Saving Money on Groceries

Groceries can add up to being a huge expense, and the more people in the house, the bigger the expense. I really miss the days when our 3 kids would barely finish a box of mac n cheese. Now, making mac n cheese requires 2 boxes for just those 3, or 3 boxes if we are all eating it.

One of the ways I save both time and money on groceries, is by using Savings Angel. I scoffed at the site for a few years. After all, I knew what they were doing, and knew I could do it for free on my own. What Savings Angel does, is finds the sale ad for YOUR area, and they go down the list, item by item, matching the sales with coupons from the Sunday paper, or coupons found online.

The hardest part of doing this on your own, is knowing where to find the online coupons, and taking the time out of your hectic schedule to do it. It is time consuming! Especially if you you have to sort through all your coupons each week, to see what you have.

Then there's the mess of removing expired coupons, and clipping all the new ones, and putting them in their place. It can be a total pain. In fact, it can down right wear a person out. I was an avid coupon clipper and shopper for a long time, but as the kids got older, and my time got shorter, I just let it fall to the side.

Recently, I decided I can't afford to shop the way I was, not anymore. I needed to save more money, and get more bang for our bucks. So, I sucked it up, and started to try again. I quickly remembered why I had stopped- all the work put into it, the time spent pouring over ads, sorting through the coupons, it was too much stress for me to be able to get it going.

About that time, a good friend of mine and my brother both signed up for Savings Angel. After talking with my brother about all the tips I had for coupon clipping (I had a lot, I realized!), I decided maybe Savings Angel would be a kick in the fanny to get me going on saving money again.

Savings Angel is a pay to use site, and there are similar sites out there that do the same service for free. However, what I found, was when I compared the SA site to the free sites, very few of the free sites listed had all the deals listed. Most of them missed coupons along the way, some missed the entire deal along the way. They just did not compare once I started looking at both.

Savings Angel is $19.95 per month. When you buy the first month, the second month is free, so up front, it's $19.95 for 2 months of service. There is a forum for help, and "mentors" who can also help people one on one. The site has coupons to print, and points out coupons found all over the web to print. When they list a sale item, they list all the non-expired coupons that were in the Sunday paper or online, AND, they tell you what week that coupon was in, or if it was in a magazine, or they show a link on where to print it.

Now, $20 a month is a big deal, I get that. For me, I look at what I'm saving on groceries that I wasn't saving before. My first 3 trips to the grocery store resulted in just over $100 worth of groceries. I paid just under $20 total for all 3 trips, saving me $80 off my grocery bill!

$80 is a lot of money saved. With a teenager, a preteen, and a school aged child in the house, we go through food a lot more quickly now. Getting the freezer filled is a big deal for us, because of how quickly we can deplete it.

Anyway, I highly recommend Savings Angel for anyone who needs the extra help saving money, like I did. It's been a very helpful site so far. Just click the banner above, or the image below to check the site out!

It's Chicken & Dumpling Day!

When we made up our last meal plan, I didn't account for as many left over days as we wound up having. That left us with extra groceries as the 2 weeks comes up today- yay! That'll mean good things for my grocery bill. Last time, I bought a 4 pound bag of individually frozen boneless, skinless Chicken breasts. It came out fairly cheap, too- around $1.50 per pound!

Until this morning, we hadn't used any of it. We thawed 5 pieces (which still leaves just about 6-7 big pieces!), and stuck them in the crock this morning, along with half a bag of frozen corn, half a bag of frozen peas, 1 can of cream of mushroom & chicken soup, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, and 4 sliced redskin potatoes. Being that it's a meal we did not plan for in our last meal plan, I do need to grab 2 things from the store to complete it- baby carrots, and a can of refrigerator biscuits to make the dumplings from.

We have never actually made Chicken & Dumplings before, so while we made the stew itself just from a basic stew recipe (2-3 veggies, potatoes, meat, soup, and a gravy mix), I looked around online to find an easy way to make the dumplings.

Most required prep work- making them from scratch. I'm not opposed to it, but I figured there must be an easier way- and there is!

I found a recipe at Cooks.com by Megan Durbin that calls for refrigerator biscuits cut into quarters, and rolled into balls. How easy is that?!

Meanwhile, I'm working on my meal plan for the next two weeks. I have a lot of left over food from two weeks ago, so I'm going to have an easy grocery bill this time around! It was our first two weeks of being on a meal plan. We didn't cheat for dinner at all over the past two weeks, and Nick was able to take left overs for lunch nearly every day! The few times he couldn't, he had enough snacks on hand in his cube to eat from. He also had a few FREE Deli Creation sandwiches in his mini fridge. I picked up two more yesterday for him to take in today. He leaves them alone so he has them for the days when he forgets his lunch, or we didn't have anything left over for him.

It's funny to hear him talk about how his co-workers come sniffing around when he warms up his left overs. They're always curious as to what he has each time! I told him one of these days, we should make a big batch of something over night in the crock pot, and send it to work with him to share.

Well, it's time to head to the store! If I didn't want those baby carrots in the stew, I'd wait until later, when I've completed a meal plan, but I have to get the carrots in soon, or they won't work.

Cheap Groceries!

This week, I put my coupon skills to use. I used to do this all the time, but will admit, I fell off the wagon and stopped when we moved south. After some nudging, I've just recently gotten back into it. For two shopping trips, I've gotten $77.08 worth of groceries, and only spent $14.02 on it!

Here's what all I got for $14.02:

15 cans of Campbell's soup- ranged in sale price from $.68 to $.99
3 loaves of Pepperidge Farm bread- on sale for $2.49
4 bags of Voila meals- on sale for $2.99
2 Sara Lee Pumpkin Cheesecakes- $6.99
2 Deli Creations Sandwiches- $2.50
4 cans of Swanson's Broth- on sale for $.69
1 gallon of Milk- on sale for $2.19 (it just went up- sadness!)
1 can of Spaghetti-o's- on sale for $.49
1 package of Hamburger Buns- on sale for $1.29
1 20 ounce soda (it was an impulse purchase, I admit it, but boy was I thirsty!)- $.98 + $.10 deposit
1 30-count package of Halloween rings (another impulse buy)- $1.49

I got both cheesecakes completely FREE with the purchase of 2 Chicken Voila meals (each- 4 meals = 2 cheesecakes). I had coupons for 2 free Deli Creations (otherwise, they are too pricey at $2.50 each for a sandwich that won't fill a person up!). The broth cost me $.09 each.

For buying 4 cans of broth, I got a $1 coupon towards my next purchase. For each of the 5 soups/1 bread combo, I got a $5 coupon towards my next purchase.

I broke my trips up into 2 transactions each, to get the best deal, because the soup & bread was only good once per transaction. I wound up with $16 in coupons from the shopping trips, which helped whittle away the costs.

On top of all this, I had coupons for the soup each time, for both sets of Voila meals, for the broth, and the cheesecakes.

All in all, the soup won't last us a terribly long time. When we have soup together, we use 2-3 cans for the 5 of us. With all the great sale prices on soup lately, we've had it on the menu twice a week. It's my fall-to, cheap meal.

What's a fall-to, cheap meal? It's the meal I make when I have no desire to cook, and thoughts of McDonalds or Little Caesar's enter my mind. It's faster than running out to grab food, and certainly cheaper!

If I use 3 cans of the $.68 soup, and half a loaf of bread, and 5 slices of cheese, it costs me roughly $3.82- without calculating in the coupons used. I wound up saving $.80 off 4 cans of soup today when I bought the $.68 cans. That makes them $.48 each, instead of $.68, so it would cost me more like $3.22 for a family of 5 to eat a sandwich & can of soup. That's a mere $.64 per person!

You can't even buy a cheeseburger at McDonalds for that price. The $5 pizza's at Little Caeser's are nice, but we go through 2 of them in a sitting- that's $2 per person! If we stuck to JUST a $1 cheeseburger at McDonalds, that's $1 per person. Except that those rinky dink things certainly aren't filling, so we add in fries, or we break out more food when we get home.

Eating can be expensive. It can also be cheap, it's all in how you eat, and how you shop.

Making a (Cheap) Meal Plan!

One of the hardest parts of feeding a family of 5 is planning ahead, and getting what I need when I grocery shop. For a while, I fell into a bad rut- go shopping, come home, and realize almost every day that I didn't have everything I needed for specific meals. It was an expensive time, because of all the side trips to the store for something else.

With the economy what it is, people are looking to lower costs all over the place, any way they can. Here are a few tips to help you get the most for your grocery money.

1. Get coupons- get the Sunday paper, ask friends, family, and coworkers for unwanted coupon ads, and learn your way around the internet if you have a printer.
2. Learn the sales- take the ad you got for the local supermarket in your Sunday paper, and read it cover to cover at least two times. Scan everything, and look at the prices.
3. Get out a notebook, and a calculator, or use a word document and the calculator on your computer.
4. Go back to the ad, and starting on page one, write down ideas for meals on the notebook- complete meals, not just portions. If you want a pot roast, write in the veggies you’ll add to the meal. As you scan the ad, write down the sale price for the items. Your goal is to find as much of the meals as you can on sale.
5. Once you have some complete meals listed, try to figure out the costs for the total meal, and the cost per serving. Here’s an example:
   • Spaghetti Sauce is on sale for $.99 per can.
   • Rotini noodles are on sale for $.79 per box.
   • Garlic Bread is on sale for $1.99 per package.
   • Green beans are on sale for $.66 per can.
   • You now have all the items needed for a spaghetti meal. First, add up the total cost for the items. In this case, the meal will cost $4.43. Then, divide it by the number of people it will serve. For me, that’s 5 people, making it $.89 per serving. Now, there are ways to get that cost down. If you are only serving 2 people, for instance, you probably don’t need to use the full box of noodles, or all the garlic bread. If I were to only use 5 slices of garlic bread, that would be $1.25 instead of $1.99.
   • Last, factor in coupons. For the meal listed above, I had 3 coupons- $1 off 5 cans of sauce, making each can of sauce only $.79. $1 off 2 boxes of garlic bread, making each box only $1.49. $1 off 3 cans of vegetables, making each can only $.33. Once you factor in the coupons, figure out the bottom line price: $3.40 for the meal, or $.68 per serving for a family of 5.
6. When you have an idea of how much each meal will cost, figure out how many times you want to serve it. Is it something everyone likes? Do you often serve it once a week, or more? If so, plan to stock up on enough while it’s on sale, to last you several meals worth. Why go back to the store for the exact same items next week, and pay more for them? Here’s a break down of the same meal, not on sale.
   • Spaghetti sauce is $1.29
   • Rotini noodles are $1.19
   • Garlic Bread is $2.39
   • Green beans are $.99
   • The total price is $5.86, or $1.17 per serving for a family of 5.
   • In buying enough of the makings while on sale, I’m saving $1.43 over the sale price, and $2.46 over the sale price with coupons. It’s not much, sure, but let’s say you make that meal 5 times a month, and only buy it on sale 1 time per month. If you buy the items 5 times, and only once on sale, you are spending $5.72 more per month for the same items. Factor in the coupon savings, and you are spending $9.84 more per month. Those savings are easily another 2-4 meals, paid for.
7. Now that you have a basic idea of which meals will cost more, and which will be cheaper, write down your grocery list, listing all items needed for each meal. You want to make sure you have enough meals for your time frame. If you grocery shop once a week, you want 7 dinners, enough food for breakfast 7 days, and if you eat lunch at home, or take lunch from home, 7 days of lunches.
8. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to stick to a set day. Just having a plan in place before you go grocery shopping, will save you money and time. Often, people are running back and forth to the store several times during the week, because of little forgotten things, or needing to grab something for dinner. Those little trips add up- fast! How often do you run into the store for 1 or 2 things, and leave with a bag full? With a meal plan in place, the likelihood of doing that is much smaller.

The bottom line is this- shop smart. Use the sales to get the best deals. Take a calculator with you, so that you can add up the costs of items NOT on sale. Figure out if the item is cheaper in a larger or smaller quantity! Just divide the price by the weight (ounces, or pounds). Do it for 2 size packages, and you will get the price per pound or ounce.

For instance:

Let’s say a 10 ounce can of soup is $.89, and a 15 ounce can of soup is on sale for $1.29. Which is cheaper? Well, the 10 ounce can comes out to $.089 per ounce, and the 15 ounce can comes out at $.086 per ounce, making it slightly cheaper, though since both would round up, it would be the same- $.09 per ounce. However, now you know that on a regular day, when the 15 ounce can is NOT on sale, and is $1.39, that the 10 ounce can is the better deal.

Bigger is not always better. Years ago, product designers realized that if they sold a bigger container for a slightly cheaper price, people would buy it for the deal. Somewhere over time, however, they also realized that now we’re conditioned to think that if you buy more, you get it cheaper. So, while most of America is still buying into bigger is better, the savvy shoppers have realized- no, it’s not!

Your calculator will become your best friend at the grocery store. Don’t feel dumb or in the way when you stop to check the price. Your fellow grocery shoppers might get annoyed, but your bank account won’t!

One more piece of advice- always plan for at least 1 "quick serve" meal per week- something you can pop in the oven, microwave, or stove top with almost no prep time, or cook time. For me, this is soup & sandwich night. I reserve those for the nights when I have no desire to cook, and want to "cheat" by ordering in, or grabbing drive-thru meals. If I get everything on sale, I can provide soup & sandwiches for 5 for under $.40 per person, and it takes far less prep time than waiting for a delivery, or driving to McDonalds!

Good luck!!

Frugal Halloween Meal

This year, with Halloween on a Saturday, Nick and I have decided to host a party before Trick or Treating for the kids and some of their friends. For the party, instead of a bunch of sugary treats, we are going to serve dinner type foods. When Halloween falls during the week, I always feel so rushed- pick the kids up, get them home, make sure they are fed, get them into costume, get makeup done for them, and get them out the door again. Rush! Rush! Rush!

The appeal of a weekend Halloween is that I don't have to Rush! Rush! Rush! to get the kids from one place to another. We can take our time, eat, get ready, and head out later in the day.

Our menu for the party is going to revolve around kid favorites- pizza and bread sticks. My first idea was to make individual pizzas out of English muffins. However, I just stumbled onto a recipe that looks great, and festive for the spooky holiday- a Pizza Snake! As I have yet to try this, the recipe is from the website, Divine Dinner Parties.

Pizza SnakeThis is one of those Halloween recipe ideas that's fun to have the kids help with. If you're making this for the first time, I'd suggest buying an extra can of crescent rolls to have on hand in case you need to patch your dough in places. Any openings in the snake will split and leak during cooking.

Serves 10-12 as an appetizer. (I think I'll make up 2-3 of these, as it'll be used more as a dinner food!)

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz.) cans crescent rolls
flour, for dusting
1/2 C. prepared pizza sauce
10 oz. thinly sliced pepperoni
10 oz. thinly sliced ham, chopped
10 oz. Italian sausage, cooked, crumbled, and drained
12 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 C. fine, freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Decorating:
Liquid food coloring, your choice of colors
4 egg yolks, divided
2 peppercorns
2 pimento-stuffed green olives
1 roasted red pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. On a lightly floured surface, spread out your two batches of crescent dough end-to-end lenghtwise. Be careful not to let the sections separate.
3. Pinch all the seams together until you get one block of dough.
4. With a flour-brushed rolling pin, roll your crescent dough into a large, long rectangle. Don't roll it too thin, or it will split.
5. Spoon pizza sauce on top of dough, leaving an inch of bare dough on all four edges.
6. Sprinkle meats on top of sauce, followed by any other optional toppings.
7. Sprinkle with cheeses.
8. Fold one side of the dough lenghtwise over the topping, up to the half-point of the rectangle.
9. Fold the other side over to meet it. Pinch and press the dough together on all sides to seal.
10. With a pastry brush, brush the beaten yolk of one egg onto the top of the dough.
11. Fold your filled dough in half lengthwise. The egg yolk should help it stick. A seam should be created lengthwise along the dough. Pinch this seam together to fully seal and make a sort of cylinder. Be sure all seams are well closed. Any open seams will open further during baking.
12. Gently manipulate ends into a snake shape-- one end should be tapered for a tail, and the other shaped for the head. Don't curve it into a snake yet. You'll do that right before baking.

Decorating Instructions:

1. Beat each of your remaining three egg yolks in a separate bowl.
2. Add the food coloring of your choice to each bowl to make three separate "paints."
3. With a pastry brush or a food-safe paintbrush, decorate your snake as desired.
4. Transfer painted snake to a foiled-lined, greased baking sheet.
5. Gently shape as desired, into an "S" or other snakey shape.
6. Stick two peppercorns into the front of the snout for nostrils.
7. Slice your roasted red pepper into a forked tongue. Insert into front of head.
8. Bake your snake about 20 minutes, until golden and cooked through.
9. Remove from oven. Attach olive "eyes" to the top of the head using toothpicks. Pimento centers should face forward.

To go with our Pizza Snake, we'll be serving "Hairy Witches Finger Bread Sticks"

I found this recipe online a year or two ago, and it works out great!

Ingredients:

Tubed bread stick or pizza dough
Green food coloring
Shredded cheese (we use Mozzarella)
Almond slivers
Pizza Sauce (for dipping)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven according to the package.
2. While wearing plastic gloves, knead green food dye into the dough, until the dough is a witchy green color- not to bright!
3. Form the dough into small thin bread sticks, creating a lumpy middle for the knuckles.
4. Insert an Almond sliver into one end as a finger nail
5. Bake for half the time the package states, then remove. Sprinkle the cheese on top, and continue baking. You want the cheese melted enough to stay on top, but to retain it's shape and look like hair. You can also sprinkle with Parmesan cheese for some added flavor, before adding the shredded cheese.
   
6. Serve on a platter with "blood" (Pizza sauce) as an appetizer!

I was able to luck out a few weeks ago, and found a large glass punch bowl, complete with 12 tiny glasses, for only $.79 at my local Goodwill! I'm excited to use it for the party! We are going to just make green punch, and float frozen creepy crawlies in it.

Green Punch

Ingredients:
Green Hawaiian Punch
Squirt (or a generic Grapefruit Soda)
Ice cubes with plastic spiders in them- you can also add gummy worms, plastic bugs, and anything else creepy crawly. Just make sure the plastic is clean, and there is no glitter that can come off in the punch as the ice melts!

Mix the punch & soda, and add the spider ice cubes to the punch before serving!