Love when I can save $$

Adding to my stock pile makes me happy. I always keep a log of best prices and even compare to the Amish Salvage stores.

 

 



 

So I was lucky enough to have my baby girl up early this morning and I made sure I was prepared to do my Thursday shopping trip(s) done and out of the way! The reason I pick particular stores to shop at on Thursday, before pay day, is mainly because I know how to play the check game. I know when I can write a check at specific stores/companies and not have it hit my account until I actually have funds. This said, I made sure I was prepared last night pouring over ads, checking SavingStar, Eoffers and my coupon ap on my Ipad that keeps tract of my coupon binder!

 

With my 19 month old and my list in hand, we went to our local Giant Eagle where they had a good sale going (well, compared to last weeks ad), double coupons up to .99 and for every $50 you spend they take .10 off each gallon of gas at their GetGo gas stations!

 

 

My haul consisted of 6 boxes Betty Crocker box potatoes (yea, they never go bad), 12 Hamburger Helpers (again, they too don't go bad), 5 packages 16oz Sugardale hot dogs that went into my freezer for summer, 2 Pillsbury Cinnabon cinnamon roll pkgs, 1 box Bisquick, 10 Yoplait Yogurt cups, 2 freshly individually frozen 3lb bags of chicken breasts (that consist of 5 large chicken breasts each) and 6 Pillsbury crescent roll pkgs.

 

 I have found I can freeze the rolls of Pillsbury crescent rolls much by mistake when my 15 year old daughter once tried to help mom put away the groceries and stuck these in the freezer. When you thaw them they will stick slightly to the container but not much more than they would if you didn't freeze them! So now I stock up when I can to make all kinds of lunch and snack recipes.

 

 

With the exception of the 2 bags of chicken breast, this was my shopping order. I spent $36.30 but saved $57.47 total, which is 62.02%! **Happy dance** This is a break down of $19.20 in coupons, $38.27 in store discounts with my Advantage card and $1.80 rebate with SavingStar!

 

 

Then I followed that with a trip to my local IGA!

 

Rideout's had 1 gallon milk on sale 2/$5.00, which I need a minimum of 2 and the lowest price around my area is $2.79 a gallon, so I saved .58 there. There was also a sale on their ground chuck for $2.59 a pound, in 3 lb plus packages; the best price on this normally is $2.79 a lb. I saved myself .70 cents there. I picked up a couple of those family sized On-Cor frozen meals which were on sale there 2/$4.00 and I had a coupon to save $1.00, and their Juicy Juice was on sale for $2.49 on a 64 oz bottle. I had a coupon for the Juicy Juice for a dollar off and considering the best price when on sale at Aldi's for juice is $1.99, but their regular price is $2.69 each, I saved a min of fifty cents to upwards of $1.20 as well. I was also in need of paper towels and Giant Eagle has the best price on 8 roll packs on price lock for $4.99, but IGA had their eight pack paper towels for $3.99! I save $1.00!!!!

 

Really, today was only the begining to my bi-weekly shopping for my house hold grocery stock and I really have to finish it tomorrow which will take me to Walmart, Dollar General and Aldi. I still have not sat down to start my monthly menu plan for March either, but I only have my general needs added to this point. I know I needed ground meat and chicken to my freezer inventory. Now, if the baby actually takes a good nap today, I may get a jump on my menu planner before the weekend!







Ever notice how some days seem to move slowly but most seem to whip by you as fast as a roll-a-coaster can drop you down hill? This was my weekend. First off, I suffer with AADD most of the time and only feel acomplished when I can schedule my life. When the schedule becomes voided, I can get a bit lost. This mostly comes into play with my budgeting as I've learned to stay in budget by scheduling my dinner plans for each month. This way I only purchase what is needed to make each dinner. I also know exactly how much I need weekly for the family tradition of Sunday morning breakfast, which always uses eggs & bacon.

This Sunday, I was able to go to the store(s) to purchase my additional news papers for coupons and make a trip to CVS to use up my soon to expire $2.00 off purchase coupons and my 20% off total with my card. I was able to purchase two 2 liter bottles of pepsi for the kids, some snack bags and two small organizational trays for only $1.87! Meanwhile scouting sales, reductions and more for my up-n-coming shopping day (Friday). When I got home, I made my speciality of breakfast cups!

First I cooked our favoites= Thick sliced maple bacon and Bob Evans Maple sausage. After the maple sausage was done I made the sausage gravy, using a favoite product:

Yes, I've made homemade sausage gravy. I've even made other packaged gravy mixes and I find that this one has the best mix flavoring to maple sausage. The bonus is it only costs $1.00!!! Anyways, I made the sausage gravy and added bits of maple sausage back into the gravy. I then made standard scrambled eggs and grated mild cheddar cheese on the side.
I then grabbed my .25 packages of Pillsbury crescent rolls and pulled them out. Instead of seperating all the triangles, I meshed two triangles together to make one rectangel and used my pizza cutter to cut into squares. I laid each square into my muffin pan (which I did spray). I then layered the sausage gravy, bits of bacon & sausage, then egg and topped with cheese. I put these into the oven at 375 for 11 min. until browned. *remember, you only have to make sure the crescent rolls brown and cheese melts.

After the "sharks" circled and devowered my breakfast muffins, I continued my thrifty ways by taken the slightly cooled bacon grease and poured it into my treated plastic ice cube tray (have to treat as the bacon grease will adhear itself to the plastic and make it really difficult to remove).

I have found that I do better freezing my bacon grease than placing it into a canning jar in my fridge. It lasts longer, I only use what I need instead of saving too much and I save my canning jars for other
uses... lol

Now, if only I can just get myself to start my new March menu plan/schedule. I'm already off the grid after my freezer invetory revealed I had less than what I thought, making my February menu void. Now what? I have a lot of venison and ground beef to use! Breathe Breathe Breathe