Grocery Budget Overhaul

It's pretty amazing how a quick trip to the store can add up. I had the hope of doing a $50/week grocery budget for our family of 5. I realized yesterday that I was a bit unreal with that hope. For several reasons.

The first being that we're a family of 5. Feeding 5 people on less than $10 a day is possible, but not really practical unless there are ways to compensate for the little amount spent (good coupon deals, using a garden, etc). Also, possible doesn't mean that it is enjoyable. I could eat nothing but beans and rice and save a lot of money, but I'd also be very sick of beans and rice (and I think my family would resist).

Another reason this was impractical for us is the lack of coupon options. My grocery store does double 50 cents and lower and do I get many items for free, but when you buy staples more than box mixes, it can add up because there are fewer coupons for those products. I also find it hard to get to the grocery store often. I'm sure if I were able to do the drug store game that I would have more at my disposal.

It is summer. My kids are home and with all the playing, running, and swimming, are more hungry. I'm also nursing my youngest, and though that saves the expense of formula- it ups my food budget because I'm always hungry.

So my budget became $100/week. That is without using our garden (since it just got put in the ground this week), so I hope that it'll go down. It is also with a lot of fresh produce and our meat intake has cut back a lot. I don't think it is horrible for a family of 5 to eat 3 meals a day at home + snacks :)

What is your grocery budget? Do you have trouble lowering it?

When a good plan goes bad.

I wanted to start out by saying that I have been working with different companies and am so excited about what I will get to do soon! I have been working on different ideas daily and have been putting myself out there so that I can start doing more of what I want to do. I am frugal by nature and necessity. I am also a mother and I have only one semester left before I am a teacher as well. I want to work all these facets of my life into my blog and am finding new, exciting ways to do so! So stay tuned, good things are coming!

With that said, I didn't have the best grocery experience today. I left with a small list of the stuff I wanted to be sure to remember, but since we have a stocked pantry I felt like a big detailed list wasn't necessary since I could wing it and just get what we needed.

I was wrong. SO wrong.

I found that I need my list. I need my menus! I am tired of playing "what's for dinner?" each day. The options seem overwhelming or I'm missing one ingredient that I would like to have for it. I also shopped with 2 of my kids, which usually isn't a problem because I have a game plan and get in and get out. I found myself giving in to the older kids requests and those added up! I also wanted to get 10 of the Mega Kroger items and when I looked at my receipt as I left I had 9. Nine! I was one away from saving another $5, but was flustered and ready to get out so I misjudged what I had in the cart. That would not have happened with a list.

So now I have the motivation to do better next time. I know that it all evens out in the end, so I am trying not to worry too much about it. I also am going to sit down and make a menu for the week so that even though I am doing it out of order, I still have the convenience of knowing what is coming up.

Have you had bad days at the check out? How do you handle it?

Also don't forget about my Purex Complete Crystals giveaway!

Kroger Deals- 3/22

Is it obsessive to go to the grocery store first thing in the morning just to get a few deals? Probably, but I did anyway :)

I needed to get more free pasta since I was given a few more coupons. The boxes are on sale for 49 cents (when you buy 10 participating items) and I had 2 $1/2 coupons and one $1/1 coupon. I was paid 55 cents to take these off the shelves! I am well stocked on pasta now. I hope enough to last until the next big pasta sale.

I also was able to get more of the Philadelphia Cooking Creme. I tried the original this week in place of cream cheese, and I was really pleased with the results. I also used the Santa Fe version for fajitas and they were so good. I am sold. Though the $2.99 price tag makes it something I won't get often, unless it is on sale. It was $1.99 after buying 10 participating items, and I had three $1.50/1 coupons so I got them for 49 cents apiece. Not too shabby :)

I needed 2 more items to get 10 participating ones so I grabbed the Danimals yogurt ($1.55 after sale) and Sunny D (99 cents after sale). I had a $1/1 coupon for the Danimals and a 25 cents/1 coupon for Sunny D so I paid a little over $1 for both items. Worth it to save $5 total, I had a coffee playdate today and the Sunny D was a hit with the kids who came.

Speaking of a coffee playdate, I got the coffee cake marked down to $1.79. I planned to make my own and picked up sugar (since I was out- $2.29, ouch!) but saw the bakery marking these down and thought it'd be worth it to save myself the trouble of making it. I also picked up bananas to have on hand as a snack. I think next time I'll cut them in half so that they last longer. The Yoplait Kids yogurts were $2 for 4, but I had 2, 50 cent coupons that doubled to $1 making them $1 for a 4 pack. I also used my 2 FREE Coffeemate coupons on the creamer so I am stocked up for future coffee playdates.


I ended up spending $9.71, saving $30.52. Completely worth going to the store first thing in the morning :)

Kroger Deals- 3/17

I knew I should have waited on pasta!

Ronzoni pasta is on sale for 49 cents a box when you buy 10 Mega Event items. I had 3 $1/2 Smart Taste coupons and 5 $1/2 Healthy Harvest coupons. So I was paid 16 cents to take these off the shelves :)

Breakdown:
10 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest (6 Spaghetti, 4 Linguine) $1.84 ea, $18.40 total. Sale .99 ea. $9.90 total.
6 Ronzoni Smart Taste (3 Penne, 3 Rotini) $2.09 ea, $12.54 total. Sale .99 ea, $5.94 total.
Kraft Light House Italian $2.99, Sale $2.29.
Aquafresh $3.17, Sale $2.49.
2 Quaker Quakes $1.29 ea $2.58; Sale $0.79, $1.58

Total $39.68
-$17.48 Kroger Sales
-$10 Mega Event Sale
-$9 in Coupons
Total = $3.20

Not too bad :)

Kroger Deals! 3/16

I did something I haven't done in awhile, I left Kroger feeling good about what I spent! I saved $49.44 and bought what I went there to buy- which is a victory in itself! I actually saved more than the receipt reported because I bought a few things on Manager Special and that doesn't reflect the total savings on the receipt.

This was the first deal. Kroger had boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 lb, but these were marked down to $1.95 per lb (not a huge difference, but I'll take the pennies!). They also had a $1.50 coupon for the Philadelphia Cooking Creme on them, which was on sale for $2.50, so I got it for $1 each! I actually had a $1 coupon that I planned to use, so this was even better.

My next find was stew meat. Usually this is too pricey for me to get, but it was marked down to $5 cheaper than even the sale price! I buy meat in bulk and then divide it on my own to make meal-sized servings, so these packages of meat will last a long time for us.

These were completely free after coupon! I had 2 free Johnsonville coupons from my House Party left (I tried to get it before the party but my store didn't restock in time), I redeemed the free Philadelphia Cooking Creme coupon, and I had a 50 cent Softsoap coupon that doubled up to $1 making the soap free.

These were all under $1. The baby food was 89 cents (I will plan better with coupons for this next time. My son loved the sweet potatoes so I wanted to grab another one). The Ronzoni Smart Taste were $1.34 each, but I had two $1/2 coupons, making them 84 cents each. I try to hold out for free pasta or under 50 cents, but I didn't want to risk not getting any at all. I have more coupons to use if it happens to drop soon. The Ronzoni Garden Delight pasta were $1.29 and I had two $1/1 coupons making them 29 cents each. The yogurt was $2 and I had a 50 cent coupon that doubled to $1 off. I also used another $1.50 coupon from the Kraft First Taste mailer on the Cooking Creme.

I bought the two Cascade items to try them out (I'm still enjoying the novelty of a dishwasher!). The rinse aid was $3.99 on sale, I had an ecoupon (that I forgot about) for 50 cents, and a 50 coupon that doubled to $1, making it only $2.49. The dish tablets were $4.29 and I had an ecoupon for 50 cents and was able to use another $1 coupon, making it $2.81. The Bounce sheets were $4.99 and I had a 50 cent ecoupon and a 50 cent coupon that doubled to $1, making it $3.49.

I also got soda for my husband, lunchmeat, ice cream, and stuff for his lunches.

Use Those Leftovers! Day 2

I love Thanksgiving. The food, the family, the food, the parade, the food, the shopping, the food... ;)

I already posted about Turkey Soup, but if I kept cooking like that I think my family would protest. It also gets really boring eating a turkey dinner each night.

Tonight I made Turkey Chili. This is a good meal because it is cheap even when not using leftovers, but even better when you are! I put in a bit of the turkey meat, beans, peppers, corn, and 2 jars of the tomatoes I canned this summer. I also added in some of the leftover sweet potatoes. It makes the chili more rich, thick, and sweet. It also can be a way to "sneak" in some veggies because they start to fall apart and just make the chili thicker. Even though it uses a lot of the Thanksgiving leftovers, it doesn't feel like you're eating the same meal over and over again.


We also have had turkey sandwiches. That is a perfect "day after Thanksgiving" lunch because it is simple to throw together. If you're more ambitious you can make a "Turkey Salad" instead.

This is only Day 2 of my goal to use up all the leftovers! I'll keep posting the different ways we made a turkey dinner stretch :)

Freezer Cooking Day!

After spending more than I would have liked to spend on groceries, I am making the most of it and kicking off a freezer cooking day today :D The good thing is that if all goes according to plan we'll be eating well once I deliver. So extra expense now will give us a chance to relax and enjoy the baby later.

I hope to make a breakdown of what we spent and how many meals it will mean for us later.

Frugal Finds- Freebies!

Ever wonder if it is worth it to sign up for the different freebies found online?



I think it is.

It may take awhile to start getting stuff in the mail, but if you keep signing up after awhile you'll get weekly treats in the mailbox. This is not all from one day, but was over the past couple weeks. The little lotions and hair care samples are perfect for traveling (or to keep in your travel box if you have one). I plan to use them in my hospital bag for when I deliver, so I don't need to go and buy small bottles, but still have the convenience of something travel-sized.

Another tip with the free samples is that many times you will get a higher value coupon with them. I signed up for one freebie and got a free pizza. For one of the pampers samples I got a $3.00 off coupon for any Pampers diapers.



Then when stopping by Kroger for a quick trip I saw that they had pampers marked down to $6.00 a package (regular price $9.77). Since I carry my coupons with me everywhere, I was able to pull out the $3.00 off coupon and make a pretty good deal into a really awesome one. I won't need size 5 diapers (the only ones marked down) for a while, but when I do need them I'll have them and for a cheap price.

So my tips for today are to sign up for samples whenever you see them (they can come in handy for travel, gift baskets, and come with coupons), bring your coupons with you wherever you go so that when you spot deals you are always prepared, and combine sales/clearanced prices with coupons whenever you can to make the savings even better.

Frugal Finds- Kroger 6/23

It has taken me awhile to get this post up, but I went to Kroger on Wed and though I didn't get as many deals as I had hoped for, I did find quite a few good ones :)



Ronzoni had to be the best deal (and was the reason I went Wed rather than Thurs). They were on sale for $1.00 each box. I combined that sale with 4 coupons:

(1) $1/1 = one free box of pasta
(1) $1/2 = 50 cents per box of pasta
(2) .75/1 = 25 cents per box of pasta

I bought 5 boxes to use the coupons (original price $9.70) and saved $4.70 with the sale and another $3.50 with coupons, spending only $1.50 on 5 boxes of pasta :) I won't use it all this week (and was sure to watch expiration dates) but it was better to get it now with this sale than to wait until I needed pasta to go to the store.

The Kraft Cheese was another pretty good deal. They were on sale for $1.99 for the 8oz packages. I also had a coupon for $1/2. The original price for the 2 packages of cheese would have been $8.38, but with the sale I saved $4.40 and another $1 with the coupon making it only $1.49 per package.

The Kraft Singles were a similar deal, $1.99 each package and I had a $1/2 coupon making them cheaper than the generic cheese at $1.49 a package for a total savings of $4.20.

Lifesavers were $1 each and I had a $1/2 coupon making them 50 cents a bag for a total savings of $3.78.

The marshmallows were $1 each and I had a $1/2 coupon making them 50 cents each.

The Hunts ketchup was more than the Kroger ketchup was at $1.29 (Kroger brand was $1.00) but I had 2 .20/1 coupons that would double for 40 cents off each bottle. This made them only 89 cents each, beating the Kroger price.

The sour cream was on sale for $1 each and I had a .50/2 coupon to use. This made them 75 cents a container.

The Dawn dishsoap was not on sale at $1.49, but the coupon I had was a higher value ($1/1) and would expire soon so I bought it for 49 cents.

Finally the spaghetti sauce was only 88 cents and I felt like it'd go well with all the pasta.

Also a tip that came from making this entry is to check your receipt. I grabbed a 3 pack of chapstick that was clearanced for 75 cents but saw that it rang up for $3.49, so I will be bringing both the receipt and the chapstick the next time I go to the store to get the difference.

Grocery Shopping 5/28

I went to Kroger for our biweekly grocery run. Due to how my husband is paid we usually only shop once every 2 weeks, and go back if there is something we end up needing. I try to plan it so we don't need to go back though, it saves money to avoid the store sometimes. This is nothing close to a usual week. We will be in a cabin from June 6-13th so I did not have to plan for our meals for that week because we'll be doing that shopping later. I also wanted to take this time to use up what was in our freezer. I usually buy in bulk and freeze a lot of stuff and many times I'll get more than what we need in a week and even with meal planning some things wind up in the back of the freezer (or out in the deep freeze). I wanted to use that up before stocking up on the meat deals that usually happen during the summer.



My goal when shopping was to spend under $40, and my total was $39.03 so I succeeded. I ended up saving $27.02 ($29.02 if you count the $2 coupon that printed) on the order as well, $5.50 from coupons. This is really low on the fresh produce, but since I plan on using up what what have I wanted to be sure the fruit we had and the frozen veggies were used.

This was a tough week for sales. Meat was on sale but I didn't get much because I wanted to use up what we had (and I know they go in rotations and will be on sale again later). Here are a few of the good deals that I did find:

Nestle Water was $3.33 each. I had a coupon for $1 off 2, so I ended up paying $5.66 for the 2 cases. Then since I bought 2 participating products, I got a Catalina (register coupon) for $2.00 off my next order. Counting that, I saved $3 and only spent $3.66 total for the two cases of water. It would usually be $7.98 for 2 cases of that brand, so we saved a lot by combining a sale, coupon and promotion. I know many are thinking that we'd save even more by not buying water, but the reason we do is because of where my husband works. He is restricted on what kinds of things he can bring in, so we have to manage and accommodate that. So though it would be cheaper to drink from the tap, this is cheaper than having him buy drinks at work too. Sometimes being frugal means finding what works best for your family.

Another good deal was the Jimmy Dean Sausage. They are usually $4.19 a roll where I shop, but were on sale for 2/$4. I also had a coupon for $1 off 2 rolls, so I ended up getting them for $1.50 each. Buy getting both rolls, I got them cheaper than one would have been regular price, for a savings of $5.38. ETA This deal will be even better with the $2/2 coupon found here.

The bagged Dole Salad was also on sale for 2/$5. I had a coupon for $1.50 off of 2 so I only spent $3.50 total. Since they are usually $3.09 each I almost got two for the price of one.

I also bought the All for only $1.99 (though I did get it for 99 cents a couple weeks ago, so this wasn't as good of a deal). I did end up saving $2.26 off the total.

The Corn on the cob was only $1 for 6 so I made sure to get that too.

I was pretty pleased with how much I spent this week. I plan to make a menu post to show how much of our pantry and freezer we'll be using this week, so watch for that.