I'm making a grocery list today for a weeks worth of menus. The first thing I do is take inventory of what I have on hand. This way no food gets wasted. I have 2 whole chickens, smoked sausage, chicken tenderloins, shrimp, and some leftover ham I froze from Christmas to work with. I also have in the pantry cans of soup, and Kung Pao chicken mix. I then try to think of ways to use this stuff or if I have already exhausted my own recipes I use regularly then I start looking for recipes. Whole foods has great recipes, taste of home, pilsbury, and I love to use top secret restaurant recipes. For the chicken I don't usually use whole chickens so I will look for recipes for that. I bought several of them at Winco a couple of weeks ago when they were selling them for .64 cents a pound. It was an excellent price so I loaded up. When I go shopping I'm always looking for stuff that has been marked down to get rid of. I take it home and freeze it immediately so it's not a problem. This creates ways to find new favorites for your family. I remembered a recipe I haven't used in a while from my Yoshidas cookbook for smoked sausage. It's super easy and right up Ken's alley. (He's into easy) I found a potpie recipe for the ham on taste of homes website. (This one I will cook) Chicken cacciatore for the crockpock, oven fried chicken, shrimp and black bean tacos, Kung Pao chicken, soup and sandwiches, and Olive gardens chicken scampi. (Top secret recipes) I then make a grocery list of the missing ingredients for the recipes and off I go. I practically have a weeks worth of food already in the pantry/freezer so I will actually need very little at the store. While I am there I will take my coupons and look for sales. I stock up on what I can while I'm there. If you already know what you use regularly it's easy to keep your pantry well stocked at good prices on stuff you know you use all the time. Taking inventory also prevents you from wasting fresh fruits and vegetables. For example, I have avocados that need to be used so I will look for ways to use them so they are not wasted, like in the shrimp and black bean tacos.
Ok, I'm back from the store. I went to Vons because I needed to get Eli a new prescription for his toothache. I need to figure out how to save on that bill! Anyway I got a $30 giftcard for the new prescription, bought $72 worth of stuff, saved $24 on Vons club, Had a $10 off coupon when you buy $50 worth of food, another $3 in coupons less the $30 gift card so I paid $5 total. Not bad for a weeks worth of dinners!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Happy Monday!
Happy Monday! Here is my news and freebies for the week.
Jolly Time popcorn is offering a free grocery bag.
Send 3 upc's and your name and address to
Jolly time popcorn reusable bag
Box 178
Sioux City IA, 51102
Kmart for some bizarre reason decided to quit the double coupon promo in the middle of the week. Why, I have no idea, but I did write the corporate office a letter regarding this. I'm just glad I shopped early. I guess I will have to investigate the Kingsburg Kmart, or the Lemoore Kmart if they don't want to double in the future. Very disappointing!
Walgreens:
You can still get the Revlon lipstick, blush, eyeliner, and eye shadow free.
Printer Cartridge refill free after $5 rebate
Orajel free after $8.49 rebate or a profit if you have a coupon
Colgate toothpaste $2.99
Get $2 in register rewards, use $1 coupon and it's free.
Rite Aid:
Garnier Fructis shampoo/conditioner $2.99 free after rebate or profit if you have a coupon.
I got my hickory farms box today and boy is it impressive. I hope others did this deal as I checked today and it's over now.
If you ever thought coupons were not worth your time a lady posted on the internet the other day that she spent 1,800 last year on groceries Saved 1,390 with coupons and did another $309 in rebates. She then banked her savings. So if you ever thought your $1000 emergency fund was out of the question if you just put your coupon savings in the bank you would have normally spent it doesn't cost you anything out of pocket.
Happy Saving!
Jolly Time popcorn is offering a free grocery bag.
Send 3 upc's and your name and address to
Jolly time popcorn reusable bag
Box 178
Sioux City IA, 51102
Kmart for some bizarre reason decided to quit the double coupon promo in the middle of the week. Why, I have no idea, but I did write the corporate office a letter regarding this. I'm just glad I shopped early. I guess I will have to investigate the Kingsburg Kmart, or the Lemoore Kmart if they don't want to double in the future. Very disappointing!
Walgreens:
You can still get the Revlon lipstick, blush, eyeliner, and eye shadow free.
Printer Cartridge refill free after $5 rebate
Orajel free after $8.49 rebate or a profit if you have a coupon
Colgate toothpaste $2.99
Get $2 in register rewards, use $1 coupon and it's free.
Rite Aid:
Garnier Fructis shampoo/conditioner $2.99 free after rebate or profit if you have a coupon.
I got my hickory farms box today and boy is it impressive. I hope others did this deal as I checked today and it's over now.
If you ever thought coupons were not worth your time a lady posted on the internet the other day that she spent 1,800 last year on groceries Saved 1,390 with coupons and did another $309 in rebates. She then banked her savings. So if you ever thought your $1000 emergency fund was out of the question if you just put your coupon savings in the bank you would have normally spent it doesn't cost you anything out of pocket.
Happy Saving!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
My spending plan
Excessive Concern about Finances:
People in financial slavery are under such economic stress that they can’t get their finances out of their heads. At home, they worry about finances; at work, they think about their bills; driving the car, they calculate their bank account; eating dinner, they plan how they will make their payments. It makes them a giant bag of nerves.
This has often been me. For far too long I have been in financial slavery. What a relief it was to find out that God really did have a blueprint for money and that there wasn't something wrong with me. I was just a bad planner because I didn't have a plan. I started using the plan several years ago and I can't tell you how much better things have been since then as long as Ken and I stay on the plan.
Well it's finished. I completed my spending plan today, a little later than I originally planned but I'm a known procrastinator. I had to make some major changes as the cost of almost everything has gone up but I have also eliminated some of my bills so I was pleasantly surprised when I was finished. Now I wish I had done it a while ago. I hope with our new spending plan in effect Ken and I will do a better job of sticking to the plan. This one is more realistic than the previous one. I think it's hard to make sure you have a little money to go out with when you have so many other things that are essential to take care of. It's important to allow for that though so you don't end up feeling miserable. That is a hard lesson for me to remember. So anyway, I'm looking forward to rebuilding my emergency fund, and more careful spending this year. I can't wait to see how it turns out!
People in financial slavery are under such economic stress that they can’t get their finances out of their heads. At home, they worry about finances; at work, they think about their bills; driving the car, they calculate their bank account; eating dinner, they plan how they will make their payments. It makes them a giant bag of nerves.
This has often been me. For far too long I have been in financial slavery. What a relief it was to find out that God really did have a blueprint for money and that there wasn't something wrong with me. I was just a bad planner because I didn't have a plan. I started using the plan several years ago and I can't tell you how much better things have been since then as long as Ken and I stay on the plan.
Well it's finished. I completed my spending plan today, a little later than I originally planned but I'm a known procrastinator. I had to make some major changes as the cost of almost everything has gone up but I have also eliminated some of my bills so I was pleasantly surprised when I was finished. Now I wish I had done it a while ago. I hope with our new spending plan in effect Ken and I will do a better job of sticking to the plan. This one is more realistic than the previous one. I think it's hard to make sure you have a little money to go out with when you have so many other things that are essential to take care of. It's important to allow for that though so you don't end up feeling miserable. That is a hard lesson for me to remember. So anyway, I'm looking forward to rebuilding my emergency fund, and more careful spending this year. I can't wait to see how it turns out!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
$5 dinners
I ran across a website last night for $5 dinners. I don't know that I would do it all the time, but it does look like fun. www.5dollardinners.com
Monday, January 19, 2009
Kmart report
Well this trip was my best ever. Kmart is doubling up to $2 same rules as before. My best deals were ziploc bags .19 cents, Dawn dish soap .49 cents, Purina Beggin strips 6 bags for $5, Glade air freshener .19 cents, Fantastik .69 cents, Ragu spaghetti sauce $1. I also got my free dr. pepper from a while back. It pays to call companies when you are not satisfied with their products. I got a free Pur water filtration system today after I called to complain about the quality of mine. They sent me a coupon for a free system. Very nice. So not counting the free pur water filtrations system I saved $50, or if you count it I saved $80 total. I saved 65% off my bill. Better than my average 40%. Kmart has a coupon booklet in the front of the store that has some coupons in it too. I only used two of them myself but they were worth $4. You can combine them with manufacturer coupons.
I ran into a lady at Kmart I have seen before at Walgreens shopping for deals. It's so fun to see people out there saving. We both laughed when we saw each other. When I was at the Super Walmart a few weeks ago for the end of the year coupons I left everything I wasn't going to use on the shelves. By the time I checked out I had a few people following me! One lady finally stopped me and asked me where I got all my good coupons. Well I get most from the sunday paper, some I trade with other people for, and others come from magazines. I also get them in the mail by signing up with the companies. Some of them come from the rebates I do, or they are inside the packages of the products. You can get them on the internet too. Coupons are everywhere. You just have to look for them, although the sunday paper is the easiest and best source.
I ran into a lady at Kmart I have seen before at Walgreens shopping for deals. It's so fun to see people out there saving. We both laughed when we saw each other. When I was at the Super Walmart a few weeks ago for the end of the year coupons I left everything I wasn't going to use on the shelves. By the time I checked out I had a few people following me! One lady finally stopped me and asked me where I got all my good coupons. Well I get most from the sunday paper, some I trade with other people for, and others come from magazines. I also get them in the mail by signing up with the companies. Some of them come from the rebates I do, or they are inside the packages of the products. You can get them on the internet too. Coupons are everywhere. You just have to look for them, although the sunday paper is the easiest and best source.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Doubles at Kmart again
Kmart will do double coupons again this week today thru saturday. I heard they will double up to $2 this week, but you will have to go there to find out. I can't make it today like I would like to and I probably won't make it until Tuesday. There were $223 dollars of coupons in todays paper alone! Happy coupon shopping. Oh, and if anyone wants to go with me to see how I do it, let me know.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Walgreens and pepsi/fritolay
Walgreens has a great deal right now on pepsi and frito lay products. Effective 12/27 to 1/31/09 if you buy $20 worth of pepsi, dorritos, tostitos, products you get $10 back in register rewards. Then you can do the $15 rebate. I bought 8 bottles of soda, two bags of chips, and two jars of cheese dip for $26 today. I received $10 in register rewards, and I will send in the $15 rebate. Total cost out of pocket was a little over $1. That's an awesome deal! Here is the link to the rebate. Thanks to the Hickory Farms sale I bought a $75 box today for $17.55, so for under $20 I have plenty of stuff for a great super bowl party now!
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