Safeways and dollar tree haul.

I spent nineteen  dollars at the Safeways and five at the dollar tree.  
At the dollar tree they had mashed sweet potToes and we loved them when we could get them.   I bought two.   Also  bought jello parrots ( sugar free) and a box of coffee.  

At Safeways,misused a dollar coupon for pizza that was bogo and a three dollar off twenty just 4 you.  

Pasta shells
5 nalley  chili
1 salsa
1 sour cream. - 24 ounces
2 red Barron pizza
1 bread
2 Klondike bars (6ea) no sugar added

Savings 47 percent.  

Tonight we are having acorn squash, pork tenderloin. And fruit salad.    Apples were,.48 a pound,  pork tenderloin was 2.50 ( we are using 1/2 ) raspberries were 5.00. The squash was a dollar (1/2) total cost.  3.75.   ( picture later)

There is a dollar coupon in Tillamook in my e mail.   It is is 5.99 at Safeways.    
Country ribs were 1.99, but they didn't have any.  


That's about all.


Thanks
Jane

Fred Meyers - tomorrow's ad

Chuck roast 3.99
Apples .99
Hebrew national 2.99
Sour cream /cottage cheese 2/4

Freshesetta 3.99
Tombstone 2/5$$ net 2.00

Tomato/ chicken noodle soup .89
( Winco chicken noodle soup is .33)

Kroger coffee 4.99
Grapes 1.68

That's all folks.

I got the best buys this week at Winco.  


Thanks

Jane

Winco haul

Winco

We went to Winco today.   Almost everything I buy was at least 12 percent off.  
I use a fifty cent coupon and got a .20 ibotta.   My net OOP cost was 41.99


I got

1. Nathan's Frank's 2.98
2. Jello chocolate pudding ( almost no carb snack.) 2-4 packs 4.78
3. Bacon 2.78
4. 2 lbs  mex blend cheese 4.98
5. Chocolate cereal .98
6. Apples .48 lb
7. English muffins 1.48
8. Nacho chips .98
9. Hot dog buns .88
10. Jalapeño bread 2.18
11. Pizza crust 2.98 for 2
12. Devils food cake mix .88
13. Brownie mix - both .88
14. Taco shells ,98
15. Chicken noodle soup .33
16. Large olives .78
17. Refried beans rosa Rita .88
18. Progreso clam chowder .88 less .50 coupon 
19. 10 lbs potatoes 1.48
20. 2 cans of chillies totaled 3.64
21. 1 lb ground pork.  free

Eggs are two dollars a dozen

Thanks 

Jane 

The ads. Oct 21,2015

Thenads came such as they are........again I am blessed with the thought that Winco is coming tomorrow.   It will  be interesting to see if we get better prices with some competition.  

Safeways

Pot roast 3.99
Ground beef - 20 percent 3.99

Albertsons
Ground beef -15 percent 3.99


5 dollar Friday ( wed thru Friday)
Raspberries 5.00 12'ounces.   ---they are a buck at Freddie's


QFC

Chuck toast 3.99
To,a toes .99
Grapes 1.48
Milk 1.25 - 1.00 at Fred Meyers
DiGiorno pizza 4.99$$
Freshet a 3.99


Ten for ten -- you don't have to buy 10
In other words, a dollar each
Cake 1.00
Brownies 1.00


 I usually go to 2 stores and buy just what's a good buy of
Meat or protein
Stock items I am short of
Perishables in season.and dairy


I dont go to a store for one or two things unless I am already there for some other reason,   Of there is something that is a lot discounted and I need it, I will get it....the savings offsets the gas I have used .  
I had to go to Bothell for business, we stopped by dollar tree and grocery outlet on the way home.  
Folders coffee was 4.99.   It is 10.99.  That six dollars goes a long ways to filling my gas tank.  

I wrote down the specials for each chain store.    Cross off anything that is cheaper elsewhere, and I get a good feel for where we are going.    I already went to Fred Meyers.  QFC is close and we use their pharmacy.    I will probably. Check out Winco tomorrow if I can get there ( the car is in the garage because it didn't pass the inspection for license tabs.   I just love  magic surprises!

Fortunately, I don't need much.  

I have target (RBP) prices on our staples.   I just buy them when I see a really good price and buy enough to fill in my stock.  If I find we are running low, I start looking for a sale.    Rarely do I find
myself having to buy something a full price....or top dollar as my mother called it.    I got stuck on milk last week.  We ran out before Sunday Fred Meyers.  

I figure we save about three thousand dollars a year.   It takes some effort, but probably not much more than the person that goes every few days to buy their food.    It is never a quick trip to Costco.  

After a while you know where and approx. when some stores have the best prices.   Fred Meyer has milk for a buck about the third week of the month.   Costco is cheapest on dairy.  The packages are large and have a month pull date.  I go once a month.   They are also usually the cheapest on refried beans and bananas.  They are the cheapest on gas and hubby picks up bananas and nuts frequently.  

When I'm in the area, big lots and grocery outlet as well as dollar tree have certain things cheaper.  Some this are not, you have to know your prices.   Grocery outlet and Costco wholesale have the best prices in cheese.   It is a retail trick to put small bags of cheese on sale-- for as much as five dollars a pound,    Do the math.  I want cheese  for 2-250 a pound.    Already shredded is better because you use less than if you grate it yourself.  

Winco is cheapest on mashed potatoes and some canned goods.   I am not a big fan of their fresh produce, you have to pick very carefully.  

I can usually make good use of QFC with their. Buy 5, save five when I can add coupons.    I consider it a win if I can save as much as I spend.    Sometimes with coupons, I can get as much as 75 percent off.    You have to look at your bottom line.  75 percent of something you will never use is not a bargain.  

Dollar tree is good for no yolk noodles, pizza crus ( individual ones ) and some name brand items,  you have to know your prices, some things are more expensive.  Hormel pepperoni is cheaper and sometimes you can find a coupon.   I just love the word free.  

Plan you trips.   Be open to stopping at a discount store if you are on your way to or from another errand,   Buy enough of a staple item if

1. It won't go bad before you can use it up
2. Your stock is getting low.( have self imposed limits - I like three to six months supply.   
3. The price is RBP or lower     

If they are out of a sale item, ask for a rain check.    Fm was out of whole chickens at .88.   I asked for a rain check and bought thighs.  In the mean time, I got one elsewhere for a buck a pound.   I can till use my ranch I in a week I can't find a sale ( limited time) 

One last thing....just because it says it's on sale in an ad, doesn't mean it's a bargain.    Safeways pasta is on sale this week for 3/5.     I can a,ways get an off brand at the dollar tree.   But, I got Barilla extra fiber for .88 at Fred Meyers.    That's half the price  and a better quality pasta.    Jimmy Dean sausage is foce dollars for 8-16 ounces.   It's about 2.50 a pound at Costco.    

Thanks for stopping by 

Please share 

Jane 

.

Fred Meyers ad

Short and sweet!  

I did go to target and Michaels yesterday.  I needed some light weight paper for a project and Michaels has it fairly inexpensive.     They have gone to 5X 7 card bases, though.   The 5 X 6-1/2 is now only at paper wishes.    Five by seven takes more postage.   Bummer.    

I go to target just for my makeup.  I like ELF and it is cheap enough to switch it out before the recommended time for health safety.    I found four thanksgiving placemats with crayons in the dollar spot.    Also a plastic divided tray for my craft room and spider rings for the kids trick or treat bags.  

On to Fred Meyers.  

Raspberries. .99
London broil 3.99
Salmon 5.99
Peppers .99
Milk .99@@
Progreso soup .99@@$$
Bread or buns 3/4@@
Ice cream 2/4@@
Yo plait 10/5 $$
Freshettin3.99


.88 sale
Kroger canned fruit
Ravioli
Bumble bee tuna or chicken
CB cake mix
Cottage cheese@@
Barilla pasta @@
Colgate toothpaste @@$$



Note @@ means with an in ad coupon.    $$ means there is a manufacturers coupon either on line or in the paper.  
RBP means Rock  bottom price.    The cake mix is a RBP as well as cottage cheese.  



Jane

Notes

We had some running around to do.   Stopped by grocery outlet and the dollar store for a look see.  I knew that there was sharp cheese for two dollars and it's my husbands favorite.   I have been getting coffee pods for .25.   I got a build your own DiGiorno pizza for 4.99 and nuts.    We also got individual pizza crusts and shortbread cookies.    No yolk noodles were a dollar.

Get Jesse wrote a piece on grocery shopping,  most of it made a lot of sense and I was especially interested  in the 15 things that you are overpaying for  if you are buying organic.  

Some things didn't make sense to me, If I buy a five pound bag of potatoes, most of them go to waste.   I find ready made  potatoes at RBP and feel we are better off.   I got 2 pounds of French fries for .60 at QFC a couple of weeks ago.    That's cheaper than scratch and cooking them in the convection oven makes them crispy without oil.  

I buy canned beans because I can't predict our bean usage.   Beans and rice are two of the most temperamental food items  for spoilage.    I would rather buy canned and not be worried about spoilage.   I haven't enough stamina to cook beans and then set out to make dinner at 7 o'clock when people get home from work and watch a toddler!    It's too convenient to get beans at a RBP and have them at the ready.  

I'll have to admit we are not foodies.   I wrote this blog because I knew of people on snap that were running out of money before they ran out of month,   No child in my opinion, should have to suffer the indignity of an empty pantry , not knowing where the next meal was coming from.    Full snap is more than enough to feed a family if you know how to stretch a buck at the store and cook from scratch.      No, you can't buy steak and lobster, and you can't buy food from Mars.  But you can buy good real food our grandmothers ate and managed to live 80 plus years on!   lol.  It's using the age old secret of putting up for the winter......worked for hundreds of years.....long before the word hoarders was invented!

Age old stock market premise.   Buy low, sell high.    You buy food at the lowest price, and eat it when the price is high .  Wait for a low price again.   You buy fruit and vegetables in season and
Buy staple items when they are at their lowest price-- enough to last you Intel they are a low price again.   Buy meat at low price and cook and /or portion control.    You can rotate meats with the sales.
This week I bought seven percent hamburger and .88 a pound chicken highs. I got a rain check for whole chickens because Fred Meyers didn't have any.    A few weeks go, I bought three pounds of sausage at Costco.    Pepperoni is .50 at dollar tree with coupons often.  

I have been spending between 75-80 a week for food and. Have developed a stock in the freezer and the pantry.   I can go for some time without buying anything more than perishables.   Good thing, because this is the time of year that we hit the donut hole and meds start taking a good portion of our income.  We are a family of four.

Bottom line, is that I've paid about half of what retail is on any one item.     It's simple
KNOW YOUR PRICES AND ONLY BUY AT RBP.   Don't buy a lot of pre packaged things or dinner meals unless they truly are less than scratch!   I can get hunts pasta sauce for as low as .75.   That's about the cost of a 15 ounce can of tomatoes.   It doesn't pay to scratch cook it.

All this has been harder since Haggens has taken over Albertsons, Safeways, and Top foods.
I can hardly wait for Winco.   Oct 22nd,   Now, we have to drive ten miles and we don't do that more than once every six to eight weeks.    I buy some things from Safeways, but a lot own comes from Kroger , and Costco for some things.     I'm waiting for the dust to settle and we get some stability on the grocery marketplace.  

Food has taken a big hike and the poor see it first.    There is no increase in social security this year,
but medical insurance and food has taken a hike and the elderly see that much more than gas or housing.

So much for my take on the economy!  lol.



Jane

fm update

We went after the football game.    As usual, they had no Foster Farms chickens.  They had heritage the for the same price.   no dice!    We got my husbands favorite checker so  we got a rain check.

I did get chicken thighs for .88, Foster farms.    I for hamburger for 3.99 for the good quality and some fruits and veggies,    Some sake ite,s were hard to find, but I managed.   I picked up cheese even though we didn't need it right now.   Cheese lasts a long time when it is shrink wrapped.  
and,max usual, the charged us twice for the same blue cheese.   Ugh.   You have to go to the store, stand in th customer service line to get your money back.  

Fred Meyers

the ad for this Sunday


Grapes 1.28
Chicken .88
Tillamookmcheese 4.99@@
Apples, oranges .99
Strawberries 2/6
Raspberries 2/5
7 percent hamburger 3.99.   ( watch your checker, the last time they charged me 4.45) seems to happen a lot at Fred Meyers.  Either they charge me twice for the same thing, or it doesn't ring up right they don't have what they advertise. )

Pears .99
Mini carrots 5/5
General Mills cereal 1.88

That's about it.   Jane

All I can say is 72 percent......

Hormel pork tenderloins

Retail price 10.00
Cost for four 40.00
Paid 10.00


On sale at Safeways for five dollar Friday.  
Coupons are on coupons.com and in inserts.  
Just for you discount coupon.  

Nets 72 percent.  
Actually 75 percent off of qfc s retail price.  

8 dinners for 10.00!  

The ads

Safeways and Albertsons are virtually the same.

* Albertsons has a crazy 8 stock up sale.     General Mills cereals, and gold medal  flour.   1.88

Yo plait yogurt .48. $$.  *

Coupons
Jif  1.79
Star list .59
Zap Rams .69
Star kits albacore .99
Johnsonville smoked sausage 2/5
****

Apples .99
Grapes 1;99


5 dollar Friday
Avocados 5/5
Pasta sauce 5/5
Chinky soup 5/5$$

Safeways

Items between ** are exactly the same as Albertsons

To,a toes .99
Grapes 1.99
Apples .99

5 dollar Friday
Tenderloins, pork 5.00$$
Pasta sauce 5/5
Chunky soup,  5/5 $$

QFC
Peppers 1.00
Apples .99
Grapesv1.99
Barilla 1.00
Yo plait 10/5$$
DiGiorno 4.88


Haggens
Two week ad
Yo plait .50@@

Coupons.
Week 1
Soup .69
Week 2
Apple juice .99
Avocados 1.00

My experience is that they don't have the things that are on sale,    You may luck out, but the prices are the same elsewhere.  


That's about it.  
I'm not finding much meat that's really on sale lately.   Pork tenderloin at five dollars with a dollar coupon is about it,  

Thanks

Jane

Fred Meyers for tomorrow, RIte Aid and notes

I had errands for the business yesterday and combined a shopping trip .   This usually means that I can recoup gas money in savings.    Dollar tree has coffee pods for a quarter each ( 4 pods on a box for a dollar.  ) They have chocolate striped shortbread and the old fashioned bowl covers .  ( they look like a shower cap! ) they are very handy to cover fruit and keep fruit flies off and cover bowls so you don't have to wash double dishes.  Reclon fingernail polish and darling pumpkin mini bubbles for trick or treaters.  

Grocery outlet has an in ad ( in store) coupon for folders coffee -- 4.99.   rIte aid has another brand for 4.99 after points, it you have to buy two.

Fred  Meyers

Avocados .77
Chuck roast 3.97
Campbell's chunky soup .99 $$ ( dollar on four coupon in Sunday paper) limit four.   Net .75
Milk .99@@
Hill shore smoked sausage 2/5@@

Squash .69 lb
Celery .69lb
Spinach .99
Tomatoes .99
DiGiorno 4.88

That's about it.

I'm impressed with the checker at grocery outlet.  We didn't know the coffee was on sale.  It was still a good buy at 699.   I was not familiar with grocery outlet having ads.   She pointed it out and went and got a coupon for us.    That's great service.

There is a .50 on two progreso soup coupon on Sunday paper.  I'm not sure if it can be had at the dollar tree.    That would make ot .75 too.  It's a good quick lunch.   It works when you don't have leftovers and stays the four dollar or under budget.  

We usually sound less than four dollars.   I write this blog to stay under a snap budget excuse that isa benchmark.   You can easily spend more but it is good to know how to spend a RBP.   It's a lot easier to spend more than it is to spend less.  


Thanks for stopping by
Please share

Jane

The ads

Haggens has a two week ad last week.  

QFC has an ad
Safeways/Albertsons has an ad or two?  


QFC
Broccoli crowns .99
Tomatoes .99
DiGiorno pizza 4.88
Grapes 1.68
Berries2/5
Yo plait 10/5$$
Barilla pasta 10/10

Safeways

Crazy 8 sale 1.88
Cheerios $$
Gold metal flour 5 lbs

Yo plait .58$$

Buy 5, save 5, net prices
Ice cream bars 2.49
Classico pasta sauce, Kens  dressing 1.49

Peanut butter 1.79

Avocados 1.00
Folder 6.99

5 dollar fry
Zilch!  

Safeway coffee pods 3.99@@
Lindsay plies .99$$@@


Albertsons
The crazy 8 sale and the buy 5 save 5 are the same as Safeways,  

5 dollar frodays are different
Solid albacore tuna 1.00
Meringue pie

That's about it.    It is becoming evident that Safeways and Albertsons are merging,    Stat tuned for fallout.  I am just  thankful that Winco is coming October 22nd.

No ads yet.

I made split pea soup today.   I got biscuits for fifty cents at Fred Meyers.   Total cost 3.75 for soup with ham cubes and cheese biscuits.

I bought I would virtual shop assuming a person is,not on snap and has ten  dollars and Thirty dollars to spend at grocery outlet.  

There is a dollar tree and grocery outlet next to each other at 130h and aurora.   Also in Kenmore.

At the dollar tree I would buy

1. A loaf of white bread 
2. A jar of mayo
3. A package of five top ramen 
4. A package of seasoned frozen potatoes ( 24 ounces j 
5. A package of noodles.    
6. Bottle of oil
7. Cinnamon 
8. Salt. Pepper 
9. Pizza crust 
10. Peanut butter 

At grocery outlet 

1. A package of chicken tenders - Foster farms 6.99
2. Can of tuna (2) 
3. Package of split peas 
4. Stir fry vegetables
5. A canister of oatmeal. 
6. Milk 
7. Eggs
8. Cheese
9. Carrots 
10. Celery 
11. Apples 
12. Tomato paste 
13. Bisquick 
14. Ham cubes
15. Macaroni 

1. Breakfast oatmeal. Apple ( small cubes - one per day split between cups ) , cinnamon 
2. Lunches.    Tuna salad sandwiches, leftovers , top ramen , peanut butter sandwiches 
3. Dinners   

A) split pea soup with ham cubes ( split ham into four portions 

B) stir fry chicken, ramen noodles, and vegetables  ( split chicken into 1/2 pound portions ) 

C) tuna noodle casseroles 

D) egg quiche with ham ( Bisquick) 

E) pizza - chicken, ham, peppers 

F) macaroni and cheese 

G) chicken tenders, French fries 

Sausage and hamburger bulk.

One way to stretch a dollar is to buy sausage and meat in bulk.  This time I only bought two pounds of ground beef at Fred Meyers for 3.99 a pound. I also bought three pounds ofmjimmymdean sausage for 7.99 at Costco.   It is 4.99 a pound elsewhere.    A HUGE savings.  

I sliced off four sausage patties and fried and defatted the rest of the sausage.   One ,eat is sausage and egg breakfast for dinner and the rest can be used in pasta sauce. Quiche. Pizza, vegetable bean soup.  Probably 9 meals.  

The hamburger I made two hamburger patties and made a meat loaf with the rest.   3 meals.  

Total 12 meals
Sixteen dollars
1.34 a meal.  

Meat loaf : add eggs, homemade bread crumbs, 2 T catsup, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning 

Sausage ready for freezer , date with marker ( dollar tree) 

Defeat sausage , cook, drain, pour boiling water, drain.    

 
Hamburger patties, with cereal liner I between.  

 

Fried sausage before de-fatting 

Pics aren't in order, I don't know what I did when. Downloaded. Sorry.   I set aside enough meat for patties, cooked and de-fatted the sausage, and made a meat loaf.   Cooking both on batches saves a lot of time and space on the freezer.   ( you can store things flat) 

Fred Meyers ad. My take on RBP

Its hard these days to pick the RBP because there is a shake up in the food industry here and grocery prices have taken a hike up.   I watched a u tube if a lady in Texas, I was very surprised with the prices.  I know that she has a lot of kids to feed and she coupons and "shops" the sales, but the oryxes were a good forty percent lower than we have in the PNW.   

The ads 

Shrimp 5.99

Apples .99

Note: the cheese is,not a bargain......just because something has a coupon, doesn't mean it's a bargain, I want as close to two dollars a pound as I can get for cheese.   

Bacilli pasta and hunts pasta sauce.   .79@@. Note Braille pasta hasn't had a coupon recently that I could find.  That's a good price.   The pasta sauce would normally be a good price, but the dollar tree has it for .75 when you buy four with an in store coupon.   

Yogurt is 10/5 and there are coupons out there.   Get them while you can.  We get a new batch in a few days,  

Pears .99

Cantaloupe 2.00

Rock bottom Prices 

I got Campbell's soup for .59 this week at Safeways with a store coupon @@ and a manufacturers 

coupon.$$.  

Almost everyone will take both except Winco.   Stacking coupons is the best way to get the lowest price possible on an item.   

I got frozen entrees for .68  at QFC using a coupon.   Favado has a link.   

Any pasta under a dollar that is a good brand is a good buy.   Brailla  for .79 is remarkable.   

I try for meat at two dollars a meal ( three of us eat meat). That is the same amount I spent in 1970 for three of us,   I have to admit that we are eating different.   We no longer have a roast very often and steak is out of the question.   My husband has esophagus issues and the cost is prohibitive on our budget.    I can still average two dollars a meal or less.   That is what you need budget for a five dollar meal.  ( four dollars a day) we actually spend less than four dollars a day per person.   

Last night we had pork tenderloin. Baked acorn squash and honeydew melon .   

I have got diced tomatoes and beans for fifty cents lately at Fred Meyers.   

Sliced black olives are .70 at Winco.   We use them on vegetarian pizza a lot.   Also nachos 

Seasoned mashed potatoes are .87 a pouch RBP.   Occasionally I get them cheaper at Winco.   

Frozen vegetables  are always under a dollar, I prefer a pound if I can find them. 

I got frozen French fries and tater tots for .60 for two pounds with a coupon at QFC.   They are cheapest on the five pound bag at grocery outlet.   

The few times I buy a cake mix or brownie mix, I get them for a dollar.  That is close to scratch.    

Oatmeal I buy at Costco.  I want cereal at a dollar a box.   I got 12 ounce box of Cheerios for a dollar at Fred Meyers with stacking .   

Thanks for stopping by

Please share 

Jane 

Meal plans, why bother

Lots of feed back.... why bother with meal plans,.fly by the sear of our pants....I may not feel like eating that that particular day.  

Meal plans are just that..a plan.   Plans can change.   It's a starting point.   They are good because ....

• They keep you balanced.   I started to wrote plans the other day and looked at them more carefully....I had way too much processed food.    Time for a re-write.   I try for no more than once a week.    Processed food see not popular with the foodies, so they are some of the more reasonable foods in the store.  
• I try for two dollar a pound average for protein.  It would be real easy not to have a variety of meals.  
• Making a plan and a list of things that need to be used up saves money by not wasting food and you don't have to eat the same thing three days in a row.  
• Having some meals planned that are quick and efficient will stave off the fast food gremlins when you day isn't going as planned!    
• Posting meals should keep family members from eating the rice you pre made for tonight's dinner.  lol
• It takes away the " what's for dinner" delima at four in the afternoon.   I'd rather be taking a nap!    ... Really!    

Thanks  for stopping by. 

Please share 

Jane 

The ads

I basically shopped at the dollar tree and Costco this week.   Today we went to Costco and got the months worth of dairy and a few staples ( olive oil, etc. ) and of course, bananas and sausage.    The dollar store is good these days for cookies, coffee pods, and pasta sauce.  Hunts sauce has an in store coupon that makes it .75.  That is the lowest it has been  for some time.  

There was no QFC ad this week.  

 HAggens - two weeks,

Friday- Sunday
Potatoes -5 lbs .89
Parm bogo. - hard to tell if it's a bargain w/o cost.

Week coupon
Bread 1.69
Goldfish 1.00
Ice drink 2/1
Tillamook cheese 5.99

Chicken soup 1.09 ***** Safeways .79
Klondike bars  3.99***.  Safeways 2.99 just for u

Now, the dual companies .....LOL


Albertsons
Dijourno 5.00
Mission tortilla chips 1.49

.80 when u buy 10
Pasta sauce
Manwich
Retried beans
Catsup
Snack pack,
BBQ sauce

Notes:   Diced tomatoes and beans are .50 at Fred Meyers , pasta sauce ism.75 at the dollar store with in store coupon.( buy 4) Retried beans are as cheap all the time at Costco.


Safeways
Five dollar frenzie
Tri tip roast


Jimmy dean sausage 4.99 lb ( about half that at Costco)
Soup .79@@
Kraft dressing 1.49@@
Shrimp 3.99@@
Dijourno 4.99@@
Stag chili .99@@
Folders 6.99
Tomatoes .99

Safeways has the same ad for .80 when u buy 10

That's about all.

Trip to Grocery Outlet, Fred Meyer and Dollar Tree.

Usually, when we go to town, I like to try to hit as much as possible so that I can save more than the gas we use to go.    Grocery Outlet and Dollar Tree are next door to each other.    Fred Meyer is on the way home.  

At Dollar tree, I didn't buy any food this time.   I did get 100 percent cotton shirts for granddaughter.   She , like many three year olds, is a messy painter and eater.  Having a T shirt for her to change nto that is dark and doesn't show stains, helps greatly in the stress level of the house.  It isn't a bib, because she is a "big girl" and it teaches her to change into grubbies when she is doing something messy.    I found Revlon nail enamel and Elf lipstick.   SCORE!

Grocery Outlet didn't score much.   Blue cheese for .79, five head bands for DGD, and some Tillamook cheese and vegetable stock.

Fred Meyers had some good sales.  Their ad didn't have a lot, but keeping eyes open saved a lot.  
I did splurge and bought a DVD ten per cent off for DGD.  Soup was .79.  Yoplait was 10/5 and I had a dollar coupon.   I got 20 Folgers coffee pods for 4.29.   canned tomatoes and canned beans were fifty cents.  Milk was .99.  hopefully I got enough to last until QFC has it on sale again.  Frozen entrees were .79,  

We came home and put the vegetable stock, tomatoes, beans and two carrots and celery ribs in the crock pot on high for dinner.   I added some herbs and garlic and onion.   About a five dollar pot of soup and enough for tomorrow's dinner too.  

My daughter went shopping too.  She got five pair of shoes (summer) for .50 TOTAL.   Also pants, leggings and a jacket for the baby and the total was 18.00,

I digress, back to food.  

Meal plans go a long way to make sure you eat what needs to be eaten soon in your fridge and  stave off the take out bandits.   But, never underestimate the  joy of finding a unadvertised special and taking advantage of it.  

If you are on the four dollar a day budget, or less, it is imperative that you average five dollars a dinner.  That is still doable in this climate. It certainly is not the same meals we had for five dollars even five years ago, but it is doable.   Food prices have taken a jump.   I spent eighty dollars a week for the past quarter.    I do have to say that the pantry and freezer is stuffed and we don't need to spend a lot the next month.   Still, twenty dollars per person per week is not over budget.   Four dollars a day is 28.00 and that is not counting the cost of a stock.  

Thanks for stopping by
please share

jane

Fred Meyers ad

Fred Meyers ad

Grapes. 1.28
Milk .99@@
K cups 4.99
Campbell's soup .79
Pumpkin pie 2.99
Michelinas entrees .79
Tomatoes 2/4 (grape organic)
Roma's .89
Zucchini .99



Just a nite worth reading ...  FYI

Heritage farm chicken is Tyson.   Tyson is southern grown chicken.    Tyson as also has petition and ot earache from the government to ship their chicken to China for processing .  Rather ironic cause atone time, China wouldn't import chicken from Arkansas.   Besides the fact that it takes away jobs from the USA?   Just saying.......

Foster Farms has assured me that their chicken comes from wa, ore, and ca.   They are processed in those states ass well and they have no plans to change that plan.  When you buy deli CHICKEN you  don't know where it came from,  



that's about all



Thanks for stopping.

Please share

Jane