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Archive for the ‘money saving ideas’ Category

I love it when the Farmer suggests a trip to Krogers. Of course, he usually has an ulterior motive like buying a tray of sushi or some Diet Cokes for $1. This week, it was the Diet Coke that motivated him. (For those who don’t live near a Krogers, affiliate stores with similar sales are Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith’s, King Soopers, Fry’s, QFC, City Market, Hilander, Owen’s, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker’s, Gerbes, Scott’s Food & Pharmacy.)

When we got up this morning and the Farmer suggested a trip, I threw together a quick list, scrambled to cut yesterday’s coupons, and headed out the door. Even with a lack of pre-planning, we did pretty good.

Before coupons, our total came to $100.75.

After coupons, our total was $68.31 or a savings of 43%.

We bought 61 items for an average of $1.11 per item. However, quite a few items when combined with coupons were almost free.

Here’s some of the deals… (By the way, I don’t keep track of what newspaper inserts the coupons came from, but all of my coupons are newspaper, not printables, except for a couple of Krogers’ coupons.)

Diet Coke 2 liter – 5/$5
Since the Farmer drinks this by the gallon, we purchased 10 and used a Kroger coupon for $1.50 off 10 soft drinks.
Final price – 85 cents each (definitely beats the Wal-Mart price of $1.38 each!)

Ritz crackers – $2.50
Buy 1 Ritz cracker, get 1 Wheat Thins free (up to $3.49 value – even though Wheat Thins were on sale for $2, the full value was taken at the register giving me some overage)
Final price – $1.25 Ritz, $1.25 Wheat Thins

Wheat Thins Family Size box – $4.69
Free box of Wheat Thins up to 15 oz.
Final price – Free!

Hillshire Farm Keilbasa links – B1G1 free (store sale)
Final price – $2.24/each (regular price $4.49)

Kraft Salad Dressing – $1.67
$1.50 off coupon
Final price – 17 cents

Kraft BBQ sauce – $1.00
75 cents off coupon (some areas rec’d a $1 coupon making the BBQ sauce free)
Final price – 25 cents

California Pizza – $5
$1 off coupon
Final price – $4 (Purchasing a California pizza also prompts a catalina coupon (a deal that prints out with your receipt))

Hot Pockets – $2.50
50 cents off coupon, doubles
Final price – $1.50

A1 Steak Marinade – $2.50
$2 off coupon
Final price – 50 cents

French’s Honey Mustard – $1.49
50 cents off coupon, doubles
Final price – 49 cents

Dove candy bar – 75 cents
B1G1 free coupon
Final price – 37 cents

Gatorade 32 oz – $1
$1 off 5 coupon
Final price for 5 – 80 cents each

Pringles (large canister) – $1.65
50 cents off 1 coupon (doubles), $1 off 2 coupon
50 cents off e-saver coupon (I totally forgot this was on my Krogers card!)
Final price for 3 – 82 cents each

DiGiorno Flatbread Pizza – $5
50 cents off coupon (doubles)
Final price -$4

Jell-O refrigerated snacks – $2.75
50 cents off coupon (doubles)
Final price – $1.75

Now that the weather is nicer, I purchase convenience foods for those days when we’re outside most of the day or when I’m inside writing and hubby comes in wanting a snack. Lest you think we buy all snack foods, we also got cucumbers (61 cents each), slicing tomatoes (98 cents/lb), cantaloupe ($1.50), Wonder white bread ($1/loaf), cool whip ($1), Campbell’s chicken broth ($1), Starkist Tuna (94 cents), Van Camp baked beans ($1.39), and Quaker Granola Bars ($2).

What deals did you score this week at the grocery store?

Are you struggling to make ends meet for your family? So many people are nervous about surviving the next couple of weeks, months, and years.

Not knowing how to pay the mortgage or the electric bill can cause a lot of stress. Do you fall behind on this bill to pay that bill for a month?

There may not be one simple solution to your situation, but many little steps can help you survive.

The following posts are ones that I wrote based on our personal experience. They include steps that we’ve taken to make life easier, and steps that I hope you can benefit from.

Surviving on One Income:

Introduction,

Step One: Evaluation

Step Two: Creative Adding

Step Three: Creative Stretching

Step Four: Shopping Strategies

Please let me know if you have additional strategies that you use!

Today was a fun day in our kitchen. Since we did our grocery shopping on Saturday, I had a couple of meals I wanted to cook up. With cooler weather, but not too cold, it was the perfect day to run the oven for a long time to keep the house comfortable without needing the heater.

The first meal we made was Pepperoni Lasagna from Chickens in the Road. (If you don’t read Suzanne’s blog, I highly recommend it along with her Grandmother Bread recipe!) I was a little skeptical about the whole lasagna thing because last time I made it, it was a total disaster. Then I remembered that was in the old house with the strange oven. (Some recipes would be done on time, some early, some way later, making for some interesting meals.)

One change from Suzanne’s recipe is I cooked my noodles. I’ve tried the no-bake noodles before without a lot of success. I cooked the noodles until they were almost al dente, and they turned out perfectly in the lasagna.

The Farmer helped me assemble the layers, and 35 minutes later we had a scrumptious lasagna. I know I should have taken a photo but I didn’t want to make you all hungry. Trust me, it tasted as good as it looked.

After the lasagna came out of the oven, I raised the temperature to 390 deg. I put two whole 5 lb. chickens in my large roasting pan.

I slid some butter slabs under the skin and heavily sprinkled rosemary, thyme, and sage on the outside. In the cavity, I stuffed some chunks of onion for added flavor.

All I can say is “yum!” The chickens turned out juicy, moist, and tasty. The Farmer raved about how awesome the meat was.

So, what will we do with the lasagna and two chickens? We had lasagna for dinner tonight, and there’s a small slab in the refrigerator for a snack tomorrow. I divided the remainder into two portions and froze for future dinners.

The chickens took a little more work. I broke off the legs, part of the thighs and wings. I saved 2 legs and 2 wings for dinner tomorrow night. I packaged the others for the freezer. I took 3 large pieces of breast meat and froze those. Then I divided the remaining breast meat for freezing. The dark meat went in a separate container. I also froze the chicken stock.

In about 4 hours of time and with about an hour of work today, we have 9 meals almost ready for the table. Instead of spending a lot of time each day, I can pull the meat out of the freezer, do a little quick prep, and have a tasty meal in minutes.

Do you prepare meals for your freezer?

I paid…are you ready?…$15 including tax!!!! I didn’t necessarily need a jacket. I have a wonderful Lands End parka, but sometimes the parka is a little too heavy for the weather or a too bulky when I’m shopping. Don’t you think this jacket will look great with a pair of jeans? Or over top one of these…

Aren’t those sweaters the cutest? I love the colors! There’s 5 sweaters, one tank top, and a nightgown (it isn’t in the picture). So how much did I pay? The cheapest item was $2.49, the most expensive was $7.49. Brand new!

I’m really excited because some of my sweaters are looking ratty after years and years of wearing or buying used. Seriously, I’ve had some of my sweaters for about 10 years. I didn’t think anyone noticed, but when I told the Farmer that I bought new sweaters, he cheered! LOL

So, by now you’re probably wondering how this is Super Savings…

If I would’ve bought everything at full price, my total would have been just under $350! Yipes! My total…drumroll please…was $57! Woot! That’s a savings of about 84%!

Now to clean out the closet and get rid of those ratty sweaters.

Today’s Frugal Friday idea was inspired by Trixie’s post over at Farm Home Life. She talks about not buying groceries this week and eating from the freezer. She mentioned her over-the-refrigerator freezer, and that made me reminisce.

Before we moved into our new house, we had an over-the-refrigerator freezer. That freezer and I had a love/hate relationship. My toes, in particular, hated it. Somehow, no matter how hard I tried to avoid it, I could open the door and something frozen would fall on my foot. Ow!

I battled that war for about a year or so until I came up with a great solution – besides wearing steel-toed shoes.

My other problem with the freezer was I never knew what was on the bottom of the pile or in the very back. I would get frustrated with taking everything out of the freezer to find one thing. And usually during an emptying episode I would find something that was well past its prime and had to be thrown away.

So what was my solution? Home improvement stores and Wal-Mart sell small, free-standing wire shelves. Their purpose is to expand storage capacity in cabinets, which is why I originally bought a couple.

One day I realized that I could use the same shelf in my freezer! Since the shelves are wire (metal) I didn’t have to worry about them cracking etc.

The simple addition of a 12 in x 6 in shelf in the freezer offered tons of organization! I put my frozen meat underneath the shelf since the meat was the heaviest. On top I put frozen vegetables and some other miscellaneous items like cartons of ice cream. Next to the shelf I still had open space where I was able to put larger items. Honestly, it was like my freezer capacity doubled.

I could open the door, see 90% of what was in the freezer, and efficiently take out what I needed. I didn’t have to worry about items spoiling or buying something I already had because I could see what was in there at a glance.

While the shelf probably cost about $5, I’m sure it saved us far more in the long run.

For more Frugal Friday ideas, click here.

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Don’t miss out on my giveaway this week!!!