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Every Day

What We Did To Save Money This Week

I roasted the Free 16 lb. turkey that I got from B.J.’s last November. We have had it for 3 dinners so far this week and I will be making a big pot of turkey soup dinner tonight. I have already prepped all of the vegetables and cut up the turkey. After we ate dinner the first night, Hubby cut all of the turkey off the bone and broke down the bones, one leg(I like eating a leg), and the wings. The results of all the meat fit in this container. Then I put all of the bones and skin in the crockpot and cooked it for 14 hours. It made the most delicious turkey bone broth that you see in the picture. I will be using that in the soup when I cook it later this afternoon.

I received 2 rebate checks in the mail this week totaling $ 43.02. I will deposit them in our savings next week.

Hubby and I have done more work down in the basement this week getting rid of things we no longer need.

One night after dinner, Hubby opened the cabinet under the sink to throw a recyclable in the wastebasket that we keep under the sink for that purpose. He saw that water was flooding the cabinet. Fortunately, we keep a rubber sinkmat under there. It was full of water but had not yet overflowed. We sopped the water up with old towels and dried the mat so Hubby could get under there to find out what was leaking. It was the sink basket in the left sink and the pipe that held it. When he got the basket out of the sink, he found that rubber seal had disintegrated. He went to Home Depot and got a new basket, the pipe part that screws into it, and a tool to make it easier to do that. Total cost for all was $ 21.35. I can’t imagine what it would have cost to call a plumber if Hubby wasn’t handy.

We got our natural gas and electric bill two days ago for the past month. The total for 27 days was $235.66. We used 536 kwh’s of electricity and 114 ccf’s of natural gas. Hopefully, it will go down and down as soon as the warm weather gets here.

I did two loads of wash in cold water and hung most of it to dry. I do not hang towels.

Today, I finally felt like going out to get some on sale groceries. I went to Top’s because they had a three day sale which was 3 coupons. Two of them I wanted to use. I purchased a Italian shredded cheese blend that was $.99 with one of the coupons. The other coupon I used was for 200 extra gasoline points when I spent $35. or more. I was not passing that up because our gasoline prices have skyrocketed the past couple of days. Every little bit helps!

I also purchased 2 Smithfield smoked sausage for $7.00 for both. Hubby found a recipe on You Tube that he wants to try. I don’t think I have purchased this sausage since we lived in AZ. So it will taste good for a change. I used a Super Coupon to buy the bacon for $3.99.

The last thing I purchased was 3.30 lbs. of wild caught boneless skinless haddock fillets. It was on sale for $ 8.99 a lb. and the regular price was $ 52.77. But the sale price was $29.67 and I used a $3.00 coupon from their flyer to bring my cost down to $ 26.67. This is going to save us a lot of money! The fillets were about the size of the fish fries that I got on takeout last week for about $25.00 for the two of us. For $ 1.67 more I can make 3 meals for us. So this fish purchase along with other fish in our freezer should get us through Lent. I used the food saver to put it in three air tight packages.

We have watched the NCIS’s and FBI’s for entertainment this week. Other than that, I just did some usual cleaning.

Did you save any money this week?

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Every Day

Best Deal of My Day

We do use this cream of chicken soup in many casseroles over the winter. Aldi’s had it on sale as part of their Thanksgiving reduction for $ .49 a can. It is the best deal that I have gotten in a long time and these don’t expire until the end of 2025.

There was no sign in front of it so I didn’t know that the deal was limited to 12 cans. When I got to the register, the cashier called a manager and she said to just do 2 transactions. I was thankful that I didn’t have to go in and out of the store twice because it was very crowded.

I was going to get another turkey there because they reduced them to $.99 a lb. but they were all between 23-24 lbs. Too big for us. So this year I am settling for just the one turkey that I got free at B.J.’s. However, if Aldi’s or Walmart reduce their prices after Thanksgiving, I might rethink that.

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Every Day

A Great Deal, Etc.

Yesterday, Alexa and I went to Aldi’s to get some of the on sale butter for $ 2.49 each. Aldi’s always has the best price around Thanksgiving. I still had quite a bit in my freezer. So we each got the limit of 6 which gave me 12 lbs. to add to what I had for a total of 27 for this next year. That should be enough. Since we were there we each picked up 6 turkey and brown gravy packets for $ .29 each.

Other than shopping, we spent the rest of the day at home. We played some quizzes from many years back on You Tube again. It is lots of fun and would make great party games.

Dinner again was KFC chicken that we reheated in the air fryer. Last night we watched a women’s volley ball game.

Today when Alexa gets up, Hubby is going to make homemade apple cinnamon waffles. He is going to teach Alexa how to do it and put them in the waffle maker. If she likes them, we will send her a waffle maker after she goes home. Other than that the only thing on our agenda today is making hamburgers and French fries for dinner. It is supposed to be a warm day so we may take a walk.

I hope you all have a great day!

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Every Day

Small Grocery Haul

I only needed a couple of items this week. Fortunately, both stores were next to each other.

Do you guys have a Running’s? I don’t shop there a lot but they have a great sale once in a while. They had these Mt. Olive pickles for $ 4.49 each. I got the last 64 oz. bread and butter pickles they had. It is perfect for the holidays. I also bought the 80 oz. dill spears because Hubby and I love them with a sandwich or just for a snack. My total there was $ 8.98.

At Top’s, I purchased a head of local cabbage for $ .79 a lb. I paid $ 2.66 for it. Hubby can’t wait to make his Waldorf coleslaw. The celery was $2.29. We use it it for snacks, soup, stew, and diced in chicken or ham salad.

The can of corn was on sale with a Super Coupon for $ .49. We use these in our homemade soups such as chicken, turkey, and taco.

The white thing you see is 2 whole haddock fish. It was on sale for $ 10.99 a lb. I paid $ 13.41 for both. Haddock is Hubby’s favorite. I am a salmon girl and I am looking for a good sale.

Lastly the sweet pepper bags were on sale for B1G1F. I paid $ 6.49 for both. My total at Top’s was $ 25.34.

I was noticing in Top’s just how much the prices have gone up in a just a week. I again saw items that I usually buy that I would not buy at the prices they are asking. UGH!

Did you get any good deals this week?

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Every Day

Grocery Shopping This Week

We have had so much smoke in the air for at least a week from the fires in Canada. Alerts have been issued for seniors. So I found my cloth mask from Covid and used that to be able to run the errands this week. We have been indoors most of the week.

First shop was at Aldi’s. I was so happy to see the organic ground beef that we love on sale again at the same price as before the inflation hit. Since I had gotten ground beef on sale at Top’s recently I only got 2 of the 3 packs. They cost $ 17.96 for each 3 pack. I also purchased a cantaloupe on sale for $1.99 and an Avocado Oil for $6.79. I needed the oil because I am on my last bottle. Total cost of all was $ 44.70.

Next I went to Top’s on 6% off Senior Discount Day. I purchased a half gallon of Half and Half for $ 6.99. That is the cheapest price in my area. The coffee was $7.49 after Q. The vidalia onions @ $ 1.48 a lb. were $3.32. Onions are hard to find in our area that aren’t rotted especially bagged ones. So when I can buy them separate, I do to make sure they are good and will last a while.

The 2 Prego were on B1G1F so cost $3.69 for both. The peanut butter was $ 2.29 after Q. The Knorr noodles were $ .99 after Q.

We love cheese in this house for snacks. So I purchased 2 Cracker Barrel for $ 3.00 each. Lastly, I got 2 packages of raw shrimp on B1G1F for a total of $ 13.99 for both. After my 6% discount I paid $42.07 OOP.

There were not a lot of good sales but I grabbed the things that were on sale that were really needed to put in my pantry. Hubby loves onions in everything and I was down to my last couple of onions. The sauce and noodles will make a quick meal when we have been really busy that day. That way we avoid take out. I always have meatballs cooked in my fridge so those with sauce and mozzarella cheese heated in the microwave and a quick salad make a fast meal. Another quick meal is adding a half lb. of cooked ground beef from the freezer to the Knorr noodles.

Hubby loves peanut butter so I always make sure to have that. Lastly the shrimp has been so expensive so $7.00 for a bag saves me a couple of dollars each. We have 3 favorite recipes that we use it for.

I forgot to take a picture of my Niagara Produce order before I used the food saver for the meat for the freezer. But here it is anyhow.

I purchased 2 rib eye steaks at $15.99 a lb. totaling $ 39.18 and a 3 pack of Romaine lettuce for $ 1.99. My total OOP was $ 41.17.

We love steaks on the grill. So I have been trying to buy a couple a week lately. They are every expensive but they are about to go way higher up in price soon. My butcher let me in on that. So if I buy them now, it will save me from paying a lot more in the future.

Did you get any good deals this week?

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Every Day

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. 

  

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Every Day

Busy Monday

 I spent part of the morning cooking in the kitchen. I pressure cooked 14 eggs for breakfasts, snacks and salads this week. I cooked a pound and a half of bacon. I ate 2 eggs for breakfast with 2 strips of bacon.

Then I decided to try a recipe that I have seen everyone rave about on You Tube. It was a slow cooked roast beef recipe in a You Tuber’s cookbook. Everyone kept telling me that it is the best roast ever. I had the cookbook but never looked at that particular recipe. So I dug out the book and read it. It was no different than the same recipe that I have cooked in my slow cooker for years.

Her’s called for onions instead of onion soup mix. But then I read the cooking directions and a big NO resounded in my head. It called for roasting it in the oven for 10-12 hours at 250 degrees depending on how big your roast is. Why would I turn on my big oven instead of using the crockpot? I am sure that I am saving energy using the crockpot on low for 8 hours over using the oven for a greater amount of time.  


So in the crockpot went my onion soup mix, cream soup, and the roast beef. I just put Hubby’s potatoes in a few minutes ago. I will check it all at the 7 hour mark and if it is done to our satisfaction we will eat. I am cooking spinach for our vegetable tonight. 

After I cleaned up all of the pots, pans and dishes, I gathered my grocery lists and coupons and off I went to Walmart and Aldi’s.


At Aldi’s, I picked up 2 packages of bacon for $2.99 each. That is $ 1.01 less per package than the bacon I purchased at Top’s yesterday but it isn’t as good. But I decided at that price we would try a couple again. We use so much bacon for breakfast during the week and for our Sunday breakfasts when my son and grandson visit. So it will add to my stockpile of it.

We were out of sea scallops and they were $9.99 so I got one. I was so happy to see macadamia nuts in the store again. I got my 2 bags of pork rinds which is a snack for me. The Hass avocados were $.69 each. I have been out for a while so was happy to see this sale.

Hubby has been asking me to pick up or make an apple pie. Well, if I make the pie or buy one, we will eat it all and I really don’t want the temptation. So when I saw this German apple strudel, I grabbed it. There are two in the package and I can cook them separately on two different days for him. That should satisfy him.  The broccoli and cheese were needed for recipes the next couple of weeks. 


Here is my receipt. I spent $ 39.77.


At Walmart, I picked up the last of the OTC medicines that we may need over the winter. Walmart had the best prices locally and were lower than Amazon’s prices.

I had a $5.00 off coupon on any Hormel product that was expiring soon so the ham will be a good addition to our stockpile. The crescent rolls are needed for a recipe. The snacks are always needed and hopefully now we have enough until the holiday shopping. I had a Free coupon for the big bag of Cheetos.


Here is my receipt. I spent $ 14.09 after the coupons and a $10.00 gift card rebate.  

I have to be completely honest. I am tired of grocery shopping. I am hoping to not go out the door again to do it unless it is for dairy or produce. I will just be scouring the ads for those things next week and any meat sale that I think is rock bottom. Otherwise, I need some time home to finish the fall cleaning and work on my blog posts.

Are you getting any good deals this week?

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Every Day

Sunday Means Football in our Home

 I did not sleep well last night. So after I finally fell asleep, I woke up a little after 1PM. The Buffalo Bills game had already started. YIKES!


After watching the first half, I decided to get my weekly shopping done for Top’s. I figured that most people would be home watching the game. I guessed right. There was hardly any traffic and only about 10 shoppers in the market. So I was in and home in no time to finish watching the game.


I only had a few things to pick up this week at Top’s. The bacon was on sale B2G3free. It worked out to $ 4.00 a lb. We go through a lot of bacon pretty quickly for breakfast so it seems like I am always buying it on sale.  

The cold cuts were on sale for 3/$10. but I only purchased 2 because I had 2 Free coupons. But it looks like the coupons came off at the original price of $4.99 each.

The Chobani was $1.00 each. Since I am adding more dairy back into my diet, I picked up 5. I like to eat one with a little of the above granola once in a while for breakfast. It is delicious! 

I needed more cheddar and mozzarella cheese and these were on sale for $ 2.50 each.

This is my receipt for everything. I spent a total of 
$38.15. 

Tonight was our third night of eating the chicken tortilla soup. Hubby made some garlic bread out of leftover rolls.

After dinner, I put the leftover soup in a Ziploc using my handy stand and it is now in the freezer. There is enough left for another dinner for the two of us if I make small side salads to go with it.  

So did you do anything special today? Did you watch any football? BTW, our Bills won. They looked pretty good today.                                                                                                                                                                           

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Every Day

Please Buy More


I told Hubby this morning that my Top’s gasoline points are expiring so I needed to go fill up the car. He asked if there wasn’t some way that I could buy more of the sausage meat that he loves and fit it in the freezer. After giving it some thought, I decided to food saver some meat that was in boxes and that would give me some room.

So off I went to the gas station to fill up at $.30 off a gallon. Then I went just up the street to Aldi’s hoping that they would still have the sausage.  I purchased 5 more rolls at $ 1.49 each.

We only have 1 more shredded cheddar cheese in the freezer so I decided to pick up a package and I planned a meal for the next couple of days that I needed cream cheese to make.  

 


When I got home, I threw everything in the fridge. Then I got out my food saver and started repackaging the boxes in the top drawer of my kitchen freezer. By doing that, I was able to fit the sausage rolls in.   


A while ago, I purchased chicken breasts with the bone on sale. At the time, I deboned them all and threw the bones in the freezer. I have two big bags of them and they have plenty of meat still left on them. Since it is starting to be soup season, I decided to make some bone broth. So I put one bag of them in the crockpot. I will be simmering them all afternoon and evening. Then I will take the bones out and add the meat to the broth and freeze the broth for the next time I make soup. 

 


Here the broth is cooking which I will strain when it is done and then add the meat. 


It is all strained and the meat has been put in it.

I have now put the other bag of bones into the crockpot and I will simmer it all night. In the morning after I take the meat off, I will freeze that broth. I will have soup broth for two big pots all set to add my veggies and rice or noodles to when we feel like soup for a meal.  I love prepping things ahead for meals. It saves a lot of time when I don’t really feel like cooking and prevents me from getting take out.

 

I made this recipe for dinner tonight: 

Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

 

Hubby hated it. He said there was not enough sauce. I thought it was okay but not the best recipe I have tried. Perhaps someone out there has a better recipe. 

We are awaiting the start of  the NFL football game. Hubby has been waiting for football season for a long time now. He is excited.

I hope you all have a great evening.

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Every Day

August 22: Low Spend Grocery Month Challenge

I went out the door early this morning to go to Niagara Produce. They had their turkey cutlets on sale again for $2.99 a lb. Hubby loved this turkey recipe that I made a week or so ago so he wanted me to get some more cutlets.

I only had room for 5 packages in the freezer so that is what I purchased. Since we are having hot dogs for dinner tonight, I picked up hot dog rolls too. I have given up wasting precious space in the freezer for bread.

As I was driving back home, I remembered that West had mentioned that he would like donuts for breakfast one day. So I stopped at Tim Horton’s for a dozen donuts. They have gone up a $1.00 in price to $ 9.99. They were so good that there are only two left. 

I had $ 99.68 left in my monthly grocery budget. I spent $29.47 this morning. I have $ 70.21 left for the rest of August. 

Dinner tonight was easy hot dogs on buns. This was Hubby’s. West opted last minute not to eat hot dogs. He does not like Sahlen’s hot dogs because they have the skin on the outside that he does not like.  I always have meats and cheeses in the deli drawer so he had his choice of many different ones. He opted for sliced pepperoni and cheese. He ate a plate full and was very happy. He and Hubby had oreo cookies for dessert.

I haven’t heard from West’s parents this weekend but I imagine they are loving having a weekend to themselves. West texted them earlier and they were out in the car geocaching. I had no idea what that was but West explained it to me.

We are about to play a board game. I hope you all are having a great weekend.