The $50 Grocery Budget: 1/4/09

Saturday, January 10, 2009

CVS Trip #6

2 boxes of soyjoy 6 packs

-$8 ECBs from trip #5
Total Spent $4
ECBs received to spend on next trip $12

Yes that is more than I spent!

Why I should not Shop Walgreens

Everytime I go into Walgreens with a deal worked out I end up paying more than I should according to their coupon policy. Walgreens is suppose to allow you to combine their store coupons with manufacturer coupons and use 2 coupons on each item. Many people on Hotcouponworld have been able to build large stockpiles of Garneir Fructis Shampoo this week. This is our favorite shampoo and the temptatation got the better of me.

The shampoo is free this week. Walgreens has it on sale for $3, there is a store coupon for $2 off and then a manufacturer coupon for $1. Well I must say that Walgreens has the most unfriendly cashiers I have run into anywere. I went to different tore this time hoping for different results but but no luck. The cashier insisted the store coupon was in fact a manufactures a coupon and would not accept both. I ended up paying $4.87 for 3 shampoos and a pack of gum. Not terrible but not the free others are getting.

Are there any coupon friendly Walgreens cashiers in Indianapolis?

I have decided Walgreens is a waste of my time.

Meijer Trip #3

Coupon Savings $10.20
Savings from buying on Sale 16.85

Total spent $33.47

Meijer #2

3 Beech Nut Mini-meals $1.18each
4 Spaghettios .50each
Coupons
Meijer Mealbox Spaghettio's -$1
Beech Nut -$3

Total $1.54

Indianapolis Area Meijer Best Deals 1/8-1/14

Meijer also has some nice prices on produce this week:
Apples are $1lb

All these are 10 for $10 get the 11th free:

Dole bag lettuce $1

baby carrots $1

coleslaw mix $1

celery bunch $1

3lb bag of yellow onions $1

bagged spinach $1

And meat:

Chicken Breast is 1.67 lb

Boneless Chuckeye Roast or Steak $2lb

Select Kelloggs cereals are $2
There are several $1 coupons out for Kellogg's cereal making thee $1 a box

Bob Evans side dishes are $2
There are .35 coupons that will double making these $1.30ea

Campbell's Select Harvest Soups are 8 for $10 or 1.25-THESE ARE ONLY .88 at KROGER
There are .50/2 coupons that will double

Nestle refrigerated cookie dough is $2
There are $1 coupons out making these $1 a package

If you need them Red Gold tomatoes are $1 buy 10 get 1 free-This is an OK price at .75ea
There are $1/4 coupons out
There was also a BYGO Internet printable out that is no longer available

Campbell's condensed tomato and chicken noodle are 10 for $6
There are .40/4 coupons out that will double making these .40 each

Electrasol is $3
use $2.50 coupon

Smuckers Grape Jelly or Jam are 4 for $5
There are .55/2 coupons that will double to a $1 at the East Wash. Meijer making these .75

Country Crock is $1.50
.25 coupons out

Eggos 2.50
.75 coupon

V-8 Juice 2.50
.50 coupons out

Campbell's Spaghetti O's are .50
The Meijer mealbox has printable coupons for these $1/4 making these .25 a can
http://www.meijermealbox.com/?show=coupons&cmpid=0104mealboxcoup

Also a friend told me about this deal
Purchase 4 cases of ice mountain water at $4 each
Get a $5 cat coupon for $5 off you next order
This is like paying $2.75 per case
http://www.meijer.com/home.jsp

Friday, January 9, 2009

Kroger Trip #2

Coupon Savings 14.60
Sale Savings 26.64
Total Savings 41.24

Total Spent 20.91

Thursday, January 8, 2009

CVS Best Buys Week of 1/11-1/17

The SoyJoy bars officially start this week. A box of 6 bars $6 get 6 ECB so free after ECBs
the advertised limit is 5 boxes but some regions are reporting 10 boxes. The boxes are being found on end capas and are not something CVS normally stocks.
**These are already working as of 1/4 and will go fast. You might want to try to purchase them before the ad is released on 1/11.

Mennen Deodorant Products are 2/$6 Earn 3 ECBs on 2 Limit 1
You may have a buy one get one coupon from 1/4 making these free after ECBs

Don't forget the great January Deals still going on:

January Freebees at CVS

Children's Throat Cooler ice pops 6ct are 4.99 get $4.99 back to spend on your next order (limit 2) And thank you Thriftymama http://www.thethriftymama.com/2009/01/best-of-cvs-january-ecb-deals.html go here and you can print buy one get one coupons of these. You may also have gotten them in your 12/7 paper. Buy 2 with a coupon for 4.99 and get 9.98 back in ECB. That's 2 free gallons of milk for me. Thank You CVS!

Nasogel Drip Free Gel Spray is $7.99 get $7.99 back to spend on your next order. (limit 2) If you follow this link you can have a $2 coupon emailed to you. The coupon allows you to print more than one. So print 2 and buy 2 Nasogels for $15.98-2($2 coupons)=$11.98 out of pocket and get $15.98 back to spend on your next order. If you buy them one at a time you can use the Extra Care Bucks for one to pay for the other and keep your out of pocket cost low.

Nutrigum weight management gum is $3.99 get $3.99 back to spend on your next order. (limit 2)

Listerine Smart Rinse and Agent Blue are $3.99 get $3 back to spend on your next order. Lucky me I have a pile of smart rinse $1 coupons so essentially free. (limit 5) You can also print a coupon here http://www.listerinekids.com/coupons.jsp

Free Cottonelle at Kroger!

Check the coupon bar at the top of this blog for a .50 coupon on cottonelle that will double at kroger. Kroger sells a 4 pack for $.99.

Kroger Stockpile Deals 1/8-1/14

Here's what I'll be shopping for at my Indianapolis area Kroger

Suave Shampoo and Conditioner 10 for $10 (during these sales you can actually buy as many as you want at $1 each)
There are lots of .50/ 2 coupons out for these and more coming out this Sunday. They will double making these $.5o each.

Campbell's Chunky Soups .99
There are .50/2 coupons for the healthy request if it is included.

Kroger half gallon milk 4 for $5

Boneless Pork Lion (makes great pork chops and the butcher will slice it for free) $1.87lb

Perdue Chicken Breast $1.97 THESE ARE 1.69lb at Meijer

Chicken Leg Quarters are back again for .49lb this time

Lean Cuisines are $1.88
This is an excellent price! I paid more last week. Go here for a printable coupon http://www.everydayeating.com/specialoffers

Lloyd's BBQ Tubs are buy one get one free.
Buy 2 and use 2 coupons for .75

Oscar Meyer Bologna is .88
I have a .50 coupon from All You Magazine that will double. So free for me!

Chef Boyardee is .88
Last weeks paper had .35/3 coupons which will double making these .65each

Kroger medium eggs are .88lb

5lb box of clementines 4.97

Avocados 4 for $3 (my toddler needs these)

Suave deodorant is 10 for $10
There are coupons for .55 of one making these .45each

Softsoap is 10 for $10
There are .35 coupons that will double making these .30each

Some other deals you may need:

Beech Nut stage 2 10 for $4
$1/10 coupons from last week

Luvs Mega Pack $10
Sign up at the sight for coupons

Powerade Zero is .88
Free with last weeks .50 coupon doubled!

Arnold 100% Natural Soft Bread - BOGO (save up to $2.99)use 2 insert ? .55/1 = $1.89 for 2
Kroger

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Free Spaghetti at Favoli's!

Join the Italian Revolution

CVS TRIP #5

half gallon of Whole Milk $2.19 (Yes they drank it on the way home)
Gallon of 2% 2.99
Box of SoyJoy Bars $6
Garner Shampoo 2.99

Coupons
-1 on Garner Shampoo
-7.99 ECBs

Total paid 4.98
ECBs received 8

Yes that is more than I spent!

The Secret to Saving Money on your Groceries

The biggest, most important, secret to saving money on your grocery bill is to stockpile. It took me 13 years of running my household to learn this because I am extremely hard-headed. You don't need to wait that long. I am going to tell you what a friend told me and to whom I should have listened to the first time.

Grocery stores will put something on sale for a rock bottom price almost every week. These sales come in a cycle for example oatmeal is lowest in January.

This is important stuff. Remember it. We will come back to sales cycles.

Most Weeks the Saturday evening edition and the Sunday edition of the newspaper contain coupon inserts. The coupons are the same on Saturday and Sunday. Find a place to purchase the paper or ask your neighbor if they use their coupons. If you have a dollar store (we do in Indianapolis) you will want to check there before purchasing because the papers are only a $1.

Now you may be wondering why I am so concerned about saving $.75 on a newspaper that I will drive 7 miles to the nearest dollar store?

Here's the answer.

Buy lots of papers.! Don't buy just one paper. Buy in multiples of 2 in case there are any great buy one get one sales. When the coupons are on foods you like buy lots. It is completely worth it to buy 8 copies of the paper on a great coupon Sunday. Your dollar investment might yeld you a 20 dollar return or more. To preview the coupons before buying try this site. http://www.taylortownpreview.com/

Ok, so what does this have to do with a stockpile and what is a stockpile anyways?

After the coupon appears in the paper the item will almost always go on sale. It may take several weeks so hold those coupons. Watch for a rock bottom price. Not every sale is a good sale.

Remember sales cycles with our oatmeal example?

I want to match my coupons with the oatmeal when it is on sale for its lowest price and then buy the oatmeal. I am going not just to buy one box of oatmeal but instead buy enough oatmeal to last until it goes on sale again. I have been doing this long enough now to know oatmeal will not be on sale again until September. Since we like oatmeal I will try to cash in all my coupons and buy at least 24 boxes of instant and 8 canisters.

Have you ever seen a teen eat instant oatmeal--4 packs at a time--it's a little scary!

My canister oatmeal will likely be free with the coupons and the instant will hopefully be $1.25 a box. Your prices will be different of course depending on were you live. Here small canisters of oatmeal are about $2.25 in the summer and instant Quaker oats $4.00 a box or more. My stockpiled oatmeal cost me $84 less than the non sale price.

As long as I have instant oatmeal in my pantry I will never have a need to pay $4 a box. Imagine how much less your grocery bill could be 6 months from now with a nice stockpile. Eventually all you would need to buy would be fresh produce, eggs, and perhaps milk and what ever super cheap or free item was available that week. A stockpile is always being used and replenished.

This is how I am now beginning to shop. You can do this too!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Check Out Stephanie's Fantastic Blog

For all the crockpot enthusiasts out there.

A Year of Crockpotting
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Monday, January 5, 2009

Throat Cooler Review

We are loving these. We have all been sick at my house so this freebee came just in time. These are yummy tasting ice pops that numb sore throats. The ingredients are all natural without any medication. The have no corn syrup but do contain sucrose and food coloring. The ingredients are mostly citric acid and honey and vit C. I tried one and they really do help. I will be buying more of these.
http://www.throatcooler.com/products.html

Meijer Trip #1

I went a bit wild here with the frozen entrees. My girls and I attend a homeschool co-op once a week and I use these to speed up our mornings and keep myself from being tempted to buy fast food. They are way to expensive for everyday, however when you compare the cost of these at $4 for lunch to Taco Bell at $25 its no contest and a lower calorie uption as well.

4 stoufers paninis
12 lean cuisines
1 box of lean pockets
2 free yogurt packages for purchasing the lean cuisines
6 boxes of kraft mac and chs (buy 3 get 3 free)
1 box of 6 donuts marked down from 2.19 to 1.31
Note to Myself: Someday a will write a comedy about taking my children shopping: I will call it "I bought 6 donuts and left with 4"

Coupons used
-.40 on lean pockets doubled to -.80
2 -$1 on 2 stoufer paninis
2 -$2 on 5 lean cuisines
1 -$1 on 2 lean cuisines
Total 29.93
Saved with coupons and buying on sale and marked down 35.74

Kroger Trip #1

2 pkg of Eckrich Bologna for .99ec
Total 1.98 saved 3.50 by buying these on sale

We normally don't eat Bologna but I'm trying to get the toddler to eat something. Picky eaters call for desperate measures.

The ground chuck and chicken leg quarters had both not been delivered yet. This is what happened last time the chicken leg quarters were out of stock. I plan to check back.

The $50 Grocery Budget