Comments on: Super Savings Saturday: We made our goal of only spending $75 on groceries this month!

By: chelsea

chelsea — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:09:00 +0000

Martha -I bought a ton of nanas from Aldi as they were “too ripe” for most to want them and cut them into lil slices then flash froze them in ziplock baggies. They are GREAT for protein shakes, they are unreal. I cant wait till i find more so i can buy even more than before.

By: chelsea

chelsea — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:06:16 +0000

I guess my question or assumption is that no one in the family has strange dietary needs or restrictions?
I have to follow a low glycemic plan (somewhat) and we try to buy organic as much as possible so it seems like even when I save 30% with coupons or freebies I still end up spending more than I would like to. I see that you hit the organic store as well, how often – or only if they are running specials? We buy high protein, high fiber and all that stuff is so much more expensive
I got some plain boxed past – the regular stuff on sale for a buck, the low carb stuff on sale for almost $3.00. So sad

By: Paige

Paige — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:07:08 +0000

I’ve really tried hard on this eat from the pantry challenge. The difficult part hasn’t been eating what we have, because we have quite a large food storage amount built up, but it’s been the NOT shopping, even when it’s a good deal and I may have a coupon. I need to find a balance between buying everything just because it’s on sale and we’ll eventually eat it, and not shopping at all. I just posted about what I learned from this challenge, and I’m going to try to keep it up for another month. Thanks for inspiring and challenging me.

By: Martha Artyomenko

Martha Artyomenko — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:02:56 +0000

Do the banana’s last long enough for you to be able to freeze them? If I buy bananas, they are usually gone that same day or the next day, before any freezing can happen. I have to buy a whole lot if I get to freeze any…..= )

Good job on the challenge!! We spent less on groceries this month as I got hurt and was unable to go to the grocery store and people brought us meals..

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:08:29 +0000

Thanks so much for the inspiration. It has certainly been a journey for our family of three this month. We cut our grocery spending in half, spending $75.00. We had to buy toilet paper and coffee one week, but otherwise primarily purchased milk, fruit, and cheese. We were able to stay within this budget, though we definitely experienced some ups and downs. For example, one night what I thought was a bag of chicken wings and thighs turned out to be wings, the neck, and some organs. While some would have figured out what to do with that, I opted to forget it and ordered a pizza. We were planning a meal out this month, but didn’t plan for it that day.

On the brighter side, we found out we have a lot more roast beef, tuna, and canned green beans than we realized, and we’ve made a point to make a dent in those items this month. We also used up some fish that had been in there a while, but that we just needed the motivation to fix.

Overall, I think this pantry challenge has really helped our family cut back during a month when we have had a lot of other expenses (such as travel for school).

Hope everyone finishes the race strong!

By: Valerie R.

Valerie R. — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:50:16 +0000

@Allison, That happened to me too! Only it was for $3.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:54:40 +0000

I think it is incredible that you achieved your $75 goal! For my growing family of 6 that would not be realistic; however, I set a strict $500 budget for the month and have managed to stick to it mainly by doing a lot of things you are doing like using up what is in our freezer and pantry. I think you always have to do what works best for your family.

By: mandy

mandy — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:39:44 +0000

I was wondering how you freeze your bananas for banana bread. Do you peel and mash them first? Or keep them in the peel?

By: Katie

Katie — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 07:43:39 +0000

Where did you get the Happy Baby products? A while back I had a free coupon also, but couldn’t find it anywhere!

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:09:44 +0000

Aldi has their stuffing on sale for 35 cents.This is not advertised.The sign above them says 85 cents but when scanned goes throgh for 35 cents.I planned on only four but needless to say when I saw this great deal I got ten more.Expiration date is not untill May 2011.I put them in my freezer to keep bugs out of them.

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:42:41 +0000

I, too, was wondering where you got the snacks coupons. I didn’t see them on RecycleBank.

Good job keeping under budget, even with the egg experiment! I love kids!!!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:53:05 +0000

I love the roses in the background!!

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:57:32 +0000

I didn’t really particapte in the pantry challenage but, I did only going shopping twice this month. Usually I only shop once a month for the whole month but lately we don’t need much when shopping time comes around. So anyway, I was reading a shopping website were there were talking about what a good sale Shop-Rite was having. I have shopped there years ago but the one closest to me closed. So now the closest one was about 45 minutes away. Anyway I looked up there ad and saw that indeed they were having a good sale. So, I talked to my husband, gathered my coupons and went. I ended up buying 202 items used 37 coupons and spent $225.41. The most amazing thing was between coupons and sale items the reciept says I saved $221.83!

By: Lynette

Lynette — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:34:43 +0000

I’m curious to know where all the inexpensive organic items are bought. I live in Kansas as well, but have no idea where to go for inexpensive produce. Thanks.

By: jennifer t

jennifer t — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:20:11 +0000

For a family of 3 1/2, we usually spend around $200 a month. Thats after coupons and deals. We are very unorganized when it comes to planning meals, and know what we want when we want it. Also, my husband works till around 10 pm, so its usually just frozen entrees.

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:56:43 +0000

That is AMAZING! $75 for the whole MONTH? Now, that is saving some money!!!!

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:56:04 +0000

Four our family of 4 (one being a 16 year old growing boy) we only spent $67 this month on groceries. We were pretty well stocked up and the kids actually said we had better dinners this month. They, as well as my husband, were a bit nervous about eating from the pantry, but they have all been pleased.

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:52:36 +0000

Great job!
We only spent $153.05 for the last 2 weeks. We are a family of 6, and for us that’s doing well to only spend that much. Payday is today and I’d like to see if we could only spend $150 for 2 weeks again.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:01:28 +0000

I think Crystal got the Happy Baby coupons from Recyclebank http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2010/01/hot-300-free-recyclebank-points-per-week-free-magazine-subscriptions-and-coupons-for-free-products.html

By: Allison

Allison — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:54:55 +0000

I also want to know where you got the Happy Baby snack coupons. I got the cereal and freezer cubes ones from recycle bank, but would love to get some coupons for snacks. And, have you tried using the recycle bank ones yet? I had a weird experience with those at Target for cereal. I had to go to customer service and they had to do everything manually. The coupons themselves scanned, charging me a dollar.