicken under three pounds 4.5 to 5.0 is better.  The ratio of bone to meat is at break even at three pounds,  the heavier from there the better.  We always want more bang for our buck!!LOL.

Chicken would be my batch cooking protein for the week.  You will need to adjust the quantity of chickens to your family.  I am working on a scenario of two adults and two school aged children.
We actually have three adults and a toddler.  Probably about the same amount of protein  used.  Casseroles, pot pies, tacos and soups all use pieces of meat.  They will stretch your food dollar more than having a slice of meat.  We need four ounces of meat a meal.   If you have something with less than four ounces ( you use less than a pound for four people) then augment the meal with other sources of protein.  Taco dinner can have some refried beans or rice with some salsa in the rice  water.  Chicken soup can be paired with cheesy biscuits.  If you have a vegetarian meal without protein, augment the meal with a protein rich desert.  Being flexible and creative goes a long way to stretch your dollar to maintain a thrifty budget.

I always stock cheese.  I get it when it is 2.50 a pound.  I have seen it as much as eight dollars a pound.   I make Mac and cheese by making a white sauce ( or use the basil recipe starter that I got for free) and adding any bits of cheese I have in the cheese drawer.  I usually use several different kinds.  Last time I used some pesto cheese with the basil sauce.  Grocery outlet is a good source for unusual cheeses and most of the time  they are reasonably priced.

There is a whole generation of children that think Mac and cheese comes out of a box with dried cheese powder.  It's not that hard to make  scratch Mac and cheese.  Unfortunately, recipe starter is almost gone from the dollar store.  I am now seeing coupons for a pouch version, so I'll be going back to white sauce when this stock is depleted.  The recipe starter was free or nearly free and it made it cheaper than homemade white sauce.

Using up leftovers is a key to saving and not wasting. The best tool you can have is to KNOW YOUR PRICES.  If you can't remember, keep a small notebook on your purse, or make a spread sheet , update it regularly and carry it in your purse or coupon binder.

My mother used to have the expression, some people wouldn't know a bargain if it got up and bit them in the butt.  Don't be one of those people!

It would be nice to say that you can make everything from scratch.  I make as much as I can from scratch and make my own mixes often.  Sometimes it is cheaper to get something made than it does to make it from scratch if you find a good sale and use a coupon.

Case in point.  Salsa is on sale for 2.99.  I paid 1.50 with a coupon.  That's 1/2 price.  Making it from fresh tomatoes this time of the year would be prohibitive.  Making it from a full price can of diced tomatoes would cost more than the 1.50.  I scratch cook when it is worth my while.  It either has to taste better, or be cheaper.  We buy few ready made or mixes, but sometimes it is not to your best advantage to scratch cook.  It's a balancing act.  Remember almost every ready made or mix has preservatives in it  and the closer to scratch you can make something the better off we are. Most of the time scratch is more cost effective and better tasting. Sometimes not.  Do the math and see if it's worth it and weigh the cost and time vs the store bought version.  I, not talking about a hamburger meal box.  But things like salsa, tortillas, refried beans, and pasta sauce bear a second look.  Pasta sauce at .78 or lower is cheaper than homemade.

The concept of virtual pay is not a concept that everyone can grasp.  I ran that by a co worker.  She just didn't get it.  She also refuses to use a computer unless she has to use the cash register at work.

If you want to know of making something vs buying it is worth your time do the math.  ( there are more concerns than time, I realize.  Sometimes it is just cost prohibitive, or the nutrition is not what you want, salt and sugar, fat? )

Price the ready made per pound, slice, etc.
Price the scratch.
Find the difference.
Calculate the time you took to make the product
Divide the time by the money saved.
This is how much you are virtually making an hour.
If it is under two bucks, you are better off buying it.
Many times it is more than I have ever earned in  my life.

When you plan your shopping trip and find the RBP and match coupons for things you would normally buy anyway, you will find your savings will net you a pretty hefty wage.  Often I find I have made 75.00 an hour.  The savings are real. The wages are not!   Darn!?!!!

That's all I have time for.
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Jane

Wednesday,the ads 2/26/14

I would be remiss if I didn't post the buys .  Don't forget when you are  making your list to cross off anything more expensive than elsewhere,and check the coupon matchup stores for any coupons to help reduce your bill.

Top
Onions .47
Kale 2.00
Roma's .67
Shrimp 5.99 lb-- wild from USA

Eggs 2/3@@  ( cheaper at Walgreens)
Cheese 4.99@@
English muffins .99@@
Yoplait 10/5$$

SAFEWAYS
Pot roast 2.99
Salads BOGO
Cheese BOGO ) don't know the prices, cheese should be 2.50 a pound RBP?
Chicken whole, .99
Smoked sausage BOGO $$
Strawberries 2/6 ( on the edge of RBP)

Five dollar Friday
Pizza
Blues
Peanut butter

QFC
Pork chops 2.50
Blues 4.99
Yoplait 10/5$$
Grapes 2.99
Pork shoulder 1.79

Buy 6. Save 3
Most processed junk food
Nuts
Pasta
Best foods
Sour cream
Ragu might work if there is a coupon

ALBERTSOMS

Salads .98
Kelloggs cereal 4/10 with free milk ( there are Special K and mini wheats and this might work if there are coupons). I want no sugar loaded and less than 1.50 a box.

Yoplait .38@@$$ I see more than free for at least one.

.88 sale
Mayo 2.88
Tuna 98
Peanut butter 1.88
Hunts pasta sauce  ( buy 10 mix or match ) .88  more than my target, bit still believable )
Pudding pack ( not something I would buy, but on the backpack list)

Eggs 1.99( see the spread of prices-- 1.29 at Walgreens before next Sunday)

That's about it. I can't emphasize enough the value of shopping two chain stores.  Plan your trip.  Bring a cooler.  Bring the ads, your coupons, and your list.

Thanks for stopping by

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Jane

BLOOD Pressure check!

Yesterday I spent most of the day tracking down a Disney princess Toddler Bed for my granddaughters birthday.  We purchased one for ten bucks at the goodwill, but the goodwill had a mixup with paper work and sold it twice!   The first lady got it first.  I ordered it from K Mart
 but the order got lost in cyberspace and k mart didn't have it in stock.   I started calling every retailer of children's things until I finally found one at toys r us in stock.  And, I go it 15 percent off.  We wound up getting one with a canopy .  It wasn't ten bucks, but it's new and very cute.  And she was so delighted.

Meanwhile,  the morning show on channel 5 had a lady that was known for feeding her family on one hundred dollars a month.  She has a garden.  I don't know what they eat, but I think that is remarkable.  Most things you can get for under a hundred  dollars a month my family wouldn't eat!

She had been given 1500 dollars from GLAD wrap to show how much food we waste in America.  I thought it ironic that I had just posted about that the same morning.  She proceeded to go to every yuppie, designer store and buy 150.00 worth at each one.  I'm not quite seeing the correlation.  You might not be wasting food, but you are sure wasting money.   I know for a fact, one of those stores that shall remain nameless, has a 42 percent markup.  The more specialty foods a store keeps in stock, the more money you are going to spend for food.  They have to keep fresh stock.  It's only common sense.  I worked retail enough to know that shelf space has to turn or you don't make a profit. That is why Costco can sell some things so cheap.  You would never have to worry about a stale date there.  LOL.

You are not going to shop at designer stores and feed your family on a hundred dollars a month.  It is not possible.  I have read a lot of articles lately about food shopping.  I try to keep well informed.  There are two ends of the spectrum.  I have read people that feed their children .29 chicken parts, hot dogs, and dollar cheese pizzas, fried oatmeal called chicken fried steak!  Yum!   And I have read
about people that buy no MSG, GMO, gluten free, salt free, sugar free, processed free foods.

Groceries on the cheap Tries  to reach  a happy medium between the two.

According to what I just read, anything that comes on a box, bag, or can is a processed food.  In this day and age it  would be pretty hard to achieve a no processed food status.  Maybe if you lived on a farm in some parts of the country.  We are too global and too urban.  As the population rises it would be harder and harder.  Oh, reality strikes.

If you didn't eat  anything that someone has decided wasn't good for you, you would not die  from a touted list of ailments, you would die from malnutrition.  I read on a science fiction story years ago that we would eventually get to the point where dinner would be a handful of pills.  LOL

The bottom line is this :

• Whether you eat a steak or hamburger, it all looks the same when you are through with it.  

• We all need a balance of protein, carbs, and vegetables for our body to run properly.  We also need a certain amount of salt, sugar, and fat.  Moderation is the key.  

• We eat first with our eyes.  As long as the food is tasty, looks good, and is nutritious it's fine.  I am amazed at the variety of foods you see if you look at traditional ethnic foods.  Yet, many nationalities of people have survived.  

• Through the years, what foods are good for you have evolved.  What was good ten years ago, isn't good for you now.  And ten years from now,the list will be different.  My take is to just eat!  Eat a variety of foods, eat in moderation, and do what you can to limit your intake of salt, sugar and fat.  We all know that we need some of those things to survive and make food taste good to us,  we also know that too much is not good for our bodies,  the entire scientific community has endorsed that idea for years now. 

• SNAP funds are being cut.  Many people are still reaping the consequences of the drought and the last recession.  Unemployment and under employment is a fact of life for many.  Eating is a basic necessity.  But, designer food from designer, yuppie stores is not.  I have target prices for all the foods that I use often.  I went to one of those designer stores.  I walked out with a BOX of strawberries, that was a little over my target price, but looked beautiful, and a basil plant.  

• You can feed your family on the USDA thrifty stats or below them if you use coupons wisely, buy good food and not junk food, and buy your food from the down home regular people chain stores shopping wisely.  Down home regular food  stores is characterized by ALBERTSONS, QFC, Fred Meyer, SAFEWAYS, TOP Foods  in the Seattle area.  I'm sire there are other chains in other parts of the country.  

• You can't eat on a low five digit income or less buying specialty foods at specialty stores.  It just doesn't work.  It doesn't pass the BLT.  

That's about all . 

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Jane 

Terrific Tuesday, no waste edition

I read an article yesterday about a study that says we throw too much because of misreading stale dates on food.  Many times the date is just to tell grocers how long it has been  in the store, not necessarily when the product is not good to eat.  Cold cereal is good for three months if you close the inside wrapper after you use it.  Deli meat will last two weeks unopened even if it's after the pull date.putting the bread on the fridge will extend it's life two weeks.  Eggs will last 3-5 weeks in the fridge.  Red apples will last 3 weeks if in a ventilated plastic bag in the fridge.

One of the ways to cut food costs is to use up perishables and keep track if your fridge.  About Wednesday, I try to check the fridge an use up anything we need to use.  It might be a good day to make soup.  Stirfry , or oven roast  root veggies works too.  Just grease or line a sheet pan with foil rough cut veggies about the same thickness, toss them with olive oil and salt and pepper them.  Any herbs you want to add is fine too.

There are web sites where you can plug on what you have and you can see recipes that use that ingredient.  Make best use of perishables..  Milk getting close to the pull date?  Make a milk based soup or bread pudding , or chocolate pudding.  Bread crusts go in the oven to dry before they turn to mold. Leftover heels of baguettes can be dried and grated for crumbs.

Bread crumbs can be used in a topping for casseroles.  I use breadcrumbs, grated parm or other hard cheese, and herbs.  Also you can bread chicken or veggies or use breadcrumbs in meatloaf, meatballs, or Salisbury steak.

I make meatballs when I batch cook hamburger.  I use a portion scoop  to make them about the size of a walnut.  I put them on a baking rack on top of a sheet pan and bake them at 375 until they are no longer pink.  This way the fat drains into the sheet pan and they brown on all sides without having to turn them.

Using portion scoops assures you that they are all some at the same time.  It works good for cookies as well.  Ditto cupcakes.

I only use olive oil for everything but baking.  Olive oil boosts your good cholesterol.  I keep salad oil for baking when I need it. If I am making white sauce, I start with 1/2 butter, 1/2 olive oil.  It keeps the butter from browning too soon and cuts the bad fats.  My nutritionist says it is better to have a skim of butter on your toast than to have a slathering of some margarine product.  The key here is moderation.  The denser the butter, or spread product. The worse it is for you.  Ditto lard.
I would not cook with bacon fat either.

You can defat hamburger so that it has less fat than a boneless, skinless chicken breast.  When I make hamburger crumbles or taco meat, I

• Fry the meat slowly, breaking it up.  
• When it is browned and no pink remains, drain it in a colander in the sink.  If you don't want fat to go down the drain, put a pie  plate or bowl under it,  
• Pour boiling water over the colander ( after you remove the grease pan. ) 
• Return the meat to the pan and bring up to temp.  
• Pull the meat you want for crumbles and portion control it into freezer bags.  I usually use 1/2 to 1 cup portions.  ( 1/2 cup for pizza, 1 cup for things like spaghetti sauce etc. 
• Add water and taco seasoning to the  rest of the crumbles and simmer long enough to season the meat.  Drain and bag in meal sized portions.  I use a cup for four people.  Remember tacos also have cheese and beans in them.  We also usually have rice with salsa in it on those nights.  Some of the family are semi vegetarian.  

That's all, I'm out of time.  

Thanks for stopping by

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Jane

Basics, revisited

I had 150 hits yesterday.  Yay!  

With new readers, I think a synopsis is in order.   Groceries on the cheap was started because I was hearing of people that wanted to know how to stretch their food dollar.  They were on snap and they were running out of money before they ran out of month.  I had been a single parent on the 70s and with double digit inflation and a recession, had gone through challenging times.  Almost 1/ 2 my months pay went for day care, and the  other 1/2 went for rent.  There was little left.   I remember one month spending 25.00 on food.  I learned a lot from  my mom.  Then, I began reading everything I could to learn to stretch a buck.  I tried a lot of things and streamlined a lot of ideas to tailor them to our needs.   I came up with a plan that was not too time consuming, but cut our food bill in half and still gave us decent meals.


Like about anything in life, it begins with planning.   Add smart shopping and cooking from scratch and you have a concept for success.  There are a lot of people that feed their families for less.  I usually take a middle of the road approach to everything.  I'm a libra, as if you couldn't tell!   I don't want to make my while life cooking.  I have a lot more to do even though I am retired.  I have grandchildren, a business, a blog, and belong to a women's group .  I'm old.  By the time dinner time comes around , I want fast and easy.  I don't want ready made or dinner in a box.  They are expensive and full of preservatives.

My solution is batch cooking.  When your meat is already cooked, dinner prep is 1/2 way done
When you pair that with the concept of buying the " loss leader" of meat for the week it's a real
winner.  Every week, the stores put one meat on a really low price.  Often they rotate the meats.  We used to call them loss leaders.  I was corrected by a reader that had worked in the industry.  Apparently in some states stores can't sell things at a loss.   Never the less, stores have really good
sales on meat in a rotating basis.  I can almost bet that one week of the month I can find chicken at a dollar or less a pound.  Last month I found it for .50.  I bought two.  If you purchase enough of the loss leader in.bulk to feed your family once or twice a week for a month.  Cook and freeze it.  Rotate the meats .  In four weeks, you eat a variety of meals and the meat is cooked ready to go and you have paid the RBP ( rock bottom price) and portion controlled your meats.  I use chicken, pork loin, sausage( Costco) good hamburger.  I used to buy  a sirloin beef roast, but now the cost is prohibitive.  I try to average two dollars a pound for meat.  Averaged in with two vegetarian meals a week and a fish, I can average five dollars a dinner--total, not a plate!


We are lucky to have 4 chain stores within a couple of miles from the house.  Two of them are paired with dollar trees.  Of course there are also at least two princess stores too.  Sadly, on a thrifty or snap budget, they are off limits.  I hear they have good buys-- good buys on designer, specialty foods that are out of reach for a person on a three hundred dollar a month budget.  I try to buy and eat low fat, salt, and sugar.  That's about it for my budget.  Those are  the things that have been proven to be bad for your health that are also doable on a shrinking food budget.

Snap is being cut yet again.  The drought is making prices rise, and now we hear of more drought so there doesn't seem to be an end. It's a bad combination.  ( I would really like to see the legislators that feel the need to give mass bucks to foreign aid and cut SNAP live for a week on snap allotment.  ). We just have to cope.  I was always going to write a book when I was a single parent, " cope is a four letter word spelled HELL". LOL

Fortunately, there are tools to deal with high food prices.  Groceries on the cheap is all about using those tools. Some people not concerned with prices read this blog for the time saving tips that go along with cooking on the cheap.  I spend more time shopping, and less time cooking to create a balance.  If cooking is your passion and you enjoy spending all day cooking dinner, go for it.  That just isn't my forte.   LOL

Cooking from scratch doesn't have to take all day.  I love the concept of passive cooking.  The crockpot can be your best friend as well as a food processor.  Often times you can find them on sale or at estate sales cheap.  They are real time savers as well as money savers.

Things NEVER to buy

• Deli roasted chicken ( not enough ratio of meat to bone, usually four times the price of DIY, and you don't know where it came from.  ) you are paying dearly to save ten minutes of work.  
• Bread crumbs. Why pay exorbitant prices for someone else's dry bread. Stick it on the oven to dry, whirl  it in the food processor  and store it in an air tight container. When I didn't have a food processor, I grated it on the biggest side of the box grater outside onto a sheet pan.  The 
• birds got the mess !  
• Pre-made anything.  You are paying dearly in most cases for someone else's labor.  Do the math.  My daughter and I made lemon pound cake.  We did the math, we figure we made 212.00 an hour making it vs buying it by the slice at the big bucks coffee shop.  That being said, there are a few things that are either too time consuming to make, or are cheaper than scratch especially with a coupon.  
• Spice mixes or pre-made  extras that go with your meat.  Often they cost more than the meat!  That doubles the cost of your meal and most of the time there is a recipe on the Internet for scratch that takes little time.  There are recipes for mixes on earlier blog posts. Taco seasoning is especially expensive. 

That's a bunch in a nutshell.  

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Jane 

Walgreens, Rite aid, Fred Meyers

I went to the Sunday ad stores thos afternoon.  I had three dollars to spend at Walgreens.  It was not easy and I doesn't buy anything to roll my rewards over so to speak.  turkey bacon was 6 oz for 1.29, as was eggs.  Light bulbs were still 4/1.00.  The logs were marked down 25 percent.  Since we live where there are big wind storms in the winter that can leave us without heat, I like to keep a few logs for emergency.   I spent .60 plus the price of the logs.,

At Rite  aid, I got a toothpaste for FREE and a package of candy and two pair of valentine sox regularly 4.00 each for a buck each and the sox barely shout valentines day.

Total OOP 3.49.

Fred Meyer netted blackberries,grapes, bread, 1 pkg French fries, blue cheese for three dollars and apples.   About it.

Thank you for stopping by

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Jane


Ps.
No matter where you are, if you are near a reasonably habitated  town, you will find stores that you can work.  Walgreens and CVS have similar programs to rite aid.  They have different terminology and different coupon rules, but they can be just as effective.  There are coupon matching sites that cover all over the US.  I can almost always find toothpaste for free or nearly free.  Also soap and deodorant.  Check your dollar store. You have to be mindful of the size of packages with the verbiage on the coupon, but you can make it work.  Our dollar tree only allows two coupons per family, per day.

Every grocery store chain is different.  I can only talk about the ones I see in the pacific NW.  But, the general ideas of groceries on the cheap will work anywhere.  Prices are relative.  SNAP prices are based on COL as well as the USDA stats for your size family and ages of the members.   So you may not pay fifty cents for an item, but you can still find the RBP.

Yesterday, we had meatloaf, baked potatoes,  and mixed veggies.  The meat for the meatloaf was 2.99 for 9 percent hamburger, the potatoes I had on hand, and the veggies I got for a buck a pound in the frozen food section.  Our Fred Meyers and QFC is Kroger.  SAFEWAYS is all over the US. And Albertsons is based out of Utah. I think.  TOP is definitely a Washington grocery store.

Your coupon march up site will enable you to see the best buys for the week.  When I started this blog, I had no idea that it would reach well beyond the northwest, let alone the US boundaries.
The principles are good, no matter where you live.  I do realize that there are some places that have a limited number of grocery stores.  I think that that might necessitate carpooling and hitting a large chain store once every two weeks or a month to stock the specials.  Often you can get the ads on line or have the store mail them to you.  We were made well aware of that when we went to the beach off season for our anniversary last year.  The motel was really cheap on a groupon.  Now we know why. There was no food there!  We found one grocery store. An independent with a very limited amount of food, and the "fresh food" left a whole lot to be desired.  Without cooking facilities except a microwave, we were pretty sparse.  We found one eating establishment    .  Fish and chips, two of us, I had tea and my husband had 1 beer.   40.00.  It was twenty some miles to the next town.  I googled subway and found one in a gas station four miles from the motel.  My husband got us dinner both nights.  I had brought a little food from home. We survived, but had I known, I would have brought more premade food in a cooler or stopped at a larger town and stocked our cooler.

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Jane

Four hits, really?

I started this blog to help people, from the looks of my stats, I have failed miserably at reaching people.  I am wondering if this is worth my while.  

The ads, Fred Meyers goes from Sunday to Saturday. 

Broccoli and cauli. .98

Pot roast 2.97

Milk 4/5@

Bread 3/4@@

Mayo 2/5@@

Grapes 2.48

Celery .48

Berries 2/5

Apples .98

Fred Meyer coffee 5.99

Frozen potatoes 3/5 ( get two pound bags)

OCR cream 2/5

Vegetables 20/6

Walgreens 

Milk 1.99

Eggs 1.29

Rite aid

Colgate toothpaste 3.50.  Coupon .50, 3.00 up bal FREE

That's about it. 

Please share

Jane