Shopping trips

There were two things that pleased me greatly about my shopping trips this week:

1. Because I have been finding some awesome deals lately and have gotten more proficient at basing my meal plans on what I have, I had very minimal amount of shopping to do.
2. Shaun came home from work early, so I got to go grocery shopping BY MYSELF!!!! Pretty much the best gift that man can give me.

Anyway, here are the deals:

Ray's

10 packs of shredded cheese: $.98 each (no, we have not gone through my major cheese stock up from a few weeks ago, but cheese has a pretty long shelf life and when you catch it for under $1.00 and it fits in your budget, you stock up!)

2 packs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts: $1.68/lb

Aldi

Ground turkey: $1.49 each

Tortillas $.99

Cantalope: $1.29

Pineapple: $1.29

Blueberries: $1.49

Tortilla chips: $.99

Crackers: $1.69

Graham crackers: $1.49

Pinto beans: $.99

Kidney beans: $.59

Butter: $2.29

Dillons

Brown rice: $.70

Black beans: $1.59

3 ears corn: 3/$1

2 containers sour cream: $1.25 each

In total I kept all my groceries under $50 for two weeks of meals! I will have to make other stops for produce and milk, of course, but building that stockpile really helps!

Shopping trips- Target, Rays, and Aldi

I thought I would go ahead and get these posted since I am not always so good at getting stuff posted in time. Plus, I figured that if I post them now you would still have time to get some of this before some of the sales wrap up!

I actually hit up each of these shops this morning while I was killing time in between a dentist and eye doctor's appointment (yes, I had a very medical morning! I wanted to get both in on the same day so I only had to worry about getting a sitter once!)

Ray's

Bananas: $.29/lb (on sale all week with no limit!)

Milk: Each marked down to $1.00 (I plan to use a few of these for the homemade yogurt I will (hopefully) blog about soon!

Aldi 

Pineapple: $1.29

Strawberries: $.99

Target

Glow bracelets: $1.00 (These were fabulous last summer on the fourth of July to keep the kids entertained while we waited for fireworks).

Three boxes of pasta: On sale for $1.00 each, had a $1.00/3 Target coupon= $2.00 for all three

2 bottles of  bug spray: $4.29 each (normal price), had 2 $2/1 Target coupon (no longer available) and a $1.00/1 manufacturer's coupon= $1.29 each (note: Bug spray is something that, assuming you don't use a ton each summer, you can get by with NEVER paying full price for!)

Shopping trips for the week

This was kind of an exciting shopping week for me. This is the week that I normally do a larger amount of shopping because it is the week I buy for the next 2-3 weeks worth of meals. However, when I sat down to do my menu plan, I discovered that I really didn't need to buy much! I was able to use what I had in the pantry and freezer to cover most of my meals, so I just needed to pick up a few things here and there and grab some deals I needed to get! It is so exciting when I have weeks like this because it makes all my couponing/stockpiling worth it!

Target

Ibuprofen: 2 @ $.99 each, had 2 $1.00/1 pain relief item Target coupon= FREE!!!

2 Barilla whole wheat pastas: 2 @ $1.37 each, had 2 $1.00/1 coupons (no longer available)= $.37 each

2 Up and up aluminum foils: $1.29 each, had two $.75/1 Target coupons (no longer available) = $.54 each

2 packs face sponges: $1.77 each, had two $.75/1 Target coupons= $1.02 each

3 Boxes Market pantry pasta: $1.02 each, had one $1.00/3 pasta Target coupons= $2.06 for all three

Total with tax: $6.57

Dillons

6 packs sliced cheese: $1.00 each

5 allergy relief packs: $1.00 each

1 Ella's Kitchen Red one smoothie snack: $1.00, had a $1.00/1 Ella's Organic product: FREE!!!

Total with tax: $11.99

Aldi:

Baby carrots: $.49

Chocolate chips: $1.79

Tortillas: $.99

Turkey ham lunch meat: $2.79

Ground turkey: $1.49

Black beans: $.59 each

Rotel: $.59

Canned corn: $.39

Rotini pasta: $.99

Total with tax: $12.56

Shopping trips for last week

Okay, I am (yet again) a tad late getting these up. My goal is to get them up over the weekend before the sales end so that you have the opportunity to take advantage of the deals I find. Hopefully I will start getting better now that Jameson is starting to feel better and my life starts to get back to normal!

Target

Merona shirt: On sale for $6, had a $3/1 coupon= $3

2 Banana boat sunscreens: $.97 each, had two $1/1 Banana boat items coupons= FREE!!!

1 Coppertone sunscreen: $.97, had a $1/1 Coppertone coupon= FREE!!!

Used Target debit card to get 5% off

Total with tax: $3.03

Hyvee

1 bag baby carrots: $.77

6 bags vegetables: $.69 each

2 Jars Jif peanut butter: $1.77 each, had 2 $.55 coupons (no longer available)= $1.22 each

Total with tax: $8.11

Dillons

10 blocks of cheese: On sale for $1.00 each (by far the best price I have seen since I started watching my grocery budget!)

Total with tax: $10.81

Rays

4 Planters peanut butter: $1.98 each, had 2 $1/2 Planters Peanut Butter 04/29/2012 SS Insert (exp 05/27/2012)= $1.48 each

1 half gallon milk: $1.99 (I got this to make homemade yogurt. I will try to do a blog post about this soon now that I know I can actually do it!)

2 gallons skim milk: Marked down to $.99 each (I stuck these in the freezer to use for baking)

2 Kemps ice cream novelties: $2.98 each, had $1/2 coupon, $2.48 each (not an amazing deal, but I needed the ice cream sandwiches to make this for Mother's Day)

Total with tax: $16.29

Shopping trips this week

Sorry I a little late getting this posted. With Jameson's surgery Monday it has thrown my whole week off!

I had to do a ton of shopping to limit any shopping this week, plus I needed to stock up on stuff for after his surgery. Because there is so much, I am just going to highlight the good deals. Sorry (lazy)!!!

Dillons #1

3 lbs chicken breast: $5.69, has a $1.25/1 coupon sent by the store= $4.44

Brussels sprouts: $1.00, had a free item coupon sent by the store= FREE!!!

Two canisters of oatmeal: $2.99 each, had $.50/2 coupon sent by the store= $2.74 each

Edy's snack size ice cream: $1.25, had a free item coupon that printed at my last visit= FREE!!!

International delight coffee cream: $3.69, had a free item coupon sent by the company= FREE!!!

3 Voskos yogurt: $1.50 each, had 3 free item coupons sent by the company= FREE!!!

Ice cream: $2.99, had a $.40/1 coupon sent by the store= $2.59

4 Pampers wipes: $1.99 each, had 4 $.75/1 coupons doubled to $1.00= $.99 each

2 blocks of cheese: $1.88 each, had a $.50/2 coupon sent by the store= $1.63 each

1 Yoplait greek yogurt: $.99, had a free item coupon that printed at a previous visit= FREE!!!

Dillons trip #2

10 half gallons milk: On sale for $1.00 each

Hamburger and hot dog buns: $.49 each

2 Reach floss: $1.00 each, had 2 $1.00/1 coupons (no longer available)= FREE!!!

3 Voskos yogurts: $1.50 each, had 3 free item coupons from the company= FREE!!!

2 Yoplait greek yogurts: Marked down to $.75 each, had a $.50/2 coupon doubled to $1.00= $.25 each

2 Suave body washes: $1.99 each, had 2 $.50/1 coupons (no longer available) doubled to $1.00= $.99 each

Bag of rice: $.99 each, had a $.40 coupon sent by the store= $.59 each

Rays

Bananas: $.29/lb

Roast: $1.48/lb

2 Jolly time popcorns: $1.50 each, had two $.50/1 coupons doubled to $1.00 (expired)= $.50 each

Aldi

Strawberries: $.99 each

Pineapple: $1.49

Oranges: $.49/lb

Shopping trip this week!

I had a SUPER busy week! Between it being my last week at work, our garage sale, and the Little Britches consignment sale (more on that later), I was so happy to have enough food in the stockpile that I was able it through the week with only my milk stop and one other quick stop to Dillons over lunch one day.

Dillons

Bananas: 6.38 pounds at sale price of $.33/lb= $2.11

Carefree liners: $1.00, had $.50/1 coupon, doubled to $1.00 (my last one- glad to have built up a nice stockpile of these now!)= FREE!!!

6-10 count allergy medicine= $1.00 each

Total with tax: $13.49

Shopping trips for this week

I made several stops this week but two of those were pretty much in and out shops, so pretty good!

One of my trips was on Wednesday to get milk and, as always, no picture! (Do you really want to see pictures of milk each week!) Though one of my gallons was free since she misunderstood me and used my free punch (I usually save these punches for weeks when we need a random extra gallon so it doesn't mess with my grocery budget).

On to the fun shops!

Rays x 2

2 bags of chicken (3 pounds each): $3.99 each (WOW!!!!)

2 clamshells of strawberries: $.99 each

1 bag flour: $1.29 

2 Blue Bunny ice cream: $.99 each

Total with tax: $14.33

2 Bottles Purex: $1.99 each, had two $0.50/1 Purex Detergent, liquid 03/11/2012 RP Insert, exp 04/21/2012)  that doubled to $1.00= $.99 each

4.97 pounds of banana @ .29/lb= $1.44

2 bags of chicken (3 pounds each): $3.99 each (Yes, I went back for more!)

Total with tax: $12.51

Dillons

1 bag of chicken breast: $5.99, had a $1.00/1 coupon (sent by the store)= $4.99

1 package of Carefree: $1.00, had a $.50/1 coupon that doubled to $1.00= FREE!!!

1 Huggies wipe: $1.99, had a $0.50/1 Huggies Baby Wipes, 56 ct+ 04/01/2012 SS Insert (exp 04/28/2012) that doubled to $1.00= $.99

1 Comforts wipes: $1.00, had a $.60/1 eCoupon= $.40 each

2 Comforts toddler wipes: $1.09 each, had a $1.50/2 coupon (printed at the register with my big Comforts item score)= $.34 each

4 packs clearanced hamburger buns: $.69 each

4 packs clearanced hot dog buns: $.49 each

4 packs clearanced bread: $.49 each

Total with tax: $15.06

Target 

2 packs egg dye: clearanced to $.14 each (they say they expire in January. I figure that for $.28 I can take a chance)

2 boxes of pasta and 2 jars of sauce: $1.00 each, had 2 $1.00/pasta and sauce coupons= $.50 each

2 boxes of Band-aids: $1.87 each, had 2 $2.00/1 quilted Bandaids coupons (no longer available)= FREE plus overage!!!

1 Nexcare bandages: $1.74, had a $.75/1 store coupon and a $0.55/1 Nexcare 04/01/2012 SS Insert (exp 05/31/2012)= $.44

2 packs of Starbucks naturally flavored coffee: $7.99, had 1 $5/2 Target coupons and 2 $1.50/1 coupons= $3.99 each

1 Method kitchen cleaner: $2.67, had 1 $1.00/1 Target coupon and 1 $1.00/1 coupon (no longer available)= $.67

1 Cootie game: $7.99, had a $3.00/1 Target coupon (no longer available) and a $3.00/1 coupon (no longer available)= $1.99

2 Mossimo tank tops: $6.00 each, had 2 $3.00/1 Mossimo apparel coupons= $3.00 each

1 Merona tank top: $6.00 each, had 1 $3.00/1 Merona item coupon= $3.00 

3 Greenworks bathroom cleaners and 1 Greenworks dish soap: $1.99 each, dish soap free with any three Greenworks items, had 2 $1.00/2 Target coupons, 2 $1.00/1 Greenworks item coupon, and 1 $1.00/2 coupon= $.24 each item!

Total with tax: $25.86

Shopping trips for this week

Ugh. This turned into one of those weeks when I felt like I was CONSTANTLY shopping. We had people over for Easter today, plus I had to buy for my meal plan, so I spent all week hitting stores trying to get everything I needed for the best prices I could. I usually don't really mind grocery shopping (really enjoy it, actually!) but this week was too much! I also felt like I could have gotten these down into MANY fewer trips, but I didn't do the best planing. :( Oh well, I did get some good deals and I can do better next week!

Ray's

Two quarts of clearanced milk: $.70 each

4.73 pounds of bananas @ $.29/lb: $1.37

Gallon of milk: Free with full punch card

Total with tax: $3.01

Target 

Two baby washes: $1.49, had two $1/1 Up and up body wash coupons= $.49 each

Two Reynolds wrap foils: $3.49, had 2 $1.50/1 coupons (no longer available)= $1.99 each

Flip flops for Delaney: $2.50

Total with tax: $8.35

Dillons: 

Crescent rolls: $1.88 each, had a $.50/2 coupon doubled to $1.00= $1.38 each

Marshmallows: $.99 each 

Two dozen eggs: $.99 each, had a $.50/2 coupon doubled to $1.00= $.49 each (we get free eggs from Shaun's grandma, but we needed white ones for egg dying!) 

Two Suave deodorants: $1.00 each, had 2 $.50/1 coupons $0.50/1 (Suave Deodorant Product 03/18/2012 RP Insert, exp 04/15/2012) , doubled to $1.00= FREE!!!!!

Total with tax: $7.62

 Aldi

2 packs Strawberries: $.99 each

Chicken breasts: $5.99 

2 pineapples: $.99 each

Tortilla chips: $1.19 

Beans: $2.29 

2 Cottage cheese: $2.29 each

3 sour cream: $.99 each

4 pounds Ground turkey: $1.49 each

4 tomato sauces: $.29 each

Flour tortillas: $.99 

2 Black beans: $.55 each

3 gallons skim milk: $2.74 each

2 gallons 2% milk: $2.80 each

2 cantaloupe: $.99 each

Quick oats: $1.99

Lemonade drink mix: $1.79

Flour: $1.48

Total with tax: $55.63

Target (again)

2 packs light bulbs: $3.89 each, had 2 $2/1 Target coupons, 2 $1/1 manufactuer's coupon (newspaper coupon): $.89 each (by the way- there are a good deal with just the Target coupons if you don't have the newspaper coupon!)

2 packs ibuprofen: $.99 each, had $1/2 Target coupon: $.49 each

Total with tax: $2.76

Dillons (again!!!)

12 Birds eye Steamfresh vegetables: $1.00, had 4 $1.00/3 coupons ($1/3 Birds Eye Steam Fresh Varieties 03/04/2012 RP Insert, exp 04/15/2012)= $.67 each

2 packs Philadelphia cream cheese: $1.00 each

1 jalapeno peppers: $.89 

Marshmallow creme: $2.00

Carefree pantyliners: $1.00, had 1 $.50/1 Carefree product coupon= FREE!!!!!!

Total with tax; $20.25

Dollar General 

(My hubby actually made this trip for me! He wasn't crazy about being handed a list and a stack of coupons, but he was a trooper!)

8 cans Libby's vegetables: $.50 each, had 2 $1.00/4 coupons (no longer available)= $.25 each

6 bottles Fantastik cleaner: $1.50 each, had 6 $.75/1 coupons ($0.75/1 Scrubbing Bubbles Fantastik all purpose cleaner 03/25/2012 SS Insert, exp 05/05/2012)= $.75 each

Total with tax: $7.61

Hyvee 

2 butters: $1.58 each  

Total with tax: $3.46 (I actually went in for several other things as well that were either out or turned out not to be as good as a deal as I hoped).

Sharing the Wealth: Finding your "buy-at" price

Now, I know that I have talked about "buy-at" prices several times before. The buy-at price is the price that you set as a price that you consider to be a good price to buy and stock up an an item at. When I stock up, I buy as much of the item I can afford on my budget to get me through to the next sale.

Though I have talked about using buy-at prices, while I was shopping yesterday, it occurred to me that I have never really explained how it is that I arrived at my buy-at prices.

Just to be clear, the buy-at price is kind of the key to couponing. People often ask me how couponing saves me money since the coupon doesn't typically make a brand name item with a coupon lower priced than the store brand. The idea is not to just buy an item because I have a coupon for it, but to use that coupon when the item is on sale for a great price. Since I don't have a crystal ball that tells me when that item is going to be at its lowest before my coupon expires, I use my buy-at price. So, for example, my buy-at price for cereal is $1.00. I typically will stock up on as much cereal as I can afford whenever I see it at $1.00. If I have a coupon for $1.00 off a box of cereal but that cereal doesn't go on sale for $2.00 or less before the coupon expires, I won't be using that coupon.

To start, I figured out what the best price I can get an item for on any day. This is typically decided by figuring out what I will pay for an item at Aldi or by buying the store brand. For example, the regular price for 3 pounds of chicken breast is $5.99. Since I don't tend to find a ton of chicken on sale in our area, I consider anything below $2.00 a pound to be a good price.

Another thing that goes into my decision is the necessity of the item. If it is an item that I do not consider to be necessity to keep in the house I will not purchase it unless it is free. For us, this is soda. Although I love to have soda around, we don't usually keep it around unless I can pick it up for free. On the other hand, milk is considered a must have around this house. Because I know that it is going to get purchased every week regardless of the price, my goal is just to find the best price I can each week.

Now that I have started couponing and deal hunting, I am constantly adjusting my various buy at prices. For example, I started out with toothpaste being a good buy at around $.25. Since then, I have figured out that I can keep my stock plenty full waiting until I can get it free. It also goes the other way- when I started couponing I stocked up on a bunch of body wash for free. Since then, the body wash deals have been few and far between, so I have would be willing to do any good deal now.

So I hope that better explains how I reach my buy-at price!

Shopping trips for this week

I didn't have much shopping to do this week. In addition to a trip on Wednesday to get some milk, I just made one grocery trip and then a Target and Staples trip. I already talked about the Staples trip, but here are the other two!

Target

Scrabble Flash: On sale for $15, had a Target $5/1 coupon and a Manufacturer $5/1 coupon= $5

Monopoly deal: Free with the purchase of the Scrabble game

Little People car: $3.42, had a 50% coupon= $1.71

Total with tax: $7.71

Dillons 

Sour cream: On sale for $1

2 Suave deodorant: $1.00 each, had two $.50/1 coupons that doubled to $1.00= FREE!!!!!

8 Snickers eggs for Easter baskets: $.50 each, had 4 $1.00/2 coupons= FREE!!!!!

Total: $1.51

Shopping trips for last week

I am a little late getting this posted, but Shaun and I enjoyed an AMAZING weekend in KC, so my posting got put off a bit!

This was my in-between weeks shopping trip. I started out going to a few stores for a just a few things, but ended up finding other great deals at my stops! They still fit in the budget, so I went for it!

 Dollar General

Scrubbing bubbles: On sale for $2.50, had $2.00/2 scrubbing bubbles manufacturer's coupons and 2 $1.00/1 scrubbing bubbles dollar general store coupons= $.50 each

Clearance fall/winter outfits: $2.00 each outfit, so $1.00 an item!

Total: $9.91

Target 

2 boxes of pasta and 2 jars of pasta: Each on sale for $1.00, had $1.00/pasta and sauce coupon= $.50 each

Crayola kids scissors: $2.99, had two Target coupons for $1.00/1 My First Crayola item, two manufacturer's coupons for $2.00 off My First Crayola item= FREE!!!!

Huggies diapers: $9.49 (regular price), had $2.00 Target coupon (had printed at the register at my last trip), $1.50 manufacturer's coupon= $5.99, or $.22 a diaper

Easter basket treats: 2 Eggs at $1.00 each, had $1.00/2 Easter Mars items. Easter tins $1.99, had $1.00/2 Easter Mars items, $1.50 each (these were actually in a bit marked $1.00, so I should have argued with them on the price, but I didn't realize until I was leaving that there was an error. I could go back and return them... but I probably won't...)

Total: $16.23

 Dillons

Dillons was having a Mega Event, meaning that if you buy 10 of selected items, you got $5.00, or $.50 an item, off. These prices are shown after the mega event savings.

Six bottles of diet pepsi: $.99 each, had 6 $.55/1 coupon that doubled to $1.00= FREE!!!!!!
Two bottles of mustard: $.99 each, had 2 $.30/1 coupons that doubled to $.60= $.39 each
Two bottles of Vitamin water: $.50 each (needed a filler item to get to the 10 items

I also got some good deals on some non Mega Event items:

Two bottles Frank's hot sauce: $1.15 (regular price), had 2 $.50/1 coupons that doubled to $1.00= $.15 each
Two packs Carefree pantyliners: $1.00 (regular price), had 2 $.50/1 coupons that doubled to $1.00= FREE!!!!!
Two Suave deodorants: $1.06 (regular price), had 2 $.50/1 coupons that doubled to $1.00= $.06 each
One 14 count Prevacid OTC: Had free item coupon= FREE!!!!!
Nine loaves of bread: Clearanced to $.48 each (I haven't been able to find this deal for awhile, so I had to practice some major restraint to not buy the entire shelf! This should keep us stocked for awhile, though!)

Total with tax= $9.84... ish. I actually lost my receipt, so I am kind of guessing on the tax, but, you get the idea.

Shopping trips for this week

Rays Apple Market x4

Yeah, I made four trips to Ray's Apple Market in three days. Let me just say that this is most definitely NOT an all the time thing I do. I rarely go to every grocery store in the same week, let alone the same one multiple times. To explain the story of the quad Rays shop, let me start with the breakdowns:

This trip was on Tuesday. I actually realized that I needed cheese for dinner that night because I had miscalculated how much we would need. Since Ray's has bananas for $.29/pound on Tuesdays, I figured I might as well grab some of those. I also had a full milk punch card, so I figured I would go ahead and grab that gallon now as well.

Milk: Used full punch card: FREE!!!

Cheese: $1.88

Bananas: 5.24 pounds at $.29/pound: $1.51

 Total with tax: $3.65

 Next was on Wednesday to get milk for double punch day! I didn't take a picture but I promise it happened.

Now, the ad did start on Wednesday, so these deals were available during my milk trip. However, Shaun's paycheck didn't go in until Thursday so I needed to wait for my grocery budget deposit to go shopping again. This was hard for me to do because we have the money sitting in our bank account allocated to other things. I easily could have just used that and paid it back to save myself a trip. But, once I really thought about it, I decided I didn't want to let myself into that habit and that an extra trip was worth sticking closer to my budget.

Anywho... back to the breakdown:

Rays is having a sale where if you buy 5 selected Kraft items you get $5.00 off. The prices shown reflect this discount:

Kraft Fresh Take: $1.99, had 3 $1.00/1 coupons: $.99 each (I have some fish in the freezer that has to get used up. I figured for a buck a piece I could see if these could make us like fish)

2 Planters Peanut buter: $1.99, had a $1.00/2 coupon: $1.49 each

3 A1 Steak sauces: $2.29, had 3 $1.00/1 coupons, $1.29 each

Marked down light sour cream: $.75

Total with tax: $12.07

When I went on that Rays trip, they were out of the Parmesan cheese that was in the deal. My coupon actually expired that day, so I was bummed, but I decided to just deal with it. But, I ended up getting off work early that day, so I decided that I would run by the other store since I would be going to that side of town anyway. And, I ended up being glad I did:

The final Ray's trip:
4 Kraft reduced fat Parmesan cheeses: $2.49, used 4 $.55/1 coupons that doubled to $1.00: $1.49 each
1 Kraft shredded cheese: $1.59, no coupons (not a bad deal without a coupon and it gave me the five to get the deal).
Pampers diapers: Clearanced to $10!, had a $3.00/1 coupon, $7.00: $.13 a diaper! My buy-at price for diapers is $.25 each, so this was a steal! I was glad I made this trip because the diapers made it well worth it! I am not sure why they were clearanced. Probably a change in packaging or something??

Total with tax: $16.24

Hyvee

Hyvee had their cheese on sale! Woo hoo. So I, ahem, stocked up...

16 bags at $1.33 each (3 for $4)

Total with tax: $23.27

Dillons

4 Loaves marked down bread: $.79 each 

5 bags broccoli: $1.00 each

Store brand baby wipes: $1.99, had a $.75 coupon= $1.24

2 Carefree pantyliners: $1.00 each, had two $1.00 coupons=free!

Suave conditioner: $3.29, had a free item up to $3.00 coupon= $.29

Q tips: $2.59, had a $1.00 coupon= $1.59

3 pounds ground turkey= $8.97 (more on that later!)

Outlet covers: $1.34, had a $.60 off coupon=$.74

Total with tax: $22.65

I also hit up Aldi but totally spaced on taking a picture. Got some produce ($.39 avacadoes and $.99 pineapple!). Also, I discovered that I was misinformed at my last trip- they still have the $1.49 pound rolls of ground turkey!!! I am so happy I am (almost) over paying twice that at Dillons!

Did you score any good deals this week??

Milk stock up!

I didn't have much shopping to do this week since it is an in-between-week. I did pick up some milk on Wednesday, which reminds me...

If you are in the Manhattan area, I have discovered that Rays, not Aldi, is the best deal on milk! Aldi milk is in the $2.79/gallon ballpark. Rays is $2.99, BUT they have a punch card where for every 12 gallons you buy, you get a gallon free. That used to make it pretty much the same price as Aldi. However, I recently discovered double punch Wednesday! Every Wednesday, they punch your card twice for every gallon you get! So you only have to get 6 gallons to get one free! This makes it about $2.56/gallon! Woo hoo!

Anyway, that is not what this post is about! As you have previously discovered, between recipes that call for milk and drinking milk, we go through a lot of milk. I have actually limited the milk consumption in many ways, but because I have a milk addict hubby and even worse milk addict children, I have pretty much accepted that milk is going to be a chunk of our budget. Which means that whenever I can find a good deal on milk, I stock up! Since you can freeze milk for use in recipes, I always check the dairy section for mark downs on near expiration date milk or buttermilk and stock up! I happened to run into Rays to check on a few deals and happened upon the dairy section while they were marking down! Score!

Here is the breakdown:

5 quarts of lowfat Buttermilk @$.60 each

1 half gallon of lowfat buttermilk @$1.05

4 half gallons of skim milk @$1.00

1 gallon of vitamin D milk (Delaney was out of her whole milk) using punch card free gallon= free!!

I can't find my reciept right now, but it all came out to $9 something with tax. I stuck all the buttermilk in the freezer to use when I make pancakes and such. The skim milk actually was about 5 days from its expiration date so we will probably get it consumed before it is in the yuck zone. Yea for a good milk stock-up!

Shopping trips for this week

As I mentioned in my menu plan, I didn't do an awesome job of planning by what we had on hand this week. I didn't have to buy a ton of meat since we were stocked up, so that helped. I also didn't need to buy any milk yet because I stocked up last month with money that I had leftover from my food budget.

Dillons

2 Loaves Kroger Value whole wheat bread: $.88 each

2 Cucumbers: $.48 each

Whole wheat flour: $2.65 (I am trying to get back to using whole wheat flour since I had gotten bad about it and I think it is really important to get those whole grains in. Does anyone have any awesome tips for scoring cheaper flour? I haven't seen anywhere in town I can buy it in bulk for less than $2.65 for 5 pounds)

Kroger black beans: $.69

Celery: $1.38

2 32oz Yoplait yogurt: $1.99 each, used two $.50 off coupons, doubled for $1.00= $.99 each

1 Lara bar, used eCoupon to get it FREE! (No longer available, but go to www.Dillons.com/cartbuster everyday through Tuesday to load a special coupon)

Kroger bacon: Clearanced to $.99

Bagged salad: Clearanced to $1.49, used $1.00 store coupon that came in a booklet, $.49

Total: $18.02

Ray's

Boneless, skinless chicken breast: $1.49/lb, 3.57 pounds total, $5.33 total
2 Arm & Hammer detergent: $2.48 each, used 1 $1.00/2 coupon, $1.98 each
2 Crest toothpaste: Used raincheck for $.98 each, had 2 $1.00 coupons, overage of $.04 total


Total 10.30
Aldi

Chewy granola bars: $1.59
2 pounds ground beef: $2.79 each (Aldi doesn't sell their ground turkey rolls anymore!!!! If anyone knows of how to score great ground turkey deals please share!)
Kidney beans: $.59 
Grapes: $1.58
Tater tots: $1.89
Chicken broth: $1.29
Butter: $2.29
Feta cheese: $1.99
Oranges: $1.48
3 Avacados: $.19 each= $.57 total
Roma tomatoes: $.79
Corn tortillas: $1.19
1 Paper bag (failed at the "put reusable bags back in van" mission"): $.06

Total: $22.63

Hyvee

Let me preface this post with saying that Hyvee has all of their Kellogs cereal 50% off. Even if you don't coupon you should hit up this sale because it makes most of it cheaper than store brand. Let me also let you know that the kids aren't for sale, they just thought the ridiculous cereal pile was fun. Also, before you think I am a bad mom for buying all this sugary cereal, you should know that my kids don't eat a ton of cereal, these are the kinds that Shaun likes...

I got a total of 22 boxes. Yes, 22. I am ridiculous, whatever. Sometimes a sale and coupon are just too good. I had 4 $5.00/5 Kelloggs cereal coupons. The only restriction on these coupons were that they had to be at least 10 oz, which means that these coupons were AWESOME! I also had an additonal two coupons, which gave me this:

2 boxes frosted chocolate mini wheats little: $1.74 each, had 2 $.70 coupons, $1.04 each

Here is the breakdown of the rest. I have just posted the price after the $1.00 taken off for the coupons. It's just easier that way!:

1 box Crispix: $.79
1 box Fruit loops w/marshmallows: $.99
2 boxes fruit loops: $.92 each
2 boxes Smart Start: $.99 each
1 box Apple jacks: $.92
1 box Frosted flakes: $.99
2 boxes Krave: $.93 each
3 boxes Raisin bran: $.99 each
5 boxes Big frosted mini wheats: FREE!!! (These were actually a discontinued variety so they were $1.00 each before the coupon. I can't tell you how tempting it was to just get 20 boxes free, but I think we would have grown rather sick of them)

I also had a 10% coupon I got here. I was able to apply this before coupons to reach the $25 minimum.

Total: $15.33.  (My receipt shows a total savings of $57.68!) Works out to about $.69 a box! Considering my buy-at price for cereal is $1.00 I am good with that!!

Menu plan

Here is the current menu plan! You'll note that I keep my menu plan very simple. Along with what I list, I always fix a veggie, usually from the freezer. I don't typically plan which veggie with which meal since, well, I am just not smart enough to know what kind of veggie "goes" with a certain food. I do my menu plan for an approximate two week period because that is how Shaun's paychecks come. However, I usually make the menu plan through the weekend because it is rare that I can make it to the store in the middle of the week. Also, most of these meals will NOT happen on the nights they are assigned. Planning it out this way just ensures that I prepare for the right kinds of meals.

Wednesday (15th)
Rice and Beans

Thursday (16th)
Porkchops and sweet potatoes

Friday
Waffles and Eggs

Saturday
Pizza picnic night (I make homemade pizza and use whatever toppings we have on hand. This usually means plan cheese, but we are cool with that!)

Sunday
Crockpot BBQ chicken

Monday
Haystacks

Tuesday
Chicken and noodles (from the freezer)

Wednesday
Chicken Tortilla soup

Thursday
Tuna helper (we don't do a lot of tuna helper, but Shaun is going to be gone for dinner and I have some in the cupboard, so we are going for it!)

Friday
Garlic Chicken pasta

Saturday
Daniel and Ashley's engagement dinner! (We are TRYING to talk Ashley's mom into letting us bring something, so we shall see if I am making/bringing anything to plan for)

Sunday
Roast (not sure yet how I am going to fix this. I have some carrots to use up, so I might just wing it!)

Monday
Chicken and veggies

Tuesday
Ham and Cheese Pockets

Wednesday
Crispy Chicken Wraps

Thursday
Pancakes and eggs

Friday
Chicken Parmesan casserole

Shopping trip: Where the stocking up savings show

I have talked extensively about how stocking up during sales saves money. This week's shopping trip is an excellent example.

This week happens to be one of those "there aren't really any good deals" weeks. This means that I am able to keep to a pretty minimal shopping list and save the grocery budget for later. My total was $63.12, which will give us milk and produce for 1 week and two weeks worth of dinners. I will have another milk and produce shopping trip in between the weeks.

Aldi

6 gallons of milk (yes, 6. We are ridiculous like that)

3 skim @ $2.65 each

2 2% @ $2.76 each

1 whole @ $2.79 each

Tortilla chips: $1.19

Oranges: $1.48/bag

Paprika: $.99

Aldi brand Ro'Tel: 2 @ $.59 each

Flour tortillas: $.99

Kidney beans: 2 @ $.55 each

Red grapes: $1.58 @ clamshell

Marshmallows: $.99

Bananas: 3.91 lbs at $.44/lb

Sugar: $2.04

Flour: $1.48

Granola bars: $1.59

Total: $35.38

Dillons

Black beans: 2 @ $.69 each

Bread: 2 @ $.88 each

Reach floss: 1 @ 1.00, used $.50 coupon (printed at the register at my last Dillons trip), doubled to $1.00= free

Brown rice: $.75

Pyrex bakeware: (I was super excited to find this clearance deal. I have been needing a pie pan for awhile and I love to have a bunch of casserole dishes around for freezer cooking and I LOVE Pyrex)

Casserole dishes: 2 @ $2.50

Pie pan: 1 @ $1.50

Total: $11.32

Ray's Apple Market

8 lb bag of potatoes: $1.98

Boneless porkchops: 1.98 lbs for $4.27

8 oz cheese blocks: 6 @ $1.48 each

Total: $16.42

I am going to try to get my menu plan posted later (yes, I know that's a little backwards- oh well). However, I currently have two crazy children literally running circles around me, so that will have to wait...