Saturday

First a little housekeeping.  Dollar store dinners was a challenge.  I have eaten the potatoes and the frozen veggies from the dollar store.  They are good.  A lot of the dry goods are the same brands that are at the regular chain stores.  Some are cheaper, some are not.  I have not eaten the meat or fish from the dollar store, so I can't offer an opinion.  of course, the dollar store does not have perishables( fresh fruits and vegetables).  I don't think I would use the dollar store as my main food store.  LOL  This  was an experiment .  I always get French fries and pepperoni from the dollar store and their mixed veggies are good.  The same brand is 1.25 elsewhere.

The dollar store has a variety of things that are necessity items, but cheaper.  It's like what we called the dime store when I was a kid.  We had Woolworth's and Sprouse Ritz. I probably spelling it wrong.  Then came the 88 cent store.  A product of inflation, we have the dollar store.  The dollar store accepts coupons.  Because everything is a dollar, if you can do a match up with the correct sizes, some things can be free or near free.  You  cannot extreme coupon at the dollar store, they will only take four coupons at a time, it is my understanding. but, FREE is a  VERY nice word to the budgeter.  I got toothpaste for free, and I got sandwich bags for 1/2 price.  our granddaughter is small and she brings lunch to "school".  The quart bags we were sending in her lunch were too wasteful.
While, it isn't a food item, (SNAP doesn't pay for personal hygiene necessities. )If you can get them for free it is best.  I have purchased toothpaste for free or near free.  I am next going to tackle deodorant and toilet paper.  Watch for coupons and sales or the dollar store, and try to match them up.  This state doesn't allow overages and double coupons for what I can tell, so it might be a challenge. If someone finds it, please let the rest of us know.  There is a comment section below.


If you have the luxury of a variety of stores to shop at, then why not take advantage of that.
I wouldn't  recommend driving miles and miles, but planning your trips to group other errands works.
I stock, I don't buy 1 thing a week.  That being said, I would not stock anything that I haven't had before or that I didn't have storage for.

It's  a trade off, you find storage someplace in your house.  My dad always built a storage room in the basement in every house we ever lived in.  the trade off is that you  never have to run to the store or borrow from the neighbor something because you are in the middle of cooking dinner  and don't have something.  And, more to the point, you never have nothing on the house to eat and you are prepared for an emergency...be it you're too sick to get to the store, or an act of God has made the store inaccessible.

Last  night we had bean and rice burritos with leftover pork tenderloin.  That way, I could make some with meat, and some without.  That was three days on a pork tenderloin.  The tenderloin costs 7.50 divided by three makes 2.50 per meal for meat.

1. Pork tenderloin with potatoes and vegetable.  
2. BBQ pork sandwiches, German potato salad
3. Burritos

To  make five dollar meals, you have to average two to three dollars a meal.  If you hit the three dollar mark often, you are restricted to the starch and veggie for the meal.  You need to get in at least five servings of fruits and veggies a day.  We often use fruit as a desert.  Sliced bananas or strawberries with chocolate topping is a favorite.  As is bananas with butterscotch.  Or strawberries with cream.  I make a banana bread from Betty Crocker on line, that has oatmeal, bananas and blueberries in it.  It is really fast, easy, and inexpensive.  Bananas  are cheapest at Costco.  Do not buy organic bananas.  All bananas are organic and it is a rip off in my opinion.  I have heard experts say the same thing.  

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Jane