We survived. ,

Black Friday and I didn't go near a mall.   My daughter and I left baby with grandpa  and we went to the dollar store, Safeways, and Walgreens.    I left Safeways with nothing,   All the prices had been raised for the last minute shoppers.    Dollar tree had Christmas sox for granddaughter, some foil paper, and Betty Crocker sweet potatoes , and a soy candle.    I did get my diabetic chocolate and some 1/2 price fingernail polish.   At sixty dollars a pop for nails, I do my own.  lol.

Thanksgiving week in general is not  a good week to shop.   Winco kept up the special pricing. Other stores did not.   Stove top stuffing was 250 at Walgreens.    One of mine was a buck, the other one was free.   Knowing where and when to buy something is key.   As well as knowing what not to buy.   I usually buy very few stove top stiffing packages, also on on no buy list of breadcrumbs. ( why throw away your bread heels and buy someone else's dry  bread.) , chips other than plain taco chips for nachos, bottled pop and juices, kool aid, except for clay for the children) , hamburger helper, or rotisserie chicken unless I'm in a real pinch.

Anything that is easier to make by hand or has no food value in it is not on my list.   Bagged lettuce is healthier than when you cut it yourself.  Studies have shown there is more germs on a head of lettuce that you wash yourself at home than there is a bag of lettuce.

I am going to post meal plans next.   I try for five dollar dinners - a dinner for the typical family of four,: two adukats and two school aged children.    That is the magic. I bet that will leave enough for lunch and dinner on a for dollar a day budget ( the professed snap amount) and leave something for stock.

1. Vegetable bean soup, sour dough baguette.   
2. Pork tenderloin, mashed sweet potatoes, Cesar salad,
3. Mac and cheese, peas and carrots.   
4. BBQ chicken , seasoned potato wedges, mixed vegetables. 
5. Tacos , refried beans, rice,
6. Fish packets 
7. Spaghetti, red sauce, green salad, sour dough baguette.   

Notes 

1) vegetable bean soup. : combine in crockpot

     2 - 15 ounce cans of diced tomatoes , 2 cans of beans, drained and rinsed. ( I I've two different beans) , a quart of chicken or vegetable stock ( from better than bullion) , 2 carrots , two celery ribs, chopped or sliced and sautéed  until limp.   Cover and cook on low for 8 -10 hours.   Serve with arm cheese.   

2) pork tenderloins I got on sale on five dollar Friday at Safeways with a two dollar coupon found at coupons.com.  Betty Crocker makes sweet potatoes in a packet available at the dollar tree.   Ceased salad was left over from thanksgiving,    If it wasn't thanksgiving. I might make a green salad.   

3) Mac and cheese.   I use any shaped pasta I can find cheap that is a good brand. Economy isn't about buying the cheapest thing you can find.    The last batch I got was rotini brand for .49 at QFC.   When I can, I get double fiber.   Cream soup base recipe is on line.  It comes from  Taste of Home.    

I use a variety of cheeses, clean out our cheese drawer.  Grocery outlet is a good source for cheese.   

My target price is two dollars, I have been finding it for 2-2.50.  Mixed vegetables were cheapest at Costco for a five pound bag.   

4) BBQ chicken is from chicken parts set aside from roasting a chicken. Hear them on the oven and brush with BBQ sauce.   Seasoned potato wedges are made in America at the Dollar Tree and 1.5 pounds are 1.00. 

5) taco shells are cheapest at Winco as are refried beans (.88) rice makes a complete protein for the vegetarian.   Hamburger was purchased ( 7 percent) for 2.99 at Fred Meyers.   I made meat balls, a meat loaf, and fried the rest as crumbles and froze it.   

6) fish packets .  Fish was at Winco.  Layer on parchment on individual packets : spinach, cooked rice, white beans, fish, a green vegetable.   Seal parchment to make a package, and bake on sided cookie sheet or pan for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until fish is done and flakes. 

7)  add meat to hunts pasta sauce ( I paid .75 at the dollar store with coupon, but it's always a dollar or less someplace. ) pasta was .49 for veggie pasta at QFC.   Baguttes are at Costco wholesale or the bakery outlet for about a dollar a piece.  There is also some at the dollar store.  

One last note.  The only way you can keep the prices of meat down and maintain quality and variety, is to watch for the loss leader in any given week.   Shop  two stores, ( sometimes meat and oroduct doesn't look so good when you get to the store. Give yourself options. ) buy one meat a week in bulk - as much as you will need for that kind of dinner for the month.   Batch cook it if that is appropriate, and portion control it on freezer bags and freeze.  It makes dinner time a lot more efficient, and cooking and cleanup a cinch!   If  there are no good buys on protein, skip one and buy two another week.  

That's about all.    

Thanks 

Jane 

Grocery hauls

I have been stuck in bed for some time this week.....so I made use of my time watching grocery hauls on U TUBE.   I have come to the conclusion I am  in the middle of the road between... Let's buy a whole lot of junk food and processed stuff and let's buy the most expensive food in the store and ... I'll leave that to your own ideas.    lol.

Middle of the road and moderation have been my mantra for a long time now. So many people say they are lactose intolerant, that never were before.  I'm wondering if it is because they choose or their doctors choose for them to be gluten free or vegetarian.   I'm wondering if cutting a food group out of your diet changes the PH or whatever balance in ones gut.   Not a nutritionist, just a guess.  

I saw a lot of four hundred dollar hauls that could be reduced to well under a hundred.    Knowing your prices and shopping multiple stores is the key.    No one store has the best prices on everything.    Some stores are notorious for being the best price on a particular thing or type of thing,    It doesn't mean that you need to go to five different stores in one week to buy your food.   You go to two stores, plan your trip for economical gas and time, and buy a supply.  

For those on the Seattle area....

Dairy is cheapest at Costco, except milk that is a dollar with on ad coupon about every three weeks or so at Fred Meyers.    Sour cream and cottage cheese is a dollar sometimes at Fred Meyers,    Grated cheese is cheapest at Costco wholesale, and sometimes at grocery outlet (bogo).   Sliced cheese so hands down the cheapest at grocery outlet.    I grated my own cheese from blocks a few weeks go. I found that we went through two big plastic containers instead of about 3/4 of one in a week.    I think the finer grate goes further.   My RBP on cheese is two dollars a pound.  I, coming close with coupons and watching where I buy it.    You are almost always going to spend more buying 8 ounce containers.   Grated cheese freezes well.  You can cook it frozen.  It thaws quickly.   When cheese is on sale in small packages, do the math.   It's a retailers trick to out small packages on sale, expecting people will either not know their measurements or won't bother to do the math.

I watch buy xx save xx deals.   It's a retailers trick to get you to buy a lot of stuff you don't need on the first place.   I bite on them if I can match a manufacturers coupon with the sale and l can identify enough things at a good price that we will actually use.    Usually they have a few things for a buck that you can fill in with that sometimes are a buck all the time at certain stores.

Thinking that it all averages out if you buy from one store is a mistake.   Some prices are good, others at not so good.   You are better off buying what is a good price at two stores.   You have a choice of what produce looks the best, and you are getting the best of both stores.    Lately I have been hitting Kroger and Winco.  I have found that the prices are not as good at Safeways as they used to be before Haggens bought them out.

Don't box yourself in, think out of the box.    There are a lot of stores that carry a limited amount of food.   I'm not talking the quick marts.   But if you go to a store like big lots or a drug store  for something else, keep your eyes open, know your prices, and always check pull dates.  

About all for now.


Thanks

Jane

Fred Meyers

the paper today had small inserts if ads for the other grocery stores.    Winco and grocery outlet do not have ads.   Winco you can see at favado, but they aren't always accurate.    If you have waited until the last minute to buy turkey dinner, you are usually paying full price.    Winco has lowest prices guaranteed from the get go.  

Fred Meyers.

Turkey .69 with a extra purchase of fifty dollars.
Asparagus 1.99
Satsumas 3.88
Dryers ice cream 2/5@@
Butter 3/5@@
Ritz 3/5@@
Sour cream .99@@
Cake mix 1.00
Pumpkin pie 3.99
Cranberry sauce 2/3
Cream of mushroom soup 1.00
Stove top 4/5
Olives 3/5
Crescent rolls 3/5
Green beans 1.79


Notes :
If you bought cream of mushroom soup a few weeks past with a coupon it would be .49
Cranberry sauce is bogo at grocery outlet for .40.
Stove top was free at Winco.   It has been a dollar  all over.
Pumpkin pie is a bit cheaper at Winco.   Probably cheaper at Costco if u can use their size.
Crescent rolls were cheapest at QFC with coupon and buy ten promotion.   You can still get them cheaper with a coupon at Winco.   I think 147 and there is a coupon for 1.00 off three on today's paper.
Olives ate cheaper at Winco for Lindsay and there are coupons out there.
Cake mix was .88 late October at Winco.

It pays you to buy non perishables before the holiday.  It was the time to stock up.


Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
,

Winco and.......

Winco is the cheapest on thanksgiving ingredients.   There is a coupon for crescent rolls and black olives out there.  

Albertsons
Turkey.  Free with 150 more in purchases ( EX150)
.68 with ex 50. Limit one
Safeways
Ditto

QFC
.69 with ex 30

Winco
.63 with no limit and no ex.

QFC
Clementines 388
Broccoli or cauli.  .99
Tillamook cheese 5.99
Dryers 2.99
Berries 2/5
Green beans 1.79
Sweet potatoes .99
Cool whip 1.50
Pie 3.99
Stove top 150 ( I got it for free last week at Winco.

Safeways
Yams .99
Potatoes .99
Green beans 1.99
Fold gets 6.99@@
Olives .99@@$$. Cheapest at Winco
9 inch pumpkin pie 9.99.   ( not a bargain. )

Albertsons
Pie 10 inch 6.99
Green beans 1.99
Potatoes .99
Yams .99
Coffee 6.99@@
Cream cheese 149@@$$

Thanks for stopping by
Place share

Jane

Winco and thanksgiving prices

We just went to the dollar tree and Winco.   I got fruit snacks and men's sox for the homeless bags at dollar tree.  And sparkely  sox for myself...can you spell glitter!  

Winco has a gallon of milk for free and cookies.   I got the gallon of milk for us and the cookies for the daycare.   I thought granddaughter would enjoy sharing with friends at snack time.   

Crescent rolls were 1.48 and I had a dollar coupon.   

Cucumbers were .48

Pumpkin pie 3.48.  I can't make it for that.   

White bread .88

Acorn squash .68

Lindsay olives .87- $$

Small tomato sauce .29

Best ground beef 3.18

Extra large hummus. 278

Turkey is .63 a pound ... No spending restrictions.

I got .75 Ibotta.    

Thanks for stopping by

Please share 

Jane 

Four dollars a day books.

There are a lot of books out there that tote that they can teach you how to feed your family on four dollars a day.  They are assuming you are paying that nasty f ford ( full price) for your food.    Some of them go on the premise of not eating meat and eating rocks for dinner.   Some are more adventurous and assume you can get your family to eat food from Mars , find food most of us can't pronounce, let alone find at a low cost.    Earth to people: you can't buy two dollar a serving oatmeal and still eat three meals a day on four dollars.    Maybe that's new math!  Ha ha .   I did find a good book on Amazon kindle for a dollar.  I'll try to link or at least identify it below.  

I'm not going to write a book.    Grocery outlet has a free one that does the job quite well.     I write this blog free of advertisements.   I'm not in this for the money,    I just want to help real people get reasonable nutrition on a small budget.  My premise is that if you spend more time on the FRONT end of the dinner on the table train, and less on the BACK  end you will be better off.   Getting your real food half off or more means you can have enough food and a variety of food and still maintain an emergency stock.  

It's just a different frame of mind,    Why pay 1.59 for a can of green beans, when you can pay .33 or .50 and get three times as much!   Then, you eat three times, not once.    You can rinse the food and reduce salt.   Don't put  salt on your food.   Don't salt food while cooking it.    There are ways to reduce salt , sugar and fat without paying someone not to put it on your food in the first place. .   It like going to the gas station and paying someone not to put gas in your car.   Doesn't make sense to me.   They leave  out an ingredient in your food and then charge you more because they saved money not putting the ingredient in  there.    Really?  

I digress.  

It's a different way of grocery shopping.   The net results is you pay 1/2 price for your food, you have a stock in case of an emergency, and you always have food on the house.    There is a certain sense of security in that idea.    And it has saved my behind more than once.

This takes time.   It doesn't happen overnight.    Even of you had a great influx of money, low prices don't happen on everything everyday.  I make up the time I spend on management by spending less time in the kitchen.  We are not foodies.  No one in this family would appreciate the fact that I spent all day in  the kitchen.    I have done the food management thing for years, even when I had three children at home and held down two jobs and maintained the housework.

Key points

1. Never pay full price  know the RBP on the things you use on a weekly basis.   We are talking shelf ready staples.   For us that would be diced tomatoes, canned beans, green beans, frozen veggies, refried beans, black olives, instant mashed potatoes , rice, pasta, pasta sauce.    Pretty soon you will instinctively know who has the best prices on those products and can watch the ads for the RBP.    Favado isn't always accurate, but a good benchmark.   Ads come in the mail and Fred Meyers is in the Sunday paper.   You can buy the Sunday  paper on Saturday before at the dollar tree.    
2. When something is at a rock bottom price buy whichever comes first of a) the amount the store will allow ( limits) b) as many as you can afford, or c) as many as you need to fill in your self imposed limit.   ( I keep a three- six month supply of anything that isn't perishable and on my stock list or as many as I think we will use until the next sale .   This is especially true of typical holiday sales.  Like catsup in  the summer.  
3. Use coupons wisely.    I wouldn't spend more than ten to twenty minutes a week on coupons    I date inserts, look quickly through them for things we eat on a regular basis, and file the inserts. in a monthly file folder.   I keep back three months.   Favado will match coupons for you and tell you where to find the coupons .  I don't buy anything with a coupon that I wouldn't buy anyway, unless it's free and I can use it or know someone that can     I have been finding four dollar off dog food.    We don't have a dog, but my SIL has three.    I love that word free.    It goes a long way to enhance your quality of life of you don't have to pay for something you  need.   
4. Ibotta is a rebate ap.  when I get home from the store, I match up anything that I have purchased with their list for that store   I watch a quick video while putting the food away and snapshot the bar code and sales slip and they put money in my account,  get to ten to twenty five dollars and they will give you a gift card that you want,   Anything from Starbucks to wall mart or Amazon  it's a way to get fresh food discounted.  
5. Sign up for store cards.    They give you better prices    QFC also gives you free things and coupons based on your purchases    
6. Dairy perishables   I buy yogurt wherever it is less than fifty cents  there are always coupons to go with it too.    Milk is cheapest at Fred Meyers about once every three weeks or so.   It's a buck a 1/2 gallon.    Other dairy is cheapest at Costco.   The large cartons have about a month pull date   Eggs are cheapest at Fred Meyers or Costco.   Five dozen lots are the cheapest, but you may have to split one with another family, we found we don't use that many eggs . 
7. The only way I have found to save on fresh produce is to watch for a 5 dollars off of 15 type coupon at some stores. Or using  Ibotta    Not all stores are the same on produce   I'm really picky at grocery outlet and Winco   That being said, I got oranges at QFC that were moldy in two days   We did bring them back for a refund. That didn't happen at grocery outlet.  I was told I had to talk to the guy that was running from the building!   lol.    Produce at a low cost is only good of it is edible .  You can pretty much have quality control with buying the same name brands of canned or boxed goods. That doesn't happen with produce.
8. Know your prices, when buying protein, pick one loss leader of the foods on your meal plans, and buy enough to feed your family for the month of that particular meat or.....   In other words, if we eat beef twice a week, I will buy enough for 8 meals of ground beef when it is really cheap.    I got four percent hamburger for 2.99 a pound last week.  I also get whole wa grown chickens for a buck a pound    I've got them for as cheap as .50.   Grated cheese is cheapest at grocery outlet or Costco wholesale  buy one thing a week, buy enough for the month, cook it in bulk  and portion control it onto bags in the freezer.   This saves time and money.    Rarely have to spend more than a half hour or less cooking  dinner  ( non passive time) .   
9. I use forms to manage it all.  Simple concise  fast forms!    

That's it on a nutshell.  I go into retailers dirty little secrets and other things in detail on past posts.  

That book: feed a family of four or more on 200 dollars a month.   

Thanks for stopping by 

Jane 

Costco

we found ourselves in need of a to run and I had errands to run on the east side.   I never go to Costco without watching , but keeping in mind what we actually need and rbp's.

Kirkland T.P is 15.99
5 baguettes are 4.79
5 lbs of frozen mixed veggies were 3.49 (.70 a lb; .79 for 10 ounces at fm)
Bananas 1.39
Vegetable base is 10.99.  
Eggs 4.29 for 2 dozen - pull date Christmas!  


Thanks

Jane

Meal plans

Meal plans help to assure that food is not wasted.  i developed a meal plan template to make meal planning quick and easy.  These days, the less time spent on meal prep the better.  I spend more time planning my shopping and less time cooking,   It makes things more cost and time efficient,   I get paid to shop in savings,

Step by step process.   

The form  has a column of food on hand.   Clean and arrange the fridge to reflect the things that need to be eaten shortly.  Write  down the perishables and meat that you have in stock.   Highlite or mark with a star the things that need to be eaten soon.

I have.

1. Cottage cheese
2. Carrots 
3. Acorn squash
4. Sour cream
5. Fresh green beans 
6. Eggs 
7. Spinach, fresh
8. Blackberries
9. Apples 

Develop a matrix .   It makes planning easy and quick if you have an outline.   Ours is 2 beef, 2 chicken or pork, 2 vegetarian and a fish or shellfish.    Yours very well may be different,    Some people go with types of meals-- like soup, breakfast, etc.   or have fourteen meals and rotate the same meals.   

A second column is for food  to be purchased.    Hold off on this one until you finish planning.

Now fill in the seven blocks .

1. Breakfast for dinner : yogurt parfaits, eggs, toasted English muffins   Yogurt parfaits are yogurt, blackberries (or blueberries when I get them cheap) and topped with some granola.  Granola is at the dollar store (Chex) English muffins are usually cheapest at Fred Meyers .  
2. Vegetable bean soup.   Cheese biscuits 
3. Pork tenderloin. Baked acorn squash( with butter and brown sugar, cinnamon dash , spinach salad . I got pork tenderloin for 2.50 at Safeways a few weeks ago.  Froze it.   Squash was .68 at Winco.    
4. Chicken nachos.    Costco is the cheapest usually on nacho chips.   Diced  tomatoes make salsa in a pinch , use up sour cream 
5. spaghetti  and meat sauce, spinach salad. ( brown and serve baguettes are cheapest at wholesale Costco.  I keep them in the fridge and they take less than 15 minutes in the oven.   They are usually about a dollar a piece.    Pasta is on sale now for fifty cents when you buy 10 of a list of things at QFC.   Hunts   pasta sauce is cheaper most all the time than scratch.   I never pay more than a buck, the last batch I got was .75.   
6. Sloppy joes. French fries, vegetable sticks.   ( I got carrots at QFC with a five dollars off fifteen coupon.   24 ounces ( 1.5 pounds) of seasoned potatoes made in America are at the Dollar Tree, bins Re cheapest at Winco, and I use a recipe I found in a family circle years ago. Manwich has been on sale for eighty cents lately.   
7. Fish packets .   Tilapia is at Winco.   Layer on parchment paper individual portions ( dollar tree) spinach, cooked rice, or instant soaked in water, a few white beans, the fish, and a green vegetable.    I bought just what we needed at qfc.    Seal up the packets, and place on cookie sheet with sides.    Bake at 400 for half an hour or until fish is flakey.  

Note: it might sound like I run all over town to shop.   Not so.    I shop in bulk and freeze or refrigerate.    I usually shop two stores.   Get in and get out.   Put on blinders to anything that isn't on sale or the RBP.   Avoid snack tyoe items.amd sodas.     Use coupons when I can.  These meals average less than five dollar a meal for a family of four.  ( assuming two adults and two school aged children) .  

Hope this helps.   It's easy I be overwhelmed, but planning uses up what you need to use up and makes the what's for dinner question more manageable.   

Thanks for stopping by

Please share 

Jane 

Sunday ads ......turkey!

The cheapest price on turkey I have found is either free at Fred Meyers with a hundred fifty dollar purchase.   At Fred Meyers, you have a wide variety of things, not just food to purchase.    or it is .69 a pound with a thirty dollar food purchase ( the turkey doesn't count) .

QFC
mandarines   3.99
Pumpkin pie 3.99

Still buy 10, save 5
Stove top .99
Sugar 1.99
Crescent rolls 1.38 - $$
Butter 2.49

Fred Meyers
Milk .99@@ ( note it is free at winco)
Bread  3/4@@
Vegetables frozen .79@@
Betty Crocker   boxed potatoes .89
Pumpkin pie 3.99
Jello 1.00
Frozen entrees .89
Red Barron 3/10
Cool whip .79@@


That's about all.

Bargains......

Wednesday, my hubby went to get a free oil change and a free haircut..     Score forty dollars.    I went  to Winco and got paper towels for less than Costco with a coupon.  Like about half.     I also got another twenty cent ibotta.  

Today we went and I got a haircut.  QFC netted a fifty six percent savings on tomatoes, pasta, and veggies.     Five  dollar off fifteen on veggies. And five off of ten items netted a lot more than just the five dollar savings.  Last week I got 69 percent plus.   ( almost 70) .   I hit three stores last week and averaged twenty five dollars each.   It was a good week to stock.   Tomatoes are .49 at QFC, chili is a dollar and I have coupons.    Pasta is 49.   You don't have a lot of selection on the pasta, but at that price, I can live with it.    My daughter is a vegetarian and we go through a lot of pasta.  

At Fred Meyers, Four percent hamburger and .99 Foster farms chicken meant that I got two loss leader meats this week.    It makes up for the weeks that I got none.    I roasted the chicken and made meatloaf, meatballs, and crumbles with the hamburger ( 3 pounds,) the chicken was 6.5 pounds.    This saves time and money.   I spend more time shopping and less time cooking.  I probably spent an hours a week shopping .  I get in and get out of a  store.   I just get what I need to buy. Impulse buys will kill your budget.   I was an accountant, so prices are easy for me to remember.  I know the RBP of the staples we buy in a regular basis.   If you know the staples, the rest will take care of itself.    I'm not too worried about the cranberry sauce I will buy once a year.    It's the green beans that I use a lot because it's about the only vegetable everyone will eat, or the diced  tomatoes that I use at least once a week.  
I know who typically has the lowest prices on certain things, but always keep my eye open.   We use few paper towels.   A 12 pack will last us six months.    Winco had brawny for 11 dollars and change and I had  a dollar coupon.  That was almost half of Costco's price according to favado.   Favado isn't
always correct.   I try to use paper products sparingly.   Not always an easy task with a three yo in the house.  

Now that I have rambled at three .v  in the morning. I hope this helps.  

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

   We have had roast chicken, chicken pot pie, and I will portion control the rest for the freezer.   We had chicken with stove top stuffing that I got for free at Winco and green beans that were  .33 .  That meant that dinner was a total of 1.33 not counting cooking supplies that are too small to cost out ( butter, salt, oil etc.  ) another night, I made meat balls, added tomato sauce that was leftover from homemade pizza another night, and peppers from the freezer.   The tomato sauce cost twenty five cents and the peppers were six for three dollars at grocery outlet.

Grouping errands saves gas.   Meal plans help use everything up.   Being flexible helps.    Last night my husband didn't get the  fish from the freezer to thaw in time, we had pizza.    I got pizza on sale with coupons for 2.38.   I just add things to it.   A bag of spinach at Costco goes a long ways.  

The ads...such as they are.......

QFC has a two week ad last week.  There is still time to make a planned trip.    Fred Meyers wasn't bad, I only,bought sale items , preferably with coupons,  

The only ads I got were for Safeways and Albertsons or  Alberways ha ha

Safeways
Turkey free with 150.00 purchase, or .68 with fifty dollar purchase.  
It makes for sense to me to wait and see what Freddie's brings to the table,    At Fred Meyers you can buy any number of things for your minimum purchase.  

Five dollar Friday
Shrimp
Cherub tomatoes


Eggs 1.99@@
Crea m of mushroom soup .69@@-   Not...its .59 at Fred Meyers and there are coupons out there.  

About it

Albertsons
Pork chops 1.99
Eggs 1.99@@

Five dollar Friday, sat, sun
Tomatoes

Same turkey offer

Coupons
Cream cheese .99

About it.   Most of the prices are cheaper at QFC or Freddie's.  
Winco has free cookies and a gallon of free milk in a flyer in the mail.  
Most of all the prices are either cheaper at Winco or Kroger stores.  

Cream of mushroom soup is 59 at Fred Meyers until next Sunday.  There are coupons for .40 off of four.   Fred Meyers limit is six.  
Marshmallows are cheapest at Winco.  
 You can load a coupon at fc for five dollars off of fifteen dollars worth of produce.    That's 33 percent of you stock to often dollars.  
Green beans are cheapest at Winco.
Vegetable pasta is. 49 at QFC when you buy multiples of ten things.  

Jane

Budget hacks

I started this blog to help the people on snap get through the month eating somewhat healthy on a limited budget.   I developed  a plan over fifty years.   A little background: I grew up with a mother that had survived the Great Depression.  While we had money, my mother never forgot her life lessons and she was always cognoscent of not wasting money.    When  I was in my early twenties, found myself in a position of being a single parent.  It was the days  of double digit inflation.  We didn't get a raise in three years.    Nixon froze wages.  I got paid twice a month.  One paycheck went for rent, the other for daycare.   There was no earned income credit, no food stamps, and no help with childcare.   I just had to make it on what I had.   I started with what my mother taught me and read everything I could get my hands on.  Through the years,  I adapted ways  to stretch a buck.   I'm still learning.
This blog post explores ways I have found to cut costs on other necessities also.

• Personal heigene.   Many items can be purchased for free with coupons.   I have yet to get free toilet paper, but I am working on it.   The drug store chains have reward points.   I have successfully rolled points to get some things for free.  Rite aid used to have a better plan, but I have scored with the new one too.   It's a little less  complicated  than Walgreens.   I managed to get an electric toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash for free.  They paid me to take it out of the store.   This is the only senecio  I have found in this state to get overage.  Toothpaste is one of the easiest things to get for free.    
• Coupons:   I spend very little time clipping coupons.  I do use coupons. They help a lot. Favado is a free ap that matches prices with coupons and tells you where to get the coupons and even sometimes gives you a link.   I get a newspaper from the dollar tree for a buck on Saturday( Sunday's paper).  My friend saves hers for me too.    More inserts come in our mail.   I give them a quick glance and cut any that I know I want.    The inserts then go in a file folder with the date on the insert and a monthly date on the file folder.    Once a month I download coupons from coupons.com.  I do it as close to the first day of the month as I can.   The coupons are limited . You  can only print two and when they are gone, they are gone.   
• Laundry.   Necessary evil!   I don't use dryer sheets or fabric softener.   With laundry detergent, I got five months supply for 5.79.    I used two three dollar coupons. And found a rebate on a bottle.    
• Clothes.   I watch Fred Meyers when they have up to seventy percent  off the last marked price.  I try to buy classic clothes.   Once or twice a year, we go to the off price mall and buy clothes.  We get an inexpensive off season room. At at a old fashioned breakfast diner we eat one meal and either purchase dinner at the Safeways or do Subway.   Breakfast is free at the motel.  I got 6 Christopher Banks tops for 20.00.   Goodwill is another good resource.   I got a darling party dress for granddaughter for four dollars. 

The best advice I give is to know your needs and prices.   My mother had the expression , "some people wouldn't know a bargain of it got up and bit them". Don' t be that person.  

Plan your trips.  Try not to buy anything unless it is at least half price.  When grocery shopping, stick to buying only the actual sales.   Only deviate when it is something you have to have or if you see an unadvertised special. Today. I got four percent fat hamburger for 2.99.   One time I got whole chickens for .50 per pound.   

Pick two chain stores a week based on the store ads.   Plan your trip. 

• Check the ads from the newspaper, or favado.   
• Write down what is truly on sale that you can fill in your meals with ( perishables), a loss leader protein,  and your stock items that are short. 
• Check favado or your coupons binders or matching coupons.   Everyone but Winco will let you stack coupons - a store coupon and a manufacturers coupon.  
• Make meal plans from what you need to use up and what is on sale .  
• When you get home, check ibotta for any match ups.    

I had a huge bag of chocolate crispies I got at Winco for a dollar.  I bought a bag of mashmellows for a buck.  I barely made a dent in the cereal, we had chocolate crispy treats for 1.33 a 9x13 pan.  

Jane 

  

Fred Meyers ad

Here is themfred Meyers ad :  
I have found that there are usually more good buys than are advertised on the ad .   You still have to know your prices of the things that you use on a regular basis.  

Ground beef. 7 percent. 2.99
Raspberries .99
Stove top stuffing or cranberry sauce .89@@
Cream of mushroom soup 2/1@@$$
Kroger ground pork 2/5 @@
Red Baron pizza 3.29@@$$
Hefty slider storage bags.99$$
Foster farms fryers .99


@@ means there is an on ad coupon
$$ means that there is a coupon either in a insert or on line.  

Soup coupon is .40 on four and it is on coupons.com
Red Baron pizza is a dollar on two and is from an imsert.
Hefty storage bags coupon is an insert and is 2.00 off of three.  



That's about all.  

QFC sale

QFC buy 10 save $5.00 sale  

Spent 25.09; saved 56.17

70 percent savings!   

The ads

I got the ads late as usual.   We did go to Winco and I took the apple juice that is to much  for one small child to drink to school.   It will make for a good drink with snack time.    Winco netted a lot for 22.00.   They have no sugar added Klondike bars.   It is hard to find them.   Safeways is the only other place. Have found them.   Being diabetic, they only have 16 carbs and are portion controlled.    The lady there stopped and showed me all the options I had for sugar free.   It was very pleasant to see someone take the time .
They also have some canned veggies and soups on sale really inexpensive.    Cheese was five dollars for two pounds.   I have found that commercial grated cheese goes further than the stuff I grate  at home.   I think it is finer texture and melts faster and you use less.  

Taco shells continue to be a buck.    I got stove top free as well as a brick of cream cheese.    Tulips was reasonable.

On to the ads

QFC is a two week ad  They have a buy ten save five sale going on.   I think I can score with coupons,   Favado does not have qfc on their data base, so I'm going to have to plan my trip by myself.   I will post the plan when I get it done.   It will take me some time.

Ground turkey 2.99
Alaska cod 2.99

Save five in ten items.  Net prices

Butter 2.49
Triscuit 179
Chili or chunky soup .99$$
Tomatoes, canned .49
Stove top .99 ( it's .99 at Winco and the dollar tree) but a good fill in if you aren't making your 10.
Smoked sausage 2.49
Crescent rolls 1.38
Cake mix .79
Brownie and muffin mixes 2.49
Ronzoni pasta .49
Hot cocoa .99-it too is the same price as dollar tree, but a good fill in
Kleenex 80-160 count .99. It's only a good buy if you find 160 count.   You can get Larger at times tree at times cheaper on big lot sale.


On to. Safeways or Alberways

Chuck roast 3.99
Milk 2/5@@

5 dollar Friday
Berries 2/5
Cream puffs 7-9 count
String cheese 20 ounce
Pasta sauce in jars 5/5

Coupons
Bread 1.49
5 lb flour/sugar 1.79


Albertsons
Milk 2/5@@

5 dollar Friday
Berries 2/5
Donuts
Market flowers
String cheese
Pasta sauce in jars

Coupons
Bread 1.49
Sugar or flour 1.79
Veg oil 2.49


That's about all.   I have to double check the ads between Safeways and Albertsons.  They are just about the same.    Even the logo is disguised to be about the same.    I am very thankful for Winco.  
I see that haggens  at shoreline is closing.   It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.   I am thankful for Winco, Costco and Grocery Outlet  in the mean time.  With care I am back to 75.00 a week with stock.   Probably a good thing since our ssa is going to be cut.   There is,no COL imcrease , but the Medicare premiums are raised.   Net results is that our ssa checks are going down.  

That's about all.

Thanks

Jane

The ads, Fred Meyers and notes

I'm late getting the ads, toooo much Halloween!    If you are in the Seattle area, watch in your mail for a Winco ad.   It came for is on Thursday,  but our mailman is not up to snuff.    Free, yes, free things.   Don't pass them up of you don't need those things, I'm siremthemfood bank would love to have them.  

NOTE. There are buys on thanksgiving ingredients.  BUY NOW,   If you wait, you snooze, you loose,   The price goes up for procrastinators.   IF IT WONT ROT, YOULL BE GLAD YOU GOT!  (It)

They have a h u g e package of cocoa crispies ( wantabe) for under a buck.....ok. So it's a few cents.  
I bought marshmallows for a buck at the dollar store and with a few tablespoons of butter, we have chocolate crispy treats.  

Fred Meyers

Ez peel shrimp or ny steak ( like we could afford that) !   5.77
Clementines 3.99
Milk .99@@
Bread 3/4@@
Vegetables or tomatoes 2/1@@
Pasta sauce--Ragusa. .99.  Limit 4@@
Sausage 2/5@@


Berries 2/4
Pears .99

Pills bury cake mix 1.00
Sour cream, cottage cheese 4/5
Butter 2/5@@
Cream of mushroom 2/1@@
Broth 2/1@@
Grape tomatoes 2/4


Note:  @@ means there is a in ad coupon.  
Limits may apply


Bar tells
Clams 1.00
Sour patch kids .99.

About it.   I prolly wouldn't make the trip for that!  


 Thanks for stopping by



Jane

Grocery outlet, dollar tree, Winco

We went to the above stores today. sounds like a lot, but grocery outlet and the dollar tree ar next to each other.    I had found metallic papers at the dollar tree for a fraction of the cost elsewhere.  The quality is not exactly the same, but I'm getting 20 for the price of one.    Putting things in perspective, only an eighth  of an inch shows when I'm done, so the great quality is an overkill most of the time.

At the dollar tree, they have k cups for 4/1.00,  Betty Crocker sweet potatoes, and sugar free jello.    They have some interesting books.    Sally Hansen fingernail polish.   Seasoned frozen potatoes from the USA are a buck for a pound and a half.  

The grocery outlet only netted sliced cheese.  

Winco has green beans for .33.  Progreso chunky soup is .88 and there are coupons out there for fifty cents off two.   Potato salad is cheaper at around three dollars for Reese's.    Tomato sauce is.48.   I needed one for a recipe.   I usually just do diced tomatoes,but this lasagna soup takes both.
Pumpkin pie was cheaper than the pumpkin.    Toothpaste was .75.

In addition, we got a flyer in the mail with a bunch of things for free.  

Guess that's all

Meal plans next.

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

The ads

Finally got the ads today.    I went to qfc today.  Frozen potatoes are a dollar for two pounds.  

Safeways
Country style ribs 1.99
Oranges .99
Yo plait 10/5

five dollar Friday
Cantaloupes 3/5


Apples .99
Top round 3.99

Qfc
Oranges .99
Berries 2/5
Freschetta  3.99$$
Pork shoulder 1.99
Michelinas entree .88
Kroger veggies and potatoes 10/10

Albertsons
Top round 3.99
Ribs 1.99
Oranges .99
Ice cream 2.99
Milk 2/5@@
Apples .99
Mjb7.99$$ coffee



Jane

Dinner for a song!

At the dollar tree. Buy four with in store coupon , makes them .75 each -  far out pull dares.    Watch for dented cans.   

Getting organized.

Meals on a budget takes a bit of organizing.  It used to be that you could have a few tried and true recipes and rotate them to make meals that made everyone happy.    Now, people decide they need to be vegetarian or gluten free or whatever, and it takes a bit more to keep up with plans.

I have binders I picked up at the goodwill and print recipes from Betty Crocker on line.  Sometimes someone will give a new one to me,   Plastic sleeves are at the dollar store. The office big box stores have them, but I don't see the need to have super good quality for this use.   If you have the recipes under plastic it saves them from getting messed up with splatters while you cook.    I also have my personal recipe binders from the 80's .

I recently found recipes that are designed to make ahead the night before and put in the fridge.   You can come home from whatever and stick them in the oven, or in the crockpot the next morning and have dinner ready.   I find this desirable because our meal time is late because of schedule issues and by that time, I'm wasted.  The last thing I want to do is spend an hour cooking dinner AND watching a toddler.   LOL.   Before, it was nice to come home from work and shove something from the fridge to the oven and sit and watch the news with a glass of ice tea, or have time to get a load of laundry in before dinners.

I'm in the process of separating the recipes into other sub groups.   I have deserts and sides on one book and main dishes in another.  

I have developed a meal plan work sheet that helps with using up what needs to be eaten  soon and listing what you have to work with and what you may need to buy to fill in.    Most of the time  I don't need anything but I don't stock any speciality items like avocados etc.

Mohave a small closet /pantry on my kitchen.   I have different items in sections on shelves.  I can tell if I see white space whether or. It I need to watch for a sale.   This doesn't come fast, but eventually you get there.   When you find something 1/2 price  you buy two instead of buying one.  You have spent your regular money, and you are one ahead.   Eventually you get to the point where you only buy the sales on its,a the you use in a regular basis and the perishables you need.   Once a month I go to Costco and buy eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese.  I watch Fred Meyers for milk and buy as much as I think we will need before it goes on sale again, watching our consumption and pull dates.  Usuall I can rotate between qfc and Fred Meyer sales and cover ourselves.  I haven't had to pay full price for milk in a while.

We get Winco on October 22nd.  I can't wait.  It is no sere that I am not a anzmoured with the merger or buy out of albertsons and Safeways.  It has created a big upheaval in the grocery industry and now Haggens has filed chapter 11 stating that they have lawsuits pending from the ,eager and owe wages.  My daughter was stiffed out of three grand worth of wages, it os,not a good thing

At least now, we have Kroger and Winco along with Costco and grocery outlet to stay the tide until things level out. I suspect that the two stores will merge, and unfortunately, stores will close and jobs will be lost.

Being flexible and changing meals to adapt to the rising cost of some food items, knowing your prices on your staple ite,s and stocking when it's a RBP are tools you can use to keep your grocery down to a manageable amount.

The Internet can be a wonderful resource for recipes and ideas.

Thanks for stopping bylease share

Jane

Fred Meyers.

There was some discussion on Facebook about grocery stores.   The newspaper was discussing the difference between whole foods milk and safeways milk, safeways was more expensive.   This milk was six dollars a gallon.   I am comvinced that people with six figure salaries can afford food from those kinds of stores.   The rest of us would like to have a roof over our heads and clothes in our backs too.   LOL.   The discussion changed to the most expensive and the cheapest stores.   The Everett herald some years ago made up a typical grocery basket list.   Then they sent people out to price the list at chain grocery stores.   At the time qfc and Fred Meyers were owned by separate companies.   qfc was the most expensive and Fred Meyers was the cheapest.    Now I would love to do that experiment, but don't have the manpower.   My best guess would be that Haggens is the most expensive and Winco would be the cheapest.   Safeways used to be my go to grocery store, but things changed when Haggens took over.    I, convinced they are slowly merging the two stores.   it will be interesting to see the end result.  

Fred Meyers ad

Stone fruits are .99 ( plums, nectarines, peaches
Butter 1.69@@limit 2
Cheese 4.99@@ limit 2
Cheerios. 1.49 @@$$ limit 4. Nets a buck with coupons
Foster farms grill pack .99 ( note :  only one time in five have I found grill packs when they were advertised.)


The coupons this week are good.   Werthers original candy ismamdollar off two.   They are at the dollar tree.   Also. There is a coupon for soup.   I think it is at the dollar store too.   There are name brand foods at the dollar store.    Anything with a six in the start of the bar code is from China.    Dollar store has a limit per transaction in coupons,  I think it is four.   When you score a match up, it is usually a good price .  The dollar store is already a bargain in most cases, and add a coupon, it's really a bargain,   So,e things, however, are more expensive than a grocery store sale price.   It still boils down to know your prices.  I have the handful of staples we buy memorized.   But, numbers come naturally for me, I was an accountant for years.   Many people use a price book, either a small notebook they can carry with them, for a spread sheet in the computer.    My tablet has a spreadsheet.

The ads

Rather disappointing ads this week.   That being said I don't need to buy anything but ice cream, and it's on sale and its my favorite brand!    SCORE!

Being flexible goes a long ways in doing groceries on the cheap.  

Haggens is filing for bankruptcy.   The way they raised prices doesn't surprise me, but apparently or stems more from the circumstances around purchasing ALBERTSONS and SAFEWAYS.   I think they are working towards combining the two stores.  Their ads are looking more and more alike.   The prices have made a remarkable increase, and I, not liking that two companies control most of the chain stores and the lack of competition.    The shopper looses in that scenario.    We do have WINCO coming in and they are advertising for workers, so it must be sooner than expected !   And,mothers is Costco, grocery outlet, the dollar store ( for a select few things ) and big lots.


2 week ad until 9/15
Haggens

Beef chuck or eye of round roast 3.99
2 lbs carrots .89
Red potatoes -5 lbs 2,00
Coupons
Johnsonville brats 1.99
Re fried beans .79
Fiona paper towels 2.99$$
Cheese 4.99
Tillamook ice cream 2,99

ALBERTSONS
Buy 5, save 5
Net prices
Ore idea frozen potatoes 1.99
Oatmeal, 1.88
Cookies 1.99

Freschetta  pizza 4.99@@

Tillamook sale
Buy 10.00
2 lbs cheese 6.99
Yogurt 20/10
Sour cream 5/8
Sliced, shredded cheese 3/10
Ice cream 3/10
Ice cream bars 3/10
Sliced cheese 2/10

Cantaloupe 2/cucumbers, bell peppers 1.00

QFC

Chicken .99
Broccoli, tomatoes .99
Milk 4/5

Buy 5, save 5

Freschetta 4.99
Apple juice .99
Klondike bars 2.49


SAFEWAYS

Five dollar Friday
Johnsonville dinner sausage
Chicken strips FF
Cheese -2 lbs
Digiorno pizza
Angel soft tissue $$

Can't elope 2/5
Cucumbers, green pepper 1.00


Bs brownie mix 1.00


That's about it.

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Questions,questions,questions.

What do you do when you aren't on snap and you don't have any sum of money at a time to stock.
The sad truth is there are a lot of people on this world, and each one of us has a different personality.    There are two kinds of people that land on snap.   There is the person that has just lost their job, had a baby, or fell on temporary hard times, and the person that is a generational welfare person, and probably some that are in between the extremes.    I would venture to say that there will b some people that are too lazy for whatever reason to make the effort to put nutrition on the table with little resources.   Sometimes , it is because they don't know any better, sometimes it may be because of mental illness.   I won't try to address the latter, I'm no expert by any means.  If it is just because they don't know how to cook, or don't know how to find bargains, or what to buy, or are overwhelmed by the magnatide of their situation, I can at least steer people on the right direction.  

We , in this area, have a dollar tree in every neighborhood, usually next to a Safeway store or a grocery outlet.   If I was trying to save gas, or had little resources, I would pick one that was near a grocery outlet.  That would be 130th and aurora in Seattle or in Kenmore.   You can go a long way to put food on the table shopping at these two stores,matching the ads, and finding coupons.   There are coupons on the Internet, but also in the paper and even of you don't have the buck for the paper, you can probably find the ads and coupons if you ask around,  often they are just put in people's recycle and they would gladly give them to you.  

As a rule of thumb, I would stay away from ready made and processed foods.   Myself, I try to limit our intake of processed foods to once a week.   If you have an completely empty pantry, I would, however resort to some boxes.  The deal breaker for me is if a box is cheaper than I can make it from scratch.   If a recipe calls for an expensive item ( a special sauce or creamed soup for example) I find a way to substitute.   Cream soups can be substituted with a cream soup base mix you make yourself, Google "taste of home/ cream soup mix.".

That being said. There are things at the dollar tree that can easily make a meal on the cheap.  

Top ramen is 5-6 packages for a dollar.  There is also bags of frozen stir fry vegetables and vegetable oil or a olive oil blend.   You can stir fry vegetables mad add the cooked noodles.  Save the flavor packet.

Add the flavor packet to some milk and flour and make a thickened sauce.  Dollar tree has tuna and noodles for a dollar a piece.  

Uncle bens rice mixes are a dollar.   There is a coupon for 1.00 on four .  That makes them .75 each.  

Grocery outlet has cheese for a buck for 8 ounces  often.   You can add cheese to any starch and add protein.  

With a coupon, pepperoni is  .50.    Even without it. 1/2 a dollar bag of cheese, a dollar pepperoni, and a dollar pizza crust from the dollar store will make a pizza .  Add part of a can of tomato paste, or there is pizza sauce at the dollar tree.  Use part of it for a pizza and add the rest with cheese and macaroni for a casserole.   I have got mixed peppers for as low as fifty cents at grocery outlet.  

Bread is a dollar, peanut butter is a dollar.   jelly  is a dollar also.  

For a treat, there are chocolate striped shortbread cookies!    Cereal is a dollar, try for the least sugar coated one,   And juice drinks are four for a dollar.  As well as applesauce.  

Oatmeal is cheapest on the canister at grocery outlet.  

I got a bag of Foster farms chicken tenders cheap at grocery outlet.    They can be cubed , cooked, and added to any casserole.  

I have gotten pancakes , just add water, for fifty cents.   And sometimes you get is near the pull date and can be had for pennies.  

Being flexible and having a watchful eye for bargains can go a long way to put food on the table for pennies, even of you don't have a lot of money at a time.  

Meal plans from shopping trip

Yesterday my daughter and I went to Costco.    I got cucumbers, peppers, and butter.  
I am still under budget.  

Meals from shopping trip

1. roast pork tenderloin , oven roasted potatoes, carrots, peppers, radishes.   
2. Pizza from crust bought at grocery outlet and cheese from Costco.   
3. Fish packets ( spinach, rice, white beans. Tilapia, green beans.   
4. Egg cups made with tortillas and eggs, spinach and cheese, fruit ( use spinach left over from fish packets) 
5. Pork and vegetable stir fry ( use ramen noodles only ) and stir fry veggies.  Add spinach!   
6. Meat loaf, baked potatoes, salad.   ( peppers and cucumbers ) 
7. Out / leftovers 

Notes : 

1) Pork tenderloin was four dollars with a coupon.    Peppers are a dollar ( sometimes .50 at grocery outlet) and radishes are .50 at Fred Meyers.    Meal 4.00

2) pizza ( 1.50 crust, .50 cheese ( grocery outlet) tomato paste .10) total 2.10

3) fish packets ( tilapia 2.50, bens .50, rice, green beans .50.   4.00

4) eggs, tortillas, spinach , cheese - 1.62 

5) pork ( from #1) top ramen .40, stir fry veggies 2.00. Total 4.40

6) meatloaf 6.34, potatoes .30, salad 1.50.   8.14 

7) leftovers. 

Total. 3.38 per meal.  

Add a bag of salad 2.68, cucumbers 1.00, spinach 1.00, tomatoes 3.00.   1.28 per meal.   

Total  4.66.    

Under five dollars a meal based on six meals.    

Fred Meyers bargains

This is going to be short and sweet.  
Fred Meyers

Grapes 1.28
Milk .99@@
Oranges .99
Bread 3/4@@
Bumble bee tuna. 2/1. Limit 6@@
Cucumbers, green onions, radishes 2/1.  Note don't buy from Mexico now.   Recall alert.  
Good ground beef 3.99
Nalley chili .99@@

That's about it.  

Bye!  

Jane