Monthly Archive for November, 2008

Apple Market 11/28 – 12/2

Published
by
Cara
on November 28, 2008
in Apple Market
. 0 Comments

Here are the deals…there are some pretty good ones this week!

  • Bananas 39¢ lb., Tuesday only!
  • 10lb. tube fresh 80% lean ground beef $1.68lb.
  • Boneless, skinless Pilgrim’s Pride fresh chicken breast or tenders $1.68lb., print a 55¢ coupon here
  • Sunkist Navel oranges 10/$1.88
  • Tombstone or Digiorno frozen pizza 4/$9.98 (Is this a good price? I never buy this.)
  • Red Delicious apples or Washington Bartlett pears 88¢ lb.
  • Best Choice eggs 18-pack $1.88, 10¢ an egg
  • Kraft American singles 16 slices $1.88
  • 7-Up products 2 liters 88¢ ea
  • Bird’s Eye frozen veggies 10/$10, use $1/4 Q and make them 74¢ ea.
  • Knorr Pasta and Rice Sides 10/$10, there are several Q’s out there for these
  • Duncan Hines Brownie mixes, family size 10/$10
  • Suave shampoo or conditioner 79¢, use 75¢/2 Q and make them 41¢ ea.

Stop by The Grocery weekly to finish off your shopping list for deals from Hy-vee and Dillons!

CVS-Black Friday

Published
by
Cara
on November 28, 2008
in CVS
. 2 Comments
Here it is, my Black Friday run! I had so much fun. I don’t think I have ever seen so many coupon ladies at one time! It was nice to see you all!
Long story short, Wednesday night I went to make up my game plan for Thursday’s run and could not find any of my ecb’s! So, I had to start the morning with NO ecbs. This helps explain why I did so many transactions below. I spared you the many pictures and just posted one. I did end up finding my ecb’s in the morning when I went shopping, they were sitting in the car! Sometimes all my organization is a curse!  ;)
Not pictured: 2 Covergirl items and Energy drinks

Not pictured: 2 Covergirl items and Energy drinks, I had already given them away.

Transaction #1

  • 2 Duracell battery packs $5.98, used 2) 75¢ off Q and $5/2 CVS Q
  • Garnier facial cleansing wipes $5.99, used $1 off Q and a $2 off facial product CVS Q

Total OOP:  $2.84, with $5.99 in ecb’s for next time!

Transaction #2

  • Aussie shampoo $2.99, used $1 off Q
  • Bic Soeil razor $5.99, used $3 off Q
  • Gatorade $1.49
  • used $5.99 in ecb’s

Total OOP:  81¢ , with $10.47 in ecb’s for next time!

Transaction #3

  • Aussie shampoo $2.99, used $1 off Q
  • Loreal Lip Juice $6.99, used $1 off Q
  • Cover Girl Smoother product $5.99, used $1 off Q and $2/$10 CVS cosmetic product
  • used $10.47 in ecb’s

Total OOP:  76¢, with $15.97 in ecb’s for next time!

Transaction #4

  • Hershey bar $1.00
  • Colgate toothpaste $2.99, used $1 off CVS coupon (this was an old expired coupon that I held onto, check if your CVS takes expired CVS coupons, it is worth asking)
  • energy drinks $3.99
  • Maybelline Mineral foundation $8.99, used $1 off Q (These bucks were not printing out, make sure you check your receipt, they have to manually print them out for you.  You can still go back and get your bucks, just bring your receipt–probably bringing the product might help too!)
  • used $12.98 in ecb’s

Total OOP:  $2.21, with $16.98 in ecb’s for next time!

Transaction #5–Last one!  :)

  • Coast 3 bar pack $1.99
  • Bic Soleil razor $5.99
  • Playtex tampons $3.99
  • Johnson’s soft lotion $5.69
  • Colgate toothpaste $2.99
  • Loreal Lip Juice $6.99
  • Sally Hansen nail polish $3.79
  • 2) Revlon nail polishes $4.39, use 2) $2 off Q
  • 2) Gatorade $2.98
  • Cover Girl liquid foundation $7.99,
  • used $10/$50 CVS Q
  • used $28.46 in ecb’s ($15 off these were the ones I found in my car)

Total OOP:  $4.95, with $40.42 for next time!

That is a grand total of $11.57 OOP for $106.56 worth of products, with $49.42 in ecb’s for next time!

WOW!!!

So, how did you do? I’d love to hear! Do you want to see how others did too, check out Money Saving Mom’s site for more Super Savings Saturday!

What’s For Lunch?

Published
by
Cara
on November 26, 2008
in Homemaking and Menu Plans
. 0 Comments

Views: 1,400 Downloads: 495 Added: 29.05.06 2400x1600 (255.6 KB)

Picking up from my last menu planning post, here is this week’s menu plan I came up with!

Wednesday
B:  Brown Rice Pudding, milk, oranges
L:  Pepperoni Pizza, strawberries (got these for 99¢!)

Thursday
B:  Peanut Butter Bread, milk
L:  meal at Mom’s

Friday
B:  Scrambled eggs, scones
L:  French Dips (made with leftover rolls from Thursday), roasted sweet potatoes, coleslaw

Saturday
B:  Smoothie, muffins
L:  out-to-eat

Sunday
B:  Cereal, milk
L:  Soy sauce pork roast, mashed sweet potatoes, peas

Monday
B:  Blender Batter Waffles, milk
L:  Turkey noodle soup, homemade bread, apple crisp

Tuesday
B:  oatmeal, bananas, milk
L:  Ham and beans, cornbread

So, how did you do? Feel free to leave your menu plan in the comment section or link to it, I would love to see how your menu planning went!

Now don’t you feel better? You are saving time and money! The hard part will be to stick with it, especially after you went through all that work (use that as your encouragement!). You can do it! And I think your family will appreciate it–well, maybe in the long run. :) If you miss a day, don’t feel bad pick up where you left off and add the missed meal to next week’s menu plan–you already have the ingredients on hand, so make good use of them.

  • You can post your plan on the refrigerator for a visual reminder.
  • This also helps everyone see what they will eat this week, so if you are having Tuna casserole tonight and little Johnny doesn’t like it, at least he knows he is eating Pizza (his favorite meal) tomorrow. This has really helped in my house! I don’t know about your family, but it is a rare occurrence around here for everyone in the whole family to like every part of a meal.
  • Hey, why not cross off each night, after you make the meal–some extra motivation :0)

Next time, I will give a break down of how I have done monthly planning in the past.

Apple Market

Published
by
Cara
on November 26, 2008
in Apple Market
. 0 Comments

I misread the Apple Market ad for last week, apparently, it is still running through today. I will get next week’s ad posted by Friday. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Tuesday’s CVS Run 11/23 – 11/29

Published
by
Cara
on November 25, 2008
in CVS
. 2 Comments

No trip to CVS this week…yet! I am not going to go until Thursday morning. CVS is starting their Black Friday sale on Thanksgiving Day…and yes, I am crazy enough to go. Does anyone want to meet me there?! Topeka’s CVS opens at 8am on Thanksgiving Day, Lord willing, I’ll be there.

There are about 14 items that you can get FREE after ecbs! Here is a link to see what all is available: Hot Coupon World Black Friday List and take a peek at The “Cent”sible Sawyers site.

Happy shopping! I will post later to let you know if I survived!! (This is only funny to anyone that knows me, because I don’t enjoy shopping (although CVS has been an exception–I think because it is kind of like a scavenger hunt), and I NEVER go to the store for Black Friday sales.)  :)

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

Published
by
Cara
on November 25, 2008
in Cooking and Homemaking
. 0 Comments

My kitchen tip involves my menu plan and left overs this week!

Have you ever reached into the faaaaar back part of your refrigerator to find some kind of left over? How long has that been in there? Is it still good to eat? Just recently, it came to my mind to check my menu plan to see when I made the dish and that will tell me how long it has been in my refrigerator! This has saved me from guessing and just throwing food away that might still be good. Or saved us from eating something that we shouldn’t.

To see my other menu planning ideas check out this post and this post. And stop by Tammy’s Recipes to see what everyone else is cleverly doing in their kitchens!

Weekly Menu Planning

Published
by
Cara
on November 24, 2008
in Homemaking and Menu Plans
. 0 Comments

At this season in my life I use a weekly menu plan. I really enjoy the flexibility this gives me. I can take better advantage of the weekly sales and special deals that I come across at the grocery store. I also really enjoy trying new recipes and this type of menu is open to that. (Although, I have a method for this in the monthly planning too.)

Here is a basic list of things my family enjoys eating…there are more, but this gives you a general idea. Having a list premade like this will help you to fill in your meal plan quickly, especially when you can not think of what to make or you get stuck in a rut of eating the same five dishes over and over.

First, you need to pick what you want to record your meal plans on. Some ideas are:  a calendar, notebook paper, organized sheets you can print off the internet, scraps of paper, make your own, etc. Heavenlyhomemaker.com has some really cute weekly menu planners that you can print for free here or organizedhome.com has a few free printables too. And I am sure if you Google “printable menu plans” you can find many other ideas.

I just use a notebook, they are really cheap around the beginning of the school year and all the pages are in one place. I find this really helpful when I can’t think of what to make. I will flip through past weeks and see what we were eating. Alot of times I forget about dishes that our family really enjoyed and this brings it back to my mind.

Now, start thinking about your week. Which days are the most busy? You will want to pick something quick and easy for those days, or even consider making a crock pot meal, possibly even plan for leftovers that day. Are you having guests on the weekend? Plan out what you want to serve to them, especially with their likes and dislikes in mind, if you know that ahead of time. The days I am at home all day, I will usually make something completely homemade or a dessert, since I have more time.

A very helpful thing to do at this time is take a peek at all the foods you have on hand and start working from there.  Also, having your grocery list right next to you will be great, as you are writing out your meals you can jot down any ingredients you will need to complete these meals. If you already have ground beef, tomato sauce and spaghetti noodles in your kitchen, it sounds like you can make spaghetti for one meal. This will save you money and time at the grocery store.  Taking a look through this week’s grocery ad will help you in your meal planning as well–especially to get the best prices for your food.

Make your menu according to your tastes and lifestyle. Here is an example of my thoughts for this week’s planning for our home.  **I do my grocery shopping on Tuesday, so my plan always goes from Wednesday to Tuesday. We eat our main meal for lunch, that will be what I post.

Wednesday (This is a day where I am home all day until the evening, I have time to cook)

Thursday (This week we are eating at my Mom’s house, no need to plan, but typically Thursday can be very busy so I pick something fast or take out a meal from the freezer.)

Friday (Home all day today, this day tends to be my baking day, I do it in the evening)

Saturday (My husband is home, we usually eat out or have leftovers)

Sunday (I make a meal that can be prepared the night before or that can go into the crock pot, so I will have very little prep on the Lord’s Day. We also tend to have company on this day, so I usually make more than we would typically eat.)

Monday (Home all day! You know what that means.)

Tuesday (Grocery shopping in the morning, I pick something easy or that can go into the crock pot.)

After thinking through this, start filling in your meals for the week! I’ll show you what I came up with soon!

  • Try to a add variety of foods when you are thinking through this–but use your favorites.
  • Karen, left a comment with an excellent time saving idea on my last post, “List the name of the cookbook and write the page number next to the name of the dish. I have several cookbooks and love to try to recipes, and this can be a big help when it comes time to prepare the dish, so that you don’t have to wonder, “Where is that recipe?” This also serves as a handy reference for future menu suggestions. I also put a star next to a new dish that my family especially enjoys. I have code names for many of my recipe books, so that I don’t have to write out the full title. For example M/L p. 146 stands for “More with Less Cookbook pg. 146″
  • If you are not crazy about having a strict day-by-day meal plan, just plan out 5 or 6 meals for the week and make them in any order.
  • You can make up just one or two weeks of ideas and keep rotating through them for ease.
  • Write your plan in pencil, it is easier to make changes.

The Value of a Menu Plan

Published
by
Cara
on November 21, 2008
in Homemaking and Menu Plans
. 2 Comments

I have been thinking on posting about menu planning for a few weeks now, but it wasn’t until a conversation I had with my family around the lunch table yesterday that this post was sealed into my mind.

I don’t claim to be original in this area, or even that my way is the right way to do it, but I thought I would pass along some things that are helpful to me, in hopes that it might be helpful to you.

I love trying to figure out how much our meals cost per serving. We were sitting around the table enjoying our lunch as I spouted off how much our meal cost. For the whole meal, including dessert, I spent a little under $5.  That is about usual, but the unusual part was that my husband pointed out that if we had eaten out for lunch that amount would have barely covered one person! That is when I got to thinking about the “value” of my menu plan. I saved about $25 by making lunch at home…that is not even counting the left overs!

I save money, and so can you, by taking a few minutes each week to write down what we are going to eat that week. Otherwise, you know the temptation, it is getting late, it is time to eat, you don’t have a clue what to put together, and fast…everyone is hungry! So, we fall back on fast food, carry out, delivery, and/or over priced pre-made meals. **Now, I am not against these things, we use them all on occasion, but if you are trying to stay within a budget or you need help with saving time in the kitchen…your menu plan is priceless.

Without a menu plan I often spend way too much money at the grocery store. Food tends to go to waste because I have too much or no real plan to use it. Or quite the opposite, I didn’t buy enough food or the right ingredients to complete a meal.

There are probably many different ways to make a menu plan. I will share with you a couple of different kinds I have tried and maybe you can comment with some of your ideas too! :)

It is very helpful to determine how often you want to make a menu plan; weekly, bi-weekly, once a month or even 6 months at a time! This will really depend on your shopping, cooking and eating habits. Do you like or have the time to shop every week? Do you like to cook every day, or once a month? Does your family like alot of variety in their meals, or are they content on eating the same things every week?

At this point in my life I use a weekly schedule. I write out what we are going to eat for breakfast and lunch. Starting with your main meal of the day is the easiest, if you are not already accustomed to menu planning. We eat lunch together as a family in our home every day, so this is my main meal that I plan. Dinner is always up for grabs; usually leftovers or something extremely easy. I have just recently started planning breakfast. Just slowly ease into this so you don’t get overwhelmed and just give up.

Now a very helpful thing to do first is to write down your family’s favorite meals. Ask them–especially your husband! There is no point cooking meals that no one wants to eat, that is just another way to discourage yourself and waste more money.  A nice way to do this is to split the meals up into categories. For instance, all the chicken dishes is one column, Mexican dishes in another, crock pot meals, Italian dishes, meatless meals, casseroles…and so on.

I’ll leave you with that thought and pick up again next time!

What’s For Lunch? 11/19 – 11/25

Published
by
Cara
on November 19, 2008
in Homemaking and Menu Plans
. 0 Comments

Views: 1,390 Downloads: 492 Added: 29.05.06 2400x1600 (255.6 KB)

Wednesday
B:  cereal, milk
L:  leftovers

Thursday
B:  brown rice pudding
L:  Creole Peas ‘n corn, corn bread, apricot yogurt pudding

Friday
B: Applesauce bread , bacon
L:  Tuna Rice Casserole, peas, tomato slices, no-bake honey cheese cake

Saturday
B:  Jelly surprise muffins, smoothie
L:  Bean bake w/chili biscuits, fruit salad

Sunday
B:  Oatmeal, milk, dried fruit
L:  chicken enchiladas, mexi rice, chili acorn squash, corn

Monday
B:  applesauce and cheese quesadillas
L:  noodle bake, squash, carrot and bean combo

Tuesday
B:  peanut butter banana oatmeal
L:  Lentil and sausage soup, bread

Apple Market 11/19 – 11/26

Published
by
Cara
on November 19, 2008
in Apple Market
. 0 Comments

A few good deals this week! If you are looking for great costumer service, you must stop by the Topeka Apple Market sometime! The employees have a “small town” mentality, they are very friendly and will go out of their way to help you. I love it! If you are into coupons…keep your eyes peeled, they are all over the store in little blinkie machines. Don’t forget Apple Market doubles coupons up to 49¢ value, and takes printable internet coupons. All coupons listed are from newspaper inserts, unless otherwise stated.

  • bananas 39¢ lb., Tuesday only!
  • Frozen Best Choice Turkeys 78¢ lb.
  • 5lb. bag Best Choice Red or Russet potatoes $1.88
  • celery 48¢ ea.
  • Best Choice butter $1.88
  • Libby’s canned vegetables 6/$2.98=49¢ ea, use printable 50¢/3 to make these 32¢ a can
  • Pillsbury flour $1.78
  • Folgers Coffee 22.6-34.5oz $5.98, use 25¢ off Q to make this $5.48
  • 160z Hiland, Blue Bunny, Meadow Gold Sour Cream or Dips $1.50, use 25¢ cent off Q to make this $1
  • Pillsbury crescent rolls $2.00, use 35¢ printable to make this $1.30 or 25¢ cent off Q to make it $1.50
  • Bird’s Eye frozen veggies 2/$4, use $1/4 or $1 off Steamfresh coupons
  • bunch green onions 2/$1
  • Cello Red radishes $1.29
  • 3lb. bag yellow onions $1.69
  • Pomegranates 2/$3, use $1/2 All You Mag Q
  • Cook’s ham, Bone-in, super trim, whole or shank half $1.49lb., use $1 off Q
  • Sweet potatoes 39¢ lb.
  • Allen’s frozen vegetables 79¢
  • Kraft Marshmallows 10/$10, there is a 55 cent off Q for the Swirl marshmallows out there, but I am not sure if these are on sale too
  • Brown & Serve rolls 10/$10

Please let me know if you find any other great deals! I will post them so we can all benefit! Thanks! And make sure you check out The Grocery Weekly to see what the deals are at Dillons and Hyvee this week.