Breaking from the norm, safety tips

My identity was stolen Friday,.    I really felt violated and wondered and sill wonder where they got my e mail address and credit card number.   I did  report ot to the police.   My sister was surprised that a policeman came to the house to get a report and that I had to file a report.   I guess there are people that make a false report just to get the bank to pay for their charges!     The bank called me.   They have a program that red flags unusual charges , that is, charges that are not your usual spending pattern.   That's why if you take a vacation, you should call the bank and tell them you are going.   Otherwise they are likely to freeze your card and leave you in a pickle.  

The police officer told me all sorts of things.   For one, the neighbourhood gas station had some skimming incidents.   Luckily for us my husband doesn't go to that station.    Costco is so much cheaper.   

Never put your keys in your purse when you are going out in public.   Put your keys in your pocket.  Some people wear a cross body bag under their coat and just have necessities in their purse.   

If someone steals your purse, often they go on a spending spree and steal your car or while you are trying to find a phone to report your purse stolen and find a ride home, they are at your house cleaning it out.

Never put things in your mail box and put the flag up.    The only thing I ever put in the mail box is a birthday card.   

Don't leave anything in your car that you don't want stolen.   That is hard when I go to more than one grocery store at a shopping trip.   At least lock it in the trunk if you can before you go to your next stop.    Again , that is hard because I don't have a trunk.   We do bring a soft sided cooler for our groceries so you can't tell if it is empty or full.   

When you use your debit card, punch in your PIN number and touch a couple of other numbers while doing so.   There are people that have infrared scanners on the back of their phones that read what numbers that you have punched.  

I had a discussion with someone that said that they would never use a debit card, just use checks.   Perps wash your check and make it out for a bigger amount,   I had someone tell me that they had a devil of a time proving that they didn't write the check.   Banks do not moniter  your checks. I have seen checks not signed go through.   At least if someone steals your debit card, or you loose, it, they have to know your PIN number too.  don't leave your PIN number in your wallet.  Memorize it.  And, the bank moniters your debit card the same as your credit card.   

If retailers asked for another identifying number when a large purchase was made, it would cut down on the theft.   Bed bath and beyond asked for a zip code.  The perps couldn't produce one.   We all pay for the losses when these creeps help themselves.  

Check your bank balance often.   Report any charges that you don't recognize.   Sometimes that is hard because the retailers posted name is quite cryptic.   The next question is, honey, what did you buy for 9.98 yesterday!  LOL. Did you go to the gas station twice!    

If you are walking out to your car alone and there aren't a lot of people around, carry your keys with a key between each finger.  Look in the back seat before you enter the car.   If you are uncomfortable, ask a security guard to show you to your car.   Scan the parking lot before you leave the building.   Lock your doors and roll up your windows.  

Guess that's all I can remember .   

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Thanks for stopping by

Be safe! 

Jane 

Suddenly Sunday

I hav had a busy week with ear infection and identity thieves.   Didn't need either,thank you LOL.
It bothers me that no one does much to catch the identity thieves ( some issue with jurisdictions) and in reality we are ally paying for the theives abundance.   I do have to say that our bank is right in top of charges to your account that are not usual for your spending habits.   That limits the amount of loss.  

I digress

The ads.  I smdidnt grocery shop at all this week.   I didn't feel well and there are really no bargains.   Qfc sad is for two weeks so there will no bargains next week there either.  

Fred Meyers

Assorted loin chops 2.99
Grapes 1.49
Milk 4/5@@
Bread or buns 3/4@@
Canned veggies 2/1@@
Hillshire farms sausage 2.99@@$$
Cottage cheese,sour cream 4/5
Acorn squash 1.00
Pears 1.00
Raspberries 2/4

Crock pot 16.99

My mothers recipe with my husbands adaption.  
Acorn squash.  She always cooked meat loaf and baked potatoes on the oven at the same time.  
(400 degrees)

Halve squash and seed.  ( zapping in the microwave for two or three minutes makes thos easier.poke it with a for a couple of times first)

Fill cavity with butter and brown sugar. Sprinkle with cinnamon.  

Place in baking pan and bake until done)

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Jane

The ads

Finally I got to do the ads.   I had an er visit this week, and  this is the first time I have been able to get to it.

There is not much this week. Yet again.   QFC has it's ad for two weeks.  

QFC
Tomatoes 1.28
Dreyers 2.99 - ck for coupons
Raspberries 2/5
Pumpkin pie 3.99

SAFEWAYS
Avocados 1.00
Pears .99
Pasta .79
Chicken noodle soup .79

Five dollar Friday
Grapes
Boston cream cake
Salad 4/5
Shrimp
Barbie princess

ALBERTSONS

Mix or match b6, save 3. Buy 12, save 6. Buy 18, save 9. Prices are net

I've cream, dreyers  2.49
Bread 1.99
Tuna 1.00
Duncan Heinz cake. .99


Milk 2/5@@
5 lb potatoes .99@@
English muffins 1.88
Peppers .69
Grapes 1.99

I have not downloaded the coupons for this month yet.   The only,stock item I see os pasta and i think that there are coupons out there.

Note when things are 10/10 you don't have to buy ten unless it is specified.
ALBERTSONS mix and match you do have to buy the total items,but can choose which you want.

I did hear again that put top foods was going to be a Winco.  I certainly  hope so.

The first Thursday of the month is free admission at the museum of history and industry.   We went today and it was really fun.  We allotted ourselves two hours, but that wasn't enough time . We only got to see the first  two floors.  A lot of interactive    for the children.  

That's about all.  Thanks for stopping by

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Jane

Sunday ads , Freddie's

I just realized I didn't do a blog today!  

Anyway, we went to SAFEWAYS Friday and I didn't intend to go to Fred Meyers today.   I got specials at SAFEWAYS.  

We went to pick up some supplies for business and stopped by the grocery outlet.   Ingot sausage for 1.50 , some smoked salmon, a lot of sliced cheese and some tacaquitos.  I checked the coffee prices, but we got coffee a dollar cheaper at Winco.   Yoplait was 3/1.00 with a mid oct pull date.  


Fred Meyers

Apples .99
Radishes and onions 2/1
Pears .99
Eggs 4/5@@

That's about it.  I got better buys at Winco and SAFEWAYS.

Tonight we are having chicken thighs, baked acorn squash and green salad .  
Yesterday we had sausage, fruit salad, hash browns and eggs.   The hash browns were baked.  

Thanksmformstoppimgmby

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Jane

Winco and notes

I just read that the poverty level has increased on Washington state.   That is to say, more of is are at the poverty level.

We went to Winco yesterday.   We called it our road trip.  Since the bakery outlet os on the way, we went there too.   We lucked out and it was senior and military day so we got ten percent off.   My husband tried for twenty percent off because  were both military and senior, but as predicted, it didn't work, gave is a good laugh though!   We did get two packages of whole wheat hot dog buns.  I'm making bread crumbs.

Winco had a lot of things I stock cheaper.  I found peppers for a buck!  Beats 1.59.   And the instant potatoes I buy for .87 they can be as much as 1.59 too.   My husband found his beef jerkey meat.
Beer was two dollars cheaper than his cheapest price.  Coffee was 5.99 and some of the veggies  were cheaper.  Some things weren't, you have to know your prices.   This is hard because RBP are changing and I'm not finding the lowest price as often as I would like.   Sometimes I have to resort to house brands.   Not a bad thing.  House brands are often the same as the good product with a different label.

The bread store had a lot of dollar and near a dollar bread.   I also got jalapeño mustard.   I guess I have to resolve to the fact that I can't find meat at my target price of two dollars anymore.   Other than chicken, that isn't  happening. If I can get it for three dollars a pound, I can average two dollars.   I got chicken sausage for 2.50.  Four sausage are enough for the four  of us.

My average for September was 62.00 a week.  The Feds have upped our basic food at home stats to about 85.00 a week for my husband and I.  I am also supplementing my daughter and granddaughter a lot.   There are people that do it for less. A lot of them have a lot more time and energy than I have.


I am trying to stay within the guidelines for food stamps, ( we are not on food stamps) to show people that it can be done and you can eat decent food for less money and maintain a pantry.

There is a certain sense of security having a pantry of staples.   I was in the rehab ( nursing home) for a month and in the hospital a few days too.   My family ate out of the pantry and  supplemented a little fresh.   My daughter cooked every night.   She got smart and cooked a crockpot of chili to last a couple of days.   Leftovers worked.

That's about all.

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Jane

The ads

I'll have to warn you, thos os,not a good week for the main stores I get at home.   We might just go to Winco.  

QFC
Peaches 1.49
Apples 1.29
Grapes 1.99
Nathan's franks 3.49


2 lb chicken 6.99*****
Tillamook y
Greek yogurt 1.00$$
Refried beans, tortillas 1.00

Note the chicken, I'll explain later.  

SAFEWAYS
Grapes 1.99
Salad 4/5
Chicken .99***
Bell peppers, cukes .79
Pears .99

Five dollar Friday
Raspberries 2/5
Grapes 3 lbs
Shrimp

ALBERTSONS

Coffee 5.99
BBQ sauce .75

Bc cake mix .99
Ice cream 2.49

That's about it.  

Now, remember to cross off anything that is cheaper elsewhere . Other than a cake mix, I don't have anything on my stock list here at RBP.   I would pick a .99 chicken even though I bought one Sunday.  We had company and could use another.  

Now, to the promised explanation.   NO CHICKEN UNDER THREE POUNDS IS A BARGAIN AT ANY PRICE,  chicken bones weigh just so much.   What's left is the meat.   Under three pounds you are paying for bones and the meat is gravy.  

But let's do the math. Two pounds for 7.00 is 3.50 per pound.   SAFEWAYS has Washington grown chicken for .99 a pound.   A five dollar savings right off the bat not including the loss of meat vs bone.  

It takes me ten minutes to put a chicken on the oven.   At five  dollars savings, I am making
Thirty dollars an hour for my time.  

I cook chicken one of two ways depending on my time and energy constraints of the day.   If I intend to make soup and casseroles with it I place a cut up onion in the bottom of the slow cooker, add the cleaned chicken, rub slices on top and cook it for an hour a pound on high.   Five minutes, walk away.  

If I want roasted chicken, I wash the chicken. Put salt in the insides.  Stuff it with anything short of the kids dirty sox ( onion, apple, orange, lemon, ) massage the skin with olive oil and sprinkle ot with salt, pepper or thyme or lemon pepper and shove it on a roaster rack in oven  at 375 until my thermometer reads done.   Walk away and do some laundry or work on my studio etc.  

Either way it is short work with a good reward.  Chicken is still the best buy in the market for protein from meat.  

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Jane

Betty Crocker dinner feed

Betty Crocker has been sending me via e mail ideas for dinner all month. Today's is especially good with a emphasis on chicken and skillet / oven dinners.   I will try to provide a link.   Some of these are really yummy and are adaptable to the on the cheap meal mantra.    Remember cream of anything soup is basically a white sauce,  I have a white sauce mix that is really easy.   I think I just googled white sauce mix and found it.  I wrote the recipe on the top of the container with marker.   I do that often.  It makes life easier.

Chicken and green beans
Chicken with cheese and vegetables
Chicken Mac and cheese
Lots more.

I would really consider signing up for the feed.   There are coupons amd a lot of inspiration.   Cooking on the cheap doesn't have to be boring and jump starting your creativity for free is a winner,

http://recp.mkt32.net
I can't check to see if that works  on my reader.  
Betty Crocker dinner is back.  

Thanksmformstoppimgmby

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Jane

Sunday ads

Last night I went to a convention dinner.m we had a delicious dinner of pork tenderloin, mixed veggies, rolls, green salad amd garlic, French bread pudding.   I don't think I had ever heard of it, it didn't taste bad, but I didn't want to burn my carbs on mystery pudding when there was a glorious chocolate moose In Front of me!   LOL. Good food,good friends and good music!

I digress.

Fred Meyers as usual has some food buys and the Sunday paper has coupons to go with them.  These prices are for Seattle area.

Tomatoes .99
Whole chicken .99
Milk 4/5@@
Ice cream 2/5
Cottage cheese or sour cream 2/4
Grapes 1.68
Pears .99
Zucchini, yellow squash .99

Dollar days
Rice a roni
Tortilla chips
Refried beans
Flour tortillas
Diced tomatoes$$
Baby carrots
Garden salad
French bread@@
Cake mix
Annie's Mac and cheese

Some of this I got for less at SAFEWAYS and last week.
There might be a coupon for cake mix out there and I know there is a coupon for Yoplait in the paper.
( smart source.)

I hit SAFEWAYS and the dollar store on Friday.   There are a few things at the dollar store that are cheaper.  We needed catsup and unless there is a good sale during picnic time,am buck for the large bottle is cheap.   I pick up cotton rounds and Kleenex .  Watch the size if the packages.   They have darling Halloween and fall glass goblets.   Chicken noodle soup in a 33 percent more can is good.  I really prefer Campbell's to store brands on that.

That's about all

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Jane

Coupons.

I haven't talked abou coupoms lately.   My daughter and I attended a seminar on extreme couponimg. I am not a fan of real extreme couponing as in the tv show because I think it boarders on hoarding and hoRding things we don't need or need to hoard.   I think the operative word is extreme.   No one  needs 93 bottles of hot sauce or a closet full of soda pop.  LOL.  In reality most stores will not let you buy that much.  I do use coupons for the things I normally,buy anyway.   And, yes you can find coupons for things that are not gadgets or junk , ready made food.   I get ice cream, yogurt, pasta, toothpaste, and other real food coupons all the time.

I get one Sunday  paper at the dollar store.   You can get ot on Saturday or all week lomg as long as they have stock.   My friend brings me the inserts from her paper.    Once a month I get on coupons.com and download the coupons that I seriously might use.  You are allowed to download two coupons per item.   The manufacturers limit the amount of coupons printed.   Doing it close to the forst of the month is to your advantage, the large ones go fast.   I have a coupon binder and file the printed coupons.

There are coupon matching sites on the Internet that match local store sales with coupoms.   I file my inserts in file folders by month.   Wrote the date of the insert on the front.   It's  an easy match up to pull the coupon when they are in chronological order.  

I save an average of six dollars a week.   That calculates to over three hundred a month.  

Our lights were out and I lost most of the rest of this post.  

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Jane

To each his own

I ran on to another blog today.  The lady is remarkable.   Apparently, sh has very little to live on and makes due with delicious meals for next to nothing,    She also has the time to bake everything from scratch and grow her own fruits and vegetables.   I applaud her in her efforts, but I don't have her time or talents.  To each his own.   You have to do what works for you and what you need to do to make your budget work.   I suspect if  we continue to be unemployed and I don't find an outlet for my product, I will be working harder to cut our groceries more.   I am only one person, and others in the family don't see the need to economize.   Budgets have to balance.    I basically quit buying anything but supplies for the business, cutting clothing budget to must haves, doing my own nails, and staying out of stores.   I have had to buy some clothes lately because I have dropped five dress sizes!   I just took a truck load of clothes to the goodwill.    I, not buying a lot of my current size until I see if I gain weight,  the doctor seems to think I will and so I'm making do.  I got some clothes from a family member that cleaned her closet out and I bought a few pair of leggings because they are very forgiving and span a couple of sizes.   I switched and have my hair cut for less than 1/2 what I was paying.

I digress, this is supposed to be about food.   I think I'm saying don't beat yourself up because you spend more than the next guy on food.  You have to do what you can.  Of you are forced to make it on a specific amount of money, you pretty much have to do what you can to make things work.

This is about making it on half the average budget.   I spend twenty five percent less than what the USDA stats are for my husband and I and I supplement my daughter and  granddaughter a lot as well.

Fred Meyers continues to have good buys for their anniversary.

The ads
QFC
Oranges .99
Broccoli .99

1.00 sale
Tortillas
Frozen potatoes
Bumble bee tuna ( cheaper ay fm)
Barilla pasta ( cheaper at fm )$$


SAFEWAYS
Oranges .99
Grapes 1.99
Pork loin chops 2.29
Corn 6/2
Pudding cups .99( backpacks?)
Starkist .79

Five dollar Friday
Cheese pizza
3pounds grapes
Ice cream 2/5
Salad 3/5
Cheese 5.00****

ALBERTSONS


Tillamook yogurt ,38@@( 3/1 at fm)

Quarter sale
Pizza crust, corn muffins .50
A gratin potatoes .75
Albacore tuna 1.00
Fruit juices 16 ox frozen veggies 1.00
Crackers 1.00
Nalleys chili 1.00
Tomato sauce .25
Tomato paste .50

 That's about it.   If I had to pick, I would pick  Fred Meyers and SAFEWAYS in Friday.  Be sure to take advantage  of the cheese .   The savings is remarkable.  Don't get stuck paying none dollars for two pounds of cheese.   Ugh!   Of I am going to eat cheap sources of protein, I am going to eat the  best quality I can find.

I would stock on frozen potatoes, albacore tuna. Cheese, crackers, and tomato sauce and paste.   Sometimes when making pizza from scratch, or adding some depth to a sauce, a small can of tomato sauce is all you need.  Fred Meyers has chicken for a buck a pound.   I found a recipe that puts a spice rub on it and bakes it for an hour at 350.  We did it, but it took more than an hour to get the chicken well done.   Thighs and grill packs are the best buys here.  They had no grill packs when I was there.   If I get a grill pack, I debone the chicken breasts and cook the rest for shreds for burritos, tacos or BBQ sandwiches.  You can also use the broth and some chicken for soup.

If we are having something like soup that has less,protein, I make cheese biscuits to supplement or
make a pudding for desert or have ice cream.   If we have waffles, I add bacon or a yogurt parfait with fruit and granola.

Looking at the whole meal picture helps to balance the protein and the budget!


Ps big lots has krustez pumpkin loaf big box for 2.25.  It's really good and far less than scratch.  Of it os the four box , that makes it a little more than .60 a loaf!  
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Jane

The ads

Fred Meyers has an anniversary sale.   Even though I have already shopped, I am under budget,so I will go for a few things.  

Chicken legs or grill packs .99
Apples .88
Ice cream 2/4@@
Tillamook cheese 4.99@@
Cheerios 3/5
Butter 2/4
Pasta .79
Bumble bee .79
Tillamook yogurt 3/1
Pumpkin pie 2.89
Raspberries 4/5
Broccolli. .99


That's about all.  

Please share

Jane

Shopping trip

Today we went to ALBERTSONS.   Pork loin chops were buy 1, get two for free.   Now, I'm sure they marked it up to mark it down.   The bottom line os that we got three packages for 3.33 each.   I  did them,at and calculated the cost per meal to find out if it was a bargains or not.  

All on all, other than the doughnut holes I BOGO'd , all I bought was real food and it saved as much as I spent.   We still only came home woth four small sacks amd a cooler full and I spent a little more,than fifty dollars.   Groceries hav still taken a hike. ALBERTSONS veggies were not. Good buys, amd them dairy didn't seem too good either.   But, that's why you shop at two chains a week.  Taking the best of two stores will give you the best advantage.  

Terrific Thursday / tools

I was flipping through the channels waiting for pain meds to work amd saw a pressure,cooker on qvc.  I didn't  buy it, but it reminded me I hadn't used ours in a while.   I go on spurts and we eat certain foods for a whole and then I switch out for other things.   We get tired of eating the same things.

Brings me to my point.   There are tools that make life easier in the kitchen.  If  things are easier, we will be more inclined to cook at home instead of eating out.   Most of them are not terribly expensive and can be bought over years, or found at estate sales or on your Christmas list?   On ez pay at qvc takes the sting out of something that costs a little more.

• A pressure cooker cooks ribs and split pea soup in minutes as well as many other things. Mthey showed corn on the cob, but it took three minutes.  By the time the oressuremcookermcomes up to speed and cooks and has it's down time. You can cook them in the microwave.   It takes six minutes on the microwave .   Cut the silk part off the top, put the, in the microwave,  use hit pads or a kitchen towel to pull the husks off after you have cut the bottom off the cob.   

• A crock pot can vey our best friend in the kitchen.  You can prep your ingredients the night before, put them in the insert and turn the pot on in the am.   Dinner is ready when you get home.  There is something about the smell of cooked dinner when you walk into the house after a long hard day that is miraculous.  Chocolate decadence is marvelous.   
• A food processor makes cakes amd chops food, and grates cheese.   It is sometimes cheaper to grate your own cheese than buying grated cheese.   Add a little cornstarch to it and freeze it.   Frozen cheese works fine in Mac and cheese and any place it is melted.  You can also chop meat in a pinch.  
• A meat grinder ( either as an attachment to a kitchen aid,mor the old fashioned kind grandma had) is a good investment,  you can make your own sausage or hambirger when roast is cheaper than good hambirger and you control the fat!   
• I love my waffle iron, and my husband loves the George foreman, but they are not as necessary or a money saver like the other appliances are.  

There are appliances that cook a special item all over the place.  Most of them are just dust catchers and a gimmic.  

There is a theory of the snowball effect.    In essence, it says that of you save momey on something and spend the momey you save to buy something that will save more momey, you will be better off because your savings will grow.  

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Jane  

The ads

I got the ads.  My daughter found an app that gives you the ads,but so far all I find os SAFEWAYS and some other retailers I don't need.   It's free and called  Retale.

SAFEWAYS

Apples,.99
Grapes 1.99
Ribs 2.29
Corn 6/2
Cantelope 2/5
Ice cream 2/5
Barilla pasta 5/5. You don't have to buy 5 and there are coupons


Five dollar Friday
Grapes
Fudge cake
Salad 4/5

ALBERTSONS
Grapes 1.48
Cheese 5.99
Eggs, med .99@@

Ok, this might be confusing.  Spend 10.00 on Tillamook and get 2.00'off.  There are coupons for cheese out there.
Cheese 6.99
Ice cream 2.67
Sliced cheese 4.00$$
Sour cream 1.60

Final prices.
Buy 3 ice creams for 8.00
Buy 2 sliced cheeses for 8.00 and use a coupon.
Sour cream 5/10 now 5/8.
You can mix and match at retail and  spend 8 instead of 10.

Scenario:
Buy 3 ice creams, 2 sliced cheese,pay 20.00, get four dollars off, nets 16.00, use 2.00 coupons for the cheese, nets 14.00.    Retail on  three ice  creams is 15.00.   Cheese coupons are on coupons.com.



1.00 sale

Cake mix
Brownie mix
Pasta sauce
Frozen juice

QFC

Apples .99
Raspberries 2/3
Eggs 3/5
Peaches 1.49
Yoplait 20/10$$
Barilla pasta 1.99$$
Grapes 1.99
Buns 4/5
Canned chicken 1.00 ( a good emergency stash)
Red Baron pizza 2.99

There is absolutely nothing in the red plum insert!

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Jane

Sunday at Fred Meyers

We did go to Fred Meyers today.  I don't have the ad because my husband thought we were through with it so he recycled it.   The best I can do os tell you what I remember

Frozen veggies were .99 with a coupon in the ad. There were supposed to be peas, corn, and mixed veggies.  There were only mixed veggies.

Frozen French fries and tater tots are a buck, Kroger brand

The cheap Mac and cheese was .88

Canned beans were .50 with an in ad coupon limit six.  

Barilla pasta was a buck and there was a coupon in the paper.  

Radishes and cucumbers, and green onions were 2/1

Frozen fruit was 2/5 with store coupon.

I pretty much restocked our freezer from when the old one thawed.  
Total 42.39.

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Jane

Saturday - all is quiet

It's strange around here when  things are quiet.  Husband went for his walk on the beach and daughter and grandbaby went to check on some things at her work.   I have the house to myself!    Walking with my cane, even if it hurts.  Eventually I'll be back to normal, I keep telling myself.    LOL

I haven't shopped except for sending my husband for five peanut butters for .99  each and two Nathan's hot dogs for 3.49 less two .55 coupons.

Last night I made vegetable bean soup, or , rather, I made the soup in the crock pot in the morning.
We love that soup and it's easy.  Our weather  is more like summer this week, so I suspect we will be eating more picnic type foods.

The first of the month basics didn't happen.   I'll bullet them for lack of time.   I am gearing up for a card party( making cards, not playing them! ) and have a card class in making cards for the troops at the rehab center.   I still have to make our  Christmas cards.  

I digress.   The bullets

• The basic idea of  groceries on the cheap is to never pay full price for your groceries.   I want to average 1/2 price.   It's a different way of buying your food.  You aren't buying a weeks worth at a time.  You are buying what's on sale and keeping a pantry.   You never are without some food in the house.   This is possible because you are spending less than the person that buys a week at a time, and you have more volume because you are spending less. 

• The best thing you can do is know the price of the foods you eat on a regular basis.  Track these prices so you know what is a RBP.  ( rock bottom price.  You can use a spread sheet or a notebook, by now, I have them in my head.   But, I can remember numbers better than I can remember names! LOL 

• Buy foods when they are at rock bottom prices.  Buy as many as you can, as many as the store will let you ( limits) or as many as you need to replenish your self imposed ceiling.  I have spaces on my shelf. For our target foods.   I can tell at a glance what we have used.   

• Obviously, you have to identify the foods you eat on a regular basis that are stock items.   In our house that would be diced tomatoes, beans, refried beans, green beans and corn ( not much corn) chili, chicken noodle soup, pasta, pasta sauce.   

• Meat usually goes on sale in a rotation.  Inexpensive ( laugh) cuts of meat are usually on sale in a rotation.  Pick the one your family will eat when it happens and buy enough for a month of that meal.  Assuming you fond a meat a week.    Cook it and divide it onto meal sized portions,  usually for us that would be eight meals. 
•  
• Plan you meals,  I use a matrix to make sure we have variety and  everybody is happy.  It is 2 beef, 2 pork or chicken, 2 vegetarian and 1 fish or shellfish.   Your families matrix may be different. Adapt it to your families preferences and the cost of protein.   Plan your meals.  I plan a weeks worth, but not necessarily day by day.   

• Most coupons are for premade, expensive foods.   There are, however, so,e that are for things you can purchase on a budget.   Computer coupons come out once a month on the first of the month.   You can print two of each coupon. They are limited in quantity, you snooze, you loose.  Print  them as soon as they come out.   The newspaper has some.  I get the Sunday paper at the dollar store.   My friend brings me her inserts.   I save the inserts to match up with a coupon match up site.  The one I was using isn't there, I'll have to find a new one.  They match the ads to coupons.  Some direct  you to the coupons or tell you which insert it is in.   I put the date of the insert  on the cover and file them by month.   I only cut the ones I am going to use.  I can manage to get toothpaste, deodorant, and soap for free.  The last time I bought toothpaste they paid me a quarter to take it out of the store.   I always buy toothpaste when it's free or nearly free and save it up for the women's shelter.   

• When the grocery stores ads come out, gather them and analyze them.   I take a sheet of computer paper out of the recycle and divide it into sections.  Label the sections.  Our variety of grocery stores is shrinking.  Top closed and ALBERTSONS and Safeway are merging or ALBERTSONS bought Safeway.  We are hoping to get a Winco in the top foods building.  I digress.  Divide the paper and list the perishable in season that are a good price, the "loss leader of protein" and the stock items that meet your RBP criteria.  Now pick the two stores that have the things you want to buy. Plan your trip to save gas, go, bring your list, the ads, and your coupons.   Get in and GET out!   The more time you spend in the store,the more impulse buys you are bombarded with.  Impulse buys account for 70 percent of the grocers sales.  

• That's not to say that you don't keep your eyes open for unadvertised specials.   I got chickens for .50 a pound at QFC once!   Most of the good veggie and fruit buys last week at Fred Meyers were not advertised.   Just don't buy junk.  Keep it to the proportions your family will eat before it goes bad.   Divide your grocery money onto sections,   Less than ten percent should be drinks and chips, cookies etc.  the majority should be dairy, protein, and fruits and veggies.  

This takes some planning and some discipline. But the rewards are good food on a budget.  

Thanks for stopping by and for sharing,  

Jane 

Finally friday

Not grocery shopping.   I can't still get into our cars.  We shopped some on Sunday at Fred Meyers.   I have a really good back pack alert, peanut butter  is a buck at QFC!   You have to buy five, but there are other things on the list that are a decent bargain, or you can get five peanut butters.  

For those that are wondering what a backpack alert is, some of the readers are gathering food for children that otherwise wouldn't get food on the weekends.

There are enough things on the buy five, save five list at QFC that it can be worth your while, besides the peanut butter .  

Taking advantage of sales when they are true sales of regular food is a good way to stretch your grocery dollars.   The trick is knowing your prices and stocking what you will use until the next sale.   Ot doesn't mean you only buy peanut butter this week and eat peanut butter for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.   I buy perishables just enough to last is until the following week or so, or however long they are going to last.   Shelf ready or freezer items can be bought in moderation, so that you have enough at a low price to last you until they go on sale again.  

Having a stock really helped when I broke my hip and was in rehab for a month.  The family could just fill on with fresh and eat from the pantry and freezer.   I have my stock built, amd just add when there is a sale the amount we have eaten lately.   Winter is coming and we eat a lot of soup and chili in the winter.   Prices have gone up, but I am still finding tomatoes and beans for .60.  I would rather pay .50, but I haven't seen that lately.   Beans and rice have a very short fridge life.   Unless you have the time to cook beans and eat them the same day, canned is safer.  Just rinse them thorrorally to reduce the sodium.

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Jane

The ads

ALBERTSONS

Buy 5, save 5

Cream cheese .8kraft singles 2.99
Ice cream 2.49
Baron pizza 2.99
Kleenex .99


Milk 2/5@@
Vegetables .49@@
Ground beef 3.99, for 7 percent


QFC
Broccoli .99
Sour cream 1:00
Chili 1.00

Milk 2/3

Buy 5, saves 5
I've cream 2.79
Pea nut buyer .99
Cheerios 1.49

Ritz 1.77

SAFEWAYS
Red Baron 3/10. Look 4'coupoms
Tomatoes 1.00
Grapes 1.99
Corm 6/2
Cake mix .99

5 dollar Friday
Berries 2/5


That's about it.  ,


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Jane

Dinners, to be continued

Last night we went out to dinner with friends.  Happy hour menus.   I got shrimp fettuccine.   It was a half cup of under cooked noodles and five shrimp for eight dollars.   My husband had two beers and two sliders.  The bill was thirty three dollars with tip.

Tonight we had Mac and cheese and mixed veggies.   Total cost for four is three dollars.  

Thursday: the last of the summer!   My 4th if July was spent in an ambulance going to rehab!
Hot dogs, potato salad, amd corn on the cob.

Friday. Vegetable bea soup.


Saturday. Fish and Chips, cla, chowder, coleslaw

Sunday. Shrimp stirfry, noodles

Monday  chicken sausage,corn on the cob,mpotatomsalad,fruit salad.

Tuesday, happy hour , flat bread pizza
Wednesday. Hot dogs and baked,bans


To be continued.  

Short and sweet! , updated

Just a few notes.  My daughter downloaded some of this months coupons.   Nathan's hot dogs are 3.99 thos week at ALBERTSONS there os a .55 coupon.   Also so we here there is a sale on redi rice. I don't usually,buy it., but there is a coupon for that too.  Also a lot of fake stuff if you are into turkey this or that and almond milk.  

There are a lot of coupons, but coupons for something that is still a lot more than making something from scratch os not a bargain,    A lot of times , they put a few spices and sauce into ordinary things and charge an arm and a leg for the pro ledge of not having to add a few spices.   It's usually about two minutes of your time.   Do the math, how much time are you saving, and how much are you paying an hour for their  time?

I got my daughters car for an hour.   ( can't get onto our car, it's too low to the ground. ) we went to Fred Meyers.  
A lot of produce is in then100 to 1.28 price range.   I did find apples for 7.00 plus a pound and a box of peppers for almost forty dollars.   Milk was two dollars a gallon with in ad coupon and beans and tomatoes were sixty cents.  M

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Jane