Sorry...

I haven't posted in awhile. In March, I had a couple of parties and I had to go over my grocery budget a bit so I haven't spent any money for a few weeks. I am probably going to have a slow month in the month of April because I am cutting my budget in half for April only to make up for going over budget in March. We'll see how that goes...

Food Storage Closet

Today, I updated my food storage closet. I had organized it a ew weeks ago, but it was in need of some type of shelves. I got these cheap ones at Walmart and came home and got right to work!

Weekly Grocery Shopping

I'll just get to it. Here's what I got......

3 Bottles Listerine (FREE)
2 Revlon Colorsilk Hair Color
2 Hershey's Candy Bars
5 Boxes Sugarfree Jello
1 Trident Gum
1 Dry Idea Deodorant (FREE)
1 Colgate Toothpaste (FREE)
2 Six Packs Dive Bar Soap (FREE)
1 Individual Dove Bar Soap
5 Bags Quakes Rice Snacks
1 Family Pack Pudding Fat Free
1 Land O' Lakes Spread
1 Bag Large Shell Pasta
1 Bag Fettuccine
4 Boxes Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks
1 Box Curves Granola Bars
1 Box Nature Valley Granola Bars
1 Box Chex Mix Granola Bars
1 Box Fiber One Granola Bars
4 Country Crock Spreads
2 Four Count Dole Fruit Parfaits
2 Comfort Little Puffs Snacks
2 Classico Marinara Sauce
1 Package Dixie Paper Plates
1 Head Cabbage
3 lbs Tri Tip Roast
1 Package Big Red Gum (FREE)
1 Package Strawberries
1 Nail Saver Sponge
1 Betty Crocker Cake Mix
2 lb Red Delicious Apples
1 Package Deli Cuts Chicken Breast
1 Purex Laundry Detergent
1 Package Lettuce
1 Package McCormick Roast Seasoning

Total Price= $193.93
Total Paid= $64.51
Total Saved= $129.42/67%
Received $5.00 to spend next time.

Water Storage.... Oops!

Water storage has been on my mind lately. I kept telling my husband that we needed to get those 55 gallon drums for storing water. All I currently have is about 12 individual gallons bought from the grocery store and a case of bottled water. Today at church they passed around a sign up sheet to order either 30 or 55 gallon drums for water storage. I decided to put my name down for a 30 gallon one with the complete set up with the pump and everything. It was offered to us at a good price and I hoped that my loving husband wouldn't be too upset when I told him that I had ordered it without consulting him first. Even though it was a discounted rate, it's still pretty pricey but I really felt the need to order at least one! On the car ride home, I was about to mention that I had signed us up for one 30 gallon drum, when he turns to me and says "Oh, Honey! I saw a sign up sheet today for water storage drums and I signed us up for three used 55 gallon drums!" Uh Oh!!! I reluctantly told him that I had also signed us up for a 30 gallon one. So it looks as if we will be getting three 55 gallon drums and one 30 gallon drum. Oops. Oh well, you can never be too prepared right??
It's recommended to have 14 gallons of drinking water stored per person in case of emergency. That's the bare minimum. Water for cooking and washing is extra. Now it loos like we will have more than enough water for drinking, cooking and washing if there is ever an emergency! 48.75 gallons per person to be exact!

I got some good deals today but over all, I only saved 60%. I never thought the day would come where 60% savings would be a disappointment, but it sort of is. One super awesome deal was the three family packs of chicken shown above. They have a special rack for stuff that's about to expire in the meat department. They put orange stickers on the packs of meat and they usually say "reduced for quick sale". Well I always check it out but very rarely buy anything because it scares me. Last week they had a very grey package of sausage and I could feel the food poisoning attack just by looking at it. So normally, I don't get anything but today I noticed they had a ton of boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $0.99/lb. (a normal cheap price for boneless skinless chicken breasts is $1.97/lb) So I just had to ask the butcher for info on it. I walked up to him and said "HI, i see there's a lot of chicken breasts for sale. Are they going bad? Will my family DIE if i feed it to them?" He started laughing at me and said that no, we wouldn't die, that actually nothing was wrong with them. They just accidentally ordered 300 lbs of extra chicken breasts so the manager said to mark it down to get it out of there. So not only was the stuff not going bad, it was brand new!! So i picked up three family packs of chicken. That was probably my most exciting deal this week. I did get some stuff for free, but the chicken was like an extra special bonus today.

1 Glade fan starter kit (FREE)

2 Tubs Smart Balance Spread

1 Exedrin Menstrual Gelcaps (FREE)

1 Pack Extra Gum (FREE)

1 CVS Vitamin D (FREE)

1 Single Dr Pepper (FREE- was thirsty)

3 40 count Packages Huggies Gentle Care Diapers

1 Large Tub Cottage Cheese

2 Boxes Pop Tarts

1 Bag Spanish Rice

1 Bag Yellow Rice

1 Bag White Rice

2 6-packs Treetop Applesauce

1 Hormel Complete Meals (FREE)

2 6-Packs Danimals Smoothies

1 12-Pack Quilted Northern toilette paper

1 Ken's Light Salad Dressing Spray

2 6-packs Dannon Lite and Fit Yogurt

2 Mc Cormick Seasoning Packets

3.87 lbs Bananas

2.26 lbs Red Seedless Grapes

1 Bunch Green Onions

1 Bag Lettuce

13 lbs boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

3 lbs T-bone Steak

8 Atkins Protein Bars

Total Price- $183.95
Total Paid- $73.61 110.34
Total Saved- $110.34/60%

I also received $12.99 in store credit to use next time.

Diapers

I made a quick trip to CVS today to take advantage of the last day of their sale. I needed some Diapers. Long story short, I walked out of there with two jumbo packs of Pampers and Johnson's Baby Shampoo for $8.79 out of pocket and got a $5.00 ECB (like cash) to spend in their store at my next visit. Not bad!! One pack of diapers cost $12.49 all by itself but after coupons and such, I made out like a bandit. Sometimes i really feel like I'm stealing. But I'm just being smart!

Weekly Grocery Shopping

I did okay this week. Saved 70%. Here's what I got....

1 Baby Wipes 80 count
2 EAS meal bars
2 Aveeno Anti-Itch Creams
1 Reach Toothbrush (FREE)
2 Revelon Eye Shadows
4 Olay Bath Soap Bars
7 Boxes Mac & Cheese (FREE)
10 Jars Baby Food (FREE)
16 Rolls Toilette Paper
5 Boxes of Lean Pockets
2 Cans Dole Pineapple Chunks
2 Loaves Bread
9 Bags Frozen Veggies
2 lbs Onion
1 lb Aparagus
1 Bag Lettuce
1 Zone Perfect Bar (FREE)
4 Atkins Meal Bars

Total Price= $121.17
Total Paid= $36.59
Total Saved= $84.58/70%

Free Dental Care

Okay, not exactly, but I thought the title would get you. I have figured out doing the grocery game, that I never have to pay for toothpaste or toothbrushes ever again. In the last few months, I have gotten like 5 toothbrushes for free and 3 or 4 toothpastes for free. I love it!!! I'm getting more for free this week too!! Woo Hoo for me!! You can be just like me if you sign up for the grocery game too!!
I just received 12 weeks free in the grocery game!! If you sign up three people, you get 12 weeks free! The grocery game is so fun. My BFF just signed up and she said that she had no idea how awesome the deals are until she started doing it. She had been listening to me rant and rave about it for months and finally decided to give it a try. She thinks it's so awesome!! She's been getting great deals just like me!