Tag: grocery budget

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Stockpile to Table – Month of May

My stockpile has gotten huge again so it is time to eat from it. I never want the food to expire and have to be thrown away. Wasting food is not an option in my household.

You have all heard the terms pantry challenge or eating from the stockpile. The newest one I have seen in the blogsphere is stockpile to table and I like it. 

So I discussed doing this with Hubby and we set our  rules for this May Challenge. You all know that I budget $ 75.00 per week for groceries for the two of us. This includes food, cleaning products, OTC medicines and HBA. Since I have a stockpile, there are many weeks that I only spend some of it and save the rest for big meat and seafood expenditures.

However for May’s Challenge, we are setting aside only $15.00 per week for groceries. I have so much food that we need to use up so for the two of us that $15.00 will cover milk, produce or the occasional grocery item that we can’t go without. So a total of $75.00 will be set aside this 5 week month.  

We are starting with this week which includes yesterday and today.  I did no shopping either day so I didn’t run out and shop to stock up on milk and produce. We have some avocados, lettuce, tomatoes, celery, onions and carrots on hand. We also have some apples and grapes.

In the refrigerator, we have 64 oz. of almond milk that I purchased last week. I love almond milk on my oatmeal or other cereals. We also have 1/2 of a container(64 oz.) of skim milk that Hubby uses for his cereal and to make SF puddings.

Our pantries and freezers are again well stocked. It is amazing how fast you can stock your supplies when the store has good deals that are free or almost free with couponing and the use of the couponing apps like Ibotta, Checkout 51, etc. 

While we are eating down our stockpile, I will still be picking up any free items that we can use especially HBA and cleaning items. Those items can be kept without too much worry about spoilage. 


This is a good month for us to do this challenge since we will be busy with spring cleaning and outside things. We have had a very long winter (snow on Saturday night) so things outside are still very wet. Hubby and I were walking around our property last week seeing how much damage was done over the winter. You really needed boots because you just sunk into the ground because it is so soggy and wet. Hopefully, things will dry up so that our landscaping company can come do our spring cleanup soon.

I can’t wait until it is warm enough to clean the garage of dirt and salt that has accumulated this winter. Plus our SUV needs a good cleaning inside and outside. Our basement can use some sprucing up too. I don’t clean as quickly as I used to since I tire easily. So I will break these projects up into manageable chunks.

Before someone asks, I will be saving the other $300.00 that I would normally spend this month for something special that we are saving for.

I will post everything that we make to eat all month long. To get you caught up, we had sausage, eggs, home fries, English muffins, and coffee for our large Sunday breakfast yesterday. Hubby snacked on some of the party mix that I made a while ago instead of having lunch. I ate no lunch or snack. For dinner we had a skillet fajita casserole which was chicken, rice, pepper strips, onions and fajita seasoning. We eat nothing after dinner.  

I will be trying to keep our meals simple so that we can get our projects done this month. I will try to remember to take some pictures. 

If anyone would like to join in on this challenge, feel free to tell us what you make to eat each and every day in comments.    

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Monday’s Grocery Shopping Trip

I am sharing with you a small grocery shopping trip that I did on Monday. 

One of the most important things I went to get was a whole NY strip loin that was on sale for $ 6.99 a lb. With grilling season on the horizon(if it ever stops snowing here), we needed steaks. We had none left from last Summer and Fall. This price is a $ 1.00 more than last year’s price but beef prices do tend to fluctuate. I think it is probably the best price we will find here right now. I only bought one so that I can see what they put it on sale for later in the season. Plus I need room for the bacon that is coming from 
Zaycon Fresh next month.

I had the head butcher go back into the freezer and pick me out the best one. He is always willing to do this for me. He then cut it into 1 and 1/2 inch steaks which is how thick we like them. One steak is enough for the both of us at a meal. I ended up with 11 steaks.  

This is what I purchased:

Whole NY Strip Loin at $ 6.99 per lb.= $ 76.61( ignore the price on the wrapper- it rang up properly)

8 TicTac Gum – $ 1.00 – Used 4 insert coupons for $ .50 ea. that doubled and 4 printable coupons for $ .50 that doubled= All 8 were free.

2 Tropicana OJ on sale for $1.00 each minus $ 1./2 MQ that doubled = $ .50 each

1- 2 ltr. Pepsi – $ .29 with Monopoly token

2 Truvia Sweeteners – on sale for $ 1.99 each minus $2./1 Printable Q’s = made $.02

I also used a $ 2.00 OYNO Catalina so my OOP was $ 75.89 plus tax. Yes, this is over my $75.00 a week grocery budget but I don’t spend the entire amount every week and have accumulated quite a bit of money since the beginning of the year so it’s all good. One of the reasons that I don’t spend it all each week is so I can buy at the rock bottom prices on meat, chicken, and seafood when I see them. 


The first thing that I did when I got home was have Hubby food saver each individual steak. Then I put them in the downstairs freezer. I can’t wait until it stops snowing here and warms up so we can grill one.


Last night for dinner, I sauteed Montreal steak sausage with some Vidalia onions. Hubby cooked our French Fries in the air fryer. They were so crisp and yummy. 

Today I have my hair salon appointment so I already have a pot roast in the crockpot on low with assorted veggies that I chopped up. After my appointment, I want to stop at BonTon if they are still open and see if they have any of the jeans I wear. They fit me just the way I like them. With BonTon closing, I don’t know where I can find them. So I am going to stock on smaller sizes since I am dieting.

Have any of you gotten any good grocery prices this week on items that you stocked on? Please feel free to share with us in comments.

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A Little of This and a Little of That

My son was visiting for 3 days. He had business in this area and stayed with us. We did go out to dinner one night but ate in the rest of the time. I enjoyed getting up in the morning to make him a nice hearty breakfast. We had lots of fun, laughter, and just generally a good time catching up on things.

Yesterday, my other son and grandson came for our usual Sunday breakfast. He brought a dozen donuts from Tim Horton’s which we all enjoyed immensely. I couldn’t even remember the last time I enjoyed a donut. We also got subs for lunch. This Mama was too tired to cook.

So today it is back to the usual money saving here. It is 8AM as I write this today. I already have a loaf of homemade banana bread in the oven. I had three very ripe bananas that needed to be used up.

I have made my grocery list for the week and plan on shopping later today. There are not a lot of things or deals that I need this week.  

Just a moment ago I cancelled Netflix. We weren’t watching it enough to pay the $ 10.99 per month. Some months we wouldn’t watch it at all. Plus I do not like some of their programming. So that is $131.88 annually that we will keep in our investments. We have Amazon Prime so there is plenty of movies, etc. to watch. Have you checked your viewing on Netflix to see if you are really getting your money’s worth?


I went and did my grocery shopping at Top’s and this is what I purchased this week: 


1/2 gal. milk – $ 2.39- Top’s Super Q which took off $.79= $1.60.  I bought the wrong milk. It would have been $ .88 if I had gotten Top’s milk. The cashier forced the coupon. It won’t be the first or last time mistake I make. It is not worth my gas to go back.


4 Arm and Hammer Baking Soda – $.99 ea. – $.50/2 MQ = $1.96 for all 4 or $ .49 each (Tip: Baking soda never expires.)

1- 128 oz. Tops Vinegar – $ 2.99 (clean with this and use it instead of Jet Dry in my dishwasher)

1 – 64 ct.  Pampers Wipes – $ 1.99 – $.50/1 MQ = $.99 (cheap cleaning wipes)

4- Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes – $ 1.49 each-
$1./1 MQ’s = $ .49 ea. or $ 1.96 for all. (We put these in our salads.)

1 – McCain Craft Beer Battered French Fries – $ 1.88 and I will get back $ 1.00 from Checkout 51.

2- Body Armour Drinks – $1.00 – $ .50/1 MQ’s = Both Free

1 – 59oz. Tropicana OJ – $ 1.49 with T Rex Monopoly ticket. (We don’t drink OJ so I will be making many, many loaves of cranberry orange bread this week.)


My total OOP was $ 12.95 including tax. I am getting $1.00 rebate from Checkout 51. My budget is $75.00 for the week so that leaves me $ 62.05 for the rest of the week.

We only have a little produce left in our fridge: grapes, apples, tangerines, some lettuce, carrots and peppers. So I will be going to the produce market soon to stock up. 

Besides all of this, I am washing 3 loads of clothes, sheets and towels etc. I am using the dryer since there are so many! 

BTW, I promised to tell you about the chicken that I purchased at Zaycon Fresh . I made stir fry with it the other night and the chicken is melt in your mouth like butter. It is so tender. I will be purchasing my boneless chicken breasts from them from now on. I am very happy! Yes, this is my referral link. I do not monetize my blog so anyone who is signing up new I would appreciate if you would consider using this referral link. No pressure meant! 


Feel free to leave a comment if you have saved any money this week.


I will be back soon to finish the 100 Frugal Things List.

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Every Day

Tuesday’s Shopping

I did my grocery shopping for this week yesterday. Here is what I purchased with my regular grocery shopping money:

– 6 Heinz Ketchup – $3.00 ea. = $18.00 minus B1G1F Q’s = $ 9.00 for all. I know I could get it cheaper at CVS last week. I did get 2 there but it was not worth my time or gasoline to go back for more. It is many miles to drive to it. This ketchup stockpile will last over a year.

– 1 Hellman’s Mayo- $ 2.49 with Tops Q minus $.50/1 MQ that doubled = $ 1.49

– 1 gallon of Milk – $ 1.59 with Top’s Q

– 4 Dixie paper plates (48 ct.) -$ 2.50 ea. = $10.00 minus $ .75/1 MQ doubled = $1.00 ea. or total of $4.00. I use these when we have company only for lunches and snacks.

– 3 Softsoap Body Wash – $ 2.99 ea. minus $.75/1 MQ = $ 1.49 ea.


– 1 Softsoap Hand Soap – $1.99 minus $ $.75/1 doubled = $ .49

– 1 dozen eggs – $ .79

– 5 lbs. of Smithfield bacon – on B2G3F sale = $ 17.98 for all 5 minus (2) $1.00/1 MQ’s = $15.98 for all or $ 3.20 each

Total was $38.53 including tax.

Since Easter is this Sunday and we are having family for dinner, I needed to buy a bottle of wine, a 6 pack of beer, and a Bunny Carvel Ice Cream cake. Holiday feasts do not come out of my regular grocery budget. We have a holiday budget for those special days. As you all have seen, I do not spend any extra for family meals or company most days during the year. But holidays are special and I like to splurge. 

My grandson asked me last weekend if we were having an Easter egg hunt. I told him of course we would. He is very excited! So I spent some money at the market and Rite Aid also for candy. I already had Easter eggs that I can fill from prior years and something that I can use for a basket for him to collect his eggs. Now if the weather would just cooperate. The money that was spent on these items also came out of our Holiday budget as did the Cheryl’s cookies that I sent to my granddaughter for Easter. 

We have a lot of company coming over the next 4 weeks. So if I don’t post on a certain day, it’s because we are very busy. I will do my best to post when I have something that I feel will help you.    
 
 

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My Tiny Shop This Week

I had a lot of errands to run today in a place that is 26 miles round trip from me. So I did two stops to pick up food while I was out.

At CVS, I picked up 2 Heinz Ketchup for $ 2.50 each and used a B1G1F tearpad coupon. I paid $ 2.50 and got a $1.00 ECB. Great deal!

I am unfamiliar with the area that I have to pick up my Zaycon Fresh chicken. So while I was down that way, I did a dry run and found it. On the way I passed Federal Meats, a great deli and meat market. I had a B1G1F coupon for buy one pound of sausage and get one free(Entertainment Book). I purchased their homemade Hot Italian Sausage which the butcher wrapped in 2 packages for my freezer. It ended up being $ 5.99 for one pound. The butchers gave me the entire 2.17 pounds for that price.   

There will be no more grocery shopping this week. I will be concentrating on more organizing in my home.

Have you gotten any great deals this week?

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Grocery Shopping This Week

I managed to get out and grocery shop yesterday even though we got a lot of snow during the night. The plows did a good job on the roads.

I went to Top’s to pick up some of their deals. As you know we have been eating Keto for a while. However, eating bacon and eggs for breakfast almost every morning has gotten really expensive. So we are going to be having a small bowl of cereal for breakfast(yes breaking our Keto diet) every morning during the week. We will save the bacon, sausage, or ham and eggs for the weekends.

So I purchased 10 boxes of Special K in 2 different transactions. When you purchased in batches of 5, you got an instant $5.00 off. I also used $3.00 off 5 manufacturers coupons making each 5 a total of $ 4.45. So I spent $ 8.90 on cereal or $ .89 a box.

I picked up two packages of Smithfield breakfast sausage for our family breakfasts on Sunday. They were $3.00 each but I had two $.75/1 coupons that doubled making them $ 1.50 each. 

The spaghetti sauce was free after $.50 doubled coupons.  The 5 bags of Mama Rosie’s cavatelli and ricotta were on B2G3F sale. I had a $1./2 MQ so total for all was $ 4.98.

And lastly the Annie’s Mac and Cheese were $ 1.99 each minus $.50/1 MQ’s so $ .99 each. My grandson loves these so they are handy for lunches when he is here. I also had a $1.00 off Monopoly Q good on my next purchase.

My total OOP was $ 17.86. I had already spent $ 4.03 on a newspaper and a box of Tylenol earlier this week. So I have spent $ 21.89 for the week and will not be buying any more until next week. 

I planned on picking up the Top’s Pi deal for the chicken pot pie but they were out.


The last few weeks I have not really spent much on groceries because I am so stockpiled. But that is a good thing because I am been spending the lowest prices in my area to do that. Instead of buying what we need for just a week, I make our meals from the stockpile. Then I look for the best deals on the foods that we eat during the week and add them to our stockpile. It works well for us and saves us a lot of money.  

Did you get any great buys in your grocery shopping this week? Feel free to share with us in comments. 

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How Is Your Sunday Going?

Mine is wonderful! It is a beautiful cold, sunny day. I was up at the crack of dawn this morning enjoying my coffee and then going out to run errands while everyone else was sleeping. Seriously there was no one on the roads. 

I stopped at Top’s to fill my gasoline tank up using my $ .60 per gallon discount paying $ 2.08 a gallon. I ran into the market just to get a Buffalo News so that I would have an extra set of inserts.

Then it was off to Rite Aid to pick up a prescription and a 100 ct. bottle of Tylenol on sale for $ 9.03 and  I used my $ 8.00 RA Bonus Cash that was loaded to my card to defray the cost to $ 1.03. 

So I spent $ 4.03 including the newspaper out of my  $ 75.00 grocery money so far this week.

Last stop was at Burger King to purchase 2 Sausage, Egg and Cheese Croissan’wiches and 2 Hash Browns. I had a BK gift card in my wallet that I thought only had a couple of dollars on it. It paid for breakfast and still has $ 9.77 for next time. That made me happy!

After breakfast I had to quickly get my beef eye round roast into the crock pot along with some onion, beef broth, and an au jus packet. I will be cooking that all day to have sliced beef on a weck for dinner. I have made this recipe before and Hubby loves it. It is not very appetizing looking right now so I will take a picture after it cooks.

Then I checked my e-mail and did some computer work, one of which is this blog, while also watching the soccer on TV. 

So far so good. Now it is time to re-organize the stuff under my kitchen sink. I want less under there and more in my stockpile. I just need the essentials. So I am off to do that.

Here is the results from my organizing under my sink. Nice and neat and simplified. All I have to do is put the recycle bucket back on the left hand side in front of my grease jar. Right now it is soaking.


The rest of the afternoon was spent watching a few You Tube videos.

Dinner turned out to be delicious. Here is one of the beef on a weck that we had. 

The au jus that you see on the roll was so scrumptious. I have a crock pot full because I cooked the eye round roast in it. Eye round is a tough meat so it needs cooking in the crock pot to tenderize it. It was melt in our mouth good.  

The au jus is so good that I am going to use it for the base of a crock pot beef barley soup for tomorrow night’s dinner. Hubby and I will team up tomorrow morning to make that from scratch.


I am tired tonight. I feel like I am in a fog. Perhaps the daylight saving time is affecting me. So I am off to bed early.


Did you all have a good day?

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Monday’s Shopping

Tomorrow is Senior Citizen 6% discount day at Top’s but it is supposed to be nasty weather. So I decided to go today instead. 

Bananas were on sale for $. 49 a lb. The mushrooms were $1.34 and were needed for dinner tonight. Hubby is grilling a 1 and 1/2 inch thick NY strip steak( from my freezer) that we are going to share. I love sauteed mushrooms on my steak. I will be baking some potatoes and making a salad.

The Rana Fettucine($2.)and the Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached All Purpose flour($1.99) were on sale but after MQ and store Q they were free. The milk was $ .99 with store Q. The yogurt, the 16 oz. Muuna Cottage cheese, the Sure deodorant and the sun dried tomatoes were  free after MQ and store Q’s.

The bacon bits and Very Berry Cheerios were full price. Those were a miscalculation on my part. I had no idea we were out so I couldn’t wait for a sale. But when they go on sale again, I will stock.


The ice cream($ 5.99) was on B1G1F sale. The Lean Cuisine was on sale for $2.00. My total OOP was $ 18.16. I may make one more trip this week to get some more of the free items if I have time. I have a $75.00 per week budget for groceries so I have $ 56.84 left for the rest of the week.

Did you get any good deals this week? Please share with us.

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Many Happenings

We had a wonderful weekend with our children and grandchildren. My granddaughter is so tall and such a wonderful young lady. Her parents have raised her to be so polite and considerate. I just love chatting with her. I hated to see her go home yesterday.

I cooked 7 meals over the weekend and we ordered pizza and wings for carryout for the 8th meal. I would have loved to have taken my family out to dinner but I am leery of crowds and people hacking and coughing in restaurants with so much flu around. I was taking a chance getting the carryout. But I told my family that next time they come, we will take them out to dinner.

Shortly after they left yesterday, I was racing around the house stripping beds, gathering towels to wash and just some general picking up. I was racing down the hallway and I slammed my baby toe into the board that our railing is set in. I broke my toe. You ought to see it today. So many different colors and so sore. I knew I wanted to do errands today but it was too painful to put my sneakers on. So I put on my loafers which were a little easier on the toe. But now I am resting it and writing to you.

I went to CVS, Aldi’s, Walmart and Top’s this morning.  At CVS, I purchased cashews, M&M’s, and 2 boxes of Puffs. After using $8.00 in ECB’s that were expiring tomorrow and a 25% off regular priced product coupon, I paid $ 2.39 including tax. Hubby had been wanting cashews for a long time but they are so expensive that I kept waiting until I could get them on sale. Needless to say he is very happy today.

Next door to CVS is an Aldi’s so I stopped in and bought potato chips, a 3 pack of peppers, tartar sauce, 1/2 and 1/2, a 3lb. bag of mandarins and 2 bags of semi-sweet morsels. My total was $ 14.03.

Next I went to the pick up counter at Walmart. Hubby had ordered 3 brush refills for his Waterpik toothbrush. They come out of the $100. Other budget this week.

Last, I went to Top’s where I purchased celery, 2 Philadelphia cream cheese, 2 lbs. of bacon, 4 yogurt, 2 baking mixes, and 2 fresh mozzarella balls. My total was $ 26.35 after sales and coupons.

So far this week, I have spent $ 42.77 of my $ 75.00 budget. I doubt that I will shop any more this week. My toe does not like it. 


We got our gas and electric bill today and it was $ 238.60 for one month. Yikes! It is amazing what cold weather will do to a bill. We keep our heat at 71 because Hubby is always cold. Because of this our heating bills have been very high this winter. I am just happy that we have saved and invested over the years so that we can afford them. 

Since I will most likely be home bound the rest of the week, I will just do some cleaning and organizing around here. I am also working on a lowest price list for all of the foods that I buy. As I am building my stockpile again, I am marking the prices I pay and that way I can see what the lowest prices are that I purchase things at. If I have enough for three months or more in my stockpile, I won’t even look for more until the last month of my stockpile and then I will look for the lowest price on that item.

My toilet paper stockpile was getting low so I ordered this at Amazon. It is 80 rolls. This is thin toilet paper which is what most people who have septic tanks use. It works out to about $ .008 a square foot which is a stock up price. We use it on the recommendation of our Roto-Router man who unclogged the elbow in the sewer pipe out near the road for us when it got clogged. Roto Router is expensive so I will take his advice and try to avoid another clog. It is still on sale if anyone needs it.


On that note, I am off to cut up veggies for our taco  meat salads that we will have for dinner tonight.
  

 

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This Week’s Shopping Trip

At the end of last week, I had $ 6.49 left in my grocery shopping budget. On Sunday I added this week’s $75.00 for a total of $ 81.49.

I showed you yesterday, my Rite Aid shop which totaled $ 17.36 which left me $ 64.13 for today’s shop.

I shopped at Top’s and this is what I purchased:

1 dozen Top’s Large Eggs – $ 1.99

4 Brown and Serve Sausage $1.00 each =$4.00

5 -2 ltr. Diet Coke – $.99 each = $4.95 + bottle dep.

3 Chobani with a hint of flavor yogurt -$1.00 each- used 3- $.50/1 Q’s dbled = All Free

1 Arnold Rolls – $3.69 – $ .55/1 Q= $ 2.69

1 Top’s Sandwich Bread – $ .99

1 Pkg. of Romaine Lettuce $ 2.99

1 Apple $ 1.15

3/4 lb. of Turkey Breast – $ 5.24

.53 lbs. of Provolone Cheese – $ 3.70

7.54 lb. Turkey Breast at $.99 lb.= $ 7.46
4 Hellmans Mayonaise – $2.99 each – used (2) 1./1 Q’s and $1./1 CTC Q = $ 8.96 and earned a $2.00 Catalina Good on My Next Shopping Order

2 International Delight Yogurt $.125 each – used (2) $ .75/1 Q’s = Both Free

2 Frank’s Hot Sauce – $2.50 – $. 75/1 Q = $1. for one and $2.50 for the other and a $1.00 Ibotta Rebate for buying 2.

2 Ritz Crackers – $ 3.49 each – used $ .75/2 Q = $ 5.48 and a $.25 Ibotta Rebate

2 Ortega Good Grains Blue Corn Tortilla Shells $ 1.25 each – used $ 1./2 Q = $1.50 

2 DelMonte Refreshers -$2.00 each – used (1) $.75/1 Q = $ 2.50 for both

2 Kettle Chips -B1G1F = $3.69 for both- $ 1./2 Q = $ 2.69 and a $1.00 Ibotta Rebate

I also used a $ 5./ 50. Tops Q so my OOP was $55.81. I have Ibotta Rebates of $ 2.25.
After this trip we have $ 8.32 left for this week.

Now let me show you how I messed up. The Extra Large Eggs were on sale for $.99. I picked up the Large by accident. 

Also there was a $1.00 Lady Alice Ibotta Rebate. I know I picked up the right apple. However, it looks like it had the wrong sticker on it.  


So I may or may not go back and try to exchange the eggs and the apple. It depends on if I get back that way for something else.  

We were on our last jar of mayo which is a sacrilege in this house. So I bought 4 to get us through until the next sale. I would have loved to buy more turkey breasts but I only had room for one which I will cook soon. I am trying to make room for my $ .79 a lb. boneless chicken breasts that Zaycon will bring the end of March. I needed the eggs and free yogurts. Hubby asked for the Ritz, cold cuts, soda, rolls, lettuce, and hot sauce. The rest are for Super Bowl Sunday. 

I hope you all got great food sales this week. Enjoy the Super Bowl. We are looking forward to that on Sunday and we will have our grandson for the weekend so lots of fun.