Money Saving Monday-April 11, 2011 & Money Saving Tips included

Money Saving:I am listing the links to where you can find the deals for the week.  Since, I am going to share a few tips of what I have learned and what I am doing to save money besides coupons.
CVS: here
GIANT: here
WEIS: here
DARRENKAMPS: circular here
TARGET: here

Tips-Sorry some of these may be repeated from before:
1. Look carefully at those On-Sale Items.
Sometimes a sale isn't really a sale. It just looks like a sale. Plus, sale prices can be very different store to store. This is where it is important to know the stock up prices!

2. Bulk Shoppers Beware
 Figure out the price per ounce. Those bulk items may not save you money. Plus, if you only use 1/2 of it before it goes bad is it really a savings? But, sometimes you can really score some great deals in the bulk section.

3. Look High and Low
Scan the whole shelf. Often good deals are higher or lower and not at eye level.

4. Shop the Outer Perimeter First
Prepackaged foods usually sit in the middle of the store. For your health stock up on the perimeter of the store items first. It's better to spend your budgeted amount there than on those packaged items.

5. Spend wisely
Simply think about what you need versus what you want. Consider the amount of calories and nutrients you're getting for the price you are paying. You'll find that perimeter becomes your friend quickly.

6. Remember that not all food is created equal! When you think about your food budget, think about the foods you are putting into your body. It's an adjustment to move away from processed foods and although we have some in our house, I am making an effort to move us even further away from them. (In doing so, I think the budget may need an adjustment, not huge, but a tweak.) Watching the labels and mostly buying foods that don't require a box/label (you know those good for you whole foods). We are a work in progress at our house--not everything in my fridge is organic and neither is everything on my shelves. But, I'm working on watching what we are putting into our bodies and improving that for my family.

7. Buy in season, on sale and locally I am excited that spring is here and summer is upon us. This means more items at the local markets and that will be our first stop this summer when produce shopping. At least that is the plan.

8. Plan ahead If you set good plans, most of the time that will help you. Go into a store without a plan and you will leave with more than you need. Take a look at your freezer, refrige, shelves before you go. What do you really need?

9. Shop the reduced section I can't tell you how much money this has saved my family. Of course, this is hit or miss and you can't depend on it for the savings. But, when you do get a good deal, it just makes your bill even lower!

10. Stockpile, but know when to STOP! Honestly, stockpiling is a good thing when you get the rock bottom price. You can save a lot of money over a period of time that way. But, you have to know that price (hoping to put more work into the stockpile page for you all) and know when your stockpile is getting too big. My stockpile and food shopping would not win me a spot on the newest TV show, but I am more than OK with that. Stockpiling is for more than food. Think shampoo, hairspray, etc.
The $20 Challenge update:
Instead of posting my weekly $20 challenge results, I will post an end of the month wrap up. I feel you all could get quickly board of my ramblings. So, I will do a wrap up post. Does that sound about right? We can do a check in with eachother. I will say I overspent this week. But, it was worth it.

This week's menu-Little Man helped to plan it:

• Chicken Fajitas (I know they were just last week, but I was begged to make them again!)
• Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner)-Egg Fiesta (eggs with peppers and onions), sausage (for the boys), whole grain toast, sliced apples
• Sloppy Amy's ;) (Think healthier version of Sloppy Joe's)
• Mexican Fiesta, fresh veggies
• Fish, Potatoes, fresh veggies (We didn't have that last week--we had pizza instead!)
• Pork Chops, Rice and Salad (This has been on the list before, but always booted off for leftovers or something.) I'll grill up some Chicken for me this night.
• Spaghetti with meatballs (for the boys) I'll have leftover chicken instead. Served with fresh fruit

Last week we also didn't have one of the new recipes (BBQ Breaded Chicken Tenders) as we ended up with more leftovers than I thought. So, that will be put into the following week as I have the ingredients on hand for it. I'll let you know how it turns out.
The Sweet and Hot Pepper Chicken was OK. Not great. Not spicy that's for sure. I did adapt a few things in the recipe. But, it's not a home run, so not worth sharing really. Not even sure I'd ever make it again.

I wish we had a Whole Foods market around here. I hear it's quite the place! Anyone know of some good Natural Food Stores around here? If so, PLEASE post them for me! Also, please post your favorite Farmers Markets. Do you have favorite venders? Know of organic venders? This will help all of us.
I am done with the Mega Post. Happy Monday!!!

Money Saving Monday (April 4th) The $20 Challenge Update & Deals

The deals this week (Shortened version, due to posting late. Sorry you all!)
Giant Deals: here
There are some great dollar doublers! For instance:
Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Bread - $3.99 BOGO, use $1.00 off 2 coupon. That doubles to $2.00 off. Which means 2 breads for $1.99. YEAH!
If you held on to your Kool-Aid coupons, you can score some good deals there as well.
Tropicana had a $1.00 off coupon and that doubled. Plus, you can use the paper one. Which means 2 things of Tropicana for $2.49.
Don't forget to scan your bonus card and see if there are other coupons you can use. I was able to score an extra .50 off my order. I know .50 doesn't seem like much, but I will take it for pushing 2 buttons! :)

CVS Deals:here are the match ups for the week of 4/3 Thanks to For the Mommas!

Weis Deals:here

Darrenkamps has bananas for .44 lb this week. I think long gone are the .39lb days. Sigh!
The sales flyer is located here

My $20 Challenge update
Oh and that $8.00 I saved last week was spent the one time I asked my dear husband to stop and pick up one thing at the store. I had run out of time to make homemade applesauce for our guest and asked if he could pick up a jar on his way home. My mistake as you know when you send a husband in for one thing, he has to pick up something else. :) He was a dear to pick that up for me and I am only 1/2 joking about picking up other things. Because, yes he did and yes, it did eat up the $8.00 I had left, plus about another 0.40.

We also stopped in one more time to take the cereal deal. We did it twice. 8 boxes of cereal for $6.00 out of pocket and 2 Free milks. Now, here is something I learned. When using coupons at Giant. Say you have 4 of the same coupon and you are buying 4 of the same things. The system is made to pick up the first coupon and double it, the rest are at face value. So, the double coupon thing is only on one if you have 4 of the same. YUCK! Meaning in a cereal deal, find 4 different coupons so that they can double them all. You learn from my mistake! So why buy all the cereal, we got a good deal and when we come across good deals we feel that you can always donate if you don't use them!

This week, I came in under $60. Yes, food shopping and menu done. So, for the last 2 weeks, I should have spent $120 to stick to my budget. I have spent $119.93. So, hanging in there. Has anyone else been doing this with me? Are you all also including your eating out in that budget?

My Menu: (Does anyone still want to see this?) Chime in or it's gone. As I don't want to post things that are not helpful or wanted.
Chicken Fajitas (YUM!)
Grilled BBQ Chicken Flat Bread Pizza (My Family can't wait for these again! We have not had them in a long time!)
BBQ Breaded Chicken Tenders (New recipe), carrots, rice
Turkey Burgers, salad
Fish, potatoes, salad
Chicken Sandwiches done on the grill, salad
Sweet and Hot Pepper Chicken (Kind of a Chinese or Thai thing. It's new, we will see how it goes!) If it goes well, I will share the recipe here. Because like I said, if I can make it, you certainly can! :)

The $20 Challenge Lessons

So here we have it--well some of it.

1. It takes a lot of planning. You do have to put in some effort.
2. Having a Meal Plan will make a difference--a big difference.
3. Commit to change. You will be making choices and changes. Be prepared.
4. Follow a few helpful blogs. This will be huge as it will save you time and money too! Local blogs prove to be helpful as they can let you know the best local deals.
5. Find encouragement - it's not easy so it's nice to have a cheering section. I'll cheer each of you on! :)
6. Know the stock up prices or at least make a plan to learn them. (I will be getting that page together for you all on the ones around here.)
7. It does make you waste less food. That's a bonus!
8. Take a look at the foods you eat and think about the nourishment in each of them. Pass by the $3 chips to buy a few more lbs of bananas. Your body will thank you.
9. You can eat healthy on this amount of money. No excuses that you can't. You just have to change the way you shop.
10. Shopping multiple stores makes it easier! I lived through that one.
11. Don't give up if you don't make it one month. Just learn from the mistakes and try again the next.
12. Have a plan in place for money to be set aside for stock up items. This can be part of your $20 per person per week, but just take that out when you are planning the amount you have to spend. For instance, if I allow $10 for stock up sale items. I have $50 to spend on foods we will eat that week.
13. If anyone reads this and saw me at Giant this last week. I allowed myself to go there to get food for the family coming. They had some great deals that I couldn't miss out on. We got some things that we don't normally get-- like Chips. English Muffins were on sale too. It was a great deal. But, my light ones were not included in the sale this time. I was pretty sad about that!
14. Look and rework the budget for your family. You will learn as you go.
15. Think of CVS, Target, etc as food stores too. Sometimes they have great deals.
16. Don't forget the discount stores. Just watch the dates.
17. A deal isn't a deal if you won't use it by the time it expires or goes bad.
18. Coupons are not the only way to save money. You often save a lot by stocking up on items at the rock bottom prices.
19. Think about investing in an extra freezer. It will pay for itself in the savings.
20. Make more homemade things. You'll not only save Money but feel a sense of accomplishment!
I have more ideas and tips. But, I will have to save that for another post. This one is getting too long.

I am going on the $20 per person per week again. It's a goal I have now. Only I can shop where ever my heart desires! :) We are still discussing a entertaining budget though. So, I will be back posting the deals and letting you know my progress. It's a new week this week--we will see how I do. Wish me luck!

The $20 Challenge...

This week on the $20 Challenge...
Transparency: I did get that .99 deal on cereal last week! 5 boxes for .99. I couldn't pass it up. Confession, I picked up 4 Greek yogurts when I was there as well. My total was $2.55. Yep, 5 boxes of cereal and 4 Greek Yogurts for $2.55. LOVE IT! Seems the Greek Yogurt is on a price freeze at Weis. (At least that was the way it looked and I had coupons. BONUS!) I really do like Greek Yogurt and I love that it has extra protein. Means I don't have to eat as much chicken! :) Sorry for the slip. But, I didn't even look at anything else. I was afraid I'd get sick with some of the low prices. The other great deals to be had were at Darenkamps for fresh fruit and veggies.

I feel like this is a real challenge this month compared to last. Last month I thought it was a challenge, but I was able to really look around and shop the different stores. We are blessed where we live to have 3 food stores in a matter of miles of each other. Where this month I am only shopping at the one.

But, we are not really going without, I am just getting creative in the planning and shopping. I even amazed myself last week as what our food cost-less than $30 that included the pizza! Really, I got a lot of fresh fruit and veggies. (I was so thankful for the sales and the reduced produce bin! I did use some ECB to get snack items. I told you I couldn't give up the drugstore game!) It does make you really think though about your purchases in a whole new light. If I only have $5 left according to my calculator I ask---do I buy a box of this or that or do I put that toward more fruit or veggies. Fruit and veggies win out every time. :)

I have some great friends that have given me their extra coupons. THANK YOU! The milk coupons have been great. I am so thankful to get them.

I am also thankful for all of you that are following along on this challenge. But, I am also thankful that if I slip and spend more that it's OK. My heart thinks of the people that have less than this to spend on feeding their families and mostly on the kids. No child should have to go to bed hungry!

On a lighter note, I know I am not the most entertaining writer, so that fact that you keep coming back warms my heart! Chime in, how are you all doing? Feeling any of the stresses that I described in earlier posts? Sticking to the $20 per person per week? Anyone else trying it? Success? Troubles? Share so we can all learn and grow together.

Now, I will tell you I already shopped and got this weeks items (plus some for next). I didn't get the guest items yet. But, I now have $0 to spend next week. Yes, $0. Actually, I think I am over by about 25 cents or so already. So sadly, my challenge didn't go as well this month. :( I am sad and disappointed. However, I have learned some great things this month that I can now use for next months $20 challenge. (See I don't give up). Buy the way, I think next week I can get by with about $15 or so in food shopping. So, I won't be over by a ton. Next week, I will be sharing what I learned. So stay tuned. Perhaps some of what I saw and am going to try will help you all.

Oh and just to be honest, guest food will be purchased at different stores. Reading this Via email--there are more posts to come today!

Need to add this note to our $20 Challenge...

I wanted to say how much we love to have family visit, to entertain and to join with friends for meals. So, that is why we will be looking at an entertaining budget. I will take you all along on my journey of discovery and what I think can work for my family. But, that's just it. It's what can work for us.
Have a great day everyone!
By the way, I am cheating and going to get that cereal if I can. Wish me luck. Seriously, after looking at our cereral stockpile, I decided that 5 boxes for .99 was silly to pass up. Just saying. :) I believe in honesty--so there you have it. Weis here I come!

The $20 Challenge (March 14th)

Oh my! Did I mention how tough this is this month?

Things that are putting extra pressure on the budget:

• We went out to eat and rang up a good bit on the bill. YIKES! Totally worth the time with the wonderful group of friends! Love you guys!
• Then, we are having dinner guests twice this month. Yep, twice. So, I am feeding more people on this budget than what the $ amount allows.
• I am only shopping at one store. Although I am finding deals, I am passing others by. That is tough to watch!
• Then, we are having family visiting and staying with us for a weekend, so we will be feeding them too. Along with them even more family members will be coming over to eat during that time.

Things that normally make it hard:

• We do eat a lot of fresh produce. That's where most of our fruits and veggies come from. So, as you know that can be costly.
• My family goes through a lot of milk.

Things I have found to be true:

• We throw out less food. There is a LOT less waste. Not that we ever had a ton of waste. But, now we have even less.
• We get a variety of veggies and fruit because I am looking for what is on sale that week. (Plus, we do try to eat the rainbow.)

I am no longer hopeful for the overall budget. But, I am hopeful for my family meals to make the budget. I was looking over what I needed to buy for the week of March 14th and looking in the sale flyer and planning things. Then, my wonderful husband said he'd eat dog food the rest of the month to help us make budget. Honestly, he was only joking! We both laughed. (Note: You can see dog food never makes the menu.) He's so supportive of this adventure and I really appreciate that he cheers me on. I asked him last month when I did the $20 per person per week if he felt deprived. Nope, not at all. He's honest, which I love, so I knew when I asked he would tell me the truth. He was right, we had a well stocked house and always more than enough to eat. We were/are blessed.

However, I am going to put a plan in place for the extended family that we will be having. I want to continue to feed my family on this budget. But, don't think I can feed the extended family on it as well. Can we say GRACE? I've already fed one of the dinners through this budget. But the other whole weekend later in the month, I had not planned for. As we were not aware of it until recently. My plan is to keep the one meal for the other dinner only guests under our budget. But, when family is staying with us, I need to have some sort of a write off for that. It make me feel like I am cheating, but I never said I could feed 15 people on this, right?
I heard from a friend of mine that has gotten into couponing that she is doing great this month. She has a family of 6. I am so proud of all she is accomplishing with her efforts to save money. What I love about her is she doesn't go down without a fight. Once she sets her mind to something, she really sets her mind to it. S- you really are doing great! Keep it up! I am so proud of you. :)

So, how are you all doing?

Money Saving Monday- The $20 Challenge

So, wondering how this shopping at only one store is going. I'm frustrated a bit. Not because I can't get good deals. I feel like I have found lots of great deals and gotten lots of healthy food for what we have paid. However, when I see deals where I could pay $1.00 for 5 boxes of cereal, it stinks! (I MIGHT cave just for that!) But, we don't really NEED cereal.

I am determined still to make this work. I will admit we went to Costco and I picked up 4 items. Coffee, lettuce, peanut butter, and fish. That killed my budget. But, we wouldn't make it to the end of March without picking up the coffee and it's cheapest there. (At least from what I have found) The romaine lettuce is also cheapest there. It's a seriously good deal at $3.99 for 6 heads. Peanut butter I have not found that it's the best deal, but it's the kind my husband likes. The fish--they had a sample of it and the whole family liked it. It was a decent deal. Not the deal I got at Darrenkamps, but decent and since there was no complaints about it, we got some. I debated hard about that purchase.

So, where am I at in this journey of $20 per week per person? Well, glad you asked. I am hanging in there. When is say hanging in there, I do mean hanging-by a thread.

We went out to eat this weekend with a group of amazing friends. The time with them was so worth it. But, can I say HUGE dent in the budget. Yes, we are trying to do this even with going out to eat. But, I figured what I have left the rest of the month for food and everything is going to be SUPER tight. We don't have $20 per person left for each of the weeks. But, I have done some buying ahead (not easy on this budget). If I can make it on what we have left, it will shock even me. Wondering what I have left per week? Let's just say it's really becoming more like the $20 challenge.

Like I said, I am not caving on how we eat. (Fresh fruit and veggies are a huge part of our snacks and breakfasts and lunches). You all know what we are eating for dinners, since I am posting that. I will be getting creative with my stock up items and I already have a general dinner plan for the rest of the month. So, I face the challenge head on. If I fail, I will fail trying my hardest!

The bonus to this challenge, we are wasting less food. Meaning we are wasting almost nothing and that's a good thing!

Anyone out there trying to do this with me? How are you making out?? Inspire us all.

Questions about my $239.64 food shopping month

that were asked outside the blog. The answers are for all of you here. We can all benefit from these answers, right?
1. Did you guys eat a lot of the same things for that month?
Nope, I even tried new recipes! Some we really liked and will go into the recipe file to keep. Others (well, one of them) flopped big time and that will not be made at my house again.
2. Did you feed them Mac and Cheese and/or hot dogs a lot?
Nope, I don't think Little Man had even one hot dog (although he might have one day for lunch--I'd have to look back) and nope, no Mac and Cheese.

So, no we didn't live on PB and J, Mac and cheese, hot dogs and noodles. Little Man did have some PB sandwiches for lunch. But that was per his request. We ate well.  We ate a lot of fruit, veggies and lean meats. We also had rice, pasta, potatoes, tortillas, etc. We had a lot of variety and I even made desserts!!! I asked my husband if he felt deprived this last month. No way--in fact he was quite happy with what we had. 

Do you have questions for me? I am more than happy to answer. Ask away--you can leave comments without a name. Just incase you don't want to share yours.
 Also, what do you want me to tell you about the next challenge? I know you'll hear the struggles and successes. But, what do you want me to share? Recipes? Meal Plans? You tell me...I want this to be as helpful as it can to all of you! Happy Savings.

Keeping it real...The $20 Challenge that happened behind the blog...

The $20 challenge behind the blog this past month. Read about this adventure and about the one that is up next. Did I do it? Can I do it? Am I ready? Are you ready to join me?

February 2, 2011--I enter into this not knowing really. How so? Well, I read about it after I had already gone to the store and I've already stock piled items. I wasn't planning my $20 per person per week deal at that time (1/30). I just wanted to stay within and cut my already lowering food budget. Plus, my wonderful husband has his superbowl tradition of wings, pizza and soda and toss in some sweet. All totally unhealthy and not the way we normally eat. Not to mention, those wings and pizza have to be from a pizza shop. So, that goes into my cost as well. YIKES! Honestly, I am not sure if I can make it. But, I am going to try. You'll know by the end of the post if I did or not (no skipping ahead)! Because, I am not posting until it is all over. That's right. This little post is being written in segments behind the scenes. So, we can see if at the end of it all I average $20 per week per person. Is it possible while feeding my family whole foods??

February 7, 2011-- If I only had the $20 per person this week I would have made it. But, I had less than this because I stocked up and because of Superbowl Sunday and the pizza and wings. I am starting to doubt that I can make it in for the month at the $240 amount. But, if I just give up now, I will never know how close we can come. So, I continue to strive forward. I will use stock up items from the pantry and freezer. But, I will NOT feed my family in a way that isn't up to our nutritional standards of lots of fresh fruits, veggies and lean meats. I want the fuel for our bodies to be good fuel. If that means I spend more than $20 per week per person--well so be it. I don't want our food budget to be outrageous but, rather just the cheapest I can  for the way we eat. (Healthy whole foods that will make our bodies healthier.) I want to prove that you can eat healthy, whole foods on a budget. So, this week Darrenkamps reduced items were my saving grace.  We will see how next week goes.

February 14, 2011-- Sales--can I mention how much I love them? I do. I also love CVS bucks. Doing the drugstore game can be fun. Sure it can be frustrating too. But, overall, it's more fun that frustrating.
This week, I don't have much to buy in way of food for our menu. But, there are some good sales on some things that I would like to stock up on. Stocking up can be hard on this $240 a month deal. But, I am determined that it can be done. Stocking up one week leaves you a lot less the next. It's really hard when you spend around $10 a week on milk. That leaves $50 for the rest of the food (stockpiling, fresh fruit, veggies, meat, grains, etc.) When I write that, it sounds like a lot and yet I feel it gets "eaten" rather quickly. I talked it through with a friend and I saw how it does get "eaten" and how much my planning is helping us come close. We are hanging in there. Barely!

February 21, 2011-- Transparency, I expect it from others, so I will give it to you. I went into this week with around $18 left for food, not the $60 I should have. But, I stockpiled earlier and that means those weeks, I was spending more out of pocket to save later. Could I do it? I will tell you, $18 isn't much. Well, after all calculations were made from food shopping. I came in at $239.64 for the month. The goal was $240.  But, that did not include the Valentine's Celebration below--my other Transparency. I am done buying food for this month, so I can now post this mega post!

Other transparency: We did have our valentine's celebration and that was NOT included in this ($239.64). We took that out of spending because that was our gift to eachother. But, if we were being true that should have come out of the food budget. I got creative and took it from spending. We had the money in that part of our budget. But, it should have come from the food budget since it was food. I need to mention that our food budget also includes anything out. Dinners out, quick stops through the drive through, a coffee out. Anything that is food or drinks that go into our bodies goes into our food budget.

Can I make it on $20 a week per person every month? That's something that I will have to wait and see. I am not sure. We eat lots of raw fruits and veggies. We eat lean meats. We eat some organic products. Our diet is (ok we try to be) really healthy. Can I make this work? I think it comes down to VERY careful planning, knowing the prices and keeping the goal in mind. I am not sure that we can do this and eat out weekly. Acutally, I am quite sure we can't. I do like a night off cooking every now and again. Even if it is just a pizza. So, we will look and readjust things. Perhaps, we add a certain amount in our food budget for that every month. I am not sure, I am just trying to figure this all out. But, one thing that I know helped is that almost all of my meals were made from scratch this past month. Yes, me cooking from scratch--scary! :) Master cook I am NOT!

I am letting you in on my next challenge!

My next challange: I am putting this out there for all of you to follow as I will be posting about this for the next month. $20 a week per person while only shopping at one food store the whole month and the drugstores.  I mostly do the drugstores for toothpaste and such. But, a few times food items slip in as well. But, you can't make me give up my drugstore game. ;)

My foodstore of choice for this challenge? Darrenkamps of course! Follow along with me as I share my successes and trials with all of you. I will be updating my thoughts, feelings, successes and trials in real time for this challenge. It's going to be crazy and challenging--at least I think so. But, it should be entertaining for all of you! I think this will allow me to know Darrenkamps prices inside out. Perhaps benefit me after this month. Someone asked if I would do this at Giant the next month. Nice idea, but I already know I can't shop for food without Darrenkamps! So, that's a no go--at least I think so...I may change my mind. We'll see.
This adventure starts for me on February 28th. It lasts 5 weeks because we have a 5 week month. So, while the monthy total will be higher, the budget per week will be the same. $20 per person, per week. Follow along...Anyone want to join me on one or both of these challenges? Needless to say, I will be posting the Darrenkamps prices and best sales in the upcoming weeks. And yes, I will still link you to the Weis and Giant deals! I can't leave you guys just hanging out there!

What do you want to hear about this challenge? What do you want me to blog about? I want it to benefit all of you, so let me know.

Happy Savings! And remember comments are welcome--it lets me know that people are reading. :)