I had a very long post done. The I pad went screwy ( cockeyed post) and I lost it. So here goes a shorter version.
SAFEWAYS has chicken for .99 again. The also have hamburger ( 9 percent) for 3.99.
Berries are 2/4
Oranges .99
Five dollar Friday
Pizza
Pork tenderloin - ( 18-32 ounces) **
Shrimp
Lemon meringues pie
Berries
Cheerios 3/5$$
ALBERTSONS
Grapes 1.68
Apples .99
Buy ten dollars, save two.
Nets each at .80
Pasta sauce
Manwich
Ketchup
BBQ sauce
QFC
This is a two week ad
Berries 2/4
Broccoli .99
Milk 4/5
**. QFC has pork tenderloins BOGO. They are the same price as SAFEWAYS five dollar Friday, but SAFEWAYS are larger.
Haggens
There is a coupon for ten dollars off of fifty dollars. If you can plan your trip to stay exactly at the fifty dollars, you can make out. The deal breaker here is the hamburger. 20 percent is 3.69 at Hagens, It is 3.99 for 9 percent at SAFEWAYS. We need to do the math.
9 percent hamburger works out to be. 3.99X 1.09 equals 4.35 a pound.
20 percent hamburger works out to be 3.69 X 1.20 equals 4.43.
At this point the nine percent would be the better deal. But, if you can stay at the fifty dollars, the twenty percent os the deal breaker.
HAGGENS
Apples .89
Berries 2 lb 3.98
Roma's .89
Buns 2/4
Nalleys chili .99@@
Ice cream 2/5
Beans 1.00
C sea albacore tuna 1.00
Veggies , frozen 1.00
You can make out if you plan your trip. Start with the hamburger and ten pounds. You can make meatloaf, meatballs.taco meat and crumbles for pizza, pasta sauce or chili. Then fill in the things that at .80 would be a good buy and fruits. Keep a running total and quit at fifty dollars.
That maximizes your trip to make twenty percent off. Normally, Haggens would not be a good deal. Weeks before the prices were over retail and it was marking up to mark down, netting regular price.
The key is knowing prices of the things you normally buy, not buying expensive garbage like potato chips, and Buying enough shelf ready and frozen to last you until the next sale. Shopping two stores and planning your trip. Plan for the gas consumption. If you need to shop two different days and tag the trip with other errands. A little planning saves time in the grocery store and saves a lot of money. Anything worth doing os worth putting some effort onto it.
I was in the rehab for a month. My daughter cooked out of the pantry. It saved a lot of time and money.
I also got a coupon for Fred Meyers for ten off of fifty that includes clothes, and household items. Maybe plants?
Thanks for stopping by.
please share ever follow.
Jane
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
Shopping trip
The biggest thing about shopping and saving money is not to buy junk food and not to fall into the impulse buy trap. Stores work hard to tempt you into impulse buys. It's not by accident that they put kids treats right as you walk in the door.
I did go to Fred Meyers yesterday after we volunteered to fill food bags for kids. I bought fruits and dairy products because that's all we needed. The easter candy was 75 percent off,so I did buy a .30 Easter egg. Total 28.00.
Meal plans are another way to beat the high cost of food. Having a plan, even I'd you deviate from the plan is always good. I like to do prep work early in the day . We don't get the family together until seven o'clock. By that time my get up and go has got up and went, so ot is harder to stay on the plan.
Yesterday we had chicken pot pot using my homemade soup base mix and bisquick recipe. I finished off the meal with a fruit cup of fresh fruit.
We had fish and chips Saturday and meatloaf on Friday.
My meal plan matrix is a good way to make meal planning easy. Your matrix may be different, but having one simplifies the process.
2 chicken or pork
2 beef
2 vegetarian
1 fish or shellfish.
Before my daughter switched back to being a full vegetarian. That meant that I could cook one meal five out of the seven days. Now, she cooks her own, but that means I have double dishes to wash.
Tex mex helps. It stretches the beef and can be adjusted to accommodate vegetarian without extra work. I can also make split pea soup and just add fried ham to ours. Everybody eats fish.
The cost of food is slowly rising, despite the claim that some stores are lowering prices. Our insurance bills are rising as well. The COL raise for social security was a joke. Insurance costs have taken more than all of it. LOL. I am still maintaining a 75.00 a week food budget and have a full pantry and freezer. Basicly that means that we are eating less than seventy five dollars a week in food. The USDA stats are 84.90 for just my husband and me.
We eat well. We do not eat organic all the time, nor do we eat food made my Martians on an obscure planet. LOL. We just eat real food, the less processed mixes the better. When it is practical, I make my own bisquick and soup bases. I was getting soup bases for free. It made more sense in the scheme of things for us to use them while we could.
Life changes. Stores change. Groceries on the cheap means you have to be flexible and contine the quest to find good food cheap-- not cheap food.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
I did go to Fred Meyers yesterday after we volunteered to fill food bags for kids. I bought fruits and dairy products because that's all we needed. The easter candy was 75 percent off,so I did buy a .30 Easter egg. Total 28.00.
Meal plans are another way to beat the high cost of food. Having a plan, even I'd you deviate from the plan is always good. I like to do prep work early in the day . We don't get the family together until seven o'clock. By that time my get up and go has got up and went, so ot is harder to stay on the plan.
Yesterday we had chicken pot pot using my homemade soup base mix and bisquick recipe. I finished off the meal with a fruit cup of fresh fruit.
We had fish and chips Saturday and meatloaf on Friday.
My meal plan matrix is a good way to make meal planning easy. Your matrix may be different, but having one simplifies the process.
2 chicken or pork
2 beef
2 vegetarian
1 fish or shellfish.
Before my daughter switched back to being a full vegetarian. That meant that I could cook one meal five out of the seven days. Now, she cooks her own, but that means I have double dishes to wash.
Tex mex helps. It stretches the beef and can be adjusted to accommodate vegetarian without extra work. I can also make split pea soup and just add fried ham to ours. Everybody eats fish.
The cost of food is slowly rising, despite the claim that some stores are lowering prices. Our insurance bills are rising as well. The COL raise for social security was a joke. Insurance costs have taken more than all of it. LOL. I am still maintaining a 75.00 a week food budget and have a full pantry and freezer. Basicly that means that we are eating less than seventy five dollars a week in food. The USDA stats are 84.90 for just my husband and me.
We eat well. We do not eat organic all the time, nor do we eat food made my Martians on an obscure planet. LOL. We just eat real food, the less processed mixes the better. When it is practical, I make my own bisquick and soup bases. I was getting soup bases for free. It made more sense in the scheme of things for us to use them while we could.
Life changes. Stores change. Groceries on the cheap means you have to be flexible and contine the quest to find good food cheap-- not cheap food.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Fred Meyers - ad
Fred Meyers ad totes that they have new low prices. I'm. It seeing many lower prices.
Cantaloupe .39
Pork loin 1.88
Butter 1.88
Broccoli .99
Apples .99
Yoplait 10/5
Pasta sauce .89. I would rather have .80.
Eggs 4/5@@
Ice cream - Tillamook 2/6
Red vines 5.99
Pears .88
That's about it.
I would caution not to buy bags of fruits . I have found several times lately at different stores that there were all or many that were bad. you are better off licking your own,
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Cantaloupe .39
Pork loin 1.88
Butter 1.88
Broccoli .99
Apples .99
Yoplait 10/5
Pasta sauce .89. I would rather have .80.
Eggs 4/5@@
Ice cream - Tillamook 2/6
Red vines 5.99
Pears .88
That's about it.
I would caution not to buy bags of fruits . I have found several times lately at different stores that there were all or many that were bad. you are better off licking your own,
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Yay!
We went to Winco today. Most ofmthemfrodge ads don't have enough good buys this week to tempt me, QFC and FM have chicken cheap and berries continue to be a good buy.
My husband asked at Winco and they told him that Edmonds was the,next town to get a Winco.
I'm sure glad. It's a long ways up there. Today we went to a scrapbook place forst and got lost so ot took us a while and a phone call to find it.
Oranges amd strawberries were a good price. I got hamburger, about average for the good stuff. I like their whole wheat pita bread and their hummus is really a reasonable price. Beer is a really good buy, about the cheapest we have seen.
I am still more than in budget.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
My husband asked at Winco and they told him that Edmonds was the,next town to get a Winco.
I'm sure glad. It's a long ways up there. Today we went to a scrapbook place forst and got lost so ot took us a while and a phone call to find it.
Oranges amd strawberries were a good price. I got hamburger, about average for the good stuff. I like their whole wheat pita bread and their hummus is really a reasonable price. Beer is a really good buy, about the cheapest we have seen.
I am still more than in budget.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Specials
Bartells had some sales. They had Colgate toothpaste for 5/5. They had some tubes that had extra product in them. I am all set for a trip to the women's shelter.
They had deodorant on sale. According to the paper it worked for a coupon, but it wasn't there when I got to the store. I did find my russet stovers sugar free candy 1.19. It's two dollars and up usually and they had a wide variety of flavors.
Fred Meyers has chicken for .88'a pound. They has grapes on sale,but they didn't look too good.
Milk was a buck with an in ad coupon. Also orange juice and chocolate milk.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share and follow.
Jane
They had deodorant on sale. According to the paper it worked for a coupon, but it wasn't there when I got to the store. I did find my russet stovers sugar free candy 1.19. It's two dollars and up usually and they had a wide variety of flavors.
Fred Meyers has chicken for .88'a pound. They has grapes on sale,but they didn't look too good.
Milk was a buck with an in ad coupon. Also orange juice and chocolate milk.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share and follow.
Jane
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Fridays trip
Yesterday we went to the dollar store and SAFEWAYS. There was the deli Pozza on five dollar Fridays. I bought fresh berries, but other than that I just bought what I needed for our part of Easter dinner.
We made pizzas last night and have enough left for lunches.
I cut the pizza in quarters so ot would for on the oven and fridge.
I topped each differently and added more cheese.
We made pizzas last night and have enough left for lunches.
I cut the pizza in quarters so ot would for on the oven and fridge.
I topped each differently and added more cheese.
- Ham and red peppers ( bought in sale for fifty cents and chopped and frozen, )
- Buffalo chicken, ( chicken from my daughters southwest chop salad that she had put on the side. )
- Pepperoni ( .50 a package with coupon )
- Cheese and pesto with black olives.
Ham cubes were five dollars a package. You can add ham to a lot of things for protein.
Egg omlettes, split pea soups loaded baked potato soup, chefs salad, pizzas, sandwiches,
Just some notes .
Please share and follow.
Jane
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Not chicken dinner.
We had Mac and cheese and mixed veggies for dinner last night, I made white sauce from a mix I made myself and added bits of cheese from the cheese drawer and cooked added fiber pasta and a bread crumb and parsley topping with parm. Added frozen mixed veggies .
The pasta was on sale for .69 and I had a coupon for .55 off two. Net .42 and I used 3/4 of a package. .(31.) The mix was a pantry item as well as the breadcrumbs that were made from free bread I got from the bakery outlet and parsley. We ised 1/2 a bag of veggies I got for .79 (.40) . I used two partial bags of cheese ( with pesto ) from the grocery outlet and a couple more handfuls from the 2.21 a pound cheese from Costco wholesale. 2.50. Total cost 3.21.
Now, if you had bought cheese for 9.00 a two pound Block, and pasta for 1.59, and 2.40 a box bread crumbs.......you get the point, The food would have been the same but the cost would have at least doubled.
Yesterday I planned our grocery trip. I added a couple of things that were unadvertised and good buys, I spent 25.00
I got
A 2 lb brick of Tillamook cheese.
2 - boxes of rice crispies
2- boxes of high fiber pasta
1 box of ritz crackers
1 pie
2 packages of pepperoni
1 carton ice cream
2 lbs strawberries
2 wrap sandwiches.
2 - 2 lb bags frozen potatoes.
That is far from a weeks groceroes, but a lot of food for my buck. I used coupoms whenever I could.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cream-soup-mix
That's how you stretch a buck on groceries,
Thanks
Jane
The pasta was on sale for .69 and I had a coupon for .55 off two. Net .42 and I used 3/4 of a package. .(31.) The mix was a pantry item as well as the breadcrumbs that were made from free bread I got from the bakery outlet and parsley. We ised 1/2 a bag of veggies I got for .79 (.40) . I used two partial bags of cheese ( with pesto ) from the grocery outlet and a couple more handfuls from the 2.21 a pound cheese from Costco wholesale. 2.50. Total cost 3.21.
Now, if you had bought cheese for 9.00 a two pound Block, and pasta for 1.59, and 2.40 a box bread crumbs.......you get the point, The food would have been the same but the cost would have at least doubled.
Yesterday I planned our grocery trip. I added a couple of things that were unadvertised and good buys, I spent 25.00
I got
A 2 lb brick of Tillamook cheese.
2 - boxes of rice crispies
2- boxes of high fiber pasta
1 box of ritz crackers
1 pie
2 packages of pepperoni
1 carton ice cream
2 lbs strawberries
2 wrap sandwiches.
2 - 2 lb bags frozen potatoes.
That is far from a weeks groceroes, but a lot of food for my buck. I used coupoms whenever I could.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cream-soup-mix
That's how you stretch a buck on groceries,
- Study the ads and plan your trip.
- Match coupons to as much as possible purchasing only what you will eat.
- Work around what's in season and on sale to plan meals.
- Stock so that of there are no really good sales on a given week you can just buy the perishables you need to fill in meal plans. I can usually sale the dairy, staples and meat and buy the best quality for the least price of produce on season and use frozen to sub if I need to.
Thanks
Jane
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
QFC
I did go to QFC after a quick trip to the goodwill. I found my favorite brand of pants, brand new . It was seniors day so I got another twenty percent off. Also a couple of books on knotting and healthy cooking and an outfit for grandbaby.
QFC netted us a 52 percent savings per their calculations, I used about six dollars in coupons and bought ten fifty cent off items. In addition pepperoni was a buck for one and I had a dollar off two coupon. Nets BOGO. I had coupons for almost everything I bought and everything was a good buy. I did buy rice crispies so we could make Easter treats.
Taking advantage of sales and discounts helps you live a better quality of life than your income may allow.
QFC netted us a 52 percent savings per their calculations, I used about six dollars in coupons and bought ten fifty cent off items. In addition pepperoni was a buck for one and I had a dollar off two coupon. Nets BOGO. I had coupons for almost everything I bought and everything was a good buy. I did buy rice crispies so we could make Easter treats.
Taking advantage of sales and discounts helps you live a better quality of life than your income may allow.
The ads
ALBERTSONS
Spiral ham 1.99
Strawberries 2.99
BREYERS, Klondike bars 2/5
Butter 1.99@@
Canned vegetables 2/1@@
Good ground beef 3.99@@
SAFEWAYS
Strawberries 2.99
Pineapple z2/5
Salad 2/5
Dreyers2.79
Milk 2/5
Five dollar Friday
Pudding ring 2/5
Black or blues 2/5
Pizza , deli
Ice cream 2/5
HAGGENS
10.00 off fifty coupon
Spiral ham 3.99
Spiral ham HORMEL 1.99
Pineapple 2/4
Broccoli 1.00
Strawberries 3.98
Cream soup .99@
Romaine hearts 2.49 (3)
Green beans 2.49
Butter 3.99
QFC
HORMEL spiral ham 1.88
Sirloin tip roast 3.99
Strawberries 1,88
Asparagus 1,99
Cheese 5.99
Green beans 1.99
Oranges .99
Blues 2/7
Eggs 2.49
Cr mushroom 1.00
Buy 10, save 5. Net costs.
Pasta .69$$
Ritz 1.99$$
Butter1.99**frozen potatoes 2.49$$
Notes :
$$ means there are coupons out there. You can really score. Also note that while Haggens has a coupon for effectively twenty percent off if you carefully spend only fifty dollars, the prices are as much as a dollar more on a lot of things. Butter is 3.99. It's 1.99 at QFC. Frozen potatoes are 2.99 at Haggens, 2.49 at QFC. Homeless ham is 1.88 at AFC, 1.99 at HAGGENS.
Over the fifty dollars, I don't think you would be money ahead. Mi had a hard time last week spending twenty dollars buying the things that were the same price or lower at Haggens.
There are new coupons on coupons.com . You snooze, you loose. Big ones go fast,
@@means that there is an in ad coupon.
That's about all I have.
Remember to bring your ad, your coupons , and your list.
Watch for unadvertised specials on the things on your target list.
Be flexible. If asparagus is too expensive or looks bad, try green beans. Etc.
Happy shopping.!
Jane
Spiral ham 1.99
Strawberries 2.99
BREYERS, Klondike bars 2/5
Butter 1.99@@
Canned vegetables 2/1@@
Good ground beef 3.99@@
SAFEWAYS
Strawberries 2.99
Pineapple z2/5
Salad 2/5
Dreyers2.79
Milk 2/5
Five dollar Friday
Pudding ring 2/5
Black or blues 2/5
Pizza , deli
Ice cream 2/5
HAGGENS
10.00 off fifty coupon
Spiral ham 3.99
Spiral ham HORMEL 1.99
Pineapple 2/4
Broccoli 1.00
Strawberries 3.98
Cream soup .99@
Romaine hearts 2.49 (3)
Green beans 2.49
Butter 3.99
QFC
HORMEL spiral ham 1.88
Sirloin tip roast 3.99
Strawberries 1,88
Asparagus 1,99
Cheese 5.99
Green beans 1.99
Oranges .99
Blues 2/7
Eggs 2.49
Cr mushroom 1.00
Buy 10, save 5. Net costs.
Pasta .69$$
Ritz 1.99$$
Butter1.99**frozen potatoes 2.49$$
Notes :
$$ means there are coupons out there. You can really score. Also note that while Haggens has a coupon for effectively twenty percent off if you carefully spend only fifty dollars, the prices are as much as a dollar more on a lot of things. Butter is 3.99. It's 1.99 at QFC. Frozen potatoes are 2.99 at Haggens, 2.49 at QFC. Homeless ham is 1.88 at AFC, 1.99 at HAGGENS.
Over the fifty dollars, I don't think you would be money ahead. Mi had a hard time last week spending twenty dollars buying the things that were the same price or lower at Haggens.
There are new coupons on coupons.com . You snooze, you loose. Big ones go fast,
@@means that there is an in ad coupon.
That's about all I have.
Remember to bring your ad, your coupons , and your list.
Watch for unadvertised specials on the things on your target list.
Be flexible. If asparagus is too expensive or looks bad, try green beans. Etc.
Happy shopping.!
Jane
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Coupon mania!
I just went to QFC. My object was to get real food for the least amount I could. It's a game.
My savings were 56 percent and I bought a bag if Easter grass for granddaughters Easter baskets for her class.
I made baskets complete with Minnie Mouse and egg stickers and I have grass, chocolate that looks like carrots, plastic Easter eggs with candy eggs to fill them and a magnifying glass. I didn't want to get them erasers, they might think they were candy and they are too young and I thought the teacher might kill me if I bought them my first choice which was whistles.
I digress.
I got 4 barilla pastas, 2 orzo and 2 white fiber shells. .69 and used two .55 coupons.
I got 2 butters marked 5.29 for 1.99 each
I got two cheese goldfish packages ( great for on soup or instead of croutons on salad. .99
I got two ore- Ida frozen potato packages for 2.49 and used a dollar coupon.
That totaled my ten units.
I am not by any means an extreme couponer. But, I only buy what we will use and I don't spend forty hours a week doing it. My tally for the first three months this year is 75.00 a week assuming that there are 4.0 weeks in a month. That's for four of us and I have a stock built. We didn't eat 75.00 a week.
My savings were 56 percent and I bought a bag if Easter grass for granddaughters Easter baskets for her class.
I made baskets complete with Minnie Mouse and egg stickers and I have grass, chocolate that looks like carrots, plastic Easter eggs with candy eggs to fill them and a magnifying glass. I didn't want to get them erasers, they might think they were candy and they are too young and I thought the teacher might kill me if I bought them my first choice which was whistles.
I digress.
I got 4 barilla pastas, 2 orzo and 2 white fiber shells. .69 and used two .55 coupons.
I got 2 butters marked 5.29 for 1.99 each
I got two cheese goldfish packages ( great for on soup or instead of croutons on salad. .99
I got two ore- Ida frozen potato packages for 2.49 and used a dollar coupon.
That totaled my ten units.
I am not by any means an extreme couponer. But, I only buy what we will use and I don't spend forty hours a week doing it. My tally for the first three months this year is 75.00 a week assuming that there are 4.0 weeks in a month. That's for four of us and I have a stock built. We didn't eat 75.00 a week.
The scoop on grocery stores in the area.
Ok. Here is the latest. Hagens bought out SAFEWAYS and ALBERTSONS. Some of the SAFEWAYS were turned into Hagens. Some ALBERTSONS have become SAFEWAYS, and some SAFEWAYS and ALBERTSONS are left as they were. Bottom line is that we have two companies controlling the chain stores. Hagens and Kroger. Winco is another. They are not in our area, I think everett is the closest and we are hoping for one in Edmonds. The location is convenient for the group of small towns in our area, , Shoreline, Edmomds, Mountkake Terrace and Lynnwood.
Then we have the off price stores like big Lots, and grocery outlet. They are not full service grocery stores, but have good buys on real food. Warehouse stores , Costco and SAMs club. . And, what I'll call the princess stores, trader joes, whole foods, PCC -- for those with discerning taste , a appetite for speciality foods, and a whole lot of money to spend.
The basis of this blog is supposed to be feeding nutritious food to families that have or want to feed their families on a budget. Therefore, I deal mainly with the chain stores and off price stores.
Fred Meyer ads
ham. 1.77
Butter 2/4@@
Strawberries 1.88
Dryers 2/5@@
Starbucks k cups 5.99@@$$
Sour cream, cottage cheese .99@@
4 lbs sugar 3/5@@
Best Foods 2/5@@
Fred Meyer vegetables .59
Fm frozen veggies .79@@
Cream od mushroom soup .79@@
Pie 2.99
Oranges .79
Smart source has a dollar off cheese coupon.
A dollar off any boxed potatoes--Betty Crocker
.50 off maxwell house coffee
1.00 off 2 Ore-Ida potatoes - I'm noting the buy 10 save five at QFC.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share and FOLLOW. Ypu don't have to use your real name to follow. LOL. Screen names work.
Jane
Then we have the off price stores like big Lots, and grocery outlet. They are not full service grocery stores, but have good buys on real food. Warehouse stores , Costco and SAMs club. . And, what I'll call the princess stores, trader joes, whole foods, PCC -- for those with discerning taste , a appetite for speciality foods, and a whole lot of money to spend.
The basis of this blog is supposed to be feeding nutritious food to families that have or want to feed their families on a budget. Therefore, I deal mainly with the chain stores and off price stores.
Fred Meyer ads
ham. 1.77
Butter 2/4@@
Strawberries 1.88
Dryers 2/5@@
Starbucks k cups 5.99@@$$
Sour cream, cottage cheese .99@@
4 lbs sugar 3/5@@
Best Foods 2/5@@
Fred Meyer vegetables .59
Fm frozen veggies .79@@
Cream od mushroom soup .79@@
Pie 2.99
Oranges .79
Smart source has a dollar off cheese coupon.
A dollar off any boxed potatoes--Betty Crocker
.50 off maxwell house coffee
1.00 off 2 Ore-Ida potatoes - I'm noting the buy 10 save five at QFC.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share and FOLLOW. Ypu don't have to use your real name to follow. LOL. Screen names work.
Jane
Friday, March 27, 2015
ALBERTSONS
Today we went to ALBERTSONS. I spent less than twenty dollars and got mostly canned goods that were real food. My husband picked up a can of enchalada sauce for me when I didn't have time to make ot from scratch. It was 2.59. ALBERTSONS had it for .50. We had chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight. I just used black beans instead of chicken for the girls. .
The tomato sauce that os 1.50 at Haggens was a quarter. I got a cucumber, but they had no lettuce.
Bite sized muffins ( 11 carbs) were BOGO.
I have averaged seventy five dollars a week for the past quarter. That is somewhat below the thrifty figure for my,husband and I and we supplement the girls.
The tomato sauce that os 1.50 at Haggens was a quarter. I got a cucumber, but they had no lettuce.
Bite sized muffins ( 11 carbs) were BOGO.
I have averaged seventy five dollars a week for the past quarter. That is somewhat below the thrifty figure for my,husband and I and we supplement the girls.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
The ads
QFC
Chuck roast 3.99
Strawberries 2/5
Pears .99
Ham 1.88, spiral cut
Buy 10 save 5
Prices are net
Barilla pasta .69
Dryers 2.99
Butter 1.99
Ritz 1.99$$
Frozen potatoes 2.49
Eggs 1.79
Apples .99
M and M s 2/6$$
SAFEWAYS
Strawberries 1.99
Half pork loin 1.99
Cake mix 1.00
Berries 2/5
Salad 4/5
Coffee 5.00
Haggen
Strawberries 2.00
Sugar 1.99
Ham 1.99
Tomatoes 1.49
Flour 2/5
Haggen beans, tomatoes, veggies 15/10
Cheese 6.99
ALBERTSONS
Ham 1.99
Quarters sale
Tomato sauce .25
Pudding 1.00
Cake mix 1.00
Enchalada sauce .50
Onions .25 lb
Berries 2/6
Cukes .75
Tomatoes 1.00
Salad 1.00
That's about all. There is no one store that stands out! QFC has good buys. I like the canned goods sale at Haggens. I don't need anything, but I would go for that if I did. ALBERTSONS has the quarter sale on and it stands out. As does five dollar coffee at SAFEWAYS.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share and Follow
Jane
Chuck roast 3.99
Strawberries 2/5
Pears .99
Ham 1.88, spiral cut
Buy 10 save 5
Prices are net
Barilla pasta .69
Dryers 2.99
Butter 1.99
Ritz 1.99$$
Frozen potatoes 2.49
Eggs 1.79
Apples .99
M and M s 2/6$$
SAFEWAYS
Strawberries 1.99
Half pork loin 1.99
Cake mix 1.00
Berries 2/5
Salad 4/5
Coffee 5.00
Haggen
Strawberries 2.00
Sugar 1.99
Ham 1.99
Tomatoes 1.49
Flour 2/5
Haggen beans, tomatoes, veggies 15/10
Cheese 6.99
ALBERTSONS
Ham 1.99
Quarters sale
Tomato sauce .25
Pudding 1.00
Cake mix 1.00
Enchalada sauce .50
Onions .25 lb
Berries 2/6
Cukes .75
Tomatoes 1.00
Salad 1.00
That's about all. There is no one store that stands out! QFC has good buys. I like the canned goods sale at Haggens. I don't need anything, but I would go for that if I did. ALBERTSONS has the quarter sale on and it stands out. As does five dollar coffee at SAFEWAYS.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share and Follow
Jane
Monday, March 23, 2015
Coupons I didn't find until too late.
I missed two coupons is week that I should have found, but didn't. The pasta one appeared in my e mail is morning, if I get near Freddie's,I will pick it up. Pasta has a very long shelf life , don't believe the pull dates on the package.
Barilla pasta is .79 with an in ad coupon. You can doubke dip or stack a store coupon with a manufacturers coupon. Grocerycoupon cart.com has a coupon for a dollar off of four. That nets .55 each and they have high fiber.
There are coupons for .40 off six yoplaits on coupons.com . Yoplait is .25 for up to ten at Hagens.
Six times .25 is 1.50 less .40 is 1.10 for six .
.
Barilla pasta is .79 with an in ad coupon. You can doubke dip or stack a store coupon with a manufacturers coupon. Grocerycoupon cart.com has a coupon for a dollar off of four. That nets .55 each and they have high fiber.
There are coupons for .40 off six yoplaits on coupons.com . Yoplait is .25 for up to ten at Hagens.
Six times .25 is 1.50 less .40 is 1.10 for six .
.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Fred Meyers
I was out and about to a craft store to see about supplies. I am looking for one particular thing. We went to big lots. I found facial tissue in larger boxes for cheaper than the dollar store.
Fred Meyers has chicken for .88. Also grapes and ice cream cheap. They also have a coupon in the flyer for pasta for .79 including extra fiber. Apples were also cheap as well as pears. Cottage cheese was 4/5.
Fred Meyers has chicken for .88. Also grapes and ice cream cheap. They also have a coupon in the flyer for pasta for .79 including extra fiber. Apples were also cheap as well as pears. Cottage cheese was 4/5.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Notes on Friday
Believe it or not, I'm not going shopping today. I have been posting a lot on shopping and ads lately. Basically because that's where it all starts. Economical meals have to start with economical food.m
A lot if changes are going on here, Grocery stores around here are coming and going, Prices are steadily going up mostly. Haggens has replace some of the SAFEWAYS. That is not a good sign for economical shoppers. I am hoping Winco goes into the top foods building soon. That will even out the field. Coffee is the latest thing to take a huge jump. We were getting it for five something. Now it's 10.99. I did find it for 6.49 at ALBERTSONS yesterday on a buy five save five. You have to buy five of a list of things, mix and match. Fortunately there is usually a buck thing that is believable, I got tomatoes, salsa, coffee, salad dressing. Salad dressing was 1.49 and I had a buck coupon off two. That made my salad dressing .75. It was Kraft.
We eat a lot of tex mex. It's healthy, makes even the vegetarians happy, and easy to cook and cheap. A good combination of values.
Now that we have shopped, we need to meal plan. I can still make five dollar dinners. That's five dollars for the dinner, not each plate. This is supposed to be for the proverbial family of four-- two adults and two school aged kids. We have three adults and a toddler. I'm thinking about the same amount of food.
Comparing even three years ago's meals and the meals of today there is quite a difference, it's rolling with the lunches if higher food prices. No surprise that meat and cheese have skyrocketed, I can still get cheese fairly reasonable by getting five pound bags at Costco wholesale and watching sales. I buy blocks whether we are out or not. Cheese gets better with age and we use it fast. Meat is getting harder and harder. Five dollars a pound for what we call the cheap stuff. I can still get chicken cheap. I did get pork tenderloin for five bucks a couple of weeks ago.
This week, I bought no orotein, I have a stash in the freezer and nothing was a good enough price. I did get chili for a buck a can and yogurt for a quarter. I had forty cent coupons for six. Score!
Cereal with protein was a buck at big lots. Also at grocery outlet.
I digress. Meal Plans .
A lot if changes are going on here, Grocery stores around here are coming and going, Prices are steadily going up mostly. Haggens has replace some of the SAFEWAYS. That is not a good sign for economical shoppers. I am hoping Winco goes into the top foods building soon. That will even out the field. Coffee is the latest thing to take a huge jump. We were getting it for five something. Now it's 10.99. I did find it for 6.49 at ALBERTSONS yesterday on a buy five save five. You have to buy five of a list of things, mix and match. Fortunately there is usually a buck thing that is believable, I got tomatoes, salsa, coffee, salad dressing. Salad dressing was 1.49 and I had a buck coupon off two. That made my salad dressing .75. It was Kraft.
We eat a lot of tex mex. It's healthy, makes even the vegetarians happy, and easy to cook and cheap. A good combination of values.
Now that we have shopped, we need to meal plan. I can still make five dollar dinners. That's five dollars for the dinner, not each plate. This is supposed to be for the proverbial family of four-- two adults and two school aged kids. We have three adults and a toddler. I'm thinking about the same amount of food.
Comparing even three years ago's meals and the meals of today there is quite a difference, it's rolling with the lunches if higher food prices. No surprise that meat and cheese have skyrocketed, I can still get cheese fairly reasonable by getting five pound bags at Costco wholesale and watching sales. I buy blocks whether we are out or not. Cheese gets better with age and we use it fast. Meat is getting harder and harder. Five dollars a pound for what we call the cheap stuff. I can still get chicken cheap. I did get pork tenderloin for five bucks a couple of weeks ago.
This week, I bought no orotein, I have a stash in the freezer and nothing was a good enough price. I did get chili for a buck a can and yogurt for a quarter. I had forty cent coupons for six. Score!
Cereal with protein was a buck at big lots. Also at grocery outlet.
I digress. Meal Plans .
- Scrambled eggs, pancakes, yogurt parfaits. ( yogurt, berries, granola)
- Spaghetti, pasta sauce, parm, green salad, homemade French bread. Pudding.
- Chicken enchiladas, rice, beans. Lettuce, tomatoes.
- Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, cut broccoli , salad
- Tuna melts, tomato soup
- Pork stir-fry with left over pork cubes, stir fry veggies, top ramen noodles ( no packet) , oranges.
- Sloppy joes, French fries, carrot and celery sticks.
Note: sloppy joes are with scratch sauce, buns were free from the bakery outlet, and French fries were a buck on sale in January. It pays to stock when prices are low. It still makes the beef meal more pricey. This is offset my a couple of meals that were under the five dollars. I would prefer two beef meals because I think we need the iron. I found chuck roast for four dollars a pound last week. You can grind it and make your own hamburger. I know where a mind would go with that, " just eat the roast." But, you will find that you will eat more poundage of the roast than if it were stretched in a sloppy joe or pasta sauce, or on tacos . Still, every,now and then, we have to splurge in a real hunk if meat! LOL.
If you are having a meal that seem to skimp a bit on the protein, make a desert or appetizer that compensates. Like cheese and crackers, or pudding.
Pizza is also a great five dollar or less dinner that goes well with everyone, save bits and snatches of things that go in pizza as you are cooking other meals. Freeze them. Top a cheap pizza or make crust from scratch, It's easier than you think. See prior post for pizza crust with the food processor.
When take and bake is five dollars at SAFEWAYS, it would feed two meals. Just add your extra toppings. I buy red peppers when they are cheap and chop and freeze them. You can out the. Directly on the pizza from the freezer. I buy canned sliced olives when I find them for fifty cents. They are cheaper and less work than slicing them from a can of whole olives. Costco is still the cheapest in sausage I have found. Pepperoni when you can find it at the dollar store with a coupon is .50. Made in America!
Pasta is always on sale somewhere. You can almost always find coupons, with imagination, even the coupons that are for specialty pasta work without buying expensive whole wheat pasta. I checked. Whole wheat pasta takes longer to cook, has more carbs than some other pasta, and in my opinion tastes nasty! If you get white pasta with fiber, it has less carbs than whole wheat. The fiber is what makes it hit your bloodstream slower. I also bought pasta with veggies in it. They( family) never knew the difference!
I got eggs for 2/3 this week. I had been getting the. 4/5. I suspect Fred Meyers will do that again, but now I'm set for another month or so. We will probably need to have breakfast for dinner once a week for a while to manage the pull dates.
About Wednesday, I clean the fridge and make an attempt to use anything that is on the edge. It's a good time for a stir fry or fried rice.
Guess that's all for now.
Thanks for stopping by
Please share and FOLLOW
Jane
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Albertsons and Big Lots
Today we went to ALBERTSONS and Big Lots . I was disappointed with Bog Lots. There was a big sign in a new freezer section announcing that they now take SNAP.. Everything in the freezer section was over priced that I compared. I bought very few things. They had a couple of bags of sugar free mints. They had cereal with extra protein for a dollar that I didn't buy, and they had pudding for a buck. I have found good buys in the food section before, but had in luck this time.
ALBERTSONS netted eggs for 2/3. I haven't found an egg sale for weeks. There were a bunch if five off five things on sale, The best being salad dressing that I had a coupon for ( nets .75) for Kraft. , coffee for 6.49, and salsa for a buck,
I haven't found a good meat sale for several weeks now. We had fish tonight.
guess that's all.
Jane
ALBERTSONS netted eggs for 2/3. I haven't found an egg sale for weeks. There were a bunch if five off five things on sale, The best being salad dressing that I had a coupon for ( nets .75) for Kraft. , coffee for 6.49, and salsa for a buck,
I haven't found a good meat sale for several weeks now. We had fish tonight.
guess that's all.
Jane
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Hagens
We went to Hagens today. There was a coupon in the flyer as an addition . It had Yoplait for .25 limit twelve, I have coupons too, but have used them. Coupons,com has forty cent coupons for six of them and you can print two.
I just bought things that were cheaper or the same price as my RBP. I spent twenty dollars and a few cents.
Honestly, they are up there in my list with Whole Foods , PCC, and Trader Joes. Everything else was about 10 percent higher than the regular price in other stores.
Thanks for stopping by
Jane
I just bought things that were cheaper or the same price as my RBP. I spent twenty dollars and a few cents.
Honestly, they are up there in my list with Whole Foods , PCC, and Trader Joes. Everything else was about 10 percent higher than the regular price in other stores.
Thanks for stopping by
Jane
Monday, March 16, 2015
Holy Cow!
My daughter went to PCC to get a special sugar substitute she wanted. I asked her o pick up a bag if frozen stir fry vegetables . holy cow! 10 ounces if stir fry veggies were almost three dollars! I then glance thre the flyer she brought home, mind you, these are to specials. I think I'm in shock and I discovered how you could spend almost eight thousand dollars a year on food per person. LOL.
Three dollars for a green pepper! They area.69 at Fred Meyers this week If I'm not mistaken, Tomatoes 3.99. Asparagus. 4.99 a pound. I thought it was high at 169.
Needless to say, I was just reminded of why I don't shop at PCC. Most of the items listed on their flyer were food that sounded like ot could come from another planet! LOL.
Never the less, I managed to make A close to five dollar dinner .
Pieces of pork tenderloin leftover 1.25
1/2 box of tomato spaghetti. .40 ( bought in sale with coupon)
Mixed veggies 2.50.
Cashew .50
2T basil pesto ( 2.00 a jar at Bartells ) .40
$5.05. For four people. .
Note, if the stir fry veggies were from QFC accross the street from PCC, they would have been about half of that price.
The tomato pasta was good and not terrible carb wise becausemthmvegetabkes and the meat took up most of the volume.
There are still good dinners for five dollars. I am basing my five dollar dinners on a typical family of four-- two adults and two school aged children. We are three adults and one small child. Probably comparable. This won't feed teen age boys. But, teen ate boys would warrant more money from snap. The USDA stats are broken down into four monetary groups and age groups. Then they adjust for your part of the country. We are lucky enough to have three major chains close by and two more in next towns ( within five miles ) . Also, Costco, big lots, grocery outlet, and Winco in neighboring towns,
The best trick for lowering your food bill is to know your prices, shop more than one store, and never pay full price . Buy low and eat when the item is higher priced. Dairy and eggs have a far out pull date. Buy them on sale . I'm running low on eggs, waiting for another sale. I misjudged. Vegetables and fruit I buy whatever is in sale the cheapest in season. We have a farmers market,the real kind, and can buy from them. We also have a farmers market, I call the social kind that has jewelry, food, flowers etc. It's fun,but not the place to go if you are serious about good cheap food.
I want to pay a buck a pound for tomatoes, not five dollars a pound.
Many people have the means to pay any price they want for food. If you are able to do that, more power to you. Everyone has to do what they think is best for their family. If you are on a tight budget and can stay hime all day and cook everything from scratch, go for it. Many of us either don't choose to do that, or don't have the luxury of staying home, if you can call it that!
This blog is assuming you are on snap and maybe part of the working poor, maybe not. Everyone can benefit from tips and recipes, but I don't want to loose sight if the reason I started this blog in the first place. I'm not going to tout that I can feed my family in a hundred dollars a month. That would not be realistic. And, you can't probably do a five dollar dinner in New York City either. You can ,however, take the premise of shopping on the cheap and tailor ot to your situation and needs. I studied a lot of comcepts through the years. Tried a lot, amd came up with a plan that works. It doesn't take spending all day in the kitchen, your shopping time after organization is probably,no more than Anyone else with a family, and there is always food in the pantry.
Basically
Three dollars for a green pepper! They area.69 at Fred Meyers this week If I'm not mistaken, Tomatoes 3.99. Asparagus. 4.99 a pound. I thought it was high at 169.
Needless to say, I was just reminded of why I don't shop at PCC. Most of the items listed on their flyer were food that sounded like ot could come from another planet! LOL.
Never the less, I managed to make A close to five dollar dinner .
Pieces of pork tenderloin leftover 1.25
1/2 box of tomato spaghetti. .40 ( bought in sale with coupon)
Mixed veggies 2.50.
Cashew .50
2T basil pesto ( 2.00 a jar at Bartells ) .40
$5.05. For four people. .
Note, if the stir fry veggies were from QFC accross the street from PCC, they would have been about half of that price.
The tomato pasta was good and not terrible carb wise becausemthmvegetabkes and the meat took up most of the volume.
There are still good dinners for five dollars. I am basing my five dollar dinners on a typical family of four-- two adults and two school aged children. We are three adults and one small child. Probably comparable. This won't feed teen age boys. But, teen ate boys would warrant more money from snap. The USDA stats are broken down into four monetary groups and age groups. Then they adjust for your part of the country. We are lucky enough to have three major chains close by and two more in next towns ( within five miles ) . Also, Costco, big lots, grocery outlet, and Winco in neighboring towns,
The best trick for lowering your food bill is to know your prices, shop more than one store, and never pay full price . Buy low and eat when the item is higher priced. Dairy and eggs have a far out pull date. Buy them on sale . I'm running low on eggs, waiting for another sale. I misjudged. Vegetables and fruit I buy whatever is in sale the cheapest in season. We have a farmers market,the real kind, and can buy from them. We also have a farmers market, I call the social kind that has jewelry, food, flowers etc. It's fun,but not the place to go if you are serious about good cheap food.
I want to pay a buck a pound for tomatoes, not five dollars a pound.
Many people have the means to pay any price they want for food. If you are able to do that, more power to you. Everyone has to do what they think is best for their family. If you are on a tight budget and can stay hime all day and cook everything from scratch, go for it. Many of us either don't choose to do that, or don't have the luxury of staying home, if you can call it that!
This blog is assuming you are on snap and maybe part of the working poor, maybe not. Everyone can benefit from tips and recipes, but I don't want to loose sight if the reason I started this blog in the first place. I'm not going to tout that I can feed my family in a hundred dollars a month. That would not be realistic. And, you can't probably do a five dollar dinner in New York City either. You can ,however, take the premise of shopping on the cheap and tailor ot to your situation and needs. I studied a lot of comcepts through the years. Tried a lot, amd came up with a plan that works. It doesn't take spending all day in the kitchen, your shopping time after organization is probably,no more than Anyone else with a family, and there is always food in the pantry.
Basically
- Never pay full price
- Like playing the stock market, buy low, and eat when prices are high
- Shop at least two stores, plan your trip to not waste gas.
- Keep a stock of non perishables .
- Buy perishable on sale and in season. Use up before they go bad.
- Plan meals from what is in your pantry and fridge and what's in sale after you shop.
- Design a matrix of meal plans that works for your family
- Buy one meat or protein that is on a RBP a week and buy enough to feed your family that meal for the designated times a month. Rotate meats and meals. My cook once,meat many times. Saves time and money.
Thanks for stopping by.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions.
Please share and follow
Jane
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Grams Apple custard pie
10 inch pie plate , greased
Fill with 4 cups apples, sliced.
3/4 c sugar
Cinnamon
Stir together in separate bowl
3/4 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1/2 cup bisquick
2 eggs
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup sour cream.
Pour over apples.
Bake at 350 for 55-65 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Fill with 4 cups apples, sliced.
3/4 c sugar
Cinnamon
Stir together in separate bowl
3/4 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1/2 cup bisquick
2 eggs
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup sour cream.
Pour over apples.
Bake at 350 for 55-65 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
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