November 2020 – Page 2 – Frugal Things Every Day

With winter upon us and knowing that the snow will be falling soon, it was time to make a plan for grocery shopping. We do have quite a stockpile but there are still fresh things that we will need and some things that our “Resident Chef” will need to make his recipes.

So I took a look at the Walmart + plan and decided to join it for one year. I was able to get a 30 day free trial and pay for one year the amount of $ 98. up front because it is much cheaper than paying monthly at $ 12.95. They tell you that you get a 15 day trial but when I signed up they asked three questions in a survey which gave me 15 more days. They also have discounted gasoline at certain gas stations none of which are around here. However since I can get discounted gas at Top’s or BJ’s, it was not important to me. They also will deliver other things besides groceries. If I happen to shop in the store, I can just scan and go – no check out.

I needed the fresh mushrooms for a recipe this week and we got some more creamer because we are low.

Hubby loves onion rings so they are a treat for him. We love their chicken wings that we use for making Buffalo wings. They are meaty and delicious. I also picked up a few boxes of Kleenex and some quart size freezer bags.

I tried it out yesterday to stock up on some more things that we needed. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. They let me know in the morning what they were out of and the substitutions that they made. There were only 3 and I was happy with all of them. One was the pizza which is an I don’t want to cook tonight item. They were out of the pepperoni but substituted the cheese. I have plenty of pepperoni here that I can throw on it before it goes in the oven. They substituted tomatoes on the vine for 1 other tomato that I had ordered. But I got 4 tomatoes instead of 1 for less money. They substituted 2 other Knorr Asian sides for 2 that they were out of which were ones we do use.

I have been paying $ 1.99 to $ 2.49 on sale for SF Cool Whip at Top’s. I was so pleasantly surprised to be able to buy 4 for $ 1.00 each. It freezes well and we use it on SF Jello and SF puddings for desserts. Hubby was out of corn which is his favorite veggie and they were $1.00 each. Cucumbers were only $ .62 each and I eat them for snacks and in my salads.

I do not buy bread ahead. It does not keep well in my freezer. So I got the buns for a chili hot dog meal this week. The Knorr sides were cheap and are a stockpile item. Hubby loves them and now that I am eating carbs once in a while, I like them too because they are easy. We love these ice cream sandwiches occasionally for a quick ice cream craving. The Craves and the Doritos are a Hubby snack. I buy snacks ahead and I keep them in a huge Rubbermaid tub in the basement to keep bugs out. They keep a few months; much longer than the expiration dates.

99% of these items are cheaper than my regular grocery stores and taste better too. Yes, I do keep a price book so most of the prices I already knew. The SF Cool Whip was the big surprise. I also love that I can get most of my frozen veggies for $ 1.00.

I know that this Walmart plan will not work for some people and there are some who like to shop. For us, it is perfect since I do not like driving in the snow and we are supposed to have more than plenty of it this winter. That said, I buy very little meat at Walmart so I will continue to stockpile meat elsewhere when I see a good sale. My Aldi’s is good for that when they have a sale. I just never pay full price at Aldi’s for meat. Their meat is delicious but I can buy it on sale at Top’s, Wegman’s, BJ’s, or Niagara Produce cheaper. When I buy I try to buy in bulk. I can just drive to those places when I need meat or see a great sale and it is not snowing.

This order cost me $ 68.46 and a tip for the driver. I was very happy with that.

Have any of you used the Walmart plan or delivery?

Getting The Freezer Ready

I just spent the morning defrosting my chest freezer. For some reason, the ice built up really fast this time. It was bad!

Before I do it. I gather my tools that I need. A bucket to put the ice in. Coolers to put the food in. My blow dryer to easily take the ice off the walls. A plastic scraper to get behind the ice to knock it off. Towels to dry the inside. Lastly, a plastic dust pan to scoop the ice up with.

So after unplugging the freezer, I went at it. The blow dryer loosens the ice enough that I can use the plastic scraper to knock it to the bottom. Then I scoop it up and put it in the bucket. When the ice is all out, I dry the walls and bottom. Then I plug the freezer back in.

Next I went through all of the food to make sure it was all good and reorganized it before putting it back in. I only had to toss a loaf of bread that looked pretty sad and a half pound of ground pork that was freezer burned.

I learned how to easily defrost a freezer when I was 19 years old and first married. We rented an apartment that had a refrigerator – freezer combo. The freezer was not frost free. So when we buy chest freezers to save energy, we always buy ones that are not frost free. That saves us even more energy!

But now I am ready to put those turkeys in that I buy this month when they are cheap.

I have a 1/2 gallon of milk on the bottom which will come out to thaw later this week. I have one turkey left from last year that I will roast for Thanksgiving this year. Under the top containers are two reusable grocery bags. The one on the right has all of our frozen vegetables and French fries. The one on the left has all of our frozen fruit that I use for smoothies and muffins. I also put homemade frozen meals on the top of that one.

The right hand container holds 16 pounds of butter that I purchased last year. I also have 5 pounds in my upstairs fridge. So I have determined that if I have that much left, I am not stocking on butter this month.

The left hand container holds our grated cheeses that I purchase on sale.

You can also see on the left hand side that I have two large containers that stack. I keep meats in those.

I also found that I had 10 lbs. of bacon in this freezer along with 3 pounds in the upstairs ones. Since I had bacon on my list to buy this week, I was thrilled to be able to take it off the list.

The meat that you can see is meat that we will be using the next couple of weeks. I will transfer it to my fridge freezers as we eat down the meat in those.

It is stacked on top of the containers that hold all the rest of the meat. One container is nothing but chicken and turkey. The other container holds ground beef, stew meat, steaks, pork chops, lamb chops, and all of our fish like haddock and salmon.

Now I am ready to do my weekly shopping tomorrow. I noticed in the Aldi’s flyer that they have the Butterball turkeys that have been $ 1.29 a lb on sale this week for $ .87 a lb. I will pick up one or two tomorrow since they are our favorite brand.

We will go out to vote in the early morning tomorrow and then I will drop Hubby off at home. I have 4 stores to go to tomorrow. He hates shopping. I love that he hates shopping because I don’t have to worry about extra items that aren’t on my list going in the cart.

So I will be back with my grocery hauls later in the week.