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!!!!