No ads this week yet, QFC and goodwill haul!

We have had no ads yet this week.   I did go to goodwill to see if I could find shorts in senior day.   I did find shorts and a tank with nice detail.   I also found an adorable sundress for granddaughter.

I then went to QFC.   They have strawberries for two bucks and grapes for 1.69.   They also have five off of five articles.  I saved a lot, but could prolly done better with a strategy session and coupons.
Total spent 20.00.

Thanks for stopping by

Please follow
Jane

Ps.

I found an ap that is supposed to tell you who has the best prices on a particular item.  I had a horrible time uploading it.   How many ways can you spell frustration.    I am not sure yet of if it was worth  the trouble.  

It's 4:55 am . There is a song that starts like that.....

I am awake,   Somehow, so eone at one time set the alarm clock to go off at 4 am.  No one knows how to turn the silly thing off.  So, every weekday at 4 am.... My husband is one if ise people that can turn over and go back to sleep.  I'm not quite so lucky.  But, I can take advantage if a very quiet house  and write.  

Last night we had French fries in the oven, sloppy joes, and a green salad.  The first if the lettuce from the pots on the deck.    I bought skippy joe sauce for eighty cents at ALBERTSONS,   Never again.   I have a recipe for sloppy joe sauce from the 70s .   It calls for catsup, eater, a little dry mustard and a drop of liquid smoke,   I got catsup for .75 for a 24 ounce bottle at the dollar store.This    was not much more than tomato sauce.    I have bought French fries for as little as a buck.  

Adapting recipes from the seventies is a good way to save money and still eat healthy.   We weren't really too fat conscious in the 70s, but recipes can be adapted.   I just heard an interesting piece on the radio about how people that loose a lot of weight are often depressed!  And, that it was not healthy to cut all the fat out of your diet.  It goes back to what I have been saying right a,OMG.  ,oderation is the key.   I found a low fat option for white sauce mix.   Ot makes life easier when making casseroles and far cheaper than canned soup.   ( google white sauce mix - taste of home. ).  I find good recipes from them.  I have been published in their magazine and they have tried and true recipes.   I have also been published in Woman's Day.

It's hot here, an unusual May-June weather pattern for us.  Usually ot doesn't start getting hot until July.   Fortunately, I bought Popsicle moulds from Fred Meyers on sale.   My daughter  has been making pops out of vanilla yogurt and orange juice.   I got yogurt with a coupon for .40.  Add some OJ and you have a treat that is both healthy and refreshing.  

Yesterday I,

• Had a little chat with the communications company.   We were paying far too much .   Turns out, our needs were best met with another plan, we were being charged for a second telephone line we never knew we had, and I got the bill lowered by 70.00.   
• We found the hair cut in a box place a few years ago at the local strip mall.   My husband got a hair cut for 14.00 senior discount,    Sometimes they have 8.00 soecials.   I took advantage of that last time.  I still gave the gal the,normal tip.   
• While my husband was getting a haircut, I went to the goodwill.   I found a cooking mag for .49,  a coated wire whisk    (new) , and a sundress for the "big girl" for 1.69.   I was looking for a pair of shorts, but had no luck.   Wednesday is senior day, I'll try then.   
• I'm still fighting the charge for oxygen for my expensive trip to the rehab for my hip.   Some things you just don't have any control over.   

I'm excited about saving that much on the communications bill.   We got more than we are using now, and spending less.  It pays to go over your utility bills every once in a while.  

Guess that's all.   

Thanks for stopping by 

Please push the follow button. It's a bench mark of how I am doing. 

Jane 

Thrifting Etiquette

I have been reading blogs and watching video vlogs  for some time  now,   Especially when my health dictates my staying still.   LOL.   I thought I should break down and write a blog on thrifting etiquette.

My daughter bought a cover for her phone,   For whatever reason, it didn't work for her phone,   She paid twenty dollars plus tax.   She offered it for sale asking  15.00.   Some lady offered her five dollars.   It is a long established rule of etiquette that you NEVER offer less than twenty percent off something.  It just made her mad.  I suggested that she  just take the article back.  She did and got her money back -- all twenty dollars plus tax.

If you are buying something that is one sale for a good price , it is bad manners to clear the shelf, unless there are only less than six items on the shelf when you get there.   Leave something for other bargain hunters.

If someone leaves free stuff along side of the  road and it's something you need or someone you know needs, take it.   If there is  a pile of stuff, don't take all of it, leave some for someone else.   It's charitable for someone to offer their no longer needed items for you.  Keep the spirit .

Coupons.com has the manufacturers coupons data base.   You are allowed two coupons per item.   All the coupons come out at the beginning of the month.   The manufacturers dictate how many coupons can be printed.   When downloading coupons, only click the ones you are likely to use.   Printing all the coupons just denies someone else that can use them the opportunity to print.  

It all boils down to that one simple life's rule.   Do onto others as you would have them do to you.  


Cheers!
Jane

Fred Meyers ad and coupons !

Fred Meyers ad is pretty slim.  I suspect that there might be better buys at the store, but they aren't toting much.  

Grapes 1.69
Country style ribs 1.97
Cherries 2.99. - note they are 1.99 several places this week.  
Butter 1.99@@
Raspberries 2/5
Prego  3/5.00 makes the, 1.67. --  note that a glass jar is 100 at the dollar store.   You can make a salad on a jar if us need to take lunch somewhere.   Oil based dressing in the bottom, then veggies, then lettuce choice.   Shake and eat.  

Kroger pasta .89.   You are better off getting the name brand because it os cheaper with coupons and you can get fiber added or vegetables.

London broil 4.99

That's about all for the ad.

There is a rumor that eggs are going to double.  You can't very well stock eggs, but my guess is that
Mayonnaise will go up too.   You can hedge that.  Last time I got mayo with olive oil.   We like it and it's probably better for you.   It was two dollars at FM.  

Now, there are a lot of good real food coupons this time in the smart source.  
Fifty cents on five Yoplait
Fifty cents in two suddenly salad.   ( dollar store)
A dollar on MJB coffee
A dollar on any BOCA  product of you are non meat eater.
A dollar on Oscar Mayer natural lunch meat
A dollar on welchs fruit snacks ( dollar store) - buy two and they are .50.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Please follow.  

Jane








 

ALBERTSONS

I went to ALBERTSONS, big lots, and the dollar store yesterday.    I was amazed at the prices at ALBERTSONS.    There were a lot of things that were dollars higher than the prices I pay. The main reason I went was to get tomato products  cheap with sale and coupon.  The coupon did not work in their computer.   I did get blueberries for 2.50 for  18 ounces.    The cream puffs I buy were 6.99 instead of the 3.95 I paid last week.  Sausage... Double the price I pay.   I spent twenty dollars total.   Good hamburger was 3.99 with a coupon.

Big lots has feminine products cheap.  Also, they had the cookies in a can cheap and enchilada sauce-- a big can for two dollars.    Jello,was forty cents.  

The dollar store netted hair ties  and fruit snacks for the baby and some batteries for my label maker.

All the stores were within a block , so gas was at the minimum.  

I am rather disappointed that I put a bargain craft kit on etsy and haven't sold anything.  Etsy is a really cheap capital outlay , so I can afford to play around and see of I can manage to get a winning product.    My plan is to cut my losses at five bucks.    lol.  Ah, the power  of positive thinking!


Last night we  had stir fried steak and veggies with brown rice.   Of course, my daughter had to make a separate meal, because they don't eat beef.    I made a pasta salad and jello yesterday too, and marinated the other piece of steak we bought.   Cooking several things at once saves  time and cleanup.

I hear that there is going to be an egg shortage .  I guess we will deal with that when it comes.   Chicken was 1.50 a pound this week.  I didn't buy any.    I did, however, make meal plans out and will do some grocery management this morning.  

Hitting more than one store and only buying the items that are on a legit sale, saves you money,   By total bulk last week was thirty dollars.  This week, I spent 45.00 at Safeway, fourteen of which was soap that cost 24.00 on amazon.   Net food purchase was 31.00.   Add sixteen for food  at ALBERTSONS and 5.80 at big lots and we have 62.80 for two weeks.    The USDA for thrifty is close to 200 for TWO of us.



Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

SAFEWAYS haul!

I went to SAFEWAYS and bought as close to fifty dollars worth as I could.  Savings 53 percent!  

Pic on Facebook!  

The ads

Note :   I am listing the prices like I used to on a quarter sheet of paper.  You still have to cross off anything that is less expensive elsewhere. Methods is my tool to see which two stores I am going to in a particular week.    By isolating the cheapest prices and then identifying what I need to replenish on our stock, I can decode who has the best buys on the food we need and shop accordingly.  It seems like a daunting task, but after you have done it a couple of tomes it comes naturally.  M

Haggens
Cherries 2.98
Grapes 2.98
Butter 2/5
Franz bread 1.99@@
Haggen yogurt 3/1


ALBERTSONS
Cherries 1.99
BREYERS 2/5
Milk 2/5@@
Good ground beef 3.99@@

BOGO.  Disclosure there are no prices, so I don't know of they are a bargain or not.

Apple juice
K cups


Mega mix or match
.80 each when you buy 10.  Mix or match.  Note there are coupons out there for buy 2, get one free for diced tomatoes ( hunts)  that makes a can a little over fifty cents.

Manwich
Pasta sauce
Diced tomatoes
Refried beans
Ketchup

Grapes 1.99
Berries 2/5

SAFEWAYS

Coupon ten dollars off of fifty.

Cherries 1.99
Yoplait yogurt 10/5$$
Corn on cob 3/2
Tortilla chips 2/6

Five dollar Friday
Sub
Salad 4/5
Strawberries 2/5
K cups

QFC

Cherries 2.99
Berries 2/5
Grapes 1.99
Sour cream 1.00

Please not,cheese prices.   The small packages of cheese are almost NEVER a bargain.   Do the math,  it's a retailers trick to  trick you into seeing a bargain that isn't there.  

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Please share

Jane

The ads

This is a quick one.

Fred Meyers

Tomatoes .88
Shrimp 5.99
Ice cream. Tillamook 2.99
Mayo 1.99
Pasta sauce .89
Lettuce .99
Apples .99
Milk .99
Berries 2/5
Corn 6/3

Tuesday is senior day with coupon 10 percent off private label foods.

That's all.

Plane Jane Cards...not so ordinary hand crafted greetings has gone ETSY,

No, I can spell.  The ETSY people didn't like the correct spelling?     Go figure!    

In other news, I haven't received the newspaper yet today.   I decoded to go a week without shopping.   We are overflowing in the pantry and need to pare down.   Meal plans help use up food on an appropriate amount of time and save the brain when it's tired and hungry!   LOL.  It's a struggle here when I have a husband that won't eat vegetables, a daughter that won't eat mest, and myself that can't eat many starches!   I guess we could be jack sprat , but that's bit to balanced.   LOL

Food prices are still higher than I would like.   Fred Meyer is advertising new low prices and, in fact, some of their prices  are lower.   I see a sign that Winco is coming soon.  I hope it is sooner than later.   A little competition will lower prices.

The basic points of a lower food bill are still the same in any economy.  The last couple of. Onths I have been over budget about five bucks  a week.  I have, however, got a huge surplus and we will pare it down with little to no shopping the next month or so.

Basic theory still works.

Plan and organized cook from scratch, and shop wisely.

1. Plan meals to use what you have and make for a variety of foods.   It keeps the drive through daemons out of the tired brain.  LOL 
2. KNOW YOUR PRICES !!!!!   The best tool you can have is to know your prices and only buy the article if you find the lowest price.  Buy enough to last you until you find a sale again.   That can't work for dire necessities, but it works for a lot of the market basket.  
3. It's a whole different approach to buying groceries.   You don't necessarily buy a weeks worth of food. You do, however, always have food in the house.  
4. Cook from scratch most of the time.  There are, as the USDA  predicted, some things that are cheaper to buy ready made.   A lot of things are more expensive ready made.   It takes doing some math.   There are some things that are not worth the effort in a normal household to make from scratch.   Few of us have the time to spend all day cooking.    The crock pot os a real time and money saver.   It can cook all day and you can still work all day.    Making your own mixes can save time and money when you are pressed at dinner time.   I used to make bisquick, but it calls for shortening, and I'm not really into shortening these days.    I do make white sauce mix that is better for you than the real stuff ( less fat) and taco seasoning.   ( see older posts for more recipes) 
5. Planning meals, again, helps a lot. Mi have a matrix for meals that helps.   I designed a form that has the days of the week, and two columns.  Things to use up, and things we need to fill in for meals.   I have a matrix.  2 beef, 2 chicken or pork, 2 vegetarian , and a fish or shellfish.  Your matrix may be different according to your preferences.   
6. Know the tricks the retailers use to get you to buy more.   NEVER buy non food items at the grocery store.  They are the highest mark up of anything.   
7. Another NEVER. Is never impulse buy.  Know what you are going to buy and pretty much stick to it,   That is why going to the store to buy one day at a time is bad news.  You are bombarded with impulse buys and you are laying top dollar for your food.   
8. Always, if at all possible., shop two stores.   They will usually have different things on a real sale, and if a produce tom doesn't look good, you have another option other than going without.   
9. Use coupons.  Yes, there are coupons for real food.  
10. Buy supplies from the dollar store.   Yes, there are a lot of junk things at the dollar store, but there is also a lot of good stuff that is a lot,cheaper,than their counterparts at other stores.  
11. Don't overlook alternative stores.  Big lots os,not as good since they decided to take snap.  Their prices are more than retail.  But there are still good prices at the drug stores and grocery outlet.   

That's about all.   Ads later.  

Thanks for stopping by 

Please share.   If I get enough followers I might make a few dimes  for my effort!   

Jane 

The ads - May 27-June 2 2015

Here are the ads .   On the Pacific NW we are in summer mode about now,   One if the tricks I have for surviving a hit kitchen is to make a bunch of salads and cook a entrée to go with them each night.  

On to the ads

Haggens
Spinach .89
Tomatoes 1.29
Milk 2/5
Hunts tomatoes 1.00-   $$ coupon makes them .60-
Manwich 1.00
Freshetta pizza 3.99@@
Nathan's hot dogs. BOGO- don't know if this is a bargain or not


QFC
Grapes 1.88
Blues 3.99
Eggs  2/3
Milk 1.00
Yogurt  2/88
Ice cream 2/5
Sour cream 1.00
Pie 3.99

Safeway
Grapes 2.77
Peaches 1.99
Freshetta or dijorno 4.99

Five dollar Friday
Cinnamon rolls
Eggs 3/5 -  1.67 ea
Berries 5.00

ALBERTSONS
Cheese 4.99@@
Yoplait. .38@@

Buy 5 save 5

Berries 3.99
10 lbs potatoes 1.99
Digiorno 4.99
K cups 4.99
Brownie mix .99


Top round is 2.99-  that would be a great price to grind hamburger!  
That's all .  

Please share and follow and thanks for stopping by!  

Jane

Fred Meyers ad

Quick fm ad today.

Grill pack chicken .89
Raspberries 4/5

Peeled baby carrots .99
Apples, asst.   .99
Lettuce .99
30 percent hamburger 2.97
Eggs 4/5
Grapes 1.88
Cantaloupe .59
Jello or cool whip .79@@
Black olives .99@@
Buns.99@@
Tomatoes  2/4
Yoplait .39

That's about it,

Jello and cool whip make a low carb parfait when you use sugar free jello.
Yogurt is cheap, parfaits, Popsicles?   For Popsicles mix vanilla yogurt with fruit juice ( orange) add a splash of vanilla and freeze on pops.   A lot more healthy for the kids than sugar water!  


Thanks for stopping by .

Please share

Jane

Four plus one is five- four people, one meal,Five bucks.

This is an  example of  4 people, 1 meal, five bucks.   This is meant to be for a proverbial family of two adults and two school aged children and is based in a three hundred dollar month budget.    This is, however, real time prices and an actual non- passive to,e of five minutes!  

Individual  pizzas, green salad

Individual pizza crusts  - 2.00 - Dollar  Tree
Tomato sauce - 1/2 can   ..25 ALBERTSONS
Italian seasoning.  - n/a
Sliced black olives 1.00
Grated white cheese  .50 - 1.00 for 8 ounces at Grocery Outlet
Pepperoni -1/2 pkg .25.   - 1.00 a package at dollar tree less,1.00 coupon for two makes it .50 a package.  

Salad  - free with coupon add tomatoes. 1.00.  

Total 5.00

10 money and time saving things I did today

1. I got up while the house  was quiet and paid bills and balanced the budget book.   
2. I wrote a money saving shopping blog. 
3. I cleaned the fridge and sliced veggies and cooked the hamburger for dinner.   
4. I designed a pattern in holes of putting  it for sale on etsy.   
5. I Looked up the cost of making the kits.   
6. I went to goodwill and bought a sun suit for granddaughter for twenty percent off the already cheap price. 
7. I purchased velvet hangers cheaper  than Costco at goodwill, again on a twenty percent discount .
8. I came home, are  my homemade lunch and set out to clean and purge my short rack in the closet, ready to take a load to goodwill.   
9. I made banana, blueberry bread to use the ripe bananas that were left, and my own jello for jello parfait.   
10. I grocery shopped making best use of the specials and coupons.   

I'm finishing dinner and going to bed!     

Thanks for stopping by

Please,share 

Jane 

Memorial Day Sales

Memorial Day Sales can be a good time to stock up on picnic type supplies for the summer.   I am posting the prices of several typical things for this time of year.  You will need to cross off those items that are a higher price than elsewhere to find the best buys.   Also check coupon matchups.  

Haggens

Cantaloupe  .59
Country style ribs. 1.99
grapes 2.49
blues 5.00-18 ounces
Johnsonville sausage 2/5$$
BBQ sauce .99@@
Dreyers 2.99@@
Corn 3/89@@
romas 1.00
Tillamook Cheese 7.99

Albertsons

BBQ sauce 399@@
Bushes Beans @@ check for manufacturers coupon

Buy 4 save 2 net prices
nada

QFC
Strawberries 3.99 2 lbs
Hebrew National franks 2/7.00
Breyers 2/5
Butter 1.99
Johnsonville Brats 3.99 ck coupons

Safeways

Peppers 1.00
Dreyers 2.88
Bushes beans 3/5
Corn 8/2
Buns .88

Five Dollar Friday
Chocolate Boston Cream
Ice Cream 2/5
Blues and Raspberries 12-18 ea
5 lbs gold medal flour 2/5
10 count K cups


that's about it.

thanks for stopping by

please share and follow

jane

Meal plans from the ads

This is an attempt to show my thought process in making meal plans on the cheap.    That is, you use what's on sale and rotate meats to take advantage of bulk and special pricing .

Example.   In the last weeks I got

• pork loin roast 1/2 for 1.88 ( about five pounds ) 
• Chicken for .88 ( it's .88 at SAFEWAYS this week too.   ) (5 lbs) 
• Fred Meyers has good hamburger for 3.99.  ( 5 lbs) 

That's 15 pounds of meat for an average of 2.25 a pound.   14 meals for an average of 2.25 a meal.   

Add a starch and a vegetable or fruit or both and you are still under five dollars a meal for the proverbial family  of four.    

These figures are based on a snap allotment of three hundred dollars a month.    It's real easy to spend more if your situation and budget permits.   It makes more sense to me to show examples off bottom line amounts and let people use their discretion if they have more to spend.    

This is an example of buying the loss leaders and precooking or dividing in meal portions to save, time and money.   It's probably,no secret that if you put a whole roast in front of a young man, he would choose to eat the whole roast and ignore the veggies.   Portion controlling the meat allows children to eat the rest of the meal and have a  be well balanced diet.    It's also,no secret that we eat far to much meat in this  country and that might not be as healthy as we would like.   

I use a matrix for meal plans.  It makes it quick and easy and balances our proteins .  Your matrix may be different.   

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

I can usually get eggs for a dollar or a dollar and a quarter at Fred Meyers.   I stock up.  Most of the time there is a month out on the pull dates.    This  makes for enough to have breakfast for dinner one night a week.    French toast,scrambled   eggs, chocolate waffles and yogurt parfaits are a welcome surprise every once In a while.   Desert for dinner, the kids love it.   Younger parfaits are layering in a glass: plain or vanilla yogurt , blueberries, and granola.  Yogurt is .38 at ALBERTSONS?

From five pounds of ground beef you can make, taco meat, crumbles for pasta sauce, and a two pound meat loaf.   My mother used to make meatloaf , baked potatoes ( a buck at Fred Meyers ) and squash.   All in the oven.   Oven roasted veggies would also be good.  (

Mac and cheese is always a winner here.   Cheese was two dollars a pound at Fred Meyers last week. I can always get grated cheese for 2.30 or so at business Costco.    There is a recipe for quick white sauce in a previous blog.   Add frozen veggies or green beans  to the meal and you are set.  A fruit desert adds to the nutrition.

I made a fish packet dinner last week.  Layer on parchment in individual portions, fresh spinach, white fish, white beans, a green veggie ( asparagus was really cheap at the fresh food market , or you can use fresh green beans ) drizzle with olive oil and wrap tightly.   Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes on a baking sheet with sides.    Easy and no clean up.   Be careful opening the packets, there may be steam!

From the chicken that is .88 a pound .
I'm making chicken soup as I'm writing this.   I will make a loaf of parm bread on the bread baker or make a loaf of brown and serve sourdough.  ( .95 at Costco) or bake cheese biscuits.

Chicken pot pie is another favorite. I have a coupon from QFC for free frozen veggies and a pound of Hebrew national franks.
The holiday weekend is always a good time to stock up on low priced picnic food providing it is a good price.   I got catsup for .75 at the dollar  store for a name brand.

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Tomorrow's ads for Fred Meyers

A quick blog, another with meals from the ads .  

The smart source that comes in the newspaper has a coupon for fifty cents off two suddenly salads.   The dollar store takes coupons and has suddenly salad.  Just check with the manager to be sure it is in their computer.  It os a legit coupon, it's just that when I went before, it wasn't in the computer and the manager was lost in space!    It is a good fast side if you are I a hurry.   Used to use it on the boat.  

There is also a coupon for a dollar  off of Digiorno pizza.  

Fred Meyers has

Blueberries 1.99
Good ground beef 3.99
Tuna .79
Lettuce .99
Potatoes, 5 lbs .99
Apples .99
Ritz 3/5@@$$
Tillamook ice cream 2.99@@
Red vines 5.99@@
Cucumbers, or green peppers 2/1.00

That's about all

Thanks. See you I'm a minute with meal plans and notes.


Jane

The ads

QFC has a two week ad.  Methods os the second week for these deals.

Berries 2/4
Broccoli .99
Milk 4/5
Oranges .88
Strawberries 2/5


Haggens
Mangos 5/3
Spinach .89
Nalleys chili .99@@


ALBERTSONS
Tillamook yogurt .38@@

Coupon mania
Hunts BBQ sauce .99@@
Frozen entres .78@@

SAFEWAYS
Corn 4/2
Berries BOGO.  Hard to tell if that's a good price or not.
Chicken .88
Coffee 7.99$$?
Brownie mix .99@@

Five dollar Friday
Bushes beans 5/5$$
Solid white tuna 5/5

There are a just for you coupon for three dollars off of twenty.  

With some effort, you could probably,come up woth twenty dollars worth of good buys.  

thanks for stopping by.
Please share and follow.
Jane

My marathon cooking

I have a five pound chicken that we purchased for .88 a pound at Fred Meyers.   I also have a six pound pork loin I purchased for 10.38.   Total about 15.00.  

Today in 40 minutes, I marathon cooked it all-- kinda sor of.  

I put the chicken in a crockpot with carrots on the bottom and a dry rub.  Cook it for an hour a pound on high.   Makes for good breast meat and the rest is like pulled chicken for sandwiches, tacos, casseroles etc.

I butchered the pork loin into

• Two packages of two pork chops. 
• A two pound roast  for roast pork, BBQ pork sandwiches 
• A crockpot 1/2 full of pork cubes being slow cooked on salt, pepper, beer.   For pork stew, and tacos, or enchiladas, or to put in a soup.    

12 meals for us for 15.00.    Now, there are only two of us that eat meat.   I would guess that nine meals could be had for a proverbial family of four ( two adults and two school aged children) I'm not talking teen age boys here! LOL.   

This is a quick marathon session.  It takes me a whole lot longer when I do ten pounds of hamburger into 

• Meatballs
• Meatloaf
• Hamburger crumbles 
• Taco meat

On another note, I found a u tube a fellow made making a tex-mex dinner of refried beans, Spanish roce, and enchalladas.  I was mostly interested in a quick and easy enchalada sauce. I found it as cheap as fifty cents, but homemade would be cheaper.   

Thanks for stopping by

Please share and FOLLOW.   

Jane 

10 ways to save bucks on food.

After watching numbers is videos on cheap eats, I feel compelled to wrote ten ways to saveon groceries   without eating chickpea tofu or potatoes, breaded chicken, carrots and corn bread....can you spell pure starch!     LOL. To each his own, but it's not mainstream in my eyes.

I digress. Here goes.

1. Stick to coffee tea, milk, and water out of the tap.    Herbal teas are really good, and make good iced tea.  Fruit teas can be found at the dollar tree or on sale with coupons. Sodas are expensive and have little food value.   
2. Avoid the chip isle .  Popcorn in bulk (Costco) is cheap and actually healthy when popped with an air popper.   
3. Think out of the box  and try new recipes,knowing that simple foods cost less and are easier to cook.   
4. A hop the perimeter of the store.  The big sellers are going to be at eye level on the shelves.   Manufacturers pay for shelving fees.  Those fees are going to be passed on to you.  Look up and look down.    Buy fresh fruits and veggies that are in season.   You get  better taste for less money.   Buy typical holiday foods when they are in sale at or nearly after the holiday.   
5. Stock your staple items.  Those are things you go for frequently when cooking dinner that are shelf ready.   Set yourself a quantity limit and a price limit.   That would be the rock bottom price (RBP) That  it sells for.   The object is to replenish when the proce is at it's lowest.   
6. Don't be brand loyal.   Store brands are often lots cheaper.  
7. Don't be grocery store loyal.   Show the two stores that have what you need at the lowest prices that week.   Go, get what you,need, and get out.  The  longer you stay in a store, the more money you will spend.  
8. Buy the protein loss leader for the week.   Buy it in bulk, cook it if appropriate and portion control in packages you will need for one meal.   Rotate meats on a monthly basis. 
9. Plan meals.   Write an outline that best suits your family and is still within a Budget.  Our matrix is 2 beef, 2'chicken or pork, 2'vegetarian, and 1'fish or shellfish,  plan some quick and easy meals to avoid the let's go through the fast food line or order pizza syndrome.   
10. Keep track of your vegetable bin and adjust meals to incorporate things that need to be eaten soon.   There are apps that let you plug in an ingredient and it tells you,what you can make. The USDA also has an ap that takes the guess  work out of  knowing if a particular food is good to eat.    

Fred meyers haul!

We did go to Fred Meyers.

I spent 37.61 with coupons


1 chicken
1 French fries 1.89
English cucumber
Milk
2 pkg granola bars
Hummus
Cheese
Blues
Strawberries
Raspberries
Butter

I need to work the meal plans and include the produce I bought.

Thanks for stopping by.
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Jane