The ads

The ads for the week  of Jan 13 to 19th.   Albertsons and Safeways. Or Alberways as I am calling it.  

Chicken , signature farms, drums or thighs .88 at Albertsons
Chicken whole, Foster farms, .88 at Safeways

The rest of the first page  is identical for both stores.  
Milk 2/5@@
Soho .69@@
Crackers .99@@
Berries 2/6

fIve  dollar Friday  Safeways

Pork tenderloins ( may be a coupon? )
Salmon
Shrimp
Grapes 2/5

Albertsons
Loins or bratsgrapes 2/5

Buy 5, save 5

Ice cream 2.49
Cheese 4.99
Oatmeal 1.99
4 ft Greek yogurt 2.49


QFC

Blues 18 ounces 4.99
Breyers  2.88
Freschetta 3.99
Oranges .99
Grapefruit 2/1

That's about it.    Notemthat some prices are cheaper elsewhere.   Pick the stores that have the best prices on the things that you need to plan your meals or stock.   I'm not seeing a lot of stock things this week.   Other than tuna at FM that is also a good thing for outreach .  

Menus

speghetti with shrimp stir fry : shrimp, olive oil, tomatoes, red peppers.  
Chicken breast stuffed with pepperoni and cheese, peas and whole grain brown rice.  
Tacos, refried beans, brown rice.
Chicken stir fry with frozen stir fry vegetables rice ( from  yesterday)
Pork chops with dressing, peas and carrots.  
Pot roast soup. Cheese and crackers
Fresh fettuccini with Alfredo sauce. Mixed berries.    Cheese
Fish packets ,   Layer in parchment, spinach, white beans, cooked rice, fish and a green fresh veggie,    Seal up parchment packer.    Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until fish is done,

Safeways Haul

Safeways has buy one, get three free on pork chops.    The smallest package was 25.00 at eight dollars a pound.   I like the fact that that would make them two dollars a pound, but I wasn't hit in the head   with buying twenty five dollars worth of pork chops.

I bought
Pasta for .59
4 progreso souls for .75 each with manufacturers coupon.
Best foods 2.99
Eggs 2/3
Sharp cheddar cheese for 2 lbs 4.99
Klondike bars 2.88
Baby carrots 1.00
Blueberries 2/5
Package of six pork chops
healthy entrees 2.00 each for my lunches


Two dollar off coupon for quantity.


Total 39.34

That's about all.    Thanks.


Jane

Fred Meyer ad

Fred Meyer ad......my trip to Safeways later...

Boneless 1/2 loon roast. 1.99
Milk .99@@
3 lbs mandarines 2.99
Freschetta pizza  2/7@@
Bread/buns 3/4@@
Tuna 2/1@@. Limit 6
Cottage cheese/sour cream 2/4

The ads

We got Alberways ads and QFC.  

QFC is pretty much a bust.    They are pushing simple truth that has had some bad press lately.  
Oranges are .88, crackers are a buck.    Berries are 2/5.

Both other stores have eggs 2/3@@
Pasta sauce .99@@
Pasta .69@@
Mayo 2.99@@
Cheese 4.99@@

5 dollar Friday's
Blue Berries, 2/5
progress soup 5/5



That's about all.  



Jane

The basics

Groceries  on the cheap is a whole different way of grocery shopping than what a lot of people are used to.   The advantages are that you never have to pay full price for your core food and you always have something on the house to eat.    We eat well, and we eat on less than the four dollar a day figure that people have been throwing around.  

A few basic rules, and the. I will outline steps to get started.  

1. You want to pay the ( RBP) rock bottom price or what I call my target price, for the foods that you stock on a regular basis.   Often that is fractions of what they would cost if you went to the nearest store and bought your food as you use it.   
2. You want to avoid junk food.  It is better for your health, and better for your pocket book.   Those few bags of chips, even on sale, can jack your food bill up substantially.    
3.  You want to buy low and eat high, to take a premise from the stockbrokers.    Buy your food when it is the lowest price ( shelf stable), buy enough to last you until it is a low price again.   

Steps to get started.    This takes a little time. It will save  countless hours and money in the long run.   

• Identify seven to fourteen dinner entrees that your family will eat and that use inexpensive sources of protein,    In our family that would be beans and rice, cheese, hamburger, chicken, pork and or sausage, eggs, and ham.   
• List the ingredients that you use in a regular basis to make these meals.   We are talking scratch cooking made easy.    In our house that would be beans, rice, mashed potatoes, green beans, diced tomatoes, pasta sauce, tuna, pasta, corn, some canned soups.   
• Start a spreadsheet, or a notebook and track prices  for a while.   Soon you will have a good feel for the lowest price to be had.    If you are trying for four dollars a day or less, this is not a time  to be brand loyal on everything.   There are still a few things that I demand the best quality.   If we are going to eat inexpensive food, it's going to be good quality.  mixes usually don't give you the quality that scratch does, and often are no easier than making the product  from scratch.     
• Each week, go through the chain store ads for your area and identify what is on sale that is truly on sale.    You are looking for a) perishables that you are almost out of ...milk, sour cream, eggs, fresh fruits and veggies in season, b) stock items that are at a RBP, and a so called loss leader in the protein department.    
• Buy as many as you can of stock items to reach your self imposed limit.    ( as many as you will use before the next sale) ; buy what you,need and can I set up before it goes bad of perishables. ; and buy one loss leader protein in bulk that is enough for a months worth of that protein.   I get four meals out of a roasted chicken that I roast myself.   We eat 2 chicken or pork meals a week.   I need 1-2 chickens.   Batch cook, divide in meal sized portions, and freeze what you aren't going to use soon,   
• After you choose which 2 stores you are going to, plan your trip, get in and get out.  Preferably alone.   The longer you spend in a store, the more money you will spend.  The more people you bring with you, the more money you will spend. That's why going to the stories a daily or nearly daily is not a good idea.   

That's a lot to digest.    

Happy eating!    

Jane 

Winco

I looked at the fed Meyer ad, but didn't find enough to make me drag my weary vines up the road.   Lol.   I had, up Intel now spend 15.88 on food for the last week.    I added about fifty dollars with this trip.   I'll break it down by categories since win has no ad.  


Protein
ff whole chicken   1.08.
7 percent ground beef 3.38
Bacon ends .98


Frozen
Stir fry veggies 1.28
Peas 2lbs 1.68

Vegetables
Apples , several kinds .98
Grape tomatoes 2.28


Diced tomatoes .38
Bc cake mixes .88 (3) coupon .75

Notes

Tonight we are going to have stuffed chicken breast.  Themchickenbreasts were frozen and cheapest at grocery outlet.    The cheese to stuff them is 2.25 a pound (approx) at Costco wholesale.   Pepperoni is .50 with a coupon at dollar tree.     Rice, vegetable.  

I will make meat balls, taco meat, and crumbles with the hamburger and roast off the chicken tomorrow as well as frying the bacon onto crumbles for seasoning.   A little bacon goes. Long ways to make the ordinary taste simply divine.      I can work  about an hour and have about ten dinners set aside for a quick head start.  

If you are among the working poor, or have little children at home. It os an easy way to get a head start on dinner, and not spend much time .   When my youngest were littler , I would set certain jobs to get done while they were napping.     Scratch cooking when you haven't a lot of tome so doable and nice you are set up, you can shop 1/2 price pretty easy too.   Know your prices and take advantage of what's on sale.    Today, I bought six diced tomatoes.  They have a year out pull date and  at .38, they were a RBP.    My shelf is full, so I only bought six.   If I had no stock, I would have bought 24.    I use it for salsa, vegetable soup, chilli, speghetti sauce.   Nachos when fresh is,not an option.      It's a very versatile thing to have on the pantry.  

Thanks for stopping by


Jane

Notes on.....

Yesterday was national speghetti day........who dreams these things up?      

We had shrimp stir fry with olive oil, red peppers, grape tomatoes and parmesean cheese over tomato speghetti.  

It was fast.  My granddaughter and I had fun throwing the bag of frozen  shrimp on the floor to break it up.   Since I am not allowed to bend at the waist, I threw and she handed it back to me, throwing it a few times in between.    That was after we put the speghetti on the microwave to cook.   We proceeded to read a while waiting to thaw and the speghetti to cook.   Non passive time was really short.    

You don't have to be into cooking three course meals for hours to scratch cook and save money on groceries.    You also don't have to eat food from Mars that you can't pronounce, convince the family to eat, or isn't at a regular grocery store.  

I write this blog to help people eat on four dollars a day.   Actually, we eat on less than four dollars a day.    I'm coming from, been there, done that.   I was a single parent with almost no child support, and a low income.   I didn't get help.   Half my paycheck went to rent, the other half child care.    We eked out other expenses from the little that was left.     We didn't do it eating rocks or grains that cost eight dollars a pound.  

Having a rich person teach you how to eat on four dollars a day is about like a person teaching you how to parent that has had no children.    It looses some credibility.   I'm a libra that was an accountant for years.     Everything I read is tempered with a dose of  is it logical and is it balanced!  

Cheyenne. Beer bread is a real treat .   It's simple.  We always have the ingredients and it's quick.    There is a mix at the dollar store, but honestly, it only takes four ingredients anyway.   Bisquick, sugar, butter and beer.    Quick if you only count actual time spent cooking.  Passive cooking is the time  when something cooks without needing your attention.  Like putting somehing in a slow cooker and walking away.  

We should fet ads tonight, back later.  

Soup series no 5

Split pea soup  and beer bread


Yesterday I dug  myself out of bed and made split pea soup and beer bread.   I've been in bed most of the time since Wednesday with a massive ear infection.  What the ear infection didn't do, the meds to kill it did.   lol.  

I did manage to get Christmas taken down, some of the lights fixed on the tree, and some  work done in my studio. Two steps back, one step forward!  

Split pea soup and beer bread are good five minute ( non passive) kitchen time meals with wonderful inexpensive results.

Answer to a letter......

Dear groceries on the cheap,

I have a long commute from work.   By the time I get home the last thing I want to do is cook a meal for an hour.   What can I do to escape the drive through.  We want to turn over a new leaf and save money on the new year.   Signed, Janis in Chicago.    

Dear Janis, 

I can totally relate to your problem.    My family arrives home late during the work week.   We have an active three yo to watch while I cook and I'm old.     By that time of day, my get up and go has got up and went.    My solution may help.   

The grocery chains usually offer a loss leader of protein each week.  They usually rotate the kind if meat.   I buy a months supply of that particular meat  when it's on sale. Like if it's chicken, I will buy two chockens.  that's enough to get us to the end of the month.   I batch cook the chockens and seoarate them into eight meal portions and freeze them.    If it is hamburger, I make a meatloaf or meatballs, taco meat, and crumbles.    Pork loin gets cut into pick chops and a roast.   The roast can be roasted off and sliced thin for BBQ pork sandwiches for a weeknight meal.   

I make meal plans ahead for a week.    I have a matrix that suits our family.   Yours can be whatever suits yours.    With a plan, I may deviate from, I at least have a plan.  I don't have to think of the answer to what's for dinner!     

With th protein cooked, the rest of the dinner falls onto place with little effort.   I also keep a stack of pizzas I get on sale cheap to augment a really bad day.   I can add meats and cheese and dinner is virtually a no brainier.   Salad is always on the vegetable bin.   

From a chicken , I get 

1. BBQ  chicken pieces from the legs, and thighs.  Just thaw and brush with BBQ sauce and stick in  the oven with French fries and make a salad or fruit plate.   
2. Chicken pot pie using Bisquick crust.   
3. Roast chicken with mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies.    ( salad) 
4. Chicken breast sliced over dressing from dry bread cubes, Apple, cranberries, and some chicken stock, poultry seasoning.   
5. Chicken soup in the crockpot.    

We all know how many thousands of recipes that ground beef or sausage there are.    Keep frozen veggies and a bag of salad on the fridge.    

Hope this helps.   

Jane 

Budget detail for 2015

it is interesting to nite that we have had the big shakeup in our food chain stores in this part of the country.   Winco opened in our area mid- October.  

1 Q 2015.    Weekly average 74.70
2Q 2015.                                79.75
3Q 2015.                                81 07
4Q 2015.                                76.40
Average per week             77.98


That is up about three dollars from last year.   The third quarter is not a big surprise because that's when the new lack of canned goods hots the warehouses and the previous years pack goes on sale cheap.   It's a good time to stock.    Note we did not eat that much food a week, I have a bigger stock of non oerishavles on the pantry and freezer.    I am still running about half of USDA stats and less than the stats for snap.    We always have fresh fruits and veggies in the house and I mostly also accommodate a vegetarian and a diabetic and two picky eaters.    My daughter and granddaughter mostly eat lunch out of the house on weekdays.  

Soup series no. 4

Betty Crocker chicken gnocchi soup.  

How to cut your grocery bills in half. And balance

That's a simple answer to that.    Is the same answer to how to loose weight.   To loose weight, you either have to exercise more, or eat less.    To cut your grocery bill in half you either need to eat 1/2 as much, or spend 1/2 the amount for your food.    Since I am already below my target weight, as well as the rest of the family , we spend 1/2 on food.  

My daughter was expressing interest about a guy on the internet eating interesting food on three dollars a day.   I stopped to calculate the amount we spend per person on food on a normal basis.    I spent a whole lot over Christmas, buying more and more expensive items because it was Christmas and we were feeding extended family.   Because if the way we grocery shop, it is hard to break out.   I'm averaging 75-80 a week and that covers having a large stock of food ( non perishables) that is carried over from week to week.   We , I estimate actually eat about soxty five dollars a week-- about two dollars plus change.    A little disclaimer, my daughter and her daughter eat lunch out of the house  five days a week.   My daughter buys their alternative options sources for a few meals.   That could only be done because I almost n e v e r pay full price for food.    If I can get a good brand of food , and get it for 2 or 3 for the price of one, it seems ludicrous buy one and then pay fill like the  next week for another.   🍎
Last night, we had taco pie.   We made two pies, one from real hamburger, and one from TVP.  My daughter ate the TVP, we ate the hamburger, and cooked something  different for granddaughter because she isn't fond  of taco pie.   We put  tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream on the pie.

Now, we are going back to my series on soup.   We like soup, and it is a good way to stretch the dollar and is filling and warm on these cold, blustery days.   Some of the time, it can be cooked in the  crockpot which makes meal  time flexible and a lot less hectic.

We went to Fred Meyers for probably the last grocery shopping trip of the year.    I did buy good
quality grocery bags with Christmas motives on them for .37.   I plan to "wrap" our resents in them next year.   One of the ways you can cut the expense of a lot of household things is to buy things with seasonal icons on them and use them all year.   One time my mother found kitchen towels for a dime.   She each of we girls a dollars worth.    We used them for years.    I don't really care what pattern my kitchen towels are, they just need to dry the dishes.   LOL.

 Eating a well  balanced diet is key to good health, in my opinion.    It has been that way for years.  .  Grandparents are living to be well past their 80's .   So many people are taking whole food groups out of their diets.  Some are at the advice of their doctors because of health issues. Some, I suspect are doing it because it is the "thing" to do.    Taking a food group out of your diet is a big step.  You are upsetting the balances in your body.   If you are not going to a nutrition expert and finding out what you need to put the balance back, you are asking for trouble. You might be trying to fix something that isn't broke. And breaking somethng  else.    It's kinda like not buying makeup to save money, and then going to the big bucks store and buying a five dollar coffee.


We all know that too much fat, sugar and salt are bad for us.   Our bodies need a certain amount of those things  to run properly.   Even a diabetic diet has to have some carbs.   When you take whole food groups out of your diet and you don't get good expert advice on what're eat  in its place, you are laying with fire.    Moderation is the key in my opinion.  Add being a icky eater and .....

The media and Facebook etc. is full of articles everyday about how some food item is causing some disease.   There is almost always a contradictory article.   Now I just  read where we should  be eating  butter because vegetable oil is not good for us.   Don't eat butter because it causes heart disease, don't eat vegetable oils because it causes cancer-- and on it goes.

   I put  well balanced food on the table.   I buy the best quality I can find .   I just buy it in sale.    Almost every basic item in a grocery store goes on sale at sometime.

Now, if the picky eaters ....that's a whole other topic!  

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

New Years coming.......5 easy to do hacks to cut food costs

Five easy steps to start saving money on food.

1. Start saving the crusts from bread and any leftover buns.  Breadcrumbs can be as much as 2.40 a pound,    Why pay that for someone else's dry bread?    I put bread crusts on a sheet pan and leave them on the counter for a bit.   Then I put them on a cold oven and let get dry.    Break them up and pulse on a food processor.    When I didn't have a food processor, I went outside with a box grater and a sheet pan.   The birds got the flying crumbs left over.  
2. Make your own pizza sauce.   Until I watched some grocery hauls, I didn't know that there was a thing called pizza sauce.   I buy small cans of tomato sauce when they are about .25.  I use part of one and add Italian seasoning to it.   The remainder I freeze for another pizza or put in meatballs or loaf.   
3. Put two ( or more ) snack or quart bags in the freezer door.   When you are chopping anything that can go on a pizza. Chop a little more and place in a " vegetable bag".   Ditto  cooked meat.  I put meat on its separate bag.   When you have enough, make individual pizzas.    
4. Save the little bits and pieces of cheese and make 4 cheese Mac and cheese.   
5. Research mix recipes ( see older blogs) and start making one mix at a time to replace any mixes you usually buy.   Ranch dressing is the one of the easiest.   

Five easy hacks.     

Thanks. Jane.  

Fred Meyers ad

Fred Meyers ad for tomorrow
Just a note that anything that is a typical holiday meal ingredient is price matched at Winco.  

Rib eye roast 5.97.  Limit
Broccoli .99
Butter 2/5@@
Blues 2.99
Starbucks pods 5.49@@
Tillamook ice cream 2.99@@
Bacon 2/7@@
Oranges .88
Green beans 1.79
Ny roast 4.97

That's about it

Tools.- kitchen management

Kitchen management .   Organization is one of the keys to saving money and not wasting food.  
A few forms done  on the computer make it quick and easy to manage shopping and dinner.  

Kitchen management/ meal plans 

• A spread sheet can track a RBP  of an item and where you got it.    You are not tracking every item you buy, just the ones you buy on  a regular basis.   For most people, that is  about fifteen things.   
• Analyzing the weekly ads just takes a piece of computer paper divided in sections,  often mine comes from the recycle bin.  
• Coupon book.   A binder from the goodwill, plastic sheets for baseball cards/ and or photo sleeves , and a package of dividers from the dollar store.     Add a cheap calculator, small scissors and a red pen Ina pencil case from the dollar store.   

• Meal plan / kitchen management sheet has columns for what's on the fridge that you need  to eat, what you need to buy to fill in, and days of the week to make meal plans.   A matrix tailored to your families likes makes planning easier.    

Coupon book.  

Coupons are found everywhere.   On packages, electronic ones ( harder to manage) I guess mark them in your grocery list.   Newspaper inserts .  Some inserts come on our mail now.   Some are in the Sunday paper.  They don't come in holiday papers and Proctor and Gamble comes the first  Sunday of the month.     You can buy the Sunday paper the saturday before at the dollar tree. You can download coupons from your computer, two per month per coupon at coupons.com.   Filter food only. Pick just the ones you would likely buy and do it early on the month.   The coupons come out 

the first of the month, there is a limited amount of coupons that can be printed, and when they are gone, they are gone.    They will e mail you if more are loaded.   

Ibotta is a rebate tool.   I check the Ibotta list after I get home from the store.   If there are things I bought, I check the item, take a pic of the bar code, and take a picture of the sales slip.    It's an easy way to save a few extra dollars.    I, working towards an Amazon card but you can have Starbucks, movie tickets, wall,art and a host of others.    

Hope this helps.    A little planning can save a lotion time and money.     Once you are set up, it doesn't take much time.   

Winco and Costco's

Winco had five pounds of French fries for 3.18.   We are having them for dinner.    They don't look bad.    Klondike bars are 2.96, saurkraut 128 in jars,    Costco has finish tabs for the dishwasher for 14.49 less 3.50.   Bananas are 1.39, 3 lbs bacon are 14.99.


That's about it.  

We hav had birthdays and Christmas parties.    Soup thread will continue next week before Christmas ..  

Happy Holdays.


Jane

The ads

Safeway and Albertsons

spiral ham 1.68
Rib eye roast or New York  7.77
Mandarines 3.88
Yams .99
Pineapple 2.99
Chuck roast 3.99
Pork loon crown 3.99
Pork loom 3.99


Same food, different prices

Food.                                           Albertsons.                                Safeways
Fresh turkey.                                    1.99.                                        1.99
Butterball.                                         2.19.                                        2.29
Pie.                                                    6.99.                                        7.99
Brown and serve rolls                        2/4.                                          2/4
Brie                                                    9.99.                                       9.99
Pistachios.                                          3.99.                                        2/5


Albertsons
Bottom round 3.99
1/2 ham 1.88
Ground beef 3.99 ( 7 percent)
Salmon 9.99


5 dollar Friday
Chicken tenders
Berries 2/5
Cupcakes (12)


Ground beef 3.69(15percent)
****************+++++++++
Coupons  -   The same for both stores.  
Cool whip .88
Bc cake mix .99
Campbell's soup .79
Cascade ice .50
Red Barton 3/10

*******+++++++++++
Safeways
Bottom round 3.99
Shrimp 6.99
Salmon 9.99


Friday only
Berries 2/5
Chicken tenders
Most th



Or-----for anything that is a typical holiday meal check Winco first they will match the best price.    Saves a lot of hassle.  


QFC

Ham.  1.69
Cooks portion 1.29
Mandarines 3.88
Broccoli. .99
Rib eye.  9.99
Sirloin tip roast bogo. Ref price 6.99
Butter 2/5
Tillamook 5.99
Turkey 179
Berries 2/5
Blues 299
Shrimp 6.99



Beef tenderloin 19.99 a pound   -

That's about it


Thanks

Jane

Soup no 3 Cheezy potato

Cheesy potato soup from thembetty Crocker on line cook book.  
Picks without bacon and parsley garnish.  
Easiest soup I think I ever made.

Soup , no. 2

Tomato basil, Gorgonzola soup and crab cakes.

@