Terriffic Tuesday

As I have said before, the retailers have spent considerable money to research our habits and find ways to get us to spend more money.

Advertising multiples, when you can only by one item is one trick they use. Because something is 3/1.00 doesn't mean that you have to buy three.

The longer you spend in a store, the more money you will spend. That's why some retailers change things around frequently. Costco is notorious for it. If you have the mind set that you are on the clock and want to get the most bang for your buck, you'll spend less time. It's a game. I want to save as much as I can in the least amount of time.

Impulse buying is the retailers profit. They figure that 70 percent of what we buy is impulse. Often it is the most expensive things in the store that. you don't really need. We want the retailers to prosper but they can do it on someone else's dime who can afford it more.

Create your own path through the store, if you don't need anything in an isle, don't go there. The true necessities are on the outside perimeter of the store.

Sometimes, what is truly on sale isn't the featured items up front.

Exercise the hands off rule. Studies say that if you touch it, you are most likely going to buy it.

It's a well known trick that if prices have to increase, the manufacturers will reduce the size of the package instead of outwardly increasing the price.

Know your prices, the bulk isle isn t always the cheapest price. I can't emphasize enough to know your prices. It's you best tool for groceries on the cheap.  A sale isn't always really a sale. 

Keep in mind that foods are sold other places other than grocery stores. Many time you can find overstocks at the dollar store, big lots, Bartells and almost anywhere. Keep your eye open, and know your prices.

Pick your grocery store based on the prices, not how friendly the clerks are or how fancy the store is, or how uncrowded it is. think about it, there is a reason why the store is crowded. Either they have just forecasted that dreaded S word, or it's because they have the best prices. You go to the grocery store to purchase your food.

Stores charge manufacturers slotting fees. Basically they charge rent for the eye level shelves. You can just bet they are going to pass on the cost. Look UP and DOWN for the best buys.

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Jane

Monday Madness

I have already posted my rite aid saga for the week.  I had a little surprise when I went to the register. I painstakingly bought makeup so as to just spend as close as I could to the fifteen dollars worth to get a ten dollar reward.  It seems they discounted ot without posting that there was a discount.  I was some .96 short and had to go back to the drawing board.  Because I hadn't bought any makeup for a couple of years, it didn't bother me too much, but it was a lesson learned.  I am still a lot of money ahead.  Basicly, I bought 17 cans of chili, and got 2 expensive light bulbs, a package of stay free, seven cans of soup, and makeup for 19.00--  less than the 17 cans of chili would have cost of I went to the store and bought  them full price.  It's a game that takes some effort, true and of you don't like shopping and are lazy, it won't work for you.  But, I only buy what I can use and would buy or need anyway.  The light bulbs are energy saver, I like them, need them, but seven dollars for a bulb is a bit pricy for me.  FREE is a good word when it's something that you need.

Fred Meyers netted us milk, ice cream! And a cake mix.  The diced tomatoes were .50.  If I didn't have my stock of them, I would have bought ten.

I cleaned out the pantry and rotated stock and rearranged to put everything in its own space.  I threw out only a few cans that were hiding under the shelves.  I made it a point to only out the tall pasta sauce under there so we would look under there and it wouldn't be out of sight, out of mind.  While throwing food out is upsetting, I saved so much more money than I would have of I bought just what I needed at full price, it more than compensates.

Cleaning the pantry and putting things on their on space on the shelves gives you a good idea of what stock you have a shortage of.  We, Basicly need black olives and I was short cream of mushroom soup. If  I hadn't got a sale on them, I would have used recipe starter.  We can always do without black olives.  Now I know I can coast with the meat that's on mega sale and the perishables.  I got a large carton of cottage cheese and sour cream at Costco, so I am good for the month.  Butter was bought on bulk, it was two dollars a carton, Winco had for over three dollars.  Costco is good for dairy and bananas. They have such volume, you rarely get stale dated.

• Identify the stock items you use  on a regular basis.  
• Buy enough of them to last until they go on sale again.  If you use the item once a week, you need 12-24.  If you use it once a month, you need 3-6.  I keep one ahead of things like catsup, mustard, and mayo.  I usually have a can of sauerkraut.  When I use my backup, I start looking for a sale.  The dollar store is good for mustard and catsup.  
• Arrange them on shelves in a manner so you can tell at a glance what you are running short of. 
• Stocking won't happen overnight.  It will take time.  Whenever your stock items are on sale, buy a few extra as your budget will allow.  If you don't have money for them, look realistically at your shopping cart.  Remember junk food is not good for you or your budget.  Oatmeal is much cheaper than four boxes of cold cereal.  Most 
• Most  cold cereal has no protein and does not stay with you or fill that hallow leg a growing child might have.  Boxed meals often have little food value.  My daughter and I analyzed a hamburger meal box.  The results are remarkable. ( see earlier post) 

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Jane 

Update Rite Aid saga

I thought for fun I would keep track of my Rite aid buys.  Last year I kept my Rote Aid up rewards aka Rite - aid bucks  going for several months.

This year I

Bought 17 cans of HORMEL chili and used 4-.55 coupons for a net of 14.80 and got 5 Rite Aid bucks.

Took the five rite aid bucks and added three bucks and got
2 energy saver light bulbs and a 24 pack of stay free pads and got
8 right aid bucks.

Took the eight rite aid bucks and bought 7 cans of Campbell's soup with coupons , and 16.00 worth of makeup for a total of 22.20 less eight rite aid dollars is 14.20 and got 10  Rite Aid bucks.

Nets total outlay of 19.00 net.

17 cans of chili at 1.59
2 energy light bulbs at 7.00 each
1 pkg stay free maxis 4.00
7 cans Campbell's soup at 1.29 less .80 coupon 
1 lipstick and eyeliner at 16.00 total.

I took ten rite aid dollars and ........
Bought 2-8 packs of bounty paper towels.  12.00 each.  BOGO.  Net 1.7 using a .25 coupon



30.75

Fred Meyers and rite aid ads

Fred Meyers
Strawberries 2/5
Butter 2/4
Cake 10/10
Milk -1/2 gal 4/5@@
Counter bread 3/4@@
Ice cream 2/5
Hebrew national 2/6
Tangerine  98

Rite aid

Ice cream BOGO
Physicians formula makeup buy 15.00, get 10.00 up reward
Campbell's soup 1.00
Finish dw detergent. Buy 1, get 2nd one 1/2

That's about all

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Jane

The Basics: Four plus One is Five

Four people. One meal, Five bucks.

If you are on snap and get 300.00 a month,you have Basically ten dollars a day for three meals.
Dinner has to be an average of five dollars.  I just heard that they were cutting snap again. bad timing when we are still seeing the effects of the drought.  It just makes it more important to watch your food dollar.

There are still ways to put a good meal on the table for five bucks.  ( I am talking about the proverbial family of two adults and two school aged children.  Snap figures vary with ages of children and sizes of families, and location of residence.  ).

I'm not going to tell you that some little fairy is going to make food magically appear in your cupboard and the meal will just appear on the table. It takes work.  I spend more time shopping and have streamlined meal prep at dinner time.   I have energy during the day, by mealtime I am tired especially if I have run after a two yo or worked on my feet.  You can cut more food costs if you are a bread baker.  I get bread from Costco or the bakery outlet.  Making sour dough at home would be a lot cheaper.  I baked bread until we weren't using it up fast enough and I was wasting my time.  Your family may be different.

I digress,,   Meals for five bucks.  Remember that is average.  If you have a shrimp stir fry, you need to have eggs or something a lot cheaper another night  to average  the cost.  I try for two dollars a pound for meat.  A quarter pound serving looks like a lot more if you make something that uses  bite sized portions. Sloppy joes go further than hamburgers.  Chicken pot pie goes further than sliced chicken.

• Spaghetti with meat balls
• Sloppy joes
• Shepherds pie
• Tacos
• Burritos
• Cheeseburger macaroni (scratch) 
• Meat ball, subs, with a gravy over mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. 
• Sausage quiche, or ham quiche 
• Pizza with just about anything 
• Pork loin roast
• Pork chops 
• Soups, split pea with ham*
• Chicken vegetable  soup
• Chicken and noodles
• Chicken pot pie
• Roast chicken 
• BBQ chicken thighs and legs
• Buffalo chicken pizza
• Vegetable bean soup with or without sausage
• Sausage ( dinner) with peppers and potatoes and onions.  
• Chicken stir fry
• Sweet and sour chicken 
• Potato soup
• Clam chowder
• Shrimp stir fry on rice
• Tuna casserole  
• Tomato , basil, blue cheese soup
• BBQ beef or pork sandwiches
• Chicken or pork fried rice, egg rolls 
• Mac and cheese( scratch) 
• Chopped salad ( chefs salad ) 
• Meatloaf
• Nachos
• Taco tot casseroles

I'm sure there are more, but that's off the top of my head.  

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Jane 

Winco Trip

We went to Winco yesterday.  There wasn't really any buys at the chain stores this week.  We had time, so we went to Winco.  We stopped at Costco Business on the way back.

This was a case where, again, you have to know your prices. Some things were really good prices, some not.  I am constantly checking the things I buy to keep track of what's cheap where.

• The Kraft BBQ sauce I paid .79 for last week was 1.29. 
•  Pasta sauce was .98, I pay .79
•  The small cans of tomato sauce were .28
•  Green beans were .58
•  Frozen mixed veggies were below my target price as well as corn.
• BBQ pork or beef for sandwiches were 2.99 with a .50 coupon attached.  Instant 2.50.  Less than you could buy the beef to make it.  
• Hamburger buns were a dollar.
• Diced tomatoes were at my target price.  
•  Delicious apples were .79
• Butter was too high.  
• Yoplait was less than .50 in a carton of eight.  

Winco has an extensive bulk section, and it is set up so that things are more sanitary.  Some bulk sections have their bins so that people can put their hands in the product.  Winco has gravity fed hoppers that you can fill your bag from.

Costco netted bananas, sour cream, cottage cheese, tortillas, brown and serve baguettes,

We were still under budget and got a lot of things that will last the month.
We could do that because I have meat and fresh veggies from last week.

Knowing the rock bottom prices of the things you buy is the first best trick you can have up your sleeve to cut your food costs.  Buy low, eat when prices are high.  It's no new concept.  Our great grandmothers put fruit and veggies up for the winter on the farms.  They made sauerkraut and smoked meat.  It's really no different.

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Jane

Finally Friday...that dreaded S word.

That dreaded s word...scratch!   A thrifty budget has not much room for ready made and boxed food.  You are paying a lot of money for convenience in most cases.

That being said, there are a few things that lately have been cheaper than or the same price as scratch when you use a coupon and find a sale.  HORMEL sirloin tips come to mind,  I can't say that they are a lot better than homemade in taste, but I got them for 2.99 for almost a pound and sirloin is hard to fond for under three dollars a pound these days.  It makes for a really fast dinner on a pinch.  I can get dinner on the table in six minutes flat.  LOL

But, mostly, scratch is the word of the day.  Scratch cooking conjers up pictures of women in 1950s bib aprons with flour on their foreheads!  LOL.  It doesn't have to be a labourous task.  There are many tips and secrets of meals that are tasty and easy to prepare.

The slow cooker can be your best friend.  They are realitively  inexpensive ans if you don't already have one, you can probably find  one at an estate sale cheap.  They can save a lot of time. I see a
Sauce for slow cookers advertised.  Usually, they cost more than the meat you use them with.m it only takes a few minutes to make the sauce yourself.  There are many recipes put there.  Betty Crocker will send you receipes via e mail every week if you sign up on er web site.  They also send you coupons with large dollar values.

Pre cooking your meat takes a lot of stress off of the dinner hour.  Whole chicken is inexpensive often on sale.  I have been getting it for anywhere from .50 to a dollar a pound. Deli chicken is NEVER A BARGAIN.  Never buy a chicken that is less than three pounds.  That is the break even point for the bone to meat ratio.  If you buy a chicken that os under three pounds,  you are paying too much momey for bone and getting too little meat.  Closer to five pounds is better.  It only takes me about


ten minutes to get a chicken in the oven.  The rest of the cooking time is passive cooking and you can go about your business doing other things. If you do the math, you are being compensated a healthy hourly " wage" for your time. I realize that is a concept some people can't grasp-- virtual wages!  We use it as a tool to figure if scratch cooking is worth our while.  If I make things from scratch, I want it to be worth my while on money saved or taste.  Most things are a lot cheaper from scratch.

Take pudding, for example. The cooked pudding takes the same amount of time as the kind out of a box.  Most mixes you buy have recipes for them on the Internet.  My baking mix recipe takes shortening and dry milk. At the cost of dry milk these days I am. Ot sure it os cheaper than buying bisquick from Costco.  I make several recipes from bisquick that we like and it is easy.  We like impossible pie, beer bread, and banana, oatmeal, blueberry bread.

I have been "buying" recipe starter lately.  It has been free at the dollar store lately with coupons.  It is 2.59 at SAFEWAYS. Even at the .50 that the dollar store charges, it is cheaper than making white sauce from scratch. Our dollar store is almost out, but others might not be.  They are coming out with a pouch instead of a can, so my guess is when they are gone, they are gone.
Otherwise, I make my own.

Pasta sauce from hunts is cheaper when purchased at my target price than buying the tomato sauce and making it from scratch.

I buy canned refried beans and beans on sale.  At fifty cents, unless you buy mass quantities bulk, it is the same price as scratch.  Rice and beans have a short fridge life, and most people say they don't freeze well.  It is  just makes a lot more sense with the amount of beans we eat.

Soup from scratch on the crockpot is a very good economy dish that takes little time. Canned soups are becoming very expensive.  You can almost make a whole pot for the cost of a can of soup.  I used to always use cream of mushroom soup for a sauce base. It  has gotten too expensive and I rarely find a good sale to march with a coupon.  Last November I got cream of mushroom for .30 in a limited amount with a store coupon and a manufacturers coupon.  It was a rarity. There is a recipe for cream soup base on the Internet.  I made some, but haven't had an occasion to use it.

By carefully picking your main dishes, you can come up with meals that scratch cook fast and easy.

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Jane

Wednesday, the basics bullets

Here are odds and ends of the basics

• No one store is the best store.  There are a few that are noted for certain items for being the lowest price  or the largest selection. 
• Bananas are cheapest at Costco.  They have a stable price.  We also get paper products and bisquick there.  
• Grocery outlet has a huge selection of cheese and sometimes  it is cheaper.  They also have inexpensive coffee 
• The bread outlet has bread for 1.59 a loaf for the good fiber loaves.  
• Safeways is usually good for their five dollar Fridays and they have inexpensive hard rolls.  
• Costco wholesale has coffee syrup, grated cheese, and large supplies of cornstRxh and such things.  
• SAFEWAYS and QFC have chicken on sale most often.  
• Fred Meyers has milk and sour cream on sale often. Otherwise, Costco is a better price.  
• I can almost always find coupons to match up with Yoplait yogurt someplace.  

Don't look past Big Lots  or grocery outlet for bargains.  Always check pull dates anywhere you go.  

Ditto the dollar store. I get almost free or free at the dollar store matching coupons.  I collect up toothpaste for the women's shelter when I can get it free or almost free.  I got two today for .25 each with coupons.  Often you can find soap and deodorant too for free.  

Big lots has a twenty percent off everything in the store days sometimes.  They do not take snap.

• Weigh bags of produce.  They have to put the minimum amount of product in a bag, but all carrots are not created equal. So,e,bags are as much as 25 percent heavy. 
•  Check bags before you buy them.  If one thing is bad, you might not be getting a bargain. 
• Read th fine print on coupons to be sure you are aware of the real deal.  
• Watch pull dates.  Rotate stock.  
• Stock thongs you use on a regular basis , you can make a meal from amd your family will eat.  
• Look everywhere you are for new recipes.  Backs of packages, the Internet, magazines, almost everywhere you look these days there os a new recipe. Shake things up, dinner doesn't have to be boring.  
• Watch for after holiday sales.  Often you can get perfectly good food for a lot less just because it has holiday associated with it.  Like my daughter so aptly put it.  Your stomachs does not know there are Christmas trees on your cookies. I just got the pumpkin bread that I paid eight dollars for at Costco for four dollars.  It still makes a good breakfast bread. 

That's all for today.  

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Jane 

Wicked Wednesday -- the ads

I actually got the ads on time.,,

QFC

Strawberries 2/5
Pears .99
Oranges .99
Yellow squash .99
Barilla pasta  1.00

SAFEWAYS

Sirloin tip roast 2.99
Pork loin bone in 1.49
Oranges .99
Apples .99
Eggs 1.49@@

5 dollar Friday
Strawberries  2/5
Cheese pizza take n bake
BREYERS 2/5
Fresh express salad 4/5$$

ALBERTSONS

Tillamook yogurt .38@
Milk 2.29@
Brandon cheese  4,99@
Salad kits 2/5$$
Clams 3/5

TOP
Mandarins 3/3.79@@
Coffee 4.99@@
Milk 2.99@
It's a slow day at the grocers.  Maybe a trip to Winco or a week to skip shopping altogether.

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Jane

Rite-aid saga

I thought for fun I would keep track of my Rite aid buys.  Last year I kept my Rote Aid up rewards aka Rite - aid bucks  going for several months.

This year I

Bought 17 cans of HORMEL chili and used 4-.55 coupons for a net of 14.80 and got 5 Rite Aid bucks.

Took the five rite aid bucks and added three bucks and got
2 energy saver light bulbs and a 24 pack of stay free pads and got
8 right aid bucks.

Took the eight rite aid bucks and bought 7 cans of Campbell's soup with coupons , and 16.00 worth of makeup for a total of 22.20 less eight rite aid dollars is 14.20 and got 10  Rite Aid bucks.

Nets total outlay of 19.00 net.

17 cans of chili at 1.59
2 energy light bulbs at 7.00 each
1 pkg stay free maxis 4.00
7 cans Campbell's soup at 1.29
1 lipstick and eyeliner at 16.00 total.

I took ten rite aid dollars and ........to be continued.

Terrific Tuesday: shopping

The obvious next step on our groceries on the cheap journey is shopping.  We have already talked about choosing your stores based in the ads and what staples you need to fill in and what meat is on a super sale that week.  We talked about getting on the store with your coupon book, your list of specials and the ads.  Get in and get out.  The longer you stay on a store, the longer they have to tempt you with their impulse buy strategies and the more you will spend.

If you spend less for real food all month, you won't have to count your pennies at the end of the month, you should have food leftover in the pantry.  This is a whole lot less stressful and you are covered if it snows or you are sick and don't feel like going to the store.

On to stores.  We go to 2 chain stores a week.  If they are close together I may go to them one after the other.  I keep a cooler in my car to store perishables.  If they aren't close I cluster them with other errands.  I usually hit  Rite- Aid after the Sunday ads come out.   We go to the warehouse store on a need to basis-- usually for the necessary paper product.  The alternative stores are hit when we are in the area for other reasons.  About once every eight weeks, we go to the bakery outlet and I stock bread.  The other alternative if you don't have freezer space is to make your own bread.  There are simple cheap sources out there.

It seems like a lot of shopping, but it really isn't.  I spend little time on the stores.  I know where everything is and I get what I came for and get out.

The stores spend a lot of time and money researching our shopping habits to get us to spend more.  Seventy  percent of their sales are from impulse buys.  Beat them at their own game!
 Keep your eyes open.  I systematically go through the store, skipping the isles that are of no interest to me.  I always hit the meat and dairy department.  A few weeks ago, I found chicken for .50 a pound.  It wasn't advertised.  I took it home and my husband cooked it the next day.  ( I would have, but I am nursing a cracked elbow.   ).

Take your monthly budget, divide it by 4.2 and get your weekly budget.  Try to stay at or under it.
Some weeks there will be none of your target items on sale, then I generally buy only my dairy and produce and my meat or protein item.  That week I will spend less so that the next week I can spend more.

Don't buy cold cereal.  It's one of the most expensive items in the supermarket.  I only buy it as a treat when I can get it for free or nearly free.  Oatmeal has more food value and costs less.  Obviously you need to get it on sale on the cardboard drum cartons.  It takes very little more effort to make oatmeal from the drum than it does from the pouch.  The savings are remarkable.

1 cup water
1/2 cup oatmeal
1-1/2 minutes.  In the microwave.
I split the minutes and cook it for a minute and then a! 30 seconds.  It seems to keep it from boiling over.  Using a bigger bowl will help too.


Starting out strategies.

• Cut out all junk food....chips, ready made anything.  
• When something on you target list is on sale, buy twice as much as you would normally buy,effectively spending the same, but getting twice the product.  

• Over  time, the snowball effect happens.  The money you saved this week, becomes the seed money to buy more for 1/2 price and pretty soon you have a pantry built.  

Over time, there will come a point where you can almost skip a week, or coast on your stock-- that's a very good feeling to know you have a stock and if something happens, you are covered..  I hate living on the edge, it's not good for your nerves.  A study said that you can actually loose iq points from the stress of being poor.  Groceries on the cheap can reduce that stress by cooking from scratch the smart way and distressing some of the hectic dinner hour and having food in the pantry and not wondering where the next meal is coming from.  We all know that certain legislators are cutting food stamps and food costs are on the rise. This is a way to beat it.

You can be a minimalist with your stuff and your wardrobe, but it doesn't make sense to be a minimalist with your food.  I am  not talking about hoarding.  I am talking about a sensible approach to buying food.  Why waste money to pay full or more than full price to have just enough food to last you for a day and have to waste gas going to the store and buying more over priced food.  That doesn't make sense to me, especially of you are short  of money in the first place.

The most important thing to do is to know your RBP. My mother used to have the expression, some people could have a bargain get up and bite them on the butt and wouldn't see it.  Don't be that person.  LOL

Next time: quick takes

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Jane

Monday madness- meal plans

We had a wonderful night last night.  The Seahawks won-- big time.  Yeah!    Good food, Good friends.

On to matters at hand.  The  next installment of groceries on the cheap.  The last part of planning and organizing is meal plans.  I can hear the dreaded really!   It is important because without a plan , the temptation to go to the drive through or order pizza is too great when you have had a hard trying day and the last thing you want at the moment is to set out and cook dinner.  If you know it's going to be a busy day,  you can plan to have dinner in the slow cooker or plan an easy dinner.

I have a matrix that I use for meals.  I do ot to afford us a variety of protein and give us balance in our meals. Because I have a limited number of already cooked meats in my freezer, I can pull together a meal from what is on sale that week as far as veggies is concerned and I have basic starch on hand.

My matrix may be different than your matrix, but it makes meal planning easy.  Ours is

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

I do my plans after I come home from the store. I do this because you never  know what you are going to find at the store, or find that the veggies look cruddy or the meat is in too big a package to be believable or just looks bad.  I walked into the store last week and found chicken for .50 a pound-- a good brand.  I bought two.  There is no need to be a pig, let someone else have a bargain too.
This week, I went to Fred Meyers and found white fiber pasta for a buck. Mi had coupons so I got the pasta for .50.  Add that to a .79 can of pasta sauce and some parm or Romano cheese and you have a very cheap meal.  I would add a protein rich dessert in that case.  It makes for a good vegetarian meal.
Protein doesn't have to always take the main star of the dinner.
Being flexible really helps in a quest for cheap dinners.

Having a list of main  dishes in your back pocket, and stocking when prices are low goes a lomg ways in affording your family good food within your budget.

Again, this is not hoarding.  This is stocking for self sufficiency and to save momey.  You are not stacking food to the ceiling, or buying something you can't or won't use.  You are purchasing a few select items that you use on a regular basis.  Just enough of them to last you until you find another sale is about a three to six month supply.

More next installment.  Strategic shopping.

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Jane

Special Sunday... go Seahawks!!!!!!

Sorry, bronco fans, I am from Seattle!    

The next step in our groceries on the cheap journey should be, meal plans, but I would be remiss if I didn't talk about coupons or my version of extreme coupons.  Don't loose me, I, not talking 40 hours a week or 90 bottles of red pepper sauce.  LOl

I used to think that coupons were just for junk food and stuff I never buy.  I watched some couponers on the u tube that were taking a practical approach to couponong.  I also went to a free class with my daughter at a local church.  It opened my eyes to a more practical approach to couponong.  I spend little time on couponing, but save an average of sox dollars a week om coupons,   That's 312 dollars a year.

I buy one paper from the dollar store a week.  My friend sometimes brings me her inserts.  I put them in a binder clip by month and stash them in a cubby on the office area/ computer hall .  that's maybe a two minute chore.  I made a coupon book.  This os a once in a lifetime chore.  I picked up a binder at a flea market for a dollar.  I got some dividers and a pencil pouch from the dollar store.  I out a pen, a small calculator, and a small pair of scissors in the pouch.  I bought photo sleeves  from office max.
They fit printable coupons perfect.  A small coupon  envelope will get you started just fine.  Or take envelopes from the recycle bin and staple or glue them together.  Mark them with categories.

On the first of the month coupon.com loads the new monthly coupons on their site.  I go on and print TWO of everything I might use.  If you put this chore off, you loose, because there is a limited amount of coupons and when they are gone they are gone.  The biggest dollar values go first.
I only print coupons for toothpaste, soap, dairy, and anything that I can make a meal of.  Taco shells come to mind.  I buy cream of mushroom soup because my husband likes to make tuna casserole and he doesn't want to make white sauce.  I have been getting soup starter coupons because they are for .50 off and they are .50 at the dollar store. They are cheaper than buying tomato sauce or making white sauce.  I file the printable coupons in the coupon binder.

After I pick my stores to go to for the week, I look on our coupon matching site to check the ads and the coupons that match up with the sales. They will link the printables and tell you which insert has a coupon to match up.  This can be very advantageous to you.

For example, Rite Aid this week has light bulbs for 3.99 with a 3.00 up reward.  Up rewards put money on your store card to be used  the day after or beyond . ( usually good for ten days.) that leaves .99 .  There is a coupon for a dollar for them.  That makes them pay you a penny to take them out of the store.  There is a similar deal on  maxi  pads, but it haven't found a coupon and neither did the coupon match up site.

Coupon matchup sites are regional.  Ours is couponconnectionNW.com.  It is free.  You can google coupon matching  and the nearest big city and get one for your area.

This makes couponing manageable.  It probably doesn't find you all the coupons, but it also doesn't consume you.  Watch for coupons on the labels of jars etc.  some are instant and if you don't point it out to the checker, they probably won't use them.  Also, there are sometimes coupons that come out of the cash register with your receipt.  It pays to be aware of coupons.

Case in point.  One day I went to Joann's to get something I needed for business.  My husband ran over to SAFEWAYS to get a package of hamburger buns I needed.  He got a coupon for 1/2 off any one item for Joann's.  He didn't look at the receipts that were given to him, I could have got my item for half off.  It pays to be aware of any coupons that come your way.  Not all of the, will be useful, there is a lot of garbage out there.  I compare it to thrift store shopping.  You have to sort through a lot of garbage to find a true treasure.  A family member not long ago found a sterling compote for two bucks!  Treasures are there, but you have to bypass the garbage.

Next time, meal plans

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Jane

Wallgreems is open at west gate!

New Wallgreens at West Gate.  We will all miss the bowling alley that was an icon for the city.

I got the paper for tomorrow.  I would guess that most of us will be watching the Super Bowl tomorrow, but these ads go all week.

Walgreens
FOLGERS 6.99
Skippy peanut butter 2/5
Bumble bee tuna .89@
Lindsay olives .99, both green and black
Soft scrub BOGO

Rite aid
I have five rite and dollars.

Light bulbs 3.99 with a 3.00 up reward.
Stay free maxi pads  3.00 with a 2.00 up reward makes them 1.00

That's about it.

Bartells
K cups 5.79
1.00 off coupon for blue diamond almonds

Fred Meyers
Grapes 1.68
Kroger cheese 8 pz 2/3 @
Celery .49
Zucchini .99
Peppers, green and cucumbers .58
Pears .99
Oranges .88

Coupons only
FOLGERS 5.49
Jiff  1.99

That's all. Please note cheese is 5.00 a two pound brick at QFC.  It is cheaper to grate your own.

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Jane

Suddenly Saturday, analyze the ads

It's quiet.  A rare commodity with a two yo in  the house.  Never three years ago would I thought I would be dealing with doc mc stuffins and curious George.  LOL.

This is part of an on going series of how to get groceries on the cheap.  The next step is analyzing the ads.  We are lucky enough to have 4 chain stores, maybe 5; two dollar trees; a warehouse store; and two overstock stores within a five mile radius of our house.  I realize that not everyone is so lucky.
Whatever your situation, you can apply these concepts.  If you are far away from a big chain store, consider getting their ads by mail on line and going once every two weeks or a month.  Carpool with a friend or neighbor to cut gas costs maybe.  Make best use of your trip by going when you can get the best deals on you target list.  ( the things you stock, nothing to do with the store of the same name.).

The ads.

• Take a piece of copy paper.  I use something out of the recycle bin if I can.  Section it off in fourths.  I have a spread sheet made up for thos, but I started with just a piece of scrap computer paper.  
• Top each section with a name of a chain store .  
• Start going through the ads looking for 

1. A protein that is super low priced that you can buy in bulk.  
2. Anything that is on your target list that is sale priced 
3. Any produce or dairy that is low priced.  

• Mark each down under the stores ad.  Now, cross off anything that you have enough of or anything that is a higher price elsewhere.  
• Now pick the TWO best stores.  You want two to maximize your savings and give yourself the best produce of both stores.  
• Plan your trip to maximize gas.  I go to both stores of they are on the same route.  Otherwise, I buy from one store and cluster the other store with another errand I need to run.  
• Go to the stores, buy what's on your list, and get out.  The more time you stay in a store, the more you will spend.  The stores have spent a lot of money trying to get you to impulse buy. low cost specials are usually on the front page of the ad.  There are to entice you onto the store so that you buy the impulse buys.  Beat them at their own game.  

When something  is on your target list at your target price ( aka RBP ( rock bottom price) buy as many as you can  afford, as many as the store will let you buy,or as many as you need to fill your 

Self imposed quota.  I have shelves in a pantry.  They are marked off in sections.  When my tomato section is full, I quit buying tomatoes until I see some shelf space.  

If you buy one large item of meat a week and batch cook it, portion control meals and bag it for the freezer, you will save a lot of time and money.  No waste, less time cooking dinner at the most hectic time of day on most households, and you have purchased ot at a RBP.  I got chicken for .50 a pound last week.  My husband roasted two chickens and cut them up for the freezer.  I have enough chicken for is to have two chicken dinners a week for a month.  Another time it might be a pork loin that I cut into pork chops and roast for a roast dinner and or BBQ sandwiches. Or a tube of sausage from Costco that I fry and defat and store in meal sized freezer bags in the freezer.  Hamburger makes taco meat ( with homemade seasoning) , crumbles, meatballs, Salisbury steaks amd or meatloaf.  When cheese is five dollars for two pounds, I grate it, toss a little cornstarch in it and freeze it.  Eggs already
 have a long fridge life. 

You can rotate whatever is on sale and cook your protein on a Saturday afternoon or whenever things are the calmest in your house.  My answer to cook for a month freezer cooking. MIT doesn't take
long to cook a vegetable or make a salad, them eat is the biggest time hog.  Batch cooking affords you cheaper cuts of meat without the lomg cooking time that is not practical on most week nights.  

That's all for today

Next meal plans , alternative stores.

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Jane 

Freaky Friday, the basics.

It's finally Friday.  Last night I oven roasted potatoes, carrots and radishes and cooked sausage.  We had cheese pizza the night before.  We eat more simple on work days.

Its  that time of the month when I go over the basics of groceries on the cheap.

I started this blog when it came to my attention that some people were running out of money before they ran out of month on SNAP( food stamps). It wasn't hard to tell why when I heard what what they were eating for dinner.  The sad truth is that if you spend ten dollars for dinner and there are 30 days in the month, your three hundred dollar food allowance is spent and you don't have breakfast or lunch.  Aw, the ugliness of reality. LOL

I learned groceries of the cheap over the past 47 years. In the early 70s I found myself a single mother.  It was a time of double-digit inflation and wage and price freezes. The wage freezes held steady , but the price freezing didn't.  The reality was half of my income went for rent the other half went for daycare .  There  was very little left over. I started reading everything I could find how to eat on the cheap. I wasn't alone most of the middle class was in the same boat.  What all that was over, it became a habit to eat on the cheap. Over the years I found the new ways and new tricks. I took the best of what I found and tailored them to fit our needs.  The result is groceries on the cheap.  I feed us on less than the USDA stats for thrifty cooking.  That is the basis for snap.  They add COL adjustments.  That's why you get more in NYC than you do in some other places.

Groceries on the cheap takes a three disciplined approach to feeding the family.

• Planning and organizing 
• Strategic shopping 
• Cooking from scratch 

I'm going to try something different.  Over the next month, I will break this down and deal with one concept a day.  Every basic blog I write comes off the top of my head, please feel free to read past blogs to get different ideas, or the same ones written in a different way.  

Let's start with planning and organizing.  This is not rocket science, it's  actually pretty simple. If your not an organizational person. It is not as hard as you think. Some of it you are probably doing.  

• First, list the sources of inexpensive  protein your family will eat.  
• Now, list 7-14 meals that you can make from these sources.  Remember, this is scratch cooking.  
• Make a list of the things that you use to make these meals.  We are talking basic shelf and freezer ready items that you use on a regular basis. There is probably a list of ten or so things. In our house that would be diced tomatoes, beans, refried beans, black olives, pasta sauce, pasta, instant mashed potatoes, tuna, and some green beans and corn.  
• Start a spread sheet or small notebook and list these items, the size of the package on the top of the page.  Then create a line that has the date, store, price paid, coupon? And net price. Ie: pasta sauce, Hunts .  First  line: 1/3/14. Bartells. .79. No coupon .   The object is to find the cheapest price available for this product and how often it goes on sale.  

The main mantra here is NEVER PAY FULL PRICE FOR ANYTHING.  we are buying quantity of our staple items so that they will last until they go on sale again.  This is not hoarding. You want a three to six  months supply, depending on your situation.     If I use the item once a week, I keep 24.  If I use it once a month, I keep six.  Watch your pull dates.  Canned goods , I have been hearing
are good for some time after their pull date, pasta has an eight year shelf life.  I don't  expect the cans to last that long.  Rotate stock.  If your children are old enough, that's a good job for them.  Don't buy anything that has a pull date close to the real date unless you are going  to eat it that day.  

You are looking for half price or more.  If you can add a coupon with it, all the more sweet the deal.  

That's enough to digest for one day.  

Tomorrow: how to read a grocery ad!  

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Jane 

Aw... SNAP

I read an article on Facebook written by an nutritionist from a college.  She was clearly uninformed without logic.  She stated that the average person on SNAP had 4.50 a day to eat.  The next statement was that most of the supermarket coupons were for junk food and that was making the poor people eat unhealthy food.  Any time I read anything I ask myself, does it pass the BLT-- Basic Logic Test.

Let's get this logic.  Last I looked, a bag of potato chips was at least two dollars.  If one ate a bag of potato chips and a soda for a buck. That would leave a 1.50 for food for the day.  It is nearly impossible to buy junk food and still feed a family on three hundred dollars a month.  It is true that you can't pay the prices for designer coffee and organic everything.  The figures just don't add up.

Coupons come in all shapes and sizes.  Because they are out there, doesn't mean people have to use them.  If you can't find coupons for real food, you aren't looking in the right place.  The smart source that came with the ads has a coupon for MJB coffee and one for spaghetti.  There are coupons for basic food, you just have to look past the garbage.

Last months spread sheet showed me spending an average of fifty dollars a week for three adults.  That does not cover the food my daughter buys, but we supplement the grandbaby too.  Regardless, the figure for just my husband and myself is about 85.00 a week for the USDA thrifty plan.
We eat some processed food, I try to limit it to one day a week.  We don't eat organic,gluten free, salt free, or fat free; I do cook low fat meats, defat hamburger and sausage, and watch the sugar content of foods.

SNAP can happen.  It does take a realistic approach to food prep and purchasing.  It takes some knowledge of how to do it.  I have read everything I could find since I was in the position of having to get by on next to nothing in the sixties and seventies.  I took the BLT test on everything I read and tried things that didn't work,but in the end I have come up with a system that works.  I just wish I could reach the right people.  I cringe when I hear someone running out of money before they run out of month because they have fed their family a hamburger meal box and sugar laden fruit cups and drinks.  Reasonable nutrition can happen.  You just have to know how.

I feed us well.  I don feed us what an extreme foodie would, but I don't feed us what an extreme couponer would either. ( based on what goes on the cart on one reality show) .  I try to hit a moderate happy medium.

I use coupons for real food.  I usually save about six dollars  a week.  Six times 52 is 312 dollars a year.
That's 312 dollars that I am not wasting.  Because, when I don't take advantage of a coupon on something that I would buy anyway,I  am wasting money.  That savings does not include the coupons in the store ads.  The store ads, I feel have coupons to limit the amount that can be purchased by one individual. Otherwise,when something is a really good price,  some people would clear the shelves. Clearing the shelves is just plain rude. Even when you're stocking you should take a reasonable amount and leave the bargain for someone  else too.

It is true, you can get a real sense of accomplishment when that register receipt has a 67 percent savings at the bottom, but it is only real if you have bought real food your family will eat.

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Jane

Wicked Wednesday--the ads

I would expect that the ads will be full of game hype and expensive booze and snacks.  Probably not a day for stocking.  Let's see.... LOL

SAFEWAYS

Chicken thighs, drums, leg quarters.  .99
Nabisco snack crackers 1.50
Blue or blackberries 2/5
Dreyers 2.88
Digiorno pizza 3.99$$
Hebrew national hot dogs 2.99
Oranges .99

Salsa 3.49@@
BC cake or brownie mix .99@@

FIVE DOLLAR FRIDAYS
CHEESE PIZZA ,MTAKE N BAKE
SUBS
Green mountain k cups
C and h sugar, 10 lbs


QFC
Broccoli .99
Tillamook cheese 4.99 *****
Freshetta pizza 3.99
Cucumber .68

Top

20 beef, or turkey 2.99
Brandon cheese 4.99
Roma's .79
Dreyers ice cream 2.99
Dole salads .79@
Red Baron and Freshetta pizza 3.99

ALBERTSONS

Broccoli , cauliflower .99
Dryers 3.00

Buy 10, save 5
Yu ban coffee 6.49
Taco shells .99
Salsa 1.49
Oscar Mayer lunch meat 2.99
There is. Not enough there to stock on.  Taco shells would go stale before they would be eaten.

@@ means there is an in ad coupon.
$$ means there is a manufacturers coupon out there

I would be sure to take advantage of the Tillamook cheese for five bucks.

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Jane

Terrific Tuesday, recipe edition

OK, I've got writers block.  I have been working on St. Patricks D ay to get the product out on a reasonable time.  There's not much paper to work with, so I'm having to be very creative.

One of the ways to stretch your food dollar is to take advantage of what produce os plentiful in season.  It's usually better quality and better prices--a real win-win.
Carrots, potatoes, kale, cabbage, apples, oranges, squash.


Carrot - potato casserole

 2T butter
1T EVOO

1 T flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 t pepper
1-1/2 cups milk
Pinch of nutmeg

4 ounces grated cheese ( 1 cup)
3 cups grated potatoes- raw
1 cup grated carrots

Make a roux with the flour and butter.  Add milk in stages until you have a white sauce .  Gradually add in 1/2 cup cheese .

Combine with grated vegetables.
Place on well greased 8X8 baking pan.
Bake at 350 for an hour
Top with remaining cheese

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Jane

Monday madness

I want to talk about yesterday's shopping trip.  It takes some tenacity to make deals work.  Often the karma is not working like clockwork.  Yesterday was the ultimate work with it day.

Bartells has almonds, 6 ounce cans for 1.79.  There is a dollar coupon on the flyer on Sundays paper when you buy 2 . It is misprinted to be for 16 ounce containers.  There are no 16 ounce containers.  The coupon inserts has a coupon for .75 off of two cans of 6 ounce containers.  That makes just about a BOGO.  After some discussion, we got the almost BOGO.  Roast beef hash was on sale for 1.99, it rang 2.99.  Another discussion.

At Rite Aid, HORMEL,chili is a buck.m buy 15 of anything on the section of the ad, and get a 5 dollar up reward.  There os not much on that ad that I would buy except the chili that I had .55/2 coupons for.  I had four coupons.  they did not have 15 cans of chili.  I bought 8.  And used my coupons.  Effectively getting 8 cans , but paying for 6.  I went to another rite aid to buy the remaining 7.  Turns out, the two I got for free didn't count, so I bought 9.  I wound up paying 9.89 for 17 cans of chili.  Some of them are no beans.  I'm thinking they might be good on tacos or on baked potatoes for a loaded baked potato.  Either way, I saved about a buck a can.  More than a half price trip.
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Jane