March Grocery Challenge - Week 2 Aldi Update

Aldi Trip - $38.26

I made a trip to Aldi on Thursday and was able to complete most of my needs list for under $40!!   Yes I admit to shopping with my calculator and choosing not to pick up some items I normally would have grabbed.   We should be mostly set through next week with the exception of milk and doing some loss leader/sales/coupon shopping for the pantry.

Here's how the budget is looking to date:

Budget - $240
Spent - $149.05
Remaining - $90.95

It's going to be a challenge to come in under budget this month but I think I can make it work.   Meal planning and cooking from scratch are musts to make it happen.

March Grocery Challenge - Week 2

Stop and Shop - $17.34

I'm targetting $240 for my March Grocery Spending.  My shopping trip at Stop and Shop last week was a bit frustrating and more costly than I had hoped - but this week made up for it.   By using the 4 Dollar Doubler coupons in the S&S Flyer and 5 $1.00 manufacturer coupons on loss leader items I did a little stock up on items that my family likes.  I also returned $5.00 dollars in bottles and cans.    My S&S total before coupons and savings was $38.34 after a savings of $21.00 I only spent $17.34 for the items pictured above.

I also shopped CVS this week for sandwich bags (BOGO 50% off), Easter Candy ($3 ECB off $10 purchase), Fusion Razor ($4 ECB and $4 MC), Oral B Tootbrush ($4 ECB), Gillette Body Wash (on sale and $2 MC).   My spending at CVS after executing three transactions (not including my prescription) came to $16.18 - quite a bit of which was actually the Easter candy.

So here's where my budget stands as of this morning:

BUDGET - $240
SPENT - $110.79
REMAINING - $129.21

I'm planning an Aldi trip today with a goal of spending less than $40.   That will leave me with about $90 to get through the rest of the month.   I think I can pull it off.    Now as far as the rest of our budget....well I'm working on that one.    Eating out is going to come in a bit over but I'm letting it since two of those outings are related to my birthday.   I figure if anyone deserves not to cook a few nights it's the mom right???!!


 

March Grocery Challenge

I've set my grocery budget at an aggressive $240 for this month.  My husband has minimal overtime right now and we've been tapping the severance account far too often for far too much.   So we're determined this month to cover all our basic expenses with just his income.

I spent a little over an hour yesterday preparing a grocery list and scouting for coupons.   Unfortunately the coupon pickings are a bit slim and my list was a bit longer than I hoped.   I was trying to get my shopping done today for under $70 and instead came in at $77.   I shopped at Stop and Shop - I usually shop at Shaw's.   I realized today why I usually avoid Stop and Shop.....the overall pricing is higher and I had an aggravating checkout experience where all my online printed coupons were questioned.   I know some stores have a policy about not accepting them but the part that aggravated me is that they didn't know what to do.   I asked the cashier to please stop scanning my groceries until a decision was made as my whole list was based on sales and coupon matching....quite of few of my purchases would have to be put back if the coupons were not honored.  The coupons were finally accepted but the whole experience left me frustrated....especially my total bill.   Granted I did have $48 in savings between rewards card and coupons but it just wasn't as much as I had tried for.   I left wishing I had just gone to Aldi.

So my grocery budget for the rest of the month is down to $163.   Hopefully Sunday's paper will have a greater quanity of coupons (this week was only one flier) and Shaws will have some better sales and loss leaders.   Although I did learn my lesson - an Aldi trip is a must this month!

Grocery Savings this Week

I shopped twice this week. On Sunday I hit Stop and Shop for loss leader and sales items. I stuck to my list and used coupons. Some of the deals I got at Stop and Shop include:


- Hellman’s Mayo – $2.99 each plus .75 and .60 coupons doubled (purchased 2)
- Barilla Whole Wheat Pasta - $1/box
- Starkist Tuna - $1.00/5oz
- Chicken Leg Quarters - .79/lb
- Pork Spareribs – $1.99/lb
- Italian Sasuage – $1.99/lb

My total before savings came to $77.98. My savings including Rewards Card Savings and Manufacturers Coupons was $30.02. Total Spending at Stop & Shop was $47.96

My trip to Shaw’s was quite a big lengthier and more expensive. In addition to sales and loss leaders items I had a large list of needed items to replenish the pantry with. I find that Shaw’s tends to be slightly less expensive than the Stop and Shop. Some of the deals I got at Shaw’s include:

- Cantaloupe - $1.49
- Mushroom - $1.00/8oz
- Yellow Onions - $1.00/2lbs
- Brocoli Slaw - $1.00/10oz
- Radishes - $1.00/10oz
- Ground Turkey - $2.29 for 1.25lbs (Marked down – grabbed 2 packages)
- Boneless Chicken Breast – $1.88/lb
- Pork Cutlets - $1.88/lb
- Land O Lakes Deli Cheese - $4.99/lb
- Sara Lee Deli Ham – $6.99/lb
- Java Delight Coffee - $4.99/12oz (Coupon $1.00 off two bags)
- Bertoli Olive Oil - $5.99 ($1.00 off coupon)

I had quite a few coupons at Shaw’s including a $15.00 off any purchase of $150 or greater. Also they had a Quaker promotion – all items were $1.99 and if you purchased 5 items you got an additional $3.00 off. We returned $3.90 in bottles and cans so that amount also came off my total. My total purchase before savings and bottle returns was $267.87.  Shaw's also has a gas reward program and based on my spending the next time I pump up at Gulf or Irving I save .30 cents a gallon.   After the $3.90 in bottle returns I saved $116.93 in Rewards Card and Coupon Savings. Total Spending at Shaw’s was $147.04

I originally set my grocery budget for $200 this month. I’ve already spent $195.00. I won’t be shopping again except for milk and fresh produce so I’m going to have to bump my budget up to $225. I can probably maximize that by making my last trip of the month to Aldi.

Hope you were able to do some frugal shopping this week.   If you grabbed any great deals or coupons share them in the comments.

Links I Liked

In keeping with my budget grocery shopping theme here are a few links that I found interesting:


At This Side of Eternity’s Savings Dollars and Sense Blog you can read some tips on Successful Grocery Shopping.

In her post Simplify Your Pantry and Your Life - Susanne at Hillbilly Housewife shares some of the benefits of doing a pantry challenge. She ended up with de-cluttering her kitchen food storage and clearing room for the items that make for a well stocked pantry.

Money Saving Mom has a guest post by Jennifer of Saving and Giving in which she shares the NON-COOKING LESSONS LEARNED by participating in the January Pantry Challenge held by Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom. One of the lessons I took away is that dinner doesn’t need to be extravagant – a soup and sandwich night can satisfy everyone’s appetite as well as our grocery budget.

Hope you find these links informative and helpful in your quest to simplify and reduce the cost of feeding your families.

Grocery List and Meal Planning Process

A Previous shopping trip to Shaws

My frugal grocery budget this month has me planning to spend under $200 for the entire month. We will be gone for one week of the month so it should work out. Just to note I include paper, cleaning products and toiletries in my grocery budget.

Today I am working on planning my grocery trip(s) on Monday (and maybe Tuesday) to purchase the bulk of our food for the month. I have the store circulars, my needs list from the refrigerator, my coupon box, and my notebook. Everything is cleared off the dining table and I’ve got a nice cup of orange spice tea to help me get through the task.

First I work my way through the circulars listing loss leaders and sales items for each store that I am considering purchasing.

Next I work through my coupon box looking for matches to items on both my sales list and my needs list. If I don’t have a coupon I might still purchase the product depending on the price and our need/usage history for that product. If the product is on my needs list and I really need it then I try to get the best price in the store that I can without a coupon. Right now my coupon box is rather empty due to lots of expirations being purged and the fact that I haven’t been couponing in about two months. I will be buying the Sunday newspaper this weekend and scrounging around online for printable coupons. I know that Coupons.com will reset their printable coupons on the 1st of the month so I plan to check there once more before I head out Monday morning.

I now have lists for two stores of loss leaders and sales items. Based on what I plan to purchase for meat and produce, I start meal planning for at least the next week. Today I’m going to try to rough out approximately two weeks worth of menu ideas. I try to utilize the highly perishable items as soon as possible and push out recipe and menus that will use the hardier ingredients towards the end of my plan. I just came up with 11 dinner menu ideas - a few of which utilize leftovers. At this point I’m not looking to plan for specific days. I’m looking for ideas based on the sale items and making sure I either have on hand or on my shopping list the right ingredients for the main dishes as well as sides and vegetables.

Finally I look at my lists and select the store with the greatest number of sales items and/or the store that I know generally has lower prices. I fill in all my needed products on this list from both the fridge list and the list of what I need to round out my menu plans. This store is a must visit for me and I will schedule my shop as early in the morning as possible. The store is generally less busy, I am more energetic, the bottle return area is empty (I have holiday bottles and cans to return) and I can usually snag a few meat markdown sales.

For those of you interested or living in the Northeast here is the list of loss leaders and sales items I plan to purchase along with coupon information:

Stop and Shop
Doubles manufacturer coupons under $1.00
Spareribs (Family Pack) 1.99/lb
Italian Sausage (Family Pack) 1.99/lb
Chicken Leg Quarters (Family Pack) .79/lb
Fresh Brocoli 1.79/lb
Starkist Tuna (5oz) 10/$10
Barilla Pasta (1lb) 10/$10
Betty Crocker Cake Mix 10/$10
Pillsbury Toaster Strudel 2/$4 ($1.00 of two coupon)
Hellman’s Mayonnaise $2.99 (.75 coupon and .60 coupon – both will double)

Shaws
Doubles manufacturer coupons under $1.00
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (Family Pack) 1.88/lb
Pork Sirloin Cutlets (Family Pack) 1.88/lb
Shoulder Steak 1.99/lb
Ground Beef 2.49/lb
Mushrooms – 1lb 1.00
Onions – 2lb 1.00
Potatoes – 3lb 1.00
Coleslaw – 10oz 1.00
Land O Lakes American Cheese (Deli) 4.99/lb
Sara Lee Ham (Deli) 6.99/lb
Yoplait Light Yogurts .59 ($1.00 off 8)
Trix Yogurts 2.69 ($.80 off 2 – cannot double)
Quaker Products Buy 5 get $3.00 back (I have other coupons that I am going to see if I can stack with this offer)
Shaws English Muffins – 12 count  1.99
Java Delight Coffee – 1lb  4.99 ($1.00 off two Shaws coupon)

The lists above are just the loss leader and sales items I am planning to purchase. I am adding to the Shaws list the additional items I need for the pantry as well as the items to round out my menus.  I have more sales items for Shaws, I prefer their bottle return area and I think their prices are generally lower than the Stop and Shop I go to.  I thought you would be most interested in previewing the sales items especially if you are local and want to take advantage of the same deals.

Next week I’ll share my menu plan as well as the results of my grocery shopping trips to both Stop and Shop and Shaws.

Links I Liked

Here are a few interesting blog posts I've found over the past week.   Check them out!


Hillary, monthly contributor to Steady Mom, shares 8 Lessons She Has Learned from her 2 Year Old. Her post reminded me that we can learn a lot from these little people in our lives

Jami from An Oregon Cottage has a great instructional post on cutting up whole chicken. It includes photos. For those that are vegetarians or meat phobics maybe skip this post and check out the rest of her site instead.

Molly at Econobusters publishes a Monthly Money-Saving Digest that looks rather interesting. The publication is available as a download for $4.95. Check out this link for more details on the February issue.

Drop me a comment if there are any blogs you recommend I check out - especially your own!   Have a great day.

Black Belt Frugality

$$$

After the past few months our household budget is totally out of whack. We had a planned trip to Florida and had budgeted for that but then life went beyond our control. We extended our trip which caused increased airfare costs, my husband stayed in Florida without getting paid while his mother was in hospice, I had to fly back to Florida with 3 hours notice (ouch that was expensive), we helped cover costs of services, flowers, extra company and bringing my father in law back home with us for several weeks over the holidays.

Needless to say we really have to tighten our belts for the next few months. I had this post partially written a few months ago and after reviewing and adding to it I think I have a good plan for my “Black Belt Frugality” mission. Here are some of the tips I’m following to help cut our expenses:

• Institute No Spend/No Drive days where I don’t use the car and don’t go to any stores. I try to do this one to two days a week. It also helps me stay on top of things I need to accomplish around the house because I’m not running out the door for a couple hours every day.

• Reduce my grocery budget by combining sales and coupons to stockpile my pantry with items we need and use at the lowest possible prices.

• Take advantage of meat sales and mark downs by getting to the grocery store early in the morning. Most items have a sell by date of the following day and as long as the meat is either cooked or frozen that same day it is fine. This technique has stretched our grocery budget for meat a great deal.

• Use minimal paper products – I don’t buy paper plates or cups and we use dishrags in the kitchen instead of paper towels. We do however use paper napkins and my husband does require some paper towels at his disposal.

• Save bread ends in freezer to make my own bread crumbs.

• Save veggie scraps in the freezer (carrots, onions, celery, peppers) for making stock or adding to roasting pans for gravy flavoring.

• Menu planning and making more foods from scratch is something I have also found saves a lot.

• Both my husband and my daughter bring lunches and snacks to work/school with them each day. My son and I also eat from home and if we have errands to do I will pack snacks and drinks so we aren’t lured in by fast food or convenience stores.

• I’ve put the electronics on light strips and actually shut them off when not in use. We have a DVR that I don’t have on the light strip as we like to record a couple ‘grownup’ shows to watch at our convenience.

• We’re keeping the thermostat set at 62 for the winter – We currently have a wood pellet stove burning in the living room that heats the entire first floor. The heat in our lower level is set at 62 degrees.

• Our last oil delivery was at $3.09 a gallon. In addition to keeping the heat down and using the pellet stove we have turned down the temperature on the hot water heater. I also rinse dishes in cold water and have been doing much more laundry using cold – except for whites, sheets, towels or more heavily soiled items.

• Use the library. I am a voracious reader. I can devour a book within 2 days or less – at 8 bucks a book it can be ridiculously expensive. My son goes to story time at our local library and I check out at least 3 books a week for myself. We also borrow videos – they have a 2 day rental with one renewal. I’m careful to return my books and videos on time so I don’t incur late charges.

Hopefully with some smart shopping, planning and patience we can get our budget back on track within a few months. I’d love to hear any frugal tips my readers have on maximizing the household budget.

Monthly Grocery Challenge - November - How Low Can You Go????

Aldi Shopping Trip - $62.48

Yesterday I shopped at Aldi and managed to keep my total to $62.48. With the exception of milk, lunchmeat and a few incidentals I should be able to keep my spending under my $250 dollar target for the month. In addition to grabbing milk, eggs, English muffins, coffee, flour tortillas, frozen juice concentrate, and a few other weekly necessities I stocked up on butter, 5lbs of ground beef, yeast and cheese.

The next week and a half are going to take some careful planning to keep from shopping.   I plan to Christmas shop tomorrow and we are headed to Florida for vacation the following week.   I generally do a Stop and Shop Peapod order to be delivered when I return from vacation but am going to forgo that treat to myself this time.

A Little Bit of Freezer Cooking

My dinner menu for Tuesday was Roasted Chicken. I had a 10lb bag of chicken leg quarters that I purchased frozen for 4.99. So on Tuesday I undertook thawing the whole bag and cooking it all. We used 3 legs for supper that night and the remaining 7 legs I cooked between the crockpot and the oven. I’ve stripped all the meat and have separated and frozen it. I’m going to make stock with all the bones and scraps tomorrow.

Today my dinner menu was Spaghetti and Meatballs. I made 3lbs of meatballs – some I put into my own sauce along with hot Italian sausage. The remaining meatballs I froze individually and then popped into a large freezer bag.

So basically for a little bit of ‘extended’ dinner preparation I now have already cooked chicken, already cooked meatballs, chicken stock, and spaghetti sauce with meat in the freezer for future meals.  It took a little bit of extra time and planning but it will make a few nights during the coming month a lot easier.

Monthly Grocery Challenge - November - How Low Can You Go????

How Low Can You Go???

$65.57 Shaw's Trip

I finally got to the grocery store this morning. I had hoped to give BJ’s a try but it’s too far and I didn’t have time to get a November coupon booklet from the store to plan my shopping. So instead I went to Shaw’s with a mid-sized list and a handful of coupons. I spent $65.57 today – my savings were VIP Card $31.85, Manufacturer Coupons $3.85, and Store Coupons $2.35. Not too bad and I did get a few good deals including:

Jennie-O Turkey Breast Sliced - $4.99/lb
Russet Potatoes - .99 for 5lbs
Bumble Bee Tuna - .88 each
Keebler Snack Cracker Packs–1.88 minus .55 coupon doubled–Paid .78 each
Malt-O-Meal Cereal – BOGO–2.79 minus .75 coupon doubled–Paid .65 each
Scotties Tissues – BOGO–1.79 minus .50 coupon doubled–Paid .40 each

My total for the month including today’s purchases along with a few items from the market over the weekend comes to $85.23. I have $164.77 remaining in my budget for the month. I’m thinking that an Aldi trip next week will probably get us through until we leave for vacation the week of Thanksgiving. Looking good to meet my goal so far!

Menu Plan Monday - November 2nd

Grocery Challenge Menu - How Low Can You Go??? – Week One

I’m trying to keep my grocery spending to $250 this month for my November Monthly Grocery Challenge. As a result I probably won’t have the most exciting menu plans over the next couple weeks since I plan to use the pantry as much as possible. Most of our meals will be the ‘tried and true’ kind that use inexpensive ingredients I always have on hand and that I know my family will eat. I do need to shop but I'm not sure when I will be leaving the house in the next few days as I have one kid sick with flu type symptoms. The few items I do want to pick up for this week’s menu are potatoes, coleslaw veggies and salad fixings.   Maybe tonight or tomorrow night I can get out to the store after my husband gets home from work.

Monday – Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage (I have sausage in the freezer that I will brown with onions and mushrooms. Then add chicken stock from the freezer and broccoli. Pour mixture over pasta and season with parmesan cheese and black pepper)

Tuesday – Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff, Green Beans

Wednesday – Thyme Pork Chops, Sweet Potato, Broccoli (we didn’t make these last week so I pushed them to this week)

Thursday – Slow Cooker Chicken (boneless chicken pieces with cream soup and chicken stock), Rice, Corn

Friday – Sirloin Tips with Onions and  Mushrooms (I have some bottled marinade to use on these), Mashed Potatoes, Salad

Saturday – Meatloaf, Baked Beans, Coleslaw

Sunday – Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (will make sauce from canned tomatoes I got on sale), Salad, Rolls

Also to make this week: Banana Bread and Pumpkin Bread for the Election Day Bake Sale, Tuna Mac Salad for my husband’s lunchbox, molasses or gingerbread cookies for snacks.

Money Saving Mom's "Becoming a Work At Home Mom" Series - Part 2

Starting with Small Things (Part 2)

Part 2 of Crystal’s “Becoming a Work At Home Mom” series is posted at Money Saving Mom. Each post I read has me anticipating the next one! In Part 2 Crystal shares with us the small things she started doing to earn an income from home. If you’re interested in learning more please check out this post at Money Saving Mom as well as all the comments posted.

I would have to say this is the stage I am in right now – dipping my feet in the water and seeing how things feel. One of the easiest ways I’ve found to make quick cash is to sell off items on Craigslist or eBay. I also use Swagbucks and have earned about $20 in Amazon.com gift cards. (See this post for more information on earning prizes and gift cards by using Swagbucks.) I haven’t tried any of the survey sites and I’m not sure I want to take that path – it sounds like an investment in time that doesn’t pay a lot. I really am enjoying blogging and while it hasn’t paid off yet I feel good about building something and having a tangible ‘product’ out there in the world. I like writing and am hopeful that this experience will hone my skills and perhaps open the door to future writing projects.

Do you do things from home to earn additional income? What things seem to work best for you and what kind of advice do you have for someone starting out?

Money Saving Mom's "Becoming a Work At Home Mom" Series

Crystal at Money Saving Mom has Part 1 of her Work At Home Mom Series posted. Check out Becoming a Work-At-Home Mom: In the Beginning…(Part 1). While this post is mostly an intro, it does give you background on Crystal and her husband’s journey to multiple income streams. Crystal is a respected blogger and definite mentor in the on-line work at home world. I’m looking forward to learning more from her series. I also hope to share here at Finding My Way at Home, my own attempts to increase our household income using alternative means.

Monthly Grocery Challenge

October – Stock the Pantry and Freezer for Under $400

I shopped at Aldi on Sunday and spent $67.82 – definitely a little bit more than I wanted but I also had my husband and the two kids with me. Shopping with DH always adds up to more – even more so than just shopping with the kids. Regardless, I’m pleased with my purchases and with the abundance in my freezer and pantry.

My Aldi list had a few staples that I had run out of like Baking Mix, Butter, Flour, Frozen Juice Concentrate, Minced Garlic, Shredded Cheeses and Canned Tomatoes. I also grabbed a few items for this week’s menu plan – Sweet Potatoes, Brocoli, Fresh Mushrooms and Biscuits. My usual buys at Aldi included Milk, Eggs, Bread, Bananas, Flour Tortillas and English Muffins. The kids got a treat of Corn Dogs and DH grabbed a bag of Pistachios.

My total grocery spending for the month comes in at $250.99 as of yesterday. That includes my stop at the convenience store for milk (and the piece of chocolate that DS begged for me when we were there). My game plan for the rest of the month is to buy only essentials and use the rest of my budget towards stockpiling with loss leaders and coupons. Look here to see my previous Monthly Grocery Challenge post

What’s your grocery budget look like this month? Are you able to work the sales and coupons to maximize your dollars? Have you gotten any great deals? Share your knowledge and accomplishments here!

Secrets of a Super Saver

Lisa Palmi, 20 year stay at home mom and fellow Dollar Stretcher Forumite, has recently published an informational download on her secrets to saving 60% - 90% off your grocery bill. As most moms know, the grocery bill is one of the largest expenses of a growing family. Lisa’s download details how to utilize coupons, rebates and store programs to maximize your grocery budget. I consider myself a relatively smart shopper and user of coupons, however there were quite a few new tricks I learned from Lisa’s publication. Some of the information Lisa teaches about are:

Coupon & Rebate Sources
Coupon “Stacking” Tips
Doubling Bar Code Secrets
How to Get Paid to Purchase Products
Store Sales Cycles by Month

My favorite part of Secrets of a Supersaver is that Lisa shares her methods for organizing coupons, planning shops and transactions and maximizing the value of your coupons.

The Secrets of a Supersaver download is being offered for $7.00 through the follwing link . Click Here to Purchase.

As part of a special promotion, anyone who purchases the download via the link above will receive 3 entries in a random drawing for a FREE COUPON ORGANIZER.

You may also receive 1 entry in the drawing by viewing Lisa's site via the link and then returning here to Finding My Way at Home and leaving feedback in the comments section of this post. This drawing is valid today through October 31st. Winner will be announced on November 1st.

Money Saving Mom's "Becoming a Work At Home Mom" Series

Crystal at Money Saving Mom is doing a series on becoming a work at home mom. She's gotten an overwhelming response to her introduction for the series. Check out this post at Money Saving Mom and keep an eye out here for future links to this exciting series.

Monthly Grocery Challenge

October – Stock the Pantry and Freezer for Under $400

My grocery goal this month is to utilize loss leaders, coupons and shopping at Aldi to stock my pantry and freezer while providing my family with well balanced meals. Both DD and DH bring lunch each day and I need to provide snacks for home and on the go. Since October is a 3 paycheck month (and we used a lot of the pantry at the end of September) I am setting my budget at $350 but if I find some good deals I am willing to push it to $400.

My first week of shopping utilized CVS for ECB deals and Shaws for loss leaders – both with coupon stacking. The balance of my shopping this week was at Stop & Shop where I had an additional 5% off my entire purchase coupon. I estimate I spent approximately 1.5 hours planning my trips – this included coupon cutting, sorting, reviewing adds, matching coupons to both sale items and my needs list as well as searching for additional coupons on line.

My total spending so far for the month of October is $171.32 – approximately half of my budget for the month. However my freezer is now pretty well stocked with meat and the pantry is in good shape as well.

Here are the details of my shopping this week.

CVS - Total spent $32.94. I think this was one of my best CVS trips lately. The clerk knows me and she asked if I could take her shopping list for her. I think she gets as big of a kick out seeing how much I can save as I do.

Transaction #1
Dawn Dish Liquid – $1.00 Each – Quantity 5
Charm in Ultra 16 Roll – $10.00 Each – Quantity 2
Gillette Fusion Razor – $9.99
Thermacare Back Wrap – $6.99

For this transaction I used $7.20 in Manufacturer coupons, $4.00 in ECBs and a $5.00 off $25 Purchase CVS Coupon for taking the Flu Test (see Money Saving Mom). Total for this transaction was $27.33 and from it I earned $16.00 in ECB’s

Transaction #2
Hellman’s Mayo – 2 for $6.00
CVS Honey Wheat Pretzel Braids - $1.00 Each – Quantity 2
1 Gallon 2% Garelick Farms Milk – - $2.69
1 Dozen Eggs – $1.05
Speed Stick Deodorant – $1.99 Each – Quantity 3
CVS Floss Picks – $2.49
Gillette Body Wash and Shampoo – $4.99

For this transaction I used $4.00 in manufacturer coupons and the $16.00 in ECB’s earned from the previous transaction. Total for this transaction was $5.61


SHAWS - Total Spent - $30.97

10lb Bag of Frozen Chicken Leg Quarters – $2.99
Split Chicken Breast - $.99/lb – 4.23
Hamburger Helper – 10/$10 – 3 Boxes
Nestle Chocolate Chips – 2/$5
New England Coffee – $2.77/each – Quantity 2
Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta – 10/$10 – Quantity 2
Campbell’s Healthy Harvest Soups – 2/$3 – Quantity 2
Kelloggs Yogo’s – $2.22 each
Huggies Pull-ups – $9.99
Animal Cookies (the grocery life saver with a 3 year old) – $1.00

For this transaction I had $8.00 in coupons.

STOP & SHOP - Total Spent - $107.41

12 Pack Heineken Light – $13.99
6 Pack Italian Rolls - $2.49
3 Loaves Wheat Bread - $4.99
10 Dannon Yogurts - $.40 Each
3 Pack Yeast - $1.99
2 6 packs of Yoplait Trix Yogurt – 2/$5.00
Honey Ham Lunchmeat – $5.99/lb
Turkey Breast Lunchmeat - $6.99/lb
Sliced American Cheese - $4.99/lb
3 Boxes Fruit Snacks – 2/$5.00
5 Cans Delmonte Vegetables – 10/$10.00
5 Cans Creamed Soup – 3/$4.00
5 Cans Chicken Broth – 5/$5.00
Pillsbury Toaster Strudel - $2.00
3 Cans Frozen Apple Juice Concentrate - $1.19 each
2 Packs Hotdogs - $.99 each
Ground Beef - $1.99/lb
Cube Steak – Marked Down
Italian Sausage – Marked Down
Beef Round Sandwich Steaks – Marked Down
2 lbs Baby Carrots - FREE
3lbs Granny Smith Apple - $3.49
Mini Raisins – 14 Pack - FREE
3lb Yellow Onions - $1.79
Grape Tomatoes - $2.50
Romaine Hearts - $2.99
Vanilla Extract - $3.99
Nature Valley Nut Clusters - $2.99
Keebler Crackers – 8 Pack - $2.00
Juicy Juice 8 Pack Juice Boxes - $3.00
Salsa - $1.50

My total before any savings was $162.56. Stop & Shop Card Savings including my additional %5 off were $46.44. Coupon savings were $9.55 – for a total savings of $55.99.

Overall I’m pleased with my shopping this week. Although now I have a lengthy date with my Seal A Meal this afternoon to get all that meat wrapped and into the freezer.

The Leftover Queen

Yes the Leftover Queen is a name I love to call myself – and love even more hearing it from those I feed. I get the biggest kick out of taking leftovers and re-creating them into something tasty and frugal. My Pantry Challenge Menu this week takes advantage of a few of these leftovers. Our BBQ Pork on Tuesday is using up the Garlic Thyme Pork Roast leftovers in the freezer from last week. I will serve it sliced thin heated with sautéed onions and BBQ sauce. The ‘meat’ in Wednesday night’s Spaghetti and Meat Sauce is actually cubed leftover Meat Loaf frozen from the week before last.

One of my family’s favorites re-created from leftovers is quesadillas or wraps. I sauté whatever leftover meat I have along with onions, peppers, leftover veggies (broccoli, mushrooms, squash, potato, sweet potato, etc) and either roll them into a flour tortilla or put the mixture between two tortillas with cheese and fry lightly until the cheese is melted. The quesadillas work great as either a sandwich for one or cut into smaller triangles as an appetizer.

Leftover rice, veggies and meat often become Fried Rice, Soup or Pot Pie . Leftover potatoes are re-created into potato pancakes or hash browns on the weekend.

How do you make use of leftovers? Do you plan your menu to create leftovers and then re-create them? I’d love to hear your recipe ideas for creating meals out of leftovers.