Moving!!

I haven't posted in FOREVER!! That reason is because we are moving so I haven't been stocking up on my food storage. We are trying to eat a lot of the perishable items from my fridge and freezer before we go. We're not just moving across town. We're moving out of state!!
I'm so excited to get out of California and move to a state where I will be able to have more storage for my family. I will most likely have some type of basement where we're going and have some type of storage room with lots of shelves!! I cannot wait to get settled into our new home! I also can't wait to show all my readers all the fun new places I'm going to have to store my stockpile!1 Woo hoo!! So kep checking back because soon I'll be settled in my new home with lots of pictures to share!

Shopping!!!

I spent $99.00 on $323.00 worth of groceries this week. I haven't been shopping in awhile and so I needed quite a few things. My grocery store was having a sale where if you bought 8 participating products you got $4.00 off at check out. You could do this 3 times for a total of $12.00 off at check out. Well, I had my son with me and he took up my usual spot where I organize all my coupons and he was getting so grouchy. I was getting flustered and some how miscounted my items and so I missed one of the $4.00 off!! I was so bummed when I got home and looked at my receipt. I only got $8.00 taken out instead of $12.00.

I usually try not to shop with my kids. I go at night when my husband is home and I can go all by myself. I like getting out of the house by myself. It's my alone time every week. So now I know to wait till my husband gets home to watch the kids while I shop so I don't ever miss out on another good deal like that again. I was only one item off from getting another $4.00 off. Dang it!!

I Got It!!!

In my previous post I mentioned that I had this space that I didn't know what to do with. I knew I wanted it to serve a purpose and not just be a simple decoration or space-sucker-upper.

So here it is......

This is a super old hope chest that was my Great Grandmother's! My Grandma is 92 years old if that gives you an idea of just how stinkin' old this thing is. I thought it was built by my great grandfather but I guess I was getting that confused with another one of my mothers antiques.

Either way I think it's pretty cool that I've ended up with it after having been passed down from my great grandmother to my grandmother to my mom and now to me.

Like I said before I will probably put paper products inside because I don't want any food items leaking into it. I'm looking forward to filling this thing up!

My next item on my list is reorganize my food storage closet as well as my pantry. They have both gotten slightly out of hand the last few months and are in need of a make over!

Hmmm.... What should I put here???

I have this space.....

It's a wall in my living room and it's just a big blank space. I have been wracking my brain about what I should put there for a few months. Because I live in a small space, I need to make every inch count. Almost everything in my home has a purpose. When I buy any furniture or organize a closet, my mind isn't just thinking about how it will look but also how it will benefit me. Will it just be a big waste of space?? Can it serve another purpose?? That sort of thing.

Well.... it dawned on me that my mom has an old trunk that would fit perfectly right in that spot. When I say old.. I mean old. I think my grandfather built it (or maybe it was my great grandfather. either way... it's old!). So, I called up my mom and asked her what she was doing with the old trunk sitting in her garage. She said "Nothing, you want it??" and of course I said "YES!!!!" So as soon as I get it, I'll post some pics for you. I'm really excited. I'm thinking because this thing is so old, that I don't want to store canned goods in there. I don't want to put anything too heavy in there or anything that could possibly spill and get messy. I'm thinking some where along the lines of paper goods. Diapers, toilet paper, paper towels, that sort of thing.

So stay tuned my friends because I'll be posting pics in the next few days with an update and show off my new trunk!

Awesome!

This Week In Food Storage....

So my husband and I decided that we needed to not spend any money for awhile. We own a small nuts and bolts company and with the way the economy is, things have been slow. December and January are always his slowest months of the year. We decided that we wouldn't go grocery shopping for awhile and use our food storage to feed our family. So since January 1st we have not been grocery shopping. So far so good. The only thing we decided we would purchase would be milk and meat (and diapers!!). My deep freeze some how got unplugged back in early December and we lost a lot of our meat. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't even have to buy meat right now! Anyways, I'm hoping to go at least another three or four weeks without grocery shopping. I really do enjoy grocery shopping and using my coupons though so it's going to be tough.

Creative Food Storage Options

I've mentioned before that you have to be creative when you live in a small space.

Luckily I have a very handy husband.

Looks like an ordinary bed right??

But underneath is this....

Our bed sits on top of a giant storage box with seven different compartments. 6 square compartments and on long rectangular section running down the middle. He made it himself and it takes down easily if we ever move so we can take it with us!!

Each square compartment holds 4 five gallon buckets (24 total) or 32 (yep.... 32) #10 cans (192 total). I'm really looking forward to filling this thing up. The center rectangular compartment can also hold quite a bit. I will probably put #10 cans in there as well after the other sections are filled up. I'm estimating the center compartment can hold about 80 #10 cans as well.

Now I just have to make a bedskirt to match my bedding which will hang down and conceal the storage boxes.

I absolutely love my husband for being so creative and helping me to build our food storage!!

Walgreens

Just got back from a Walgreens run. I am pretty happy with what I came home with. Just picked up a few things but they basically paid me to shop there so that's pretty awesome!!!
Here's what I got......
1 bag Ricola Cough Drops
2 Box Kraft Mac and Cheese
1 Gilette Fusion Razor
1 box 24 count Zantac 150
Total in groceries $31.00
Total out of pocket $14.56
BUT........ I received $15.00 in rewards to spend next time. So they just paid me 44 cents to shop at their store. AWESOME!!!

Grocery Shopping

Last night I went grocery shopping. My husband has been out of town and so I hadn't been shopping in awhile. I only saved 63% but I got a lot of stuff. Here's what I got...

3 reynolds wrap foil

4 cans campbells chicken noodle soup

3 packs trident gum

2 boxes playtex feminine products

5 boxes green giant frozen veggies

3 boxes matzo ball soup mix

2 boxes barilla pasta

4 jars ragu pasta sauce

1 box corn starch

1 package white rice

1 noodle bowl

5 cans del monte veggies

2 cans campbells healthy choice chicken soup

2 dawn liquid dish soaps

2 packages 4 count mr clean magic erasers

2 packages taco seasoning

2 containers low fat litehouse caramel dip

5.28 lbs naval oranges

1.5 lbs golden delicious apples

1.12 lbs tomatoes

2.77 lbs brown onions

2.76 lbs granny smith apples

1 zone perfect meal bar

6 lbs boneless ribeye steaks

1 package tic tacs

1 Gillette fusion razor

Total $227.10

Total Spent $86.25

Total Saved $140.85/63%

Snack Attack!!!

I am crazy. I haven't been doing so well at grocery shopping lately and so I decided to get back on the horse with my coupons and start stocking up. My freezer(s) are full and so I really don't need any frozen fruits, veggies or meat. I guess back to school time means lots of sales on snacks. Usually I am really good about not buying all the junk food, but when I got home today I realized that snacks/junk is just about all I bought. Oops!!! We really didn't have any grab and go type of foods around here so I guess they will come in handy. Also my husband is going on a road trip with his buddy in a few weeks and now I can look like an awesome super prepared wife sending him off with loads and loads of granola bars, fruit snacks, etc for him and his friend to share.

Here's what I got......

First, the Non-Junk-Food items......
3 packages of scunci barrettes, rubber bands and bobby pins
1 Colgate tooth brush (free)
2 boxes Hefty storage bags (free)

Now bring on the junk.....
6 packages of hamburger helper
2 packages of Betty crocker Warm Delight Mini's (free)
2 packages fiber one granola bars
2 packages chex mix bars
4 packages fruit roll ups
2 packages fruit snacks
4 packages sugar free Jell-o
1 package Quaker true delights granola Bars
4- 12 packs coke products
1 loaf bread
1 Wanchai dinner kit
1 nature valley nut clusters
1 fiber one muffin mix
2 lighthouse dressings
1 Marie's dressing

Total= $146.00
Total Paid $45.00
70% savings

Well.... I definitely got a lot of junk food. Luckily my food storage is stocked with other foods because you can't live off of granola bars and fruit roll ups!!!

Broke Down

Well, I broke down and went grocery shopping. I couldn't stand to pass up the good deals any longer. I did awesome too. I got 135.00 in groceries for only 30 bucks!! Almost 80% savings. Woo Hoo!!!

My food storage is plugging along. Funny story: I was at the store last week and they were having a deal where if you bought $30.00 worth of participating products, you could receive $15.00 back to use next time at check out. Well, I was already purchasing about $14.00 worth of those participating items so I decided to throw 16 additional packages of rice in order to qualify for the $15.00 back. The rice was only $1.00 each so essentially it was like I was getting 16 packs of rice for $1.00 out of pocket. Good deal right?? Well, I was in line and I loaded all my items up on the conveyor belt. There was an older gentleman behind me and he said to me "That sure is a lot of rice!!!" I said, "Yes, they were having a good sale!" then he said "were they having a sale on peanut butter too??" I had bought 4 of those. I told him that I was one of those crazy coupon shoppers and asked him to watch my totals as the checker rang up my items. So she starts checking me out. The total was $135.00 then I handed her my savings card and they guy watched my total go down to $80.00. He was impressed. But I wasn't done. I then handed her my coupons. that brought the total down to $45.00. He was laughing by this point and asking me if I was a "professional" I told him that I wasn't done yet and to keep watching. So I pay the checker and then my $15.00 rewards print out. So I turn to the man and say "see.... now i have $15.00 for next time too". By this time, he's no longer laughing, he's asking me where I get my coupons and how much time I spend, etc. It was so funny. The guy thought I was nuts for buying so much rice but after he saw all my savings, he changed his tune!
My daughter is allergic to all sorts of startches. Rice is about the only thing she is not allergic to. We eat a lot of rice around here and it lasts forever so it's not like it will go bad. I think I did good!

Going to have to buy some stuff today!!

Well, I'm running out of meat and that's not a good thing when you're on a low carb diet. So I will be heading to the store to make my first food purchase since starting this whole experiement. Ground beef is on sale for 99 cents per pound so that's what I'll be getting for now because we're all out!! I still have some chicken and cornish game hens and roasts in my deep freeze to tide me over for another week or so but it looks like i will need to buy some more meat next week as well. Of course I'll only buy what is on sale! That's the way I roll! I'll be getting some lettuce as well today for salads.

So Far So Good

Well, I haven't been shopping yet so that makes me happy. I'm doing my best to not shop for 8 weeks. Keep on wishing me luck!!

A New Goal

I have been so extremely busy lately with trips out of town, etc. I hadn't gotten a chance to go grocery shopping for awhile and it was actually a good thing because my fridge died and everything inside was ruined! Thank goodness for my freezer full of meat and veggies in our garage. I was able to put some of the salvageable items in there when I noticed it wasn't working but a lot of what was inside my fridge was a total loss. Today I had to restock it with a few things. I just went to Sam's club and did not do my usual coupon shopping. I spent $100.00 on Cleaners, Milk, Cheese, Fruits and Veggies, Tortillas and Frozen chicken breasts. In this past week, we have had to buy a new vacuum, a new fridge and a new battery for our car. So it's just been a peachy week! After spending so much money, I decided that I am going to use my food storage to it's fullest. That's what it's there for right??? When money's tight, I can dig in to it and still feed my family. So my goal until September 1st (yes, September 1st!!) is to use everything from my food storage for all of our meals. That's just under 8 weeks of NO grocery shopping! I talked with my husband and he is on board. So for the next 8 weeks, the ONLY thing I will be purchasing from the store is Rice Milk for my Dairy allergic daughter. I will also go to the store each week to take advantage of any FREE items that I can get with using coupons though I will need to pay the sales tax. So my goal is under $5.00 per week for the next 8 weeks. I will be reporting how I'm doing as often as possible so check back to see how well (or not so well) we are doing. Wish us luck!! NO shopping for 8 weeks!! Are we insane?? Nope.... just poor!!!

Grocery Shopping!

Last night I did my usual grocery shopping. I actually haven;t been shopping for a few weeks because I have been out of town. I didn't take pictures of my loot but I made out pretty well last night. Here's what I got....
1 2 liter diet dr pepper (free)
6 packs of Knorr rice
4 wish bone salad dressings
4 kens salad dressings
2 kens spritzer salad dressings
2 wishbone salad spritzers
4 ragu pasta sauces
1 lysol cling toilette cleaner
1 lysol toilette bowl cleaner
1 6 pack jello
2 mighty dog food cans (free)
3 canisters crystal light lemonade
2 lbs grapes
1 pack lettuce mix
1 frozen kashi entree (free)
1 pack tofu
1 promax bar
5 lbs ground beef
2 pack hot dogs
2 packs loyds beef bbq tubs
1 reach toothbrush (free)
1 pack feminine products
2 packs listerine breath strips
4 nail saver sponges

Total in groceries= $175.01
Total paid= $54.31
Total Saved= $120.70/69% savings

Not too shabby!! Yes, i realize I went slightly overboard on the salad dressings, but they were such a good deal. i paid 24 cents a bottle for some and the most i paid was 64 cents per bottles. I like to marinate meat in the Italian dressing. It makes yummy chicken!!

Lagging!!

Well, I have not been doing so hot on my food storage shopping. Last week I did pretty good but I didn't get a chance to take a picture and post about it. This week, I had some issues with my coupon shopping for the first time. Sometimes I print coupons online and for some reason I had quite a few online coupons to use this week. So I went to the grocery store, bought all the stuff, went way over budget (by $60.00!!!) then when I got to the check out the guy said he couldn't accept my online coupons. I guess my printer is running low on ink and it didn't print out the code for him and the bar code was too blurry to work. Bleh! So I had to talk to the manager. The manager said he couldn't use them either so I have to re-print them and take my receipt back. They said they would reimburse me for the coupons. So frustrating. It was late at night and I was tired. Plus, I just found out my daughter is allergic to a lot of foods so I've become one of those people you see in the store reading every single label. I think it took me two hours to shop last night. I also had to buy special things for her. She is allergic to wheat so I'm having to make my own bread for her out of rice flour. I had to buy some really expensive stuff called xanthum gum for the bread. I also had to buy some shortening which didn't contain soy since she is allergic to that as well. I found it and again it was about twice the price of a normal thing of shortening. So while I'm getting the hang of these allergies, my shopping experience's aren't going to be too fun.
Anyways, my food storage is about the same. I have about 3-4 months. I need more but things just haven't been working out in my budget to get extra stuff for storage. Hopefully I will be posting some exciting food storage accomplishments in the near future.

Water Storage! WOO HOO!!!

Technically, water storage should be the first thing you store in case of a natural disaster and the water sources become contaminated but I didn't quite get to it until now. Over this past weekend, we filled up our new water barrels. We are now the proud owners of three 55 gallon drums. I feel so great having these!! It really is a load off my shoulders. If you're just starting out on your emergency preparedness, start with water. Don't be like me!! Get that water stored and fast!!!

A few months ago, there were some really bad fires around where we live. My dad actually had homes burning all around his. He had to be evacuated and during this time, he stayed with us. I was able to discuss with him the importance of being prepared for a disaster. In the case with the fires, his home was spared, but there were some areas in his city where the water had become contaminated due to pipes bursting from fire damage. Everyone in his neighborhood was without water for a few weeks until they could fix the problems the fires had caused. If you are ever in a situation where your water becomes contaminated, think of how nice it would be to know that you had enough water to sustain you and your family for a few weeks right there in your house/garage.

I'm really excited that we have finally gotten our water stored! YAY!!!!

Diaper Deal

Last night, I went and bought 4 jumbo packs of diapers for $11.94 including tax! Woo Hoo!

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Today I finally headed out to the store. I got some pretty good deals. I did really well at one store and was super excited, but my overall savings was just so-so. Here's my loot!

1 Pinesol Cleaner
1 Welches Squeezable grape jelly
3 Duncan Hines Cake Mixes
1 Betty Crocker Frosting
3 Mc Cormick Seasoning packs
1 pkg I can't believ it's not butter baking sticks
1 Barilla Marinara sauce
1 lb Brown Onion
1 Vitamin Water (FREE)
1 Chuck Roast
1 pkg Rib Eye steaks
1 Maries Salad Dressing
2 Mabeline mascaras
2 Sure deodorants
2 Dove conditioners
2 Lysol Wipes
2 Lysol Toilette cleaners
2 Lysol Bathroom cleaners
2 Walgreens Multipurpose cleaners
2 Boxes Hefty Zip bags
4 Jars Skippy Peanut Butter
1 Edge Shave Gel
1 Chocolate Chex Mix (FREE)
1Cheddar Chex Mix
1 Skintamate Shave Gel
1 Pkg Scunci Rubberbands
1 Colgate Toothbrush (FREE)
1 Scotchbrite Sponge

Total Price= $167.06
Total Paid= $58.71
Total Saved= $108.35/65%
I received $5.00 to spend on my next trip as well.

I really needed peanut butter so I was happy it was on sale. I have been scraping it out of the jar for the last few days. Also, my daughters 3rd birthday is coming up and we're having a party for her. I'm going to be making the cakes so I was pretty happy they were on sale and I had a coupon. I just need to get more icing and I'll be all set!

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!