Fred Meyers
Cantelope .39
Eggs 2/3@@
Milk 4/5@@
Country charm bread and buns 3/4@@
Frozen veggies .69@@
Smoked sausage @@
Tomatoes .88
Zucchini .98
Grapes 2.48
Oranges .88
Pears .88
Cream cheese .88@@
Un bleached flour 5 lbs 3/5@@
Mayo 1.99
Cottage cheese 1.99
Cr mushroom soup 1.99$$
Walgreens
Blue diamond almonds BOGO
Sour parch 2/3
Kleenex BOGO ?
Maxwell house coffee 5.49 net with rr. I don't know of there os a coupon or of you can use one.
I would check with coupon matchup site.
QFC. Ham .99
That's about all
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Saturday, April 5, 2014
The basics.
We have talked about shopping. Yesterday we went to QFC. And SAFEWAYS. I bought the toilet paper for .50 at QFC. It is really a joke, but I did pay fifty cents and it will do what I intend it to do. The package says, 60 percent more. I can't imagine what the rolls were like before! These are about a third of the rolls from Costco. My intention was to stash them just n case we run out,well have a back up until we can get to Costco. I would be a terrible thing to runout. LOL.
I also got frozen veggies, peas, corn, and stir fry veggies. Stir fry veggies in a two pound bag in the produce department at SAFEWAYS were five dollars. Frozen ones, 12 ounces, were a buck. It's not exactly the same, but they both will provide a chicken stirfry meal, and both are nutritious,m frozen veggies are picked at their freshest and flash frozen. Our fresh veggies unless you get them from the farm are several days old when you get them.
I did pick up a cheese pizza for five bucks. Four adults ate pizza and I added a salad and some toppings for individual tastes. Still, it was an economical meal. I also bought sis sandwich loaves, fresh berries, sandwich meat, yogurt to mention a few things. I am still well under budget. Last week I bought a batch of ground beef to cook for rotating stock.
My husband will pick me up a Sunday paper. I got a Rite aid ad in the coupon section that came in the mail yesterday. There is not much there. I have five dollars, they have my sugar free candy on sale. I am not finding anything to roll over my reward dollars this week. Bumble bee tuna is 2/4 with a dollar up reward,but I did that last week, and I don't think I can do it again. It was very good tuna. But, there is actual chunks of tuna in there. It was really good. Again, two cans fed four adults , well within guidelines for two adults and two school aged children. I could have used 1-1/2 cans in that case and made tuna salad sandwiches for someone's lunch.
My goal is four plus one is five. Four people, one meal, five bucks. That's for dinner. Most budgets on snap that I have found is ten dollars a day.m if you spend five on dinner, you have 2.50 for each of breakfast and lunch. That works, but the person I talked to was spending ten dollars a day on dinner,that unfortunately, does not work. The way to stay on track and not run out of money is to budget individual meals, remembering that you can average costs and getting twice the amount of food by watching prices and paying half price for your staple items. You need to average 2-3 dollars a meal for protein in order to hit the five dollar mark. Breaking down costs helps stay on budget. Less math.
What to do with what you got. How do you out this stuff together.
I'm going to think out loud , so you see the mindset.
I got stirfry veggies. I'll add chicken cubes and rice to make stirfry.
I got peas and carrots, so I can make chicken pot pie.
There is my two chicken dishes for the week.
I bought three packages for pasta at a buck. One of them was some that included veggies in them. I did not have a coupon this time, but I like barilla. White fiber is good and often the same price as regular. Mac and cheese with tomato pasta. I got a medley of cheeses at grocery outlet last week for a good price.
I got eggs last week for 1.67 a dozen, I see a quiche on our future.
That's our two vegetarian.
Tacos are from the taco meat that I put up when I batch cooked hamburger at 2.99 for nine percent hamburger, or burritos .
There was a piece of steak on managers special for 4.00. We can have steak broiled and sliced thin and baked potatoes.
That's our two beef.
Cod was on a five dollar special at SAFEWAYS. We can have pesto encrusted cod and glazed carrots, and rice cooked with some chicken stock and some red peppers. I got red peppers on a bag last week .
That's a weeks worth of meals using a matrix.
2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish
Make meal plans. You don't have to stick to the plans religiously, but have a plan. It is too easy to fall into the take out trap if your tired and don't have a plan.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
I also got frozen veggies, peas, corn, and stir fry veggies. Stir fry veggies in a two pound bag in the produce department at SAFEWAYS were five dollars. Frozen ones, 12 ounces, were a buck. It's not exactly the same, but they both will provide a chicken stirfry meal, and both are nutritious,m frozen veggies are picked at their freshest and flash frozen. Our fresh veggies unless you get them from the farm are several days old when you get them.
I did pick up a cheese pizza for five bucks. Four adults ate pizza and I added a salad and some toppings for individual tastes. Still, it was an economical meal. I also bought sis sandwich loaves, fresh berries, sandwich meat, yogurt to mention a few things. I am still well under budget. Last week I bought a batch of ground beef to cook for rotating stock.
My husband will pick me up a Sunday paper. I got a Rite aid ad in the coupon section that came in the mail yesterday. There is not much there. I have five dollars, they have my sugar free candy on sale. I am not finding anything to roll over my reward dollars this week. Bumble bee tuna is 2/4 with a dollar up reward,but I did that last week, and I don't think I can do it again. It was very good tuna. But, there is actual chunks of tuna in there. It was really good. Again, two cans fed four adults , well within guidelines for two adults and two school aged children. I could have used 1-1/2 cans in that case and made tuna salad sandwiches for someone's lunch.
My goal is four plus one is five. Four people, one meal, five bucks. That's for dinner. Most budgets on snap that I have found is ten dollars a day.m if you spend five on dinner, you have 2.50 for each of breakfast and lunch. That works, but the person I talked to was spending ten dollars a day on dinner,that unfortunately, does not work. The way to stay on track and not run out of money is to budget individual meals, remembering that you can average costs and getting twice the amount of food by watching prices and paying half price for your staple items. You need to average 2-3 dollars a meal for protein in order to hit the five dollar mark. Breaking down costs helps stay on budget. Less math.
What to do with what you got. How do you out this stuff together.
I'm going to think out loud , so you see the mindset.
I got stirfry veggies. I'll add chicken cubes and rice to make stirfry.
I got peas and carrots, so I can make chicken pot pie.
There is my two chicken dishes for the week.
I bought three packages for pasta at a buck. One of them was some that included veggies in them. I did not have a coupon this time, but I like barilla. White fiber is good and often the same price as regular. Mac and cheese with tomato pasta. I got a medley of cheeses at grocery outlet last week for a good price.
I got eggs last week for 1.67 a dozen, I see a quiche on our future.
That's our two vegetarian.
Tacos are from the taco meat that I put up when I batch cooked hamburger at 2.99 for nine percent hamburger, or burritos .
There was a piece of steak on managers special for 4.00. We can have steak broiled and sliced thin and baked potatoes.
That's our two beef.
Cod was on a five dollar special at SAFEWAYS. We can have pesto encrusted cod and glazed carrots, and rice cooked with some chicken stock and some red peppers. I got red peppers on a bag last week .
That's a weeks worth of meals using a matrix.
2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish
Make meal plans. You don't have to stick to the plans religiously, but have a plan. It is too easy to fall into the take out trap if your tired and don't have a plan.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Friday, April 4, 2014
Shopping day
Since is is shopping day for us, I thought I would expand on shopping. Fortunately, I have a stock built,because there is it a lot of things on sale this week. If you have a stock built,then you have the luxury of picking and choosing the weeks you spend more money on food. Spending the same amount buying the same things week after week, you can be caught with no money left when there IS a big sale.
Always try to match sales with coupons. Cold cereal, pasta, toothpaste, deodorant, yogurt, are notorious for having a coupon out there. There are coupons you can print on the Internet, and no, I have never heard of anyone that got pop ups or other garbage from the download of drivers on coupons.com. There are a lot of web sites out there, but they most generally still go back to coupons,com's data base.
The dollar store has Sundays papers on Sarurday and the rest of the week. Make sure of you get it on Saturday that you are getting the correct weeks paper. The first week of the month there are p and g inserts and smart source, and red plum. Also, there are red plums on the oater with the ads we get in the mail. I file them by month in file folders. When I find a matchup, I go to at month and pull the coupon. I keep a binder with dividers for the basic food groups with photo sleeves in it. The computer printable coupons go on there along with any regular coupons that I have pulled because I am going to use them. I put them, in the front pouch if the binder. I got the binder for a buck at a flea market. The dividers at the dollar store. Thos doesn't have to cost money , bit it saves at least sox dollars a week. That's over three hundred dollars a year. That is what a lot of people get for a months worth of groceries, That's more than a months pension check for us. In perspective, that's a lot of money for a lot of people.
Nothing is a bargain if you aren't going to use it. I don't "buy" anything even of ot is free that I either am going to use, or is know specifically where I can take ot where it will be wanted. I got baby food a couple of weeks ago for free. I took it to the food bank. I get toothpaste for free when it can. It goes twice a year to the women's shelter. I can think of at least half a dozen other places in the area where toothpaste would probably be welcome. It is a necessity item, and you can't buy it with snap.
This is not extreme couponing. This blog isn't extreme anything. I tend to hit middle of the road in just about everything. It has served me well.
Shopping wisely and buying just what you will eat in perishables and stocking staple items can cut your food bill in half. I know the mindset out there that if ot costs money, it doesn't save anything. But, of you pay 1.50 for something that you need and it's .50 on sale, you have spent - dollar less than you would have if you paid full price. That dollar is still in your bank account or on your EBT card.
If you never had that dollar on the forst place, it just means you eat well on what you do have and you don't have an empty cupboard at the end of the month.
No child should have to suffer the insecurity of having no food in the pantry. And, no child should have top ramen and potato chips for dinner. I can't feed the entire population. But, I can inform people how to get more bang for their buck, and how to put nutritious meals on the table with what they have. If I can feed us on less than the USDA statistics for thrifty food at home, others can too.
It takes some effort. I can only relate to the food prices in the Pacific Northwest. I have heard we were more expensive, and I have heard that we are cheaper than other parts of the country. The concepts don't change. The methodology doesn't change. The prices change, but then so does the snap allotment and the wages. It's all realitive.
That's all I have time for.
Please share. I'd like to reach as many people as I can.
Jane
Always try to match sales with coupons. Cold cereal, pasta, toothpaste, deodorant, yogurt, are notorious for having a coupon out there. There are coupons you can print on the Internet, and no, I have never heard of anyone that got pop ups or other garbage from the download of drivers on coupons.com. There are a lot of web sites out there, but they most generally still go back to coupons,com's data base.
The dollar store has Sundays papers on Sarurday and the rest of the week. Make sure of you get it on Saturday that you are getting the correct weeks paper. The first week of the month there are p and g inserts and smart source, and red plum. Also, there are red plums on the oater with the ads we get in the mail. I file them by month in file folders. When I find a matchup, I go to at month and pull the coupon. I keep a binder with dividers for the basic food groups with photo sleeves in it. The computer printable coupons go on there along with any regular coupons that I have pulled because I am going to use them. I put them, in the front pouch if the binder. I got the binder for a buck at a flea market. The dividers at the dollar store. Thos doesn't have to cost money , bit it saves at least sox dollars a week. That's over three hundred dollars a year. That is what a lot of people get for a months worth of groceries, That's more than a months pension check for us. In perspective, that's a lot of money for a lot of people.
Nothing is a bargain if you aren't going to use it. I don't "buy" anything even of ot is free that I either am going to use, or is know specifically where I can take ot where it will be wanted. I got baby food a couple of weeks ago for free. I took it to the food bank. I get toothpaste for free when it can. It goes twice a year to the women's shelter. I can think of at least half a dozen other places in the area where toothpaste would probably be welcome. It is a necessity item, and you can't buy it with snap.
This is not extreme couponing. This blog isn't extreme anything. I tend to hit middle of the road in just about everything. It has served me well.
Shopping wisely and buying just what you will eat in perishables and stocking staple items can cut your food bill in half. I know the mindset out there that if ot costs money, it doesn't save anything. But, of you pay 1.50 for something that you need and it's .50 on sale, you have spent - dollar less than you would have if you paid full price. That dollar is still in your bank account or on your EBT card.
If you never had that dollar on the forst place, it just means you eat well on what you do have and you don't have an empty cupboard at the end of the month.
No child should have to suffer the insecurity of having no food in the pantry. And, no child should have top ramen and potato chips for dinner. I can't feed the entire population. But, I can inform people how to get more bang for their buck, and how to put nutritious meals on the table with what they have. If I can feed us on less than the USDA statistics for thrifty food at home, others can too.
It takes some effort. I can only relate to the food prices in the Pacific Northwest. I have heard we were more expensive, and I have heard that we are cheaper than other parts of the country. The concepts don't change. The methodology doesn't change. The prices change, but then so does the snap allotment and the wages. It's all realitive.
That's all I have time for.
Please share. I'd like to reach as many people as I can.
Jane
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Beer bread
Beer bread
3 cups bisquick
1/3 cup sugar
1 can beer
1/4 cup butter, melted.
Heat oven to 375 degrees
Grease bottom of loaf pan
Mix bisquick, sugar and beer. Do not over mix
Pour onto prepared pan
Melt butter and pour over top of bread.
Bake 45-55 minutes
3 cups bisquick
1/3 cup sugar
1 can beer
1/4 cup butter, melted.
Heat oven to 375 degrees
Grease bottom of loaf pan
Mix bisquick, sugar and beer. Do not over mix
Pour onto prepared pan
Melt butter and pour over top of bread.
Bake 45-55 minutes
Thursday - revisit the basics
Groceries on the cheap takes a new, or not so new, approach to grocery shopping. I say not so new because it is a variation of how my mother shopped many years ago.
First, some background. I was a single parent on the early seventies when we had double digit inflation. I rarely got child support and childcare took most of one bi weekly paycheck, and my rent took the other. There was little left. I started reading everything I could find on economy groceries. I augmented what I learned from my mother. Through the years, I have continued to read everything I could and came up with a plan that works. I spend 1/2 the national average for food. I also spend about half the USDA stats for our family for thrifty cooking. We still eat well. We are not on SNAP, but of could feed us on the SNAP allotment.
I started this blog when it was brought to my attention that people were running out of money before they ran out of month on snap. Now, with snap cuts and grocery prices rising, it is even more important to get a handle on grocery shopping. I have found that I am not reaching a lot of people on snap, but, rather people that gleam what they want from the blog.
Groceries on the cheap takes a multi-disciplined approach to grocery shopping.
First, some background. I was a single parent on the early seventies when we had double digit inflation. I rarely got child support and childcare took most of one bi weekly paycheck, and my rent took the other. There was little left. I started reading everything I could find on economy groceries. I augmented what I learned from my mother. Through the years, I have continued to read everything I could and came up with a plan that works. I spend 1/2 the national average for food. I also spend about half the USDA stats for our family for thrifty cooking. We still eat well. We are not on SNAP, but of could feed us on the SNAP allotment.
I started this blog when it was brought to my attention that people were running out of money before they ran out of month on snap. Now, with snap cuts and grocery prices rising, it is even more important to get a handle on grocery shopping. I have found that I am not reaching a lot of people on snap, but, rather people that gleam what they want from the blog.
Groceries on the cheap takes a multi-disciplined approach to grocery shopping.
- Planning and organizing
- Smart shopping
- Cooking from scratch
First, planning and organizing.
- Identify the inexpensive sources of protein your family will eat. In our house it is eggs, cheese, beans, rice chicken, beef, and pork. Our choices for beef and pork are limited, but I can still find cuts for around two dollars a pound, my target price.
- List 7-14 main dishes that use these proteins that your family will eat.
- Now, make a list of the shelf ready or freezer ingredients that you will use to prepare your meals. Remember, no boxed meals or ready mades here. In our house that would be pasta, pasta sauce, green beans, beans, canned diced tomatoes, tuna, instant mashed potatoes, some canned chili.
- Now, set up a method to track the prices of these things. Either use a spread sheet or a small notebook. List the name of the product, size of container as a header. Then the date purchased, where purchased, and amount you paid,made a coupon of you used one.
Stores run on a 8-12 week cycle for sales. The object of this exercise is to never pay FULL price for anything. You want to find the RBP ( rock bottom price) for your staples and only buy them when they are that price. I keep a three to six month supply. Now that I am established, I can glance at the shelf in the pantry and tell just how much we need of a particular food. When the shelf is showing white, I start looking for a sale. This is about thrift and being prepared. This is NOT about hoarding.
Its not unlike our grandmothers that put food up for the winter on the farm.
Another way to look at it, is that like people that play the stock market, you are buying low, and eating when food is high prices.
Cooking or eating on a limited or thrifty budget doesn't have a lot of room for ready mades and box kits for meals. You are paying greatly for someone else's labor. My daughter tho rally investigated a hamburger meal box. It was a real eye opener. Since them, they have Re invented the box and I haven't ventured down that road yet. Deli chicken is a big rip off. It takes ten minutes to prep a chicken for the oven. The rest of the cooking is passive cooking where you can do other things.
You can scratch cook in an efficient manner and spend not much more time than you do using the expensive counterparts and eat a lot more healthy. If you spend more time shopping, and less time cooking, your budget will be better off. Now, that being said, if you enjoy spending all day in the kitchen and have the time, good. I love a home cooked meal, cooked with love. But, most of us are time crunched.
Planning your grocery trip is vital. You will save a lot of money. When the grocery ads come out, take a piece of computer paper and divide it in quarters. Head each quarter with the name of a grocery store you have an ad for. Now, write down every meat on your target list that is a good price. You are looking for an average of two dollars a pound. Then wrote the best buys on oeroshables, produce and dairy. Now staples, you are looking for RBP.
Pick the best two stores. Plan your trip. Check the coupon matching site in your area formcoupn match ups. Take the ads, your coupon book, and your list. Shopping two stores gloves you the best produce selection, and the best buys.
Plan the car ride to use the least gas, and or group your trip with other errands. I bring a cooler. With our stores charging for bags, I bring the soft sided cooler onto the store. It's a lot more efficient,
Not having to transfer the frozen or refrigerator items. I also bring sacks in when I can remember.
Get in a store, and get out. Try to shop at the same chain store you are familiar with. It saves time.m the longer you spend in a store , the more money you will spend. We tend to buy the same type of thing. You're not going to change that, you are just going to buy more for the same amount of money.
There is not much difference on your pocket book of you buy sox cans of green beans for three dollars, or if you buy two cans at 1.59 each for the same cans. The difference is that you eat six times, not two.
I shop two chain stores a week, usually. I also shop the warehouse store about once every month to six weeks, and the overstock stores when we are in the area. The bakery outlet and Winco are also on a eight week rotation. Don't overlook the drug stores. With rewards and careful planning, you can get necessities for really good prices. Plan your trip and don't impulse buy. Impulse buys account for about 70 percent of a stores sales. They are also a way to jack up the amount you spend in a hurry. If it's not a real necessity ,don't buy it. Being cute is,not a necessity. LOL. Now, chocolate, maybe LOL. I never pay for toothpaste or deodorant. I hear that you don't have to pay for soap or toilet paper either, but I haven't mastered that.
Use coupons when they make sense. Don't buy anything just because you have a coupon for it. Even of it is free. Of I can't use it, or know somebody that can, I don't buy it. I got baby food for free a couple of weeks ago. I took it to the food bank. I am sure that there is a least one baby out there that needs it.
I buy a Sunday paper from the dollar store. My friend sometimes brings me her inserts. I file them by month in a file. I get the on line printable coupons from coupons.com. Get them at the first of the month. Download the ones that you think you will use. There is a limit of two coupons per computer. Be kind, and only download the ones you will use. The manufacturers set limits on how many can be downloaded. There are coupons for toothpaste, deodorant, toilet paper, yogurt, coffee, and other things that are not junk food or ready made high priced things. I have been downloading HORMEL sirloin tips coupons. With sales, I can get them for less than the cost of the meat at beef prices. I have yet to find a piece of fat in them.
I think what I am staying is to be diligent with your shopping. Avoid ready mades unless they are cheaper than making the product yourself. It is not time consuming to make sirloin tips. But at three dollars a pound for the ready made and 3.50 or higher for the tips, it doesn't make much sense. Especially,when there are times when having dinner ready on six minutes os a real asset and it keeps you away from ordering pizza or going for take out.
That's about all I can do today. Tomorrow, we will get into depth on some area. Please feel free to comment on what you would like more info on. And please share, especially of you know someone that is having a rough time with their budget.
Thanks for stopping by
Jane
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Wicked Wednesday
It's time for the ads.
TOP
Strawberries 3.98
Oranges 4 lb 3.49@@
Tuna 2/1@@
Nalley chili .99@@
QFC
Chuck roast. BOGO nets 3.50
Strawberries 2/4
Tomatoes .99
Ice cream 2/5
10/10 deal
Ben and Jerry's ice cream
Barilla pasta
Kroger vegetables
Canned chicken
Colgate toothpaste (check for coupons. )
Jello
SAFEWAYS
Milk 2.99
Green mountain coffee cups 5.99 ( ck coupons)
Ice cream 2.99
Yoplait 10/5$$
5 dollar Friday
Pizza
Angel soft / 12 dbl rolls
Granola bars 3/5 ( ck coupons )
Olive oil
Chicken legs, thighs .99
Pudding cups 1.00 ( backpack alert)
ALBERTSONS
GM BUYS
CEREAL 1.88 $$
Betty Crocker potatoes 1.00$$
BREYERS 2.99
Skippy 1.99
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
$$ manufacturer coupons likely
@@ with a in ad coupon
TOP
Strawberries 3.98
Oranges 4 lb 3.49@@
Tuna 2/1@@
Nalley chili .99@@
QFC
Chuck roast. BOGO nets 3.50
Strawberries 2/4
Tomatoes .99
Ice cream 2/5
10/10 deal
Ben and Jerry's ice cream
Barilla pasta
Kroger vegetables
Canned chicken
Colgate toothpaste (check for coupons. )
Jello
SAFEWAYS
Milk 2.99
Green mountain coffee cups 5.99 ( ck coupons)
Ice cream 2.99
Yoplait 10/5$$
5 dollar Friday
Pizza
Angel soft / 12 dbl rolls
Granola bars 3/5 ( ck coupons )
Olive oil
Chicken legs, thighs .99
Pudding cups 1.00 ( backpack alert)
ALBERTSONS
GM BUYS
CEREAL 1.88 $$
Betty Crocker potatoes 1.00$$
BREYERS 2.99
Skippy 1.99
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
$$ manufacturer coupons likely
@@ with a in ad coupon
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Yesterday
Yesterday was my husband and My anniversary. I had a card party with some friends in the morning, took some toothpaste to the women's shelter, and. We went out to the red lobster for dinner. We had gift cards. Dinner was 85.00 with a tip. That's more than I spend for all of us for a week for food. !
What a treat and it tasted so oo good.
I found an All You magazine at Fred Meyers. It is supposed to have a lot of coupons in it. It did have a lot of recipes and ideas for picking the right clothes for your figure type. Ways to save money period. A darling recipe for an Easter cake with peeps. But, as far as coupons go, there was one where if you buy rolls and turkey bacon, you can have free eggs. That's about it for anything I would buy.
My rotating meat of choice this week was 9 percent hamburger. I still have taco meat, so I made meat loaf and crumbles.
Today is the day to download coupons at coupons.com. Some manufacturers limit the amount of high monetary value coupons, so it pays to get them early.
Between ALBERTSONS and Fred Meyers, we got a lot of fruit and veggies. There are storage solutions that stretch e life of your fruits and veggies. Basically, they give off a gas while ripening. If you can let that gas escape instead of sitting in it's container, you have less spoilage. Tupperware has boxes and Debbie Meyer has bags and boxes and there is a product that my daughter bought for me that sits in the veggie drawer.
Dinner last night was a little steak and a lobster tail, green beans, mashed potatoes with roasted tomatoes on them, and cheese biscuits. The best cheese biscuits I have ever eaten. I skipped most of the mashed potatoes, they were really good, but they are carbs and I try to stay within my limit.
I read an interesting article that said the gluten free is not the best for you because it adds sugar and other things to compensate for the lack of gluten. I have heard the same thing about processed foods that are fat free or reduced fat. There was also some concern that people that truly didn't need to be gluten free were just doing so to be in with the crowd. ( especially young people) . If you are truly in need of a gluten free diet, fine. But if you just want to be, you are probably better off eating real food. Unless something is naturally fat free, or lower in fat ( 9 percent hamburger comes to mind) , you are better off just eating it on moderation or not at all.
We pick low fat cuts of meat. Sometimes, a little bit of something for flavor is better than eating it all. Like a slice of bacon in potato salad instead of four slices with breakfast. LOl
Last week I found chopped onion on a bag in the freezer section for a dollar. At the price of onions I saw at the store this week. It is an cheaper alternative and saves time too. Lemon juice in a bottle has always. Even cheaper than fresh squeezed. I have not found bagged lemons ( my preference) for a while now, and single lemons are what my mother used to call " higher than the $&@$ on a giraffe.
LOL
I'm closing, remember another of my moms expressions. Some people wouldn't know a bargain if it got up and bit them in the butt. Don't be that person. The easiest and best thing you can do to lower your food bill is to KNOW YOUR PRICES. You don't have to know all the prices in the store. But, know the prices of the items you buy on a regular basis. Buy a reasonable quantity and stock a reasonable quantity when they are at their RBP. Try to not buy them again until they are in sale for a good price again. Most stores go on a 8-12 week cycle. I have a section of shelf for each thing and a section of the freezer for each type of thing. I can know at a glance what we are short of and look for a sale. It takes a while to build a stock. But little by little you can do it.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
What a treat and it tasted so oo good.
I found an All You magazine at Fred Meyers. It is supposed to have a lot of coupons in it. It did have a lot of recipes and ideas for picking the right clothes for your figure type. Ways to save money period. A darling recipe for an Easter cake with peeps. But, as far as coupons go, there was one where if you buy rolls and turkey bacon, you can have free eggs. That's about it for anything I would buy.
My rotating meat of choice this week was 9 percent hamburger. I still have taco meat, so I made meat loaf and crumbles.
Today is the day to download coupons at coupons.com. Some manufacturers limit the amount of high monetary value coupons, so it pays to get them early.
Between ALBERTSONS and Fred Meyers, we got a lot of fruit and veggies. There are storage solutions that stretch e life of your fruits and veggies. Basically, they give off a gas while ripening. If you can let that gas escape instead of sitting in it's container, you have less spoilage. Tupperware has boxes and Debbie Meyer has bags and boxes and there is a product that my daughter bought for me that sits in the veggie drawer.
Dinner last night was a little steak and a lobster tail, green beans, mashed potatoes with roasted tomatoes on them, and cheese biscuits. The best cheese biscuits I have ever eaten. I skipped most of the mashed potatoes, they were really good, but they are carbs and I try to stay within my limit.
I read an interesting article that said the gluten free is not the best for you because it adds sugar and other things to compensate for the lack of gluten. I have heard the same thing about processed foods that are fat free or reduced fat. There was also some concern that people that truly didn't need to be gluten free were just doing so to be in with the crowd. ( especially young people) . If you are truly in need of a gluten free diet, fine. But if you just want to be, you are probably better off eating real food. Unless something is naturally fat free, or lower in fat ( 9 percent hamburger comes to mind) , you are better off just eating it on moderation or not at all.
We pick low fat cuts of meat. Sometimes, a little bit of something for flavor is better than eating it all. Like a slice of bacon in potato salad instead of four slices with breakfast. LOl
Last week I found chopped onion on a bag in the freezer section for a dollar. At the price of onions I saw at the store this week. It is an cheaper alternative and saves time too. Lemon juice in a bottle has always. Even cheaper than fresh squeezed. I have not found bagged lemons ( my preference) for a while now, and single lemons are what my mother used to call " higher than the $&@$ on a giraffe.
LOL
I'm closing, remember another of my moms expressions. Some people wouldn't know a bargain if it got up and bit them in the butt. Don't be that person. The easiest and best thing you can do to lower your food bill is to KNOW YOUR PRICES. You don't have to know all the prices in the store. But, know the prices of the items you buy on a regular basis. Buy a reasonable quantity and stock a reasonable quantity when they are at their RBP. Try to not buy them again until they are in sale for a good price again. Most stores go on a 8-12 week cycle. I have a section of shelf for each thing and a section of the freezer for each type of thing. I can know at a glance what we are short of and look for a sale. It takes a while to build a stock. But little by little you can do it.
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Jane
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Rite aid saga
Last week I bought baby food for five bucks using a dollar reward and got six dollar reward back.
This week, I took the six dollar reward, bought four cans of albacore tuna, a pair of jean leggings and spent 16.50 and got five dollars rewards.
6 dollars worth if baby food
8 dollars worth of tuna
16 dollars worth of leggings.
30.00 worth of product.
Spent 16.50 OOP.
45 percent savings.
This week, I took the six dollar reward, bought four cans of albacore tuna, a pair of jean leggings and spent 16.50 and got five dollars rewards.
6 dollars worth if baby food
8 dollars worth of tuna
16 dollars worth of leggings.
30.00 worth of product.
Spent 16.50 OOP.
45 percent savings.
Sunday ads
Fred Meyers
Broccoli .78
Triscuits 3/5 @@
Coffee , FOLGERS 5.99@@
Ground turkey 2/7@@
Barilla 1.00 - look for coupon
Peanut butter 1.88
Veggies 2/1 limit 6@@
Sour cream or cream cheese 1.00
Rite aid has decoded not to put theor ads in the Sunday paper. I went on line. Electric toothbrush nets a buck with coupons. Pantene shampoo nets 1.50 again with a coupon. Bumble bee good tuna is 1.50 with up rewards.
Walgreens
Puffs tissue is a buck
Today's dinner made easy from Betty Crocker has strawberry cream cheese cupcakes. Cream cheese os a buck at Fred Meyers and it uses preserves, so you could actually sub blueberry or raspberry too.
Yum!
That's about all.
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Jane.
Broccoli .78
Triscuits 3/5 @@
Coffee , FOLGERS 5.99@@
Ground turkey 2/7@@
Barilla 1.00 - look for coupon
Peanut butter 1.88
Veggies 2/1 limit 6@@
Sour cream or cream cheese 1.00
Rite aid has decoded not to put theor ads in the Sunday paper. I went on line. Electric toothbrush nets a buck with coupons. Pantene shampoo nets 1.50 again with a coupon. Bumble bee good tuna is 1.50 with up rewards.
Walgreens
Puffs tissue is a buck
Today's dinner made easy from Betty Crocker has strawberry cream cheese cupcakes. Cream cheese os a buck at Fred Meyers and it uses preserves, so you could actually sub blueberry or raspberry too.
Yum!
That's about all.
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Jane.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Post freaky Friday
Ok, I did shop yesterday. All in all, I got a lot of very good buys and used coupons for REAL food. I heat so much that coupons are just for junk food and you can do better using store brands. I used to think that too. But, I am finding coupons for lettuce, eggs, yogurt, whole wheat pasta, solid albacore tuna, and sirloin tips. I stand corrected. I saved sixty percent at ALBERTSONS. Many veggies and fruit were a buck. Apples were a buck a pound and of you bought the sack, it was three more dollars off. I passed on the dollar a carrot organic carrots. LOL. Grocery outlet and SAFEWAYS I saved almost as much as I spent.
I will be batch cooking hamburger and I picked up a mix of cheeses at grocery outlet so we will have Mac and cheese this week. I love being able to cook once and have everyone eat.
My basis for groceries on the cheap is three hundred dollars a month. That is the average I am finding for snap. We have three adults and a baby on the family. My daughter supplements for her and the baby, but we still provide the regular food. I would equate that to three adults. My average for the last 12 months is 67.00 a week. We stock. We didn't eat 67.00 a week. The USDA stats for my husband and I is 83.00 a week for a thrifty diet.
It's not hard to spend more money on food. I feel that if I show how to do it at rock bottom, it will cover everyone's senecio and one can always add a more expensive cut of meat. Bottom line, it is silly to spend twice the price for the same thing because you can't wait for a sale.
Planning your trip and shopping from the ads can save you time on the stores and a lot of money. I had already planned my trip yesterday.m I knew that ALBERTSONS had blackberries for a buck and SAFEWAYS had strawberries for 1.50. I try to keep a lot of fresh fruit around. It is healthier than the cookies I picked up from grocery outlet. A treat is always nice too. Balance.....moderation.
Go over the ads, pick the best two stores, and shop. Get in and get out. The more time you spend on a store, the more money you will spend. Don't go to the store hungry, your willpower wains.
There are some weeks lately that I can't see enough at any store to warrant the trip. Then I wait and see of Fred Meyer has any better. Even though Fred Meyers and QFC are both Kroger, prices are not the same. I had forgot my coupon book when we went to Fred Meyers. Good thing , because the same thing was at QFC for a do,lar cheaper. Add my dollar coupon and I saved two dollars. That made real beef ( not ground) 2.99 a pound. I am to the point this week, that we shouldn't have to shop next week. I probably will only go for bread and milk and I do have yeast so I can make bread if I had time.
I am an antique dealer, work 2 days a week, teach card making, write this blog, belong to a women's group, and keep house and care for my granddaughter. I don't spend my whole day shopping or planning my trips. Once you get it under control, its actually faster and more efficient to plan your trip and shop two stores.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share, the more people that see this the more chance I have of helping someone .
Jane
I will be batch cooking hamburger and I picked up a mix of cheeses at grocery outlet so we will have Mac and cheese this week. I love being able to cook once and have everyone eat.
My basis for groceries on the cheap is three hundred dollars a month. That is the average I am finding for snap. We have three adults and a baby on the family. My daughter supplements for her and the baby, but we still provide the regular food. I would equate that to three adults. My average for the last 12 months is 67.00 a week. We stock. We didn't eat 67.00 a week. The USDA stats for my husband and I is 83.00 a week for a thrifty diet.
It's not hard to spend more money on food. I feel that if I show how to do it at rock bottom, it will cover everyone's senecio and one can always add a more expensive cut of meat. Bottom line, it is silly to spend twice the price for the same thing because you can't wait for a sale.
Planning your trip and shopping from the ads can save you time on the stores and a lot of money. I had already planned my trip yesterday.m I knew that ALBERTSONS had blackberries for a buck and SAFEWAYS had strawberries for 1.50. I try to keep a lot of fresh fruit around. It is healthier than the cookies I picked up from grocery outlet. A treat is always nice too. Balance.....moderation.
Go over the ads, pick the best two stores, and shop. Get in and get out. The more time you spend on a store, the more money you will spend. Don't go to the store hungry, your willpower wains.
There are some weeks lately that I can't see enough at any store to warrant the trip. Then I wait and see of Fred Meyer has any better. Even though Fred Meyers and QFC are both Kroger, prices are not the same. I had forgot my coupon book when we went to Fred Meyers. Good thing , because the same thing was at QFC for a do,lar cheaper. Add my dollar coupon and I saved two dollars. That made real beef ( not ground) 2.99 a pound. I am to the point this week, that we shouldn't have to shop next week. I probably will only go for bread and milk and I do have yeast so I can make bread if I had time.
I am an antique dealer, work 2 days a week, teach card making, write this blog, belong to a women's group, and keep house and care for my granddaughter. I don't spend my whole day shopping or planning my trips. Once you get it under control, its actually faster and more efficient to plan your trip and shop two stores.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share, the more people that see this the more chance I have of helping someone .
Jane
Friday, March 28, 2014
Freaky Friday
It's Friday. I'm over budget this month by two bucks. I have been under budget the last sox months by about nine bucks a week. I think proces of produce has contributed to it. I have been sticking pretty close to two dollars a pound for meat ( average) and have pretty much stayed to the target prices on staples. That leaves the veggies.
Staying in track with your budget is a matter of knowing what prices you are going to pay and staying on your range and portion controlling your protein. I do that by rotating the meat purchases based on the sales. One meat usually per week, buy as much as you are going to eat in a month, and cook and portion control it in freezer bags.
This week it's ground beef because it is 2.99 for 9 percent hamburger. Last week chicken was .80 a pound. I cooked about ten pounds. Whole chickens are cheaper than parts usually. When I can find grill packs , I debone the breasts and cook the rest for shredded chicken. Good on tacos or BBQ chicken sandwiches.
Paying 1/2 price for food means you can have more food and stocking assures that you never have an empty pantry.
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Jane
Ps
Rite Aid has baby food for free until Next Sunday. Even of you don't have a baby, it is a nice thing to buy it and take it to the food bank. I can just about guess that there will be a mother with a baby that really needs the food.
Staying in track with your budget is a matter of knowing what prices you are going to pay and staying on your range and portion controlling your protein. I do that by rotating the meat purchases based on the sales. One meat usually per week, buy as much as you are going to eat in a month, and cook and portion control it in freezer bags.
This week it's ground beef because it is 2.99 for 9 percent hamburger. Last week chicken was .80 a pound. I cooked about ten pounds. Whole chickens are cheaper than parts usually. When I can find grill packs , I debone the breasts and cook the rest for shredded chicken. Good on tacos or BBQ chicken sandwiches.
Paying 1/2 price for food means you can have more food and stocking assures that you never have an empty pantry.
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Jane
Ps
Rite Aid has baby food for free until Next Sunday. Even of you don't have a baby, it is a nice thing to buy it and take it to the food bank. I can just about guess that there will be a mother with a baby that really needs the food.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Terrific Thursday- what to do with what you got
It's probably no secret that one of the stores of choice this week is ALBERTSONS. I did go to QFC last night because I had to pick up meds for my husband.
I bought a blueberry pie , cheaper than buying the blueberries and two BBQ beef tubs because I had coupons and they were 2.99 a pound. Beef is so expensive that 2.99 a pound is more than realistic price. Normally, scratch cooking is cheaper and better for you. Strawberries were good, and salad was on sale.
Frozen Mac and cheese is .50 at ALBERTSONS. There are coupons that net it .30. That's about ot for ready mades. We buy a few when they are cheaper than scratch.
Now would be the time to stock tomato paste, frozen juice (1.00'and 100 percent juice ) tomato sauce. Taco seasoning is never a bargain at a dollar! There are lots of fruits and veggies for a buck at ALBERTSONS. Skip the organic carrots at a buck a piece! Wash and peel your carrots instead.
Hamburger is 3.99 with a coupon, CHEAPER at SAFEWAYS.
We did chicken for a rotation meat last week. I also picked up sausage cheap. This week it should be hamburger. I make meatballs, crumbles, meatloaf and taco meat. Ot os the hardest of the a meat rotation, but of you are averaging the time, it's still really manageable.
Beans and tomatoes are .80 at TOP. That's higher than my target price. I, however,haven't found them cheaper lately,except at Fred Meyers a couple of weeks ago and they were on a coupon with a limit. I did see them before and suspect that they will show up on a rotation like the milk does.
My meat (protein) matrix is
2 beef
2 pork or chicken
2 vegetarian
1 fish or shellfish
I have BBQ beef and hamburger this week for the rotation ( 3.00 lb)
Last week was chicken at .80 a pound.
Pork loin was 1.79 a few weeks ago, and sausage was 3.33.
Eggs were 1.67 last week, and cheese was 2.50 a pound last week at FM.
Average less than 2.00 per meal for protein. That makes for a very believable five dollar dinner. ( that's five dollars for a proverbial family of two adults and 2 school aged children total, not PER plate.
Now that vegetable are coming down on price at least for now, it is still very believable to put healthy dishes on the table. The term healthy is realitive. We are not eating ding dongs and .28 cent a pound mystery chicken; we are also not eating strawberries that were grown in water from Mars or five dollar a gallon milk. We are eating low fat, sugar, and salt. I defat anything I can defat and buy lean cuts of meat ( 9 percent hamburger) .
It's a realistic healthy on a low income budget. I'm not convinced that all the hype about our food supply is worth the expense if I did have the money. What was healthy eating back in the day, is considered terrible eating now. I am convinced that eating a low fat, salt and sugar diet and eating a variety of foods in moderation is a good plan on a limited budget. Moderation is the key.
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Jane
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Wicked Wednesday
The ads are here.
Baby food is still free at rite aid until next Sunday, if you don't have a baby, please think about the recipients of the food bank. I got applesauce.
Coupons for tuna and zap ems and cereal are good nets. The tuna is for sold albacore, and the cereal can net .99 when you buy milk. Zap ems are a net of .30.
ALBERTSONS
ALBERTSONS has theor quarters sale on again along woth a dollar sale.
Roma tomatoes 1.00
Blackberries 1.00
Carrots 1.00 EACH ... NOT
Oranges 1.00 lb
Apples 1.00
Eng cukes 1.00
Bean sprouts 1.00
Salad 1.00
Small tomato sauce .25
QFC
Strawberries 2/4
Tillamook ice cream 3/10
Oranges .99
Pears .99
Pie 2.99
Buy 5, save 5
Freshetta net 3.99
Pasta sauce .99
K cups 4.99
Check for coypon matchups for the B5 S 5
SAFEWAYS
Ground beef 2.99 for 10 percent fat
Strawberries 2/3
Five dollar Fridays
Blues 2/5
Salsa 3/5 - check for coupons
TOP
top round roast 3.49
Lettuce BOGO
Beans, tomatoes 10/8. Note this more than my target, but I'm not seeing less except for fm with a limit was .50 a couple of weeks ago.
Butter 2/5
That's about it.
There is no one store that gets out and grabs me as the best store. Since we have found pork and chicken cheap lately, I am left with hamburger. It is 2.99 at SAFEWAYS for ground beef ( 10 percent) or 3.49 for roast at top to grind your own,
If I was short on beans and tomatoes I would go for some of the .80 at top. I was only short black beans and stocked at .50 at Freddie's. Tomato sauce and oaste are really cheap at ALBERTSONS. I used tomato paste for the pizzas and added herbs the other night when we had individual pizzas. It was cheaper than opening a large can of tomato or pasta sauce.
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Jane
Baby food is still free at rite aid until next Sunday, if you don't have a baby, please think about the recipients of the food bank. I got applesauce.
Coupons for tuna and zap ems and cereal are good nets. The tuna is for sold albacore, and the cereal can net .99 when you buy milk. Zap ems are a net of .30.
ALBERTSONS
ALBERTSONS has theor quarters sale on again along woth a dollar sale.
Roma tomatoes 1.00
Blackberries 1.00
Carrots 1.00 EACH ... NOT
Oranges 1.00 lb
Apples 1.00
Eng cukes 1.00
Bean sprouts 1.00
Salad 1.00
Small tomato sauce .25
QFC
Strawberries 2/4
Tillamook ice cream 3/10
Oranges .99
Pears .99
Pie 2.99
Buy 5, save 5
Freshetta net 3.99
Pasta sauce .99
K cups 4.99
Check for coypon matchups for the B5 S 5
SAFEWAYS
Ground beef 2.99 for 10 percent fat
Strawberries 2/3
Five dollar Fridays
Blues 2/5
Salsa 3/5 - check for coupons
TOP
top round roast 3.49
Lettuce BOGO
Beans, tomatoes 10/8. Note this more than my target, but I'm not seeing less except for fm with a limit was .50 a couple of weeks ago.
Butter 2/5
That's about it.
There is no one store that gets out and grabs me as the best store. Since we have found pork and chicken cheap lately, I am left with hamburger. It is 2.99 at SAFEWAYS for ground beef ( 10 percent) or 3.49 for roast at top to grind your own,
If I was short on beans and tomatoes I would go for some of the .80 at top. I was only short black beans and stocked at .50 at Freddie's. Tomato sauce and oaste are really cheap at ALBERTSONS. I used tomato paste for the pizzas and added herbs the other night when we had individual pizzas. It was cheaper than opening a large can of tomato or pasta sauce.
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Jane
Pesto,
Yesterday we went to ALBERTSONS. We needed a monthly egg run. I found some stew beef that was reasonably priced for beef, that is these days.
We had make your own pizzas last night. My daughter had purchSed a jar of pesto at Costco. Really expensive. I remember posting a chicken pesto penne recipe back a while. I found another recipe for inexpensive pesto. My husband is not too anamoired with pesto, but the rest of us are.
PESTO
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves ( fresh)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 t olive oil
Pinch of salt
2 tsp minced garlic
Process in food processor or blender.
Use it on salmon or other fish, on pasta, in a chicken or turkey panini. Or ??????
Sometimes a little splurge will wake up a tired menu even on a limited budget. Pesto is easy to make from scratch. You can use just about any green herb, olive oil, and nuts to make pesto. You can buy small packages of nuts at the dollar store.
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Jane
We had make your own pizzas last night. My daughter had purchSed a jar of pesto at Costco. Really expensive. I remember posting a chicken pesto penne recipe back a while. I found another recipe for inexpensive pesto. My husband is not too anamoired with pesto, but the rest of us are.
PESTO
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves ( fresh)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 t olive oil
Pinch of salt
2 tsp minced garlic
Process in food processor or blender.
Use it on salmon or other fish, on pasta, in a chicken or turkey panini. Or ??????
Sometimes a little splurge will wake up a tired menu even on a limited budget. Pesto is easy to make from scratch. You can use just about any green herb, olive oil, and nuts to make pesto. You can buy small packages of nuts at the dollar store.
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Jane
Monday, March 24, 2014
Monday Madness
We did go to Fred Meyers yesterday, I loaded up on. Veggies and fruit. Coffee and some sausage. That gives me sausage, chicken, and cheese for a start on Aprils meat. I already have hamburger in the freezer. Eggs are on a cohpon for 3/5 at ALBERTSONS.
I digress. Let's take this from the top. By using stair step and precooking techniques, meals can be varied, inexpensive, and not a lot of work for the cook.
We also went to Rite aid. We had a dollar up reward loaded. I purchased four baby foods for sox dollars and got a sox dollar up reward loaded to our card. My husband bought beer. I'll take the baby food to the food bank tomorrow.
Even with a slow week sale wise, you can still eat well for less. It helps that you have stocked when other things were on a good sale.
What to do with what you got.
I roasted two chickens yesterday. I used both ovens because I haven't had good luck with two chickens in the small oven. They took forever to get done and I wound up finishing them off in the Microwave. I separate them into breast portions.mdark meat and soup bones.
I got two individual packages of pizza crusts, like bomb oil and we can have make your own pizzas. We like buffalo chicken pizza.
Chicken pot pie continues to be a favorite here.
Sausage is good with potatoes and peppers.
Friday night we had fish and chips and Saturday night we had Mac and cheese with mixed veggies.
I will probably round thos out with tacos and spaghetti with meat balls.
My usual matrix for meals is
2 beef
2 pork or chicken
2 vegetarian
1 fish
I digress. Let's take this from the top. By using stair step and precooking techniques, meals can be varied, inexpensive, and not a lot of work for the cook.
- Friday/ we had fish and chips and coleslaw.
- Saturday/ Mac and cheese with veggies / strawberries. Shell macaroni ( .50) basil recipe starter ( free w coupon at dollar tree) pesto grated cheese ( grocery outlet) broccolli ( 1.00 a pound) melt the cheese in the recipe starter on top of the stove on medium heat in a saucepan. Add to cooked and drained Mac and place on baking dish with par boiled broccoli. Top with more cheese and bake until heated through.
- Sunday/ roast chicken ( roast two and separate into breast portions for dinners, legs and thighs, and soup bones. ) make three cups rice) strawberries and mixed veggies. ( chicken .79 lb, )
- Monday/ buffalo chicken pizzas. Pizza crusts ( dollar store) ranch dressing, chicken pieces with Tabasco or heat to your choice ) blue cheese and motts, sliced olives ( .50 ALBERTSONS) lettuce salad with tomato ( Fred Meyers )
- Tuesday/ bean and rice burritos. Lettuce salad (last night. ) rice from Sunday. Beans .50 Fred Meyers)
- Wednesday/ tacos , refried beans. Rice with salsa, lettuce and tomato.
- Thursday/ meatballs and spaghetti. Fruit cup with mixed berries and grapes.
There is a week. Most of it was precooked, meatballs, taco meat, chicken, rice. Cheese was 4.99 for two pounds at Fred Meyer. Peppers were on sale as well. Chop remaining peppers and freeze. Peppers can be added to pizza. Last week, Fred Meyers had tomatoes or beans for .50 on an ad coupon. Pasta can almost always be had for less than a buck a pound with coupons. Barilla is on coupon in Sundays paper. Match it up with a sale. I have found that you will eat less pasta and pizza dough of you fill the top of it with a lot of meat and veggies. I have a recipe for pizza dough on an earlier post. It is made in the food processor and quick, but not as quick as premade. Of course, if you have time, it tastes a whole lot better.
Stair stepping and precooking meat makes meal time easier and takes no more time than eating out of a box. I tend to cook things that I can make that will satisfy our very diversified family of tastes. I dont want to , nor will I cook three separate meals.
My Fred Meyer trip is on Facebook under janes groceries on the cheap. You will probably notice that I bought a lot of fruits and veggies and things that are not on the meal plan for this week. Buying what is on sale and rotating meats affords you a variety of food without laying top dollar for so,e things on your plate.
The main object of groceries on the cheap is to NEVER PAY FULL PRICE for your food. Sometimes that is impossible, but like the old saying save the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves, if you concentrate on the core items on your target list, you should be ok. Don't forget you aren't going to buy ready mades and junk food and trying to buy from extreme grocery stores will he shooting yourself in the foot.
Divide your monthly budget by 4.2. That is your weekly allotment. If you spend more one week because there are good sales, then you have to spend less the following week or visa versa. Have a good idea of how much you are spending on the food groups. Map it out on paper of you need to.
That way, you won't spend too much at the beginning of the month, and run out before the month is up. You want to wind up with five dollar dinners. It is truly believable, but not of you buy ten dollar a pound ground beef that comes from mars. Do the math You don't have to do it all the time. Just get a feel for what prices you are paying and how they relate to a five dollar budget.
I am operating on the lowest budget I can . If you get more money, or your family os a different size, you will need to adjust accodingly. I am working in the Pacific Northwest. Prices vary from state to state, and so do the snap allotments and wages. I suspect that some prices are lower, and some are higher. The basics are the same. The prices will be different.
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Jane
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Sunday ads
My daughter picked up the paper yesterday. There was no rite aid ad. I looked at the coupon match
up site. I don't see a lot except for free baby food. I am sure that if you don't have a baby, the food bank would welcome it.
Walgreens
Milk 2.29
Tissue .99
Bumble Bee Tuna .69
Fred Meyer
Strawberries 2 lbs 2.98
Chicken .99. Cheaper at SAFEWAYS
Tillamook cheese 4.99@@
Milk 4/5
Bread 3/4@@
Smoked sausage 3/10
Pears .88
Grapes 2.48
Coffee 5.99
That's about all. Be sure to check the matchups.
I am going to prep in the kitchen this morning and I need to get some work done on my studio.
I entered into a group discussion on what constitutes junk food, I steer clear of a lot of meal boxes etc, not because they could in some people s eyes be junk food, bit because I stick to a strict budget. I want to prove that a good, well balanced diet can be had with the amount you can get from food stamps. I think it takes a little education, it's a whole different way of looking at food shopping and preparing meals. There os an entire generation of children out there that have been allowed to be picky and think that food comes out of a box. That isn't necessarily the most healthy way or the least expensive way to eat.
To me, the definition of junk food is anything that comes up in the empty calories venue. If you can look at it and the food value is zilch, it's probably junk food. Things like potato chips, ding dongs, pop tarts , pop etc. I only bake peanut butter or oatmeal cookies. I make muffins that have oatmeal and real fruit in them. If sugar is the main.ingredient, you probably don't want it.
OF YOU ARE WATCHING THE SUGAR, SALT AND FAT, THE JUNK FOOD WILL PROBABLY TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.
It surprised me to see that there are some extremists out there that think pizza , anything in a box and cookies and anything that isn't veggies in the freezer case is junk food. What about fish, shellfish? Potatoes, frozen fruit?
Again, look at the nutritients. If it's full of fat, sugar or salt, it's probably junk food. Pizza to me is protein and veggies on bread. I don't think that it is much different than eating a sandwich. Kids just love it. While I am not a big fan of letting a child dictate the dinner menu , cooking what they like within reason sure makes life easier. Pizza, pasta, burritos come to mind.
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Jane
up site. I don't see a lot except for free baby food. I am sure that if you don't have a baby, the food bank would welcome it.
Walgreens
Milk 2.29
Tissue .99
Bumble Bee Tuna .69
Fred Meyer
Strawberries 2 lbs 2.98
Chicken .99. Cheaper at SAFEWAYS
Tillamook cheese 4.99@@
Milk 4/5
Bread 3/4@@
Smoked sausage 3/10
Pears .88
Grapes 2.48
Coffee 5.99
That's about all. Be sure to check the matchups.
I am going to prep in the kitchen this morning and I need to get some work done on my studio.
I entered into a group discussion on what constitutes junk food, I steer clear of a lot of meal boxes etc, not because they could in some people s eyes be junk food, bit because I stick to a strict budget. I want to prove that a good, well balanced diet can be had with the amount you can get from food stamps. I think it takes a little education, it's a whole different way of looking at food shopping and preparing meals. There os an entire generation of children out there that have been allowed to be picky and think that food comes out of a box. That isn't necessarily the most healthy way or the least expensive way to eat.
To me, the definition of junk food is anything that comes up in the empty calories venue. If you can look at it and the food value is zilch, it's probably junk food. Things like potato chips, ding dongs, pop tarts , pop etc. I only bake peanut butter or oatmeal cookies. I make muffins that have oatmeal and real fruit in them. If sugar is the main.ingredient, you probably don't want it.
OF YOU ARE WATCHING THE SUGAR, SALT AND FAT, THE JUNK FOOD WILL PROBABLY TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.
It surprised me to see that there are some extremists out there that think pizza , anything in a box and cookies and anything that isn't veggies in the freezer case is junk food. What about fish, shellfish? Potatoes, frozen fruit?
Again, look at the nutritients. If it's full of fat, sugar or salt, it's probably junk food. Pizza to me is protein and veggies on bread. I don't think that it is much different than eating a sandwich. Kids just love it. While I am not a big fan of letting a child dictate the dinner menu , cooking what they like within reason sure makes life easier. Pizza, pasta, burritos come to mind.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Suddenly Saturday
It's Saturday. I just spent a delightful few hours with friend at a belated mardi gras party. I don't think I have ever had jambalaya. It was quite good. They skipped th shrimp because of allergies, but was still really good.
I did not get the newspaper yet, so tomorrow's ads will have to happen tomorrow.
We had an interesting discussion at lunch about how many homeless children there are, even in communities that we would expect to be affluent. This last recession has hurt a lot of oeople really hard, something our legislators don't seem to have grasped. The meat prices have drastically gone up and the bargains are becoming few and far between. I am noticing it on a regular basis. I only spent 20.23 this week. Fortunately, I could do so because I have stocked when prices were low. We will see how I adapt when my stock is depleting.
Groceries on the cheap takes a whole different approach to buying groceries. Many people go to the store weekly, or more often and buy just what they need for the weeks groceries. Doing so, they pay top dollar for their food. With groceries on the cheap. You buy what is on sale and rotate your purchases so that you always have food on the pantry/ freezer and you are just adding to it. Of course, perishables have to be purchased on a regular basis. Dairy, except milk, has a far out pull date , so I get it on bulk at Costco often. Fruits and veggies I buy what is on season at the cheapest price , taking quality into consideration.
I rotate the meat of the week and buy enough for a months worth of those meals. In other words, if we eat chicken twice a week, I want eight meals worth of chicken. That is two chickens for us. I got it for .80 a pound this week. That's unusual, I feel good of I can get it for a buck. I usually rotate chicken, pork loin, hamburger (9 percent ) and sausage or cheese. Last week I bought cheese,the week before pork loin.
The bottom line os that you never want to pay full price for anything-- but especially the corrections that you buy on a regular basis.
More tomorrow.
Jane
I did not get the newspaper yet, so tomorrow's ads will have to happen tomorrow.
We had an interesting discussion at lunch about how many homeless children there are, even in communities that we would expect to be affluent. This last recession has hurt a lot of oeople really hard, something our legislators don't seem to have grasped. The meat prices have drastically gone up and the bargains are becoming few and far between. I am noticing it on a regular basis. I only spent 20.23 this week. Fortunately, I could do so because I have stocked when prices were low. We will see how I adapt when my stock is depleting.
Groceries on the cheap takes a whole different approach to buying groceries. Many people go to the store weekly, or more often and buy just what they need for the weeks groceries. Doing so, they pay top dollar for their food. With groceries on the cheap. You buy what is on sale and rotate your purchases so that you always have food on the pantry/ freezer and you are just adding to it. Of course, perishables have to be purchased on a regular basis. Dairy, except milk, has a far out pull date , so I get it on bulk at Costco often. Fruits and veggies I buy what is on season at the cheapest price , taking quality into consideration.
I rotate the meat of the week and buy enough for a months worth of those meals. In other words, if we eat chicken twice a week, I want eight meals worth of chicken. That is two chickens for us. I got it for .80 a pound this week. That's unusual, I feel good of I can get it for a buck. I usually rotate chicken, pork loin, hamburger (9 percent ) and sausage or cheese. Last week I bought cheese,the week before pork loin.
The bottom line os that you never want to pay full price for anything-- but especially the corrections that you buy on a regular basis.
More tomorrow.
Jane
Friday, March 21, 2014
Beat the hate to shop blues
Despite all the jokes that women love to shop, I hear there actually is people that hate to sh. I suspect it is because they don't have the. Knew, or they are an indecisive personality. The obvious solution is to either, get over it, because some shopping os a fact of life, or delegate the job to someone else in the family that doesn't have a problem with shopping.
Making a game if it can help. SAFEWAYS has a just for you coupon for five dollars off twenty. I want to see just how much I can get for my 15.00. Obviously, the closer to twenty dollars you stay, the bigger the percent of savings.
I know I want two chickens if I can get them big enough. And, blue bunny ice cream is a no Brainer. After that, it's a matter of winging it.
Back later with my results!
My total was 15.23. I spent another five dollars at the dollar store.
I got
2 -4.5 lb chickens
2 lbs strawberries
6 loaves of sandwich bread
Ice cream
At the dollar store I got pizza crust, French fries and pepperoni.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Making a game if it can help. SAFEWAYS has a just for you coupon for five dollars off twenty. I want to see just how much I can get for my 15.00. Obviously, the closer to twenty dollars you stay, the bigger the percent of savings.
I know I want two chickens if I can get them big enough. And, blue bunny ice cream is a no Brainer. After that, it's a matter of winging it.
Back later with my results!
My total was 15.23. I spent another five dollars at the dollar store.
I got
2 -4.5 lb chickens
2 lbs strawberries
6 loaves of sandwich bread
Ice cream
At the dollar store I got pizza crust, French fries and pepperoni.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Terrific Thursday
I have discovered that some of the rewards specials from Walgreens are really all coupons and you can't use more than one coupon per item if they are manufacturers coupons. Scratch two toothpastes.
Chicken is really cheap at SAFEWAYS, limit 4. I can roast two at a time, but need to use separate pans. Otherwise, the air doesn't circulate enough to get all of them done.
The Internet is full of delicious chicken recipes. Try to get ones that are closer to 5 pounds, certainly well over 3 pounds.
SAFEWAYS has blue bunny ice cream for 3.49. It is a good alternative for people on special diets. Low fat, low sugar. I sometimes get a coupon.
None of the grocery chains have mass bargains again. I guess it will take diligent watching. I got beans and could have had tomatoes for ..50 with a limit. It just means you,need to buy the limit every time it's on a coupon in order to stock of they are items on your target list.
I am also not seeing a lot of regular food on coupon other than store coupon. I think it might be time to explore Winco again.
I did get salsa at business Costco. It was 5.59 for a gallon. We go through a lot of salsa ( mainly my daughter) and I can't make or buy it for that even with coupons.
There are a lot, a whole generation of young adults that think that dinner comes out of a box. Dinners in boxes can be very expensive and lack food value. There are ways to cook dinner better, cheaper, faster. Many things don't take any longer to scratch cook than box cook. It's a matter of being organized a little.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Chicken is really cheap at SAFEWAYS, limit 4. I can roast two at a time, but need to use separate pans. Otherwise, the air doesn't circulate enough to get all of them done.
The Internet is full of delicious chicken recipes. Try to get ones that are closer to 5 pounds, certainly well over 3 pounds.
SAFEWAYS has blue bunny ice cream for 3.49. It is a good alternative for people on special diets. Low fat, low sugar. I sometimes get a coupon.
None of the grocery chains have mass bargains again. I guess it will take diligent watching. I got beans and could have had tomatoes for ..50 with a limit. It just means you,need to buy the limit every time it's on a coupon in order to stock of they are items on your target list.
I am also not seeing a lot of regular food on coupon other than store coupon. I think it might be time to explore Winco again.
I did get salsa at business Costco. It was 5.59 for a gallon. We go through a lot of salsa ( mainly my daughter) and I can't make or buy it for that even with coupons.
There are a lot, a whole generation of young adults that think that dinner comes out of a box. Dinners in boxes can be very expensive and lack food value. There are ways to cook dinner better, cheaper, faster. Many things don't take any longer to scratch cook than box cook. It's a matter of being organized a little.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Wicked Wednesday. The ads
The ads
ALBERTSONS
Cod 2.99
Strawberries 2 lbs 4.99
Eggs 3/5@@
Ice cream 2.99@
Skippy peanut butter 1.99@@
Veg oil 1.69@@
Cheese, Brandon, 2/6
SAFEWAYS
Whole chicken .79
Five dollar Fridays
Strawberries
Shrimp
QFC
Tomatoes .99
Broccoli .99
Top round roast BOGO. Nets 3.25
Buy 5. Save5
BREYERS nets 2.49
Pasta sauce nets .99
Freshetta nets 3.99
Orzo wheat bread nets 1.99
Post cereal nets 1.99
24 ounces frozen fruit 3.99
Top
Peanut butter 1.99@@
Black olives .99
Zucchini .99
Case on point. Not everything just because it's in a sale flyer is a sale. Darigold butter at top is 3.29. It is 2.00 with a coypon at Fred Meyers. Huge difference in cost. Very many if those and you have a weeks groceries for free.
That's about it
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
ALBERTSONS
Cod 2.99
Strawberries 2 lbs 4.99
Eggs 3/5@@
Ice cream 2.99@
Skippy peanut butter 1.99@@
Veg oil 1.69@@
Cheese, Brandon, 2/6
SAFEWAYS
Whole chicken .79
Five dollar Fridays
Strawberries
Shrimp
QFC
Tomatoes .99
Broccoli .99
Top round roast BOGO. Nets 3.25
Buy 5. Save5
BREYERS nets 2.49
Pasta sauce nets .99
Freshetta nets 3.99
Orzo wheat bread nets 1.99
Post cereal nets 1.99
24 ounces frozen fruit 3.99
Top
Peanut butter 1.99@@
Black olives .99
Zucchini .99
Case on point. Not everything just because it's in a sale flyer is a sale. Darigold butter at top is 3.29. It is 2.00 with a coypon at Fred Meyers. Huge difference in cost. Very many if those and you have a weeks groceries for free.
That's about it
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
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