I thought about skipping a blog post this week, but decided I needed the accountability to get back on track. The last 2 weeks have been full of disruptions: Thanksgiving break and illnesses, plus a car accident that totaled our car and resulted in minor-but-painful injuries. I’m very thankful for help from friends who brought meals, and a husband who made a couple of grocery store trips for things we needed (and came home with a bunch of things we DIDN’T need too, of course). I am looking forward to having a budget and a plan again this week! I even tried a new-to-me grocery store. 🙂
Aldi
(I was thrilled to discover reduced gallons of milk for $0.79 each! I will freeze of the gallons for future weeks.)
2 packages Baby Carrots (@$.99/each) – $1.98
2 dozen Eggs (@$1.59/each) – $3.18
1 3-ct package Romaine Hearts – $1.99
1 3-lb bag Tangerines – $1.69
3 1-lb packages frozen Ground Turkey (@$1.89/each) – $5.67
1 12-oz package fresh Cranberries – $1.19
2 1-lb boxes Butter (@$2.29/each), $4.58/2, plus receive $0.25 back from Checkout 51
2 24-oz containers Cottage Cheese (@$2.29/each) – $4.58
1 3-lb bag Gala Apples – $2.99
1 bunch Bananas (2.9lbs @ $0.44/lb) – $1.28, plus receive $0.25 back from Snap by Groupon
4 gallons Milk (@$.0/79 each!!!) – $3.16, plus receive $1.00 back from Snap by Groupon
Total after Rebates:$30.79
Harris Teeter
1 jar Polaner All-Natural Fruit-Only Jam – $2.00
2 1-lb packages Butterball Sausage (@$2.50/each) – $5.00, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – $2.00/2 after coupons
1 32-oz carton Egg Whites – $4.47
1 dozen Land O Lakes Brown Eggs – $3.99 – used $0.55/1 insert coupon (doubled), plus receive $0.25 back from ibotta – $2.64 after coupon (for my nine-month old)
2 packages Sargento Tastings Cheese (on sale B1G1) – $2.99, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – FREE after coupons
1 bag of Winter Squash, reduced – $0.49 (I have no idea what these gourd-like objects are! However, I like trying new things, and they had stickers on them with a website offering recipe ideas, so I assumed they are not decorative. ;))
1 3-lb bag Grapefruit – $1.49
2 16-oz bags Birds Eye Recipe Ready Vegetables (@$1.94 each wyb 2) – $3.88, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – $0.88/2 after coupons
1 box Horizon Graham Crackers – $2.50, used $0.75/1 catalina (doubled) – $1.00 after coupons
1 2-oz bottle Tabasco Sauce – $1.50, used $0.50/1 printable – $0.50 after coupon
used 3 $5 Walgreens Register Rewards (GREAT way to use up leftover RR from Black Friday sales at Walgreens!)
Total after Rebate: $1.22
Publix
This is the first time I have shopped at a Publix store. I was impressed with the friendly customer service and cleanliness of the store; however, I figured out the hard way that they do NOT double coupons (I so feel for all of you that live in places where NONE of your stores double coupons!). I doubt I will be back very often since I left the store paying quite a bit more than I thought I was going to pay, but it was still fun to try something different. Live and learn. 🙂
2 double roll 6-ct packages Quilted Northern Toilet Paper – (on sale B1G1) – $4.99, used 2 $0.75/1 Quilted Northern Ultra Soft & Strong, exp. 12/16/14 (RP 11/16/14) – $3.49/2 after coupons
2 boxes Duncan Hines Decadent Cake Mix (on sale B1G1) – $3.29, used 2 $0.75/1 printable – $1.79/2 after coupons
2 bags Dole Frozen Blueberries (on sale B1G1) – $4.69, used 2 $1/1 printable – $2.69/2 after coupons
1 12-ct box Orville Redenbacher Popcorn – $2.23, used $2/1 Orville Redenbachers Gourmet Popcorn, exp. 12/31/14 (SS 10/26/14) – $0.23 after coupon
2 boxes Honey Maid Graham Crackers (on sale B1G1) – $4.19, used 2 $0.50/1 printable, plus receive $0.50 back from ibotta – $2.69/2 after coupons
Total after Rebate:$11.24
Weekly Total: $43.25
Weekly Meal Plan
Breakfasts
Oatmeal and Fruit, Toast and Eggs, Veggie Omelettes, Smoothies, Cereal, Oatmeal Pecan Pancakes
Lunches
Build-Your-Own Salad; Baked Potatoes with Cheese/Raw Veggies and Dip; Leftovers x 2; Peanut Butter and Honey on Rice Cakes/Grapefruit/Carrots; Grilled Cheese Sandwiches/Apples; Macaroni and Cheese/Bananas/Carrots
Dinners
Turkey Pot Pie, Fruit Salad
Chicken Barley Soup, Raw Veggies and Dip, Blueberry Muffins
Spaghetti (I use homemade sauce from the freezer and ground turkey), Homemade Dill Bread, Tossed Salad
Skillet Hash (Potatoes, Green Beans, and leftover Smoked Pork), Apples, leftover Dill Bread
Meat Potato Quiche (without the meat! :)), Brown Sugar Biscuit Twists, Steamed Broccoli
Taco Salad, Orange Slices
Leftovers
Snacks
Popcorn, Cottage Cheese Pie (a family recipe on my husband’s side – not my favorite, but he LOVES it!), Fruit, Sweet Mini Muffins
found your blog and love all your money saving ideas
I am praying your family recovers from the accident. It must have been scary. I just wanted to comment that you have inspired me to buy more ground Turkey. I am busy with a toddler and nursing baby. What sort of prep do you do to make meals easier? I love your posts
I have a preschooler and nursing baby too, and always wish I did more meal prep ahead of time. I TRY to fry up multiple pounds of ground turkey at once, if I already am cooking up a pound for a meal. But I need to do more – I am always glad after I do it. 🙂 Now that my oldest 2 are 8 and 6, they are finally old enough to help with things like peeling potatoes and shredding cheese. So that is HUGE! When you just have two, and they are so young – it is hard. It gets easier, though. 🙂
Delicata squash is my favorite winter squash. I cut mine in half, roast them, scoop out the cooked squash, and mix it with cheese and spices (I started with chili powder and gruyere but have experimented a lot).
Yum! Chili powder and gruyere sounds amazing! 🙂
praying ya’ll are feeling better soon….accidents are No fun, we know 🙂 everyone that has ANY stores that double FEEL very BLESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO ONE has doubled in our area for over 1 1/2 year maybe close to 2 years…….& YES we had to up our grocery budget when this happened. which grocery is all household items so we took a beating here.
So sad! I will be grateful for my stores that doubled will they still do. 😉
I am SO sorry for all you guys have been through…prayers for all of you!! 🙂
Thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed your Publix trip even if your coupons didn’t double. I live in NW FL where nobody doubles coupons and Publix is my store of choice. They have the best Customer Service and the friendliest employees. I usually shop with my children and there are certain employees my kids look for and will talk with when we see them. If I’m in there by myself, at least one employee will usually comment, “Oh, you’re here by yourself today?” Their BOGO’s save us money (even over Walmart), but it’s the atmosphere of the store that keeps me coming back.
That’s awesome that they are so kid-friendly! I loved the environment as well. I think you all are convincing me to go back. 🙂
My husband was in an accident that totaled our car in 2012 (an SUV rear-ended him and pushed his stopped car into the SUV in front of him… our car was no match for an SUV sandwich!). It is a huge disruption and I feel for you! Glad the injuries were minor.
I also feel for you on the no doubles. And where I live, the stores won’t let you use a coupon on the “Free” item of a buy one get one free deal. 🙁
Sorry about your husband, but glad he is ok now. You are right about accidents being disruptive!
Those squash are about the sweetest and most tasty of the squash family. I like them with a pat of butter and twinge of maple syrup….but actually they taste just fine plain as can be!!
So sorry about your accident. I was in a very bad one in 2008,,,,we signed off too soon on the insurance and about 18 months later, I ended up with laser eye surgery to stop some bleeding (yes, it can happen even over a year later…if you see any unusual floaters, mine were like globes of light…get to an emergency eye clinic quickly!!)….and also ended up with a loss of good balance, fell in my own house, and ended up having to have a cracked tooth pulled in surgery. The insurance pestered me monthly….so we finally signed off in a year. Too hasty. My chiropractic visits came to much more than what we were given, by the way. I no longer go to the chiropractor often….been over 10 months now. But at first I went several times a week. Wishing you a good recovery. Takes time and rest!!
I am so sorry about everything you had to go through! That sounds really rough. 🙁 The chiropractor has been a great help to our entire family through this!
So sorry about your car accident Bridgette! Prayers for a speedy recovery coming your way!
Great job with your shopping trip in the midst of all that you had going on. Our one grocery store that doubled coupons closed mid-summer here and, wow, was that a rude awakening! I haven’t had much luck shopping at Aldi either but I am still very grateful that we can go to a store and buy groceries rather than having to raise and preserve everything we eat! How spoiled am I? 🙂
Hoping you heal soon and are pain free soon,
Lea
Thank you so much for your kind words! I love how you have such a great attitude about grocery shopping – you are so right!!
I was wondering what check out 51 and snap by groupon is and how you use these coupons at Aldi’s? The Aldi’s at my location does not take coupons. Is this something new?
They aren’t paper coupons. They are apps you can use with a smartphone or ipad where you take a picture of your receipt, and they will credit your account for certain items that you buy (it doesn’t matter where you buy them, so Aldi is included). After you reach a certain amount, you can request a check or other payout.
Great job, Brigette!
As others have said, the squash looks like delicata. One way I make it is to cut in half lengthwise, clean out the seeds and then cut into about inch slices, like French fries, mix with olive oil and seasonings and bake like French fries.
Oooh, yum! Thanks for the idea. Now I am wishing I would have bought more, because they had I whole rack of them!
Sorry about your car accident!
Let me say I am incredibly jealous of the .79/gallon milk!!! Also, I know how you feel about no doubles. 🙁 None of my stores double (I don’t think any do in SWFL). I have found that Publix tends to have BOGO Free sales instead of 2 for $X. So, while it takes more work to find good deals, it can be done. But nothing like that milk deal. 🙂
The milk deal WAS amazing! Normally I feel good if I pay $3 a gallon.
I wish our grocery prices were this low, or even close to it. In northern California, everything is so expensive! I would never be able to get anything on her list for those prices and no stores double coupons 🙁 Those prices are amazing!
I feel your pain! I’m over in Silicon Valley and the most things are discounted when near the expiration date is @ 30% where I shop. I was in heaven when I went grocery shopping at an Aldi’s on the east coast. Love the prices!
I am sorry! I know California has really high grocery prices. 🙁 Hopefully you live in an area with gorgeous scenery that makes up for it. 🙂
Lol. I’m moving to North Carolina early next year and will have many of the stores you mention just a few miles from me. 🙂 And better scenery too!
Like you said….it’s great when places double coupons. In my area they don’t. It’s usually cheaper to go store brand. I rarely use coupons just for this reason.
You are absolutely right store brands! Do you have an Aldi in your area?
Thanks for taking the time to post! I always love to read about how you menu plan and buy what’s on sale. I have similar goals and do fairly well with a very flexible menu plan. But I do bake/cook ahead and use my crock pot and freezer meals to their full extent. I love to see how another like-minded-mom shops to save!
Sounds like you are a kindred spirit – I would love to chat and see how you do things. 🙂
It’s a little harder in my area because we don’t have stores that double coupons. Southwest LA. Market Basket sometimes runs a special promotion to double and triple coupons, but other than that it’s face value. However, after following http://www.krogerkrazy.com (excellent site btw) I have noticed that grocery prices in my area tend to be lower than in other parts of the country. I do a lot of stockpiling. I haven’t fully explored my options when it comes to CVS and Walgreens, but I hit Kroger hard for every mega sale! Having a little one in diapers-mine is 2- makes saving a necessity.
I pray for your quick healing! I’d love to see milk at that price here. It’s illegal to mark milk down like that in my state. Great to freeze for baking, pancakes, etc.
Illegal? Wow! Thanks for the prayers – I appreciate them!
Hope you guys are healing well from your accident. The squash looks like delicatta squash to me. The skin is tender, so you don’t have to peel it like you do other squashes.
Someone else said delicatta as well, so I am sure you are right. That’s great to know about the skin – thank you!
Sorry to hear about the accident. It sure does take time to get it all sorted out and I hope you are healed of aches and pains quickly.
I thought all the Publix stores in SC doubled. One thing to ask though is how they do BOGOs. If you have true BOGOs then you can score some freebies that my half price BOGOs and doubles do not include. So often now the coupons are over 50 cents and do not double anyway that you may still find some real deals from time to time.
I was looking again at your Publix trip and you only paid $1 more than I would have with doubles since they double up to 50 cents.
Just to note that some Publix do double coupons. I’m in Alabama and ours doubles all manufacturers coupons up to 0.50 cents and as you said their customer service is great! I love my Publix! Glad you got to try it out, but sorry that yours does not double.
I had read online that some double coupons – which is why I just assumed that ours WOULD, since all the other grocery stores around here do, and I figured they would also to be able to hold their own. Oh well. I am happy for you. 🙂
Brigette, I’m so sorry to hear about your car accident! It must have been pretty bad if your vehicle was totaled.
Try to take some extra rest. I was involved in a minor collision when I was 19–a car full of teenage boys rear-ended my car. There wasn’t a lot of damage to my car but I had back pain for a year!
I would love the recipe for your husband’s family’s cottage cheese pie. It sounds interesting.
Thanks! I did take some time off – an entire week of not being able to move because of back pain. 🙁 It sounds like you can relate! It was miserable. I am so glad you are ok now – a year is a LONG time! I will have to see about getting permission to share the family recipe. 😉
I’m so sorry to hear about your car accident. Thank you for faithfully posting your money-saving ideas for us in spite of it all!
Thanks so much for the encouragement!
Crystal, how do you make time in your day to prepare lunch? Do you have help with this, or are you stopping and cooking? I realize you don’t seem to have any major cook/prep time involved, but in our homeschool day, we have all we can do to get PB&J on the table with some apple slices. How do you, for example, break to get baked potatoes in the oven, and then prepared with toppings, etc., without lunch taking 90 minutes? Would love to hear more about how that goes in your home.
This is my sister, Brigette, so I’ll let her answer how she does lunch at her house. 🙂
Sorry, thought it was your post, Crystal. I’m actually curious how you would handle this, though, as you have often posted your meal plans for the week, and I know you have had similar lunches (as per above) planned in the midst of homeschooling and running a business. How? (can you tell I struggle with this in my home?) 😉
I would also like to hear from Bridgette, as I think many of us moms struggle with how to serve healthy (or at least more interesting, lol) lunches in the midst of other time consuming daily responsibilities.
And cottage cheese pie? Hmmm, sounds like something I would like. 😉
We have really simple lunches right now — usually leftovers or sandwiches. Something that takes 5-10 minutes or less to pull together. And usually whoever is available to help make lunch does. I wish I had more helpful ideas for you, but the keep it really, really simple mantra is what we’re going with right now. 🙂
All of our lunches are super simple. My 8-yr old can wash and poke potatoes and stick them in the oven (I don’t wrap them in foil, and we just stick them right on the oven rack with a baking sheet on the lower rack). I put them on time bake so they are ready at lunch time. We usually use pre-shredded cheese. When on sale, I buy the “steamer” frozen bags of veggies – all I do is pop them in the microwave. A baked potato lunch takes about 5 min of prep time. I completely understand about not wanting lunch to be an event. 🙂 Between homeschooling my 2 oldest, and taking care of a preschooler and nursing infant – it’s a full-time job. Do what you gotta do… and eat pb sandwiches everyday for a season. 🙂
Thank you for sharing in greater detail, Bridgette. Sometimes, life (as it reads online) sounds easier in others’ circumstances than it realistically is in my home. I was thinking, here, “I can barely get pb&j on the table, and others are making hot meals. How do I, myself, find that kind of prep time?” I appreciate you sharing the reality (the “how”) of getting something like baked potato lunches done without making it a huge time robber in your day.
We do the leftovers, too (when there are leftovers; we tend to make “just enough”, for both health and financial reasons.) It’s a blessing when I can just pull something out from the night before. Thanks for your response, Crystal. We actually do eat quite a many pb&j around here :/ out of necessity. I don’t like to use canned soups, so shortcuts (time/prep-wise) are limited. I just sometimes end up feeling guilty when I see that others are cranking out hot lunch and I realize that I can’t seem to make time for that most days, in spite of a schedule that flows pretty well.
So sorry to hear about your car accident. Glad everyone is safe!
Suzanne
Thanks – me too!
From the photo, your winter squash look like “delicata”. If so, they are one of my favorites. I actually like them so much, I’ll just slice them in half, oil the cut side and place it facing down to bake, and then eat with a tiny dab of butter. Super easy and no need to hide any ‘overpowering’ squash taste. Hope you enjoy your great find!! 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing! I haven’t heard of that kind of squash, but I cook acorn and butternut squash (which I love) in a similar way – so I will give it a try like you suggested.