MMmm.... Vegetables

Just look at all this wonderful, healthy food! There's so much greeeeeen!


I always forget how much I really do like fruits and vegetables, till they're in season. Mmmm....
This is pretty much all of my breakfasts, lunches and snacks for this week. Doug will also eat some of the salad, but I'll eat most of it.
Cost breakdown:
milk = free (will explain how in a minute)
tomatoes = free (from garden)
2 oatmeal x 9 cents a serving
1 special k cereal x 9 cents a serving
2 servings grapes x 26 cents each
2 servings applesauce x 18 cents each
2 bananas x 16 cents each
2 apples x 25 cents each
3 pretzel crisps x 12 cents each
tons of lettuce- green leaf and iceberg- total of 1.75
2 eggs at 10 cents each
40 cents worth of celery
75 cents of broccoli
20 cents worth of carrots
not pictured: some chicken i will grill tomorrow night. 2 servings x 40 cents each
not pictured: kraft chunk cheese 2 x 21 cents serving
Total cost for my breakfasts, lunches and snacks: About 7.00.

And who says you can't eat healthy food on a budget? It's easy in the summer!

This trip here:

I spent 4.22, and saved 30.30. The milk- yeah, they PAID me to buy it.
Smart Source milk 1/2 gallons were on sale for 1.99.
I had manufacturer coupons good for 2.00 of any 1/2 gallon Smart Source milk.
Sweet- free milk.
ALSO- Meijer had a store coupon for 1 off any 1/2 gallon Smart Source milk.
I wondered.... would Meijer allow both coupons? They always allow you to stack manufacturer coupons with their store coupons, but this.... this would make my balance go negative.
They also had good deals on applesauce and peanut butter so I stocked up (can you tell kids live here?). I had enough other stuff on my order to "eat up" some of the overage from the milk coupons.
Ahhhh.... free milk tastes the best!

So, I am about 5 weeks into my charity challenge. I've spent 1.21 and have gotten about 75 dollars worth of stuff.

A bunch of cereal from my earlier post, feminine items, deodorant, etc. Good stuff, that they can use. Yay!

Spent 16.71, saved 52.42, and left with 11.00 in register rewards.


Spent 8.00, saved 89.34, and left with 13.00 in register rewards.

At Meijer, I went in intending to get just 2 cereals, 4 cracker packs, 4 mixits cereals, cheese, juice and milk.

They have a promotion right now that if you buy any 10 Kellogg's/Keebler/something else items in any transaction, you get $10 in rewards back. Well, the Mixits were price dropped down to 99 cents! That means you can get 10 of them for 9.90, plus tax, and get 10.00 back! So, I did my first trip as planned, dropped it all off in the car, and went back in to get more mixits. They're not great, but aren't terrible. And they're OK as snacky cereal, cause there's no sugar coating to get all over the kids. They can eat it like popcorn.
I don't know where I am going to put them. Cereal has been crazy cheap recently because of school starting just around the corner. Back to school time is a great time of year to stock up on cereal and portable snacks. So, my pantry is pretty much stocked full of cereal.

I am going to donate 10 of the mixits to the Inner City Mission (remember- I am doing a $20 charity challenge).

Portion control through freezer cooking

One of the easiest ways to not overeat, is to not have food you don't need lying around. I try to control my portions partially through freezer cooking. I cook up a big batch of whatever, then freeze it in single-meal portions.
The last time I did this, I cooked up 13 or so pounds of ground beef that I had gotten for pretty cheap. It wasn't the lowest-fat beef, but eating the right portion of the better-tasting non-low-fat beef is more satisfying to me.

I got out my biggest mixing bowl and threw a bunch of ground beef in. 4 or 5 pounds. Crunched up crackers, threw some Sweet Baby Ray's in there, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, some random beef spice I got for free at Meijer a few weeks ago, a couple of eggs, some milk, etc. (I don't measure- my meatloaf is different every time.) I pat it into cube-ish loaves, about 3/4 pound each. They are about 8 ounces cooked. I also make it into meatballs, because that's what the kids like best.
I cook them somewhere between 375 and 400 for about 35 minutes or so- the meatballs maybe 20-25 minutes.


I also just brown a large amount of the ground beef, and freeze it for later. So, I can just pull ground beef from the freezer and plop it into whatever recipe I am making- spaghetti, tacos, soup, whatever. I do about 1.5 cups in each container- about 8 ounces, usually.

I also made up hamburgers, but don't pre-cook those- I just make the patties and freeze them frozen. 1 each for me and Doug, and 1 for the kids to share. I make it similarly to the meatloaf- throw a bunch of stuff in, mix it up, and hope it tastes good.

I ended up making 7 meatloaves, 15 hamburgers, a bunch of meatballs, and 9 containers of cooked ground beef that day.

We ate the meatballs that day, but that means that I spent about 2 hours in the kitchen and ended up making enough "meat" for 21 meals (7 meatloaves + 5 hamburger packages (3 per package) + 9 plain ground beef.

I won't go into too any detail, but I also cooked up chicken that day, too, and got enough for another 6 from that! I don't think cooked chicken freezes as well as beef, so I don't do that very often.

When you're ready to eat, you can just pull meatloaf directly out of the freezer and nuke it for 2 minutes. While it's warming, mix together brown sugar and ketchup (maybe 1/4 cup total) and put on top after the 2 minutes. Microwave another 2-3 minutes till heated through. Delicious!

Updates and Donations

Hello, everyone!

I am finally getting back into the swing of couponing again. I took a semi-break for the last couple of months, but am now ready to buckle back down and replenish my stockpile that we've been living off. I had forgotten how much of our budget gets eaten up by grocery bills when I don't coupon.

Another neat thing with having a stockpile- donations. I get so many items for free or nearly free, mostly health and beauty items. But I just simply don't need them all.
I am proud of the Inner City Mission here in Springfield, of the work they do and the support and outreach they have for troubled lives. For more information on them, visit the ICM website.
Our church collects a certain item for ICM every month (for example, July is school supplies). But I put whatever I have in the box!

This is what I took to the box today, and the approximate retail value.
6 cans Oust x 3.00 = 18.00
6 packages feminine items x about 3.50 each = 21.00
Schick Titanium razor about 9.99
Razor refill about 9.99
Right Guard deodorant about 3.50
3 body washes x about 4.00 each = 12.00
2 toothpasts x about 3.00 each = 6.00
perfume = 5.00
air freshener = 7.00
So, I was able to donate about 90 dollars with of merchandise to ICM, that their residents can use.
AND I GOT ALL THAT STUFF FOR FREE!! A few of the items (The Oust and the deodorant), I was actually PAID to buy.

A forum that I belong to is having a $20 Charity Challenge. Starting with $20 in cash (or gift card or whatever), how much can you purchase specifically for donations? It starts today- July 11th. CVS has several items that are free after Extra Care Bucks. I may end up having to spend about 8-10 of my starting 20 this week, but I'll have lots of ECBs to roll in the coming weeks.

I'll keep you posted on what my $20 can buy. I challenge each of you to spend just $5 this week on items for donation. Even if it's just a couple gallons of milk- you won't notice the extra $5 you've spent, but a homeless shelter or soup kitchen or whatever would be really grateful for a couple gallons of milk. Or, you can shop CVS with me and get lots and LOTS of stuff for your money.

A few weeks

It has been a few weeks since I've really had to go any grocery shopping. All we've bought is produce, milk and bread. I haven't stocked up on anything. I keep planning on taking pictures of the semi-healthy meals we're having out of the stockpile, but I keep forgetting. I will have the camera at the ready this week. I really need to show you that eating healthy on a budget isn't that hard.

Now, if I could just eat healthily....... :-)

Week 1- Healthy on a Budget

I think I like year-long challenges.

I am starting a new one. I am going to continue shopping like I have been. I am still going to try to keep it to 60 or less a week. So, that part isn't the challenge.

My challenge to myself is to continue shopping like I have been, AND lose weight. I NEED to lose weight. My knees and hips are starting to get sore from all this luggage.

I want to prove to myself, and demonstrate to others, that you can still eat healthily while on a budget. The key is serving sizes. Isn't that what we keep being told in weight loss/management classes? You can eat some crappy food like Hamburger Helper- as long as you eat ONE serving of it.

I eat better when I plan my food out for the week on Sundays. I have gotten away from that the last couple of months, and my weight loss has stopped. So, I need to start doing it again. I try to plan out 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 6 dinners (we usually end up eating out one night, or having leftovers), but not in what order we'll eat them.

I have planned my breakfasts and lunches out for this week. It's a step in the right direction, and helps me the most, since my snackiness is worst during the day. If I have it planned out, I am not as likely to eat when I don't need to.

Breakfasts:

oatmeal + yogurt
oatmeal + orange + 1 cup milk
oatmeal + orange + 1 cup milk
raisin bran + 1/2 cup milk + banana
raisin bran + 1/2 cup milk + orange
2 eggs and toast
2 eggs and toast

Have you ever actually looked at how many servings are in a box or container? I got little canisters of oatmeal for about $1.00 a couple of months ago. There are 13 servings in each canister. That's only 8 cents per serving. Milk was on sale for 2.19 last week, and at 16 servings per jug that's only 14 cents per serving. I got bread on sale last week for 1.09 for a loaf that has 24 servings (24 slices of bread). Etc.
So, my whole week's breakfasts are only going to cost me about 3.00.
3 oatmeal x .08 = .24
1 yogurt = .21
3 oranges x .33 = .99
2 bananas x .20 = .40
2 cups raisin bran = .28
4 eggs x .09 = .36
4 pieces toast x .05 = .20
3 cups milk x .14 = .42

Lunches
Ah, lunches. Lunches are where I usually try to cram a ton of vegetables into my diet. And this week is especially cheap because the greens were on sale really cheap at Meijer last week.

Salads and vegetable soups, mostly. And some frozen vegetables sometimes, too. This week:
3 salads, with 2 cups spinach, 2 cups romaine salad, 1 serving of baby carrots, 4 ounces baked chicken breast, and 2 TB vinaigrette dressing.
2 progresso soups + 1/4 cup cheese melted in
2 packages frozen veggies + 1/4 cup cheese on top + toast
So, my lunches for the week are going to cost me about 8 dollars.
6 cups spinach x .20 = 1.20
6 cups romaine x .20 = 1.20
12 ounces chicken x .20 an ounce = 1.20
bunches of baby carrots, about a bag over the week = 1.00
Dressing = was free! no cost!
2 progresso soups x .60 = 1.20
1 cup shredded cheese x .25 = 1.00
2 frozen veggies x .50 = 1.00

I won't go into this much detail each week, but I wanted to be able to visualize it, at least at the start.

Week 52

Week 52. My last week of my year-long experiment of spending only $60 a week in groceries, toiletries and paper products.

It's been a lot of fun, and has completely changed the way I look at shopping. I'll never go back to how I used to shop.

Here is this week's stuff.. scroll down to see the year-end totals.

CVS

That's a lot of nuts! I ran into CVS to get a card for someone at work, and they had a TON of Planter's nuts on clearance for 90% off! That made these cans 59 and 69 cents(depending on variety) each. AND, I had 2 coupons for 1.00 off any 2 Planter's nuts. This is why I refuse to shop without my coupon box!
Out of pocket: 3.89
Savings: 63.20


Meijer had their awesome buy 10 for $10 get 11th free promotion this week. I had a lot of coupons for Chex Mix, Hamburger Helper, Betty Crocker potatoes, Green Giant veggies, etc. I ALSO had a ton of Meijer store coupons that were good towards this purchase (a 4.50 off 45 order, 1.50 and 5.00 off on frozen foods, 1.00 off bread aisle purchase, etc).
Meijer has been making me very happy recently, as they are often running excellent sales on fruits and vegetables. Those strawberries were only $1! The romaine and spinach were included in the 10/10get11thfree sale. You CAN eat healthy on a budget (that's a hint as to the direction my blog will take next....), if you just look.

Out of pocket: 33.13
Savings: 62.64

Quick trip to Walmart for diapers: spent 10.50ish, saved 5.00 in coupons.

Weekly spending total: 47.55
Weekly savings total: 130.84
YTD spending total: 2594.48
YTD savings total: 3957.47

When I added up my spendings/savings this week, I was excited! I am only 42.53 short of saving 4,000 in a year! I looked and looked in the ads thinking that I could go save more, to make it to 4,000. I might be able to, but it's not worth the effort. I am happy to say, "I saved nearly 4,000 dollars this year!" I am sure that there are a few trips over the year that I forgot about, but I am pretty confident that these are 98% accurate numbers for my spending and saving.

So, when it's all said and done, my averages are:
Out of pocket weekly: 49.89
Savings weekly: 76.11

So, in any given week, I spent only about 50 dollars on 126 dollars worth of stuff. I spent roughly 40% of retail for my items combined.

Several people have asked me what my stockpile looks like. Here you go. And since it's time for me to take stock of what I have (to see what I certainly don't need to buy more of, or to see what I can donate), I am going to count everything since I am going through it anyway.
This is my pantry.

6 cereal, 8 cans nuts, 2 boxes crackers, 3 chex mix, 2 gravies, 4 open peanut butters and 5 unopened, 7 salad dressing, 1 mustard, bunch of pretzels and goldfish, 3 packages fruit cups, 4 boxes noodles, 10 canned veggies, 10 cans cream of chicken soup, 2 cans tomato soup, 6 progresso/healthy choice soups, 5 jars salsa, 4 unopened canisters of oatmeal, potatoes, 8 betty crocker potatoes, 10 hamburger helper, 4 rice, 2 mac n cheese, 1 applesauce, 2 cans pineapple.

my freezer upstairs, that I didn't realize was this dirty...
I keep the things that we're currently working on in this freezer, and everything "extra" goes down to the basement freezer.

5 frozen veggies, 2 open frozen veggies, 1 open frozen peaches, 1/2 bag fishsticks, dumplins, tots, egg beaters, hot dogs, 2 bags 1/2 full chicken nuggets.

The stand-alone freezer in the basement.

Oh, ignore the huge bags of BBQ in there... those are for my brother's wedding. My freezer is housing them till they are needed.
a turkey, 2 boxes fishsticks, 2 packages jenny-o turkey, 2 rolls ground turkey, 13 frozen veggies, 1 meatloaf, 1 mexirice dish, 2 packages pre-cooked beef, 1 package fries, 4 bags chicken breast 2 1/2 pounds each, and 3 pounds of butter.
under the turkey..


Ah, my health and beauty closet. I love this closet, because I got most of the items for FREE! And with as full as this closet is right now, I donated 2 huge bags of shampoo/razors/toothpaste/body wash just a couple of weeks ago. It's refilled that quickly.

16 various cleaners, 2 contact solutions, 1 lotion, 4 razors and 4 refills, 3 toothpaste, 4 toothbrushes, 3 mouthwash, 9 body washes, 3 men's shampoo, 10 ladies' shampoo/conditioner, who knows how many feminine products, 3 boxes band-aids, 2 pepto, 5 cold medicine, 7 boxes cough drops, 11 deodorants, 39 rolls toilet paper, 10 rolls paper towels, 3 boxes puffs.


Whew.

And... I saved a little over 1500 in the 6 months before this experiment started. So, in the last 18 months, I have saved about 5,500. That's INSANE.

Week 51

It looks like I shopped a lot this week. It was more than I wanted too, but it's nice to just get out and walk around CVS or Walgreen's by myself.

CVS

Whoo-hoo! Good deal on cereal when we're down to just a couple of boxes left. They are on sale for 2.50 each. If you buy 4 (for 10 dollars) you get 5 ECBs back. That's a good deal on cereal (especially if you pay with ECBs!). I also had a couple of 1.50 off 2 boxes of Kellogg's that I printed from the internet. So, I paid 7 dollars and got 5 ECBs back.
And the toothbrushes were 4.00 get 4 ECB back... and I had 75 cent coupons for those, so they paid me 1.50 to buy them.
Out of pocket: 3.89 (paid with 15.50 in EBCs)
Savings: 47.52, and earned 15 towards my next purchase.
Yeah, I got all of that basically for what ONE box of cereal would have cost. You have to start couponing!!

Found out that even though the ad said that the deal limit on the Cereal was 1, it was actually 2. So, I scoured the internet and found a coupon. Plus, CVS sent me a $4 off a $20 purchase coupon, cause they're awesome like that. This was a good trip=
4 cereal x 2.50 = 10.00
- 2 coupons x 1.50 = -3.00
= 7.00 and get 5 back
1 razor x 8.99 - 1 coupon x 4.00 = 4.99, get 4 back
3 lint rollers x .99 - 3 coupons for 1.00 off lint roller= FREE
- the $4 coupon they sent me
Out of pocket = 3.02
Savings = 28.96

County Market

produce, yogurt (obviously... Phillip lined them up for the picture), etc.
Out of pocket: 16.01
Savings: 16.96

Out of pocket: 11.88
Savings: 12.29

Meijer

Also got milk and some grapes- not pictured.
Out of pocket: 11.34
Savings: 15.09

Walgreen's
7 Vick's cough drops x 1.19 = 8.33
- 5 coupons x 1.50 = -7.5
= 0.83
on-sale Coffee = 5.99
Out of pocket: 6.42
Savings: 9.50

Weekly spending total: 52.56
Weekly savings total: 130.32
YTD spending total: 2547.46
YTD savings total: 3826.63

Week 50

CVS
CVS has some pretty good deals to be had this week.

Got all this for 3.76. Now, of course, I had some ECBs to pay with. If you're starting from scratch, it would cost significantly more. And I earned 15.50 in ECBs, and had a savings of 51.38.

Walgreens
FANTASTIC deals at Walgreens this week.
The best one for me was a surprise. Some Tylenol Cold products were on sale for 4.99, and if you buy two of them, you get 5 in Register Rewards back. Not to great, but not bad. Wait a minute... coupons on the boxes? Sweet. $2 off each box. Now we're talking. So, I got two boxes, and when I peel the coupons off, it's not just a single coupon- there are 10 dollars worth of coupons for other Tylenol products! Sweet! So, I bought these two boxes for 6.00 total, and got 5.00 back, and have $20 in coupons to put towards other Tylenol deals I find.

I got all this for 18.02 out of pocket, and ended up with 10 in Register Rewards for my next trip, with savings of 49.64. I'll probably hit Walgreen's a few times this week.

Well, the week went by and I never went back to Walgreen's. That's OK, because I overdid it at Meijer. I had my trip all planned out before I went, so that I would come in under my about 40 that I had left in my budget. Forgot to include produce, and they had toilet paper on price drop... oh well.

That's a lot of chicken nuggets, a lot of cheese, some free Ritz (free box when you buy 3 Kraft cheeses!), frozen chicken breasts, etc.
Out of pocket: 54.74
Savings: 61.70, and I earned 8.00 towards my next purchase.

I also hit County Market for fruit and juice using their awesome Penny Pincher coupon book. Spent about 5.00, and saved about 7.00. (can't find the receipt.)

Weekly spending total: 81.18
Weekly savings total: 169.72
YTD spending total: 2494.90
YTD savings total: 3696.31

Week 49

Well, I did it. A week where I only had to buy milk. Seriously. That's all we bought this week. Two gallons of milk from CVS on Wednesday. Whoo-hoo!

Weekly spending total: 5.00
Weekly savings total: 0.00
YTD spending total: 2313.72
YTD savings total: 3526.59

Of course, I've seen some of the ads for next week... it'll probably make up for the small spending this week!

Week 48

This is the week of February 14th.

Good Deal Alert!

CVS has a few great offers this week.

Crest Pro-Health Enamel Shield rinse and toothpaste. On sale for 3.50, and you get 3.50 in Extra Care Bucks back. The limit is 2 (which means you can do the deal 2 times).
BONUS- there were coupons in last week's paper for 2.00 off Crest rinses. If you can get two of them...

2 x 3.50 = 7.00
- 2 coupons x 2.00 = -4.00
= 3.00 out of pocket. AND GET SEVEN EXTRA CARE BUCKS BACK!

Even if you don't have the coupons, this is a great deal to get your feet wet with.

Also, certain Cover Girl cosmetics are Buy 2, get 5 ECBs. One of the items included in this sale happens to be the powder that I prefer at $6 each. And, of course, there were coupons in last week's paper. The limit is 1 deal.
2 x 6.00 = 12.00
- 1 coupon for $1.00 off any Cover Girl cosmetic = -1.00
- 1 coupon for a free CG face product when you buy a CG face product = -6.00
= 5.00. And get 5 ECBs back. Breaking even is great!

Aussie shampoo/conditioner/stylers on sale for 2.99, get 2.00 ECBs. There was a coupon in this Sunday's paper for 1.00 off any Aussie.
1 x 2.99 = 2.99
- 1 coupon x 1.00 = -1.00
= 1.99. And get 2.00 ECBs back.

They have a few other items that are pretty good, but nothing is as good as free!

If you are a newbie and don't have any Extra Care Bucks yet, but do have all the coupons, here is what I suggest:

Do the Crest deal. Spend about 3.50 out of pocket, and get 7.00 ECBs.
In a separate transaction, get the Aussie and the Cover Girl and a small filler that costs as little as you can get. (TIP: CVS knows people like us are going to need small fillers, and they often have bins of these really good caramels on the counter that are about 35 cents. Also, this week would be a good week to hit the V-Day clearance candy. Find yourself something yummy to use as a filler.)
So, you'd have stuff that ends up costing just over 7.00, pay with the 7 ECBs you earned in the first transaction and some change from the bottom of your purse, and get another 7 back!

It seems like you're doing a lot of work to get just a few items, but if you do that just once a week, you'll soon have a closet full of stuff that you can use.

If you can get items for free, even if you will never use them, you should buy them. There are several local charities that would be thrilled to get the toothpaste, mouthwash, soap, bodywash, soup, fruit roll-ups, etc, etc, that you paid nothing for.

Weekly spending total: 27.35
Weekly savings total: 76.56
YTD spending total: 2308.72
YTD savings total: 3526.59

Week 47

CVS for 2 gallons of milk- about 5.00.

County Market- toilet paper, ham, clothes detergent, crackers, eggs, etc. Nothing too great a deal.
Out of pocket: 48.99
Savings: 36.32
Even though nothing was spectacularly priced, I still saved 36 dollars. Meaning that just a few years ago, I would have spent 85 dollars for what was in my cart that day.

I really should have gone to Walgreen's about 12 times this week. They had excellent deals on diapers and body wash. But, it was just too cold to leave the house unless I had to. Once I am in for the night, I am IN. I had Doug stop at CVS to get milk after work one night, and I ran to County Market Saturday because we were out (or close to out of) of several staples that they had decent prices on. I probably could have skipped County Market altogether, and had a 5.00 out of pocket week. That would have been neat.

Weekly spending total: 53.99
Weekly savings total: 36.32
YTD spending total: 2281.37
YTD savings total: 3450.03

I am trying to think of another direction for this blog to go.... something more interesting than listing my deals. I am getting soooo bored of that. I've already proven to myself that I can save the money if I want to. I want to keep saving like crazy, but it's getting boring listing my deals.

Week 46

Meijer all the way, this week. The other stores have barely had sales worth going in the door for the last few weeks. We did stop by CVS to get some milk, but that was all the other shopping this week.
Meijer had another good week, and my budget thanks them. They had a lot of mealbox coupons that were stackable with manufacturer coupons, for items that were on sale. That also gave back money towards your next order.

That's CRAZY cheap groceries. The best example this week was Kraft cheese. There was an OYNO (On Your Next Order) promotion with Kraft cheese where if you bought 5 Kraft dairy products, you got $5 off your next order (OYNO).
Kraft shreds and singles were on sale for 1.67 this week.
5 x 1.67 = 8.35, and you get $5 OYNO.
AND, if you bought at least 3, you automatically got $1 off at the register.
So, 7.35 and you get the 5 OYNO.
AND- there were manufacturer coupons for $1 off if you bought 2 Kraft cheese.
So, - 2 of those coupons = 6.35, and you still get the OYNO.
AND, there were mealbox coupons they handed out in-store a couple of weeks ago for $1 off if you bought 2 Kraft singles. I only had 1 of these coupons...
So, - 1 of this mealbox coupon = 5.35, and you still get the OYNO.

Now, it was actually a better deal to get 6 cheeses, instead of the 5 you needed for the OYNO.
Because....
6 x 1.66 = 9.96
- 2 x instant $1 savings when you buy 3 = -2.00
- 3 x 1.00 when you buy 2 manufacturer coupons = -3.00
- 1 mealbox coupon when you buy 2 Kraft singles = -1.00
= 3.96, and get the OYNO. Did they just pay me to buy cheese?! Awesome.

I got over 9 pounds worth when it was all said and done.


Out of pocket: 29.71
Savings: 65.08, and I ended up with a $5 OYNO coupon

My second trip to Meijer this week:

Wow, lots of meat product...anyway,
Out of pocket: 16.28
Savings: 46.71, and I ended up with a $3 OYNO coupon from the dressing.

Weekly spending total: 50.99
Weekly savings total: 111.79
YTD spending total: 2227.28
YTD savings total: 3413.71

All this talk of cheese makes me want a snack... cheese and crackers, of course!

Week 45

You can tell that I am getting tired of typing all this out. I am close to doing this my goal of 1 year, and I just don't want to type it all out anymore.

CVS
diapers, Oust, Soyjoy bars, a few random things
Out of pocket: 3.49
Savings: 46.05, and I earned 18 ECBs (I had paid with about 21 in ECBs)

Meijer
5 canisters of oatmeal, 5 boxes of cereal, OJ, milk, eggs, bread, produce
Out of pocket: 35.01
Savings: 46.84

Weekly spending total: 50.33
Weekly savings total: 92.89
YTD spending total: 2176.29
YTD savings total: 3301.92

Week 44

County Market
2 Marcal Small Steps paper towels (8-pack) x 4.99 = 9.98
- 2 coupons x 1.50 = -3.00
= 6.98
1 Marcall Small Steps TP (12 double rolls) x 4.99
- 1 coupon x 1.00 = -1.00
= 3.99
Out of pocket: 12.17
Savings: 11.80

Meijer


Oh, Meijer was the motherload this week. Tons of things that we use a lot of were on sale super cheap. Tons of things we use a lot of were on sale cheap AND gave money off your next order. The trick is to split your transactions up so that your first transaction is the things that give you money towards your next order, and your subsequent transaction uses those. You can cut your grocery bill drastically by doing that! Two of my transactions were actually less than a dollar. And each of them gave me money towards my next purchase.

I made two trips to Meijer this week. Three transactions on the first, and two the second trip. Here's the total break-down:
10 Skippy peanut butter x 1.69 = 16.90
- 5 store coupons x 1.00 = -5.00
= 11.90
3 Wishbone salad dressing x 1.39 = 4.17
- 1 store coupon x 1.00 = -1.00
- 1 coupon x 1.00 = -1.00
- 1 coupon x 0.75 = -.75
= 1.42
These two items were part of a promotion where if you bought $10 you would get $3 off your next order. Did it twice, in two separate transactions. The second one was partially paid for with the reward from the first. See how you can get lots for little? And with the way we go through peanut butter at this house...

12 Fruit Roll-Ups x 1.75 = 21.00 (wow! $21 in fruit snacks?!)
- $12 for promo - every 4 you bought you got $4 off instantly
- 2 coupons x 1.00 = - 2.00
- 4 coupons x 0.50 = -2.00
= 5.00 BUT.... for every 4 I bought, I got $2.50 towards my next purchase! I earned 7.50 with these deals. THEY PAID ME 2.50 to buy these things.

14 Dannon yogurt x 0.40 = 5.60
- 3 store coupons x 1.00 = -3.00
- coupon x 1.00 = -1.00
= 2.60

4 Betty Crocker frosting x 1.00 = 4.00
- 2 coupons x 1.00 = -2.00
= 2.00
3 Betty Crocker cake mix x 1.00 = 3.00
And- a hidden deal I found after my first transaction- when you buy 3 Betty Crocker cake or frosting, you get $2 towards next purchase! So, I paid 5.00 for the above items, and got $4 towards next purchase.

3 Lance snack crackers x 1.00 = 3.00
- 3 coupons x 1.00 = -3.00
= FREE

4 Fiber One bars x 2.50 = 10.00
- $2 promo automatically when you buy 4
- 2 store coupons x 1.00 = -2.00
- 2 coupons x 1.00 = -2.00
= 4.00

4 Fiber One pastries x 1.71 = 6.84
- $2 promo automatically when you buy 4
- 2 store coupons x 1.00 = -2.00
= 2.84

6 Chex Mix x .97 = 5.82
- 3 store coupons x 1.00 = -3.00
- 3 coupons x .50 = -1.50
= 1.32

Tons of other items. They had the sale this week that is buy 10 for #10, get the 11th free. Bread, rice sides, taters, biscuits, salad, etc. I am tired of typing, so just be happy knowing that at Meijer this week....

Out of pocket: 36.01
Savings: 135.72


Weekly spending total: 48.18
Weekly savings total: 147.52
YTD spending total: 2176.29
YTD savings total: 3301.92

Week 43

CVS

2 Oust x 3.99 = 7.98
- 1 coupon BOGO = -3.99
= 3.99, and earned 6 ECBs (3 for each)

3 clearanced Christmas chocolates x 1.99 = 5.97
- 3 coupons x 1.00 = -3.00
= 2.97

Children's Tylenol = 6.00
- 1 coupon x 2.00 = -2.00
= 4.00

FREE Listerine promotion for buying other products

- some ECBs

Out of pocket= 0.20
Savings = 44.77

Walgreens

8 Progresso soups x 1.25 = 10.00
- 2 coupons x 1.00 = -2.00
- 1 coupon x 0.50 = -.50
= 7.50 (and earned 3 RR)

1 Dishwasher detergent x 3.49 = 3.49
- 1 coupon x 2.50 = -2.50
= .99 (and earned 1 RR)

4 Nutrigrain bars x 2.50 = 10.00, and earned 4 RR

- some RRs

Out of pocket = 10.92
Savings = 20.42 and ended the week with 2 RR

County Market
Chicken breast, oranges, some soup, eggs
Out of pocket = 11.27
Savings = 13.39

Meijer

Meijer had coupons for produce! That makes me so happy.
Dole Salad = 2.50 - 1.00 store coupon = 1.50
Spinach = 1.99 - 1.00 store coupon = .99
Bananas, carrots, milk, bread, etc.

Tyson nuggets = 3.99
- 1 coupon x 1.00 = -1.00
= 2.99

3 Jenny-O lean ground turkey x 2.50 = 7.50

6 SpaghettiOs x .50 = 3.00
- 2 store coupons x 1.00 = -2.00
= 1.00

8 boxes of cereal = 19.04
- 8.00 (buy 4 get $4 off instantly promo)
- tons of coupons = -5.55
= 5.49

Dish detergent 3.50 - 2.50 coupon = 1.00

Out of pocket = 32.85
Savings = 43.83

Weekly spending total: 55.24
Weekly savings total: 122.41
YTD spending total: 2128.11
YTD savings total: 3154.40