Posts Tagged ‘
budget ’
Monday, February 25th, 2013
It was a fun week of shopping and I enjoyed getting back into doing the deals again. Here’s a few of my favorite bargains:
* $0.50 General Mills cereal plus a free gallon of milk
* $0.29 for 2 bottles of Purex detergent
* 2 Free boxes of Thermacare patches
* 4 Free DelMonte Fruit Naturals
* 4 Free Stride gum
Total Spent: $14.21
Total Saved with Coupons: $33.70
Total Saved with Sales: $36.08
Total Saved: $69.78
CVS: $0 (gift card)
Saved with Coupons: $15.00
Saved with Sales: $11.29
As usual, the Thermacare wraps went to our dear neighbor man who needs them badly. I love being able to share with him! The Purex detergent was given as a thank you to a friend who allowed us to use their two electric heaters over the weekend when we ran out of heating oil. Not a good thing but it easily happens when you are gone for 6 weeks and forget to keep tabs on such things.
Bought:
- 2 Thermacare Wraps 2 ct. $4.99 each
- 2 Purex $6.29 total (on sale for Buy One, Get One Free)
Coupons Used:
- Two $3.00 Thermacare printable coupons
- Purex Free Product coupon from manufacturer (took off $6.00)
- $3.00 in Extra Bucks (CVS coupons that print at register for purchasing specific items)
Got Back:
- $4.00 Extra Bucks coupon for purchasing the Thermacare (can use on next purchase of any item)
Giant: $6.50 (+ $0.50 change)
Saved with Coupons: $10.00
Saved with Sales: $5.90
My husband was pretty excited that I got those Fruit Naturals for free- he loved taking them for something different in his packed lunch. The gum was free, the Soy sauce $0.50 and the Ice Cream $1.50 after coupons/sales. The pretzels? Well, they weren’t free but that was okay. 
I used them to make some yummy seasoned pretzels to give to a couple of dear friends of ours. I plan to share the recipe tomorrow, so stop by to get it. If you love salty things you’ll love it!
Bought:
- 4 Stride Gum $1.00
- 4 Del Monte Fruit Naturals $1.00
- Turkey Hill Ice Cream $2.50
- Kikkoman Soy Sauce $1.50
- 2 Wege Pretzels $2.50 each
Coupons Used:
- Four $0.50 Stride printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- Four $0.50 Del Monte printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- $0.50 Turkey Hill coupon from manufacturer (doubled to $1.00)
- you can call or email Turkey Hill anytime and request coupons from them
- $0.50 Kikkoman coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts (doubled to $1.00)
Weis: $7.71
Saved with Coupons: $8.70
Saved with Sales: $18.89
Decided to do the cereal/milk deal again at Weis this week. The milk was free for purchasing 8 boxes of select General Mills cereal. I only paid $0.49/box for the cereal after coupons and sales plus I got the milk for free!
I was excited to see that Weis is once again carrying Treasure Cave cheeses. I can often find coupons for it and when I combine the coupons with sales I can get their feta cheese for less than I can get it at Aldi. We love using feta cheese in salads and sometimes other things too. I got the Dannon yogurt to use as starter for my homemade yogurt. We missed having it while we were gone for 6 weeks and have been scarfing it down since I made it this past week!
Bought:
- 4 Cheerios $1.49 each
- 2 Peanut Butter Toast Crunch $1.49 each
- 2 Cinnamon Toast Crunch $1.49 each
- Dannon Yogurt $1.99
- Treasure Cave Feta Cheese $2.50
- 1 Gal Milk $4.26
Coupons Used:
- Three $0.50 Cheerios printable coupons (doubled to $1.00)
- $0.50 Cheerios coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts (doubled to $1.00)
- Two $0.75 Peanut Butter Toast Crunch printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- Two $0.50 Cinnamon Toast Crunch printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- $0.35 Treasure Cave printable coupon (doubled to $0.70)
- Free Milk coupon for purchasing 8 General Mills cereal (took off $3.99)
Misc.: $0
I’m part of Purex Insiders and occasionally they send me things to review. Usually it is laundry related products but this time they partnered with Post and sent me a box of the new Post Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends cereal. I admit that I was rather skeptical about liking it. For one thing I really don’t like coconut at all and besides the idea of tropical tasting cereal just sounded unappealing. In fact, the box sat in our cupboard for a while until finally one morning I got up the nerve to try it and was amazed to discover that I actually rather liked it! The coconut taste was subtle and I didn’t even think about it. And instead of unappealing, the mango gave it a nice fresh taste- not a strong, bold taste but a subtle fresh taste. The mango gave it a nice fresh taste and the crunch was satisfying. (I know that fresh might be a strange word to use to describe a cereal, but seriously, it is the best way that I know to explain the taste.) I was happy to be pleasantly surprised with a great cereal.
(If you are interested, Purex, Post and Outrigger Hotels are teaming up to present the 2013 Tropical Trio Sweepstakes. Enter to win Purex Natural Elements, Honey Bunches of Oats and more!)
On another note, the lettuce you see was purchased from our local farmer’s market with grocery cash. I think I paid around $2.75 total and this lettuce is so beautiful and tasty. The grower tries to be as organic as possible too which make me even happier!
Monday, February 18th, 2013
Some of you have wondered where I get my printable coupons. Here are the main coupon sites that I use: Coupons.com, Coupon Network, Smart Source, Red Plum and Saving Star. Manufacturer websites and Facebook pages are another great source.
Well, after being away for 6 weeks we finally are back home as of Friday. I headed out Saturday and did a couple of quick stops at several stores to get a few deals and things I needed. It was good to have a break from regular deal shopping but I’m kind of ready to get back into it again. I admit, it did feel a bit shocking to spend to much in one week after weeks of very little spending!
Total Spent: $60.88
Total Saved with Coupons: $26.91
Total Saved with Sales: $23.10
Total Saved: $50.01
Rite Aid: $0.96
Saved with Coupons: $7.92
Saved with Sales: $8.30
I was excited to get my favorite shave cream for free this week! This stuff works so much better than gel in my opinion. And to actually make $2 on it after coupons/sales? Well, let’s just say that I was more than tickled. The Sucrets were free after coupons/sales and since I have no need of them I plan to give them to our elderly neighbor who uses them all the time.
Bought:
- 4 Skintimate $2.96 each
- 2 Sucrets $1.50 each
Coupons Used:
- Two Skintimate Buy 1, Get 1 Free printable coupons ($2.96 each)
- Two $1 Sucrets printable coupons
Got Back:
- $8 in UPReward coupon for purchasing the Skintimate (can be used on next purchase of any item)
- $1 UPReward coupon for purchasing the Ludens (can be used on next purchase of any item)
Weis: $2.71
Saved with Coupons: $12.99
Saved with Sales: $14.80
Okay, first off let me just explain a couple of things. I bought the cereal with a rain check and for some reason the cashier and shift supervisor didn’t know how to ring it in correctly. I should have paid $1.41 more than what I did and told them that they were undercharging me but they insisted it was fine. What are you to do when that happens?
I was excited to get stocked up on cereal again. We don’t eat it that much since we enjoy homemade granola more but it is fun to have it occasionally as a treat and I like to have it on hand for when we have guests since not everyone is used to homemade granola. The great thing is that by purchasing 8 cereals I also got a gallon of milk free. Since we just got back from being gone for 6 weeks we really needed that milk! Oh and note too that I will get $1.00 back via Saving Star so if they would have charged me correctly I would be paying just $0.39/box of cereal plus I got a gallon of milk for free!
Bought:
- Beech-nut Fruities $0.99
- 4 Cheerios $1.49 each
- 2 Cinnamon Toast Crunch $1.49 each
- 2 Total $1.49 each
- Milk $4.19
Coupons Used:
- $1.00 Beech-nut printable coupon
- Three $0.50 Cheerios printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- $0.50 Cheerios coupon from Sunday newspaper coupon inserts
- Two $0.50 Cinnamon Toast Crunch printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- Two $0.75 Total printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- FREE milk coupon for purchasing 8 General Mills cereal ($3.99 value)
Got Back:
- $0.50 Saving Star credit for purchasing the Cheerios
- $0.50 Saving Star credit for purchasing the Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Target: $25.86
Saved with Coupons: $6.00
I stocked up on more diapers since they were just $4.54/pack after coupons/sales. I also grabbed yard sale stickers and a lighter for $0.95 each while were there.
Note that all the prices below reflect 5% savings for using my Target REDcard.
Bought:
- 4 Pampers Diapers 8.54 each
- Garage Sale Stickers $0.95
- Lighter $0.95
Coupons Used:
- Four $1.50 Pampers printable coupons
Got Back:
- Two $5 Target gift cards- 1 each for purchasing 2 Pampers diapers
- I used one gift card on the second transaction and will keep the 2nd gift card to use for future Target grocery purchases
Aldi: $11.35
Bought:
- Corn Chips $0.99
- Vanilla $1.99
- 2 Black Beans $0.59 each
- 2 Tortillas $0.99 each
- Bananas $0.44/lb. $1.13
- Oranges 4 lb. $1.79
- Red Potatoes 5 lb. $2.29
Misc.: $20.00
I withdrew cash for produce purchases at market, eggs and milk from local farms and other such things.
Wednesday, February 13th, 2013
If you want to see exactly what I purchased, check the posts under My Deals for more details.
Some of you may remember that last month I asked the question, “So what do you think? Should I try going a month without buying anything but say milk and eggs and maybe $10 worth of other stuff if I need it?” Most of you that responded said that, no, you didn’t think I should try it. And I decided not too, at least not for now. Here’s why.
I kind of agreed with reader Monica’s comment when she said, “The base of your system is having a foundation of goods to build meals on, and if you dismantle it, I fear you’d be playing catch up for a long time.” That was kind of what I felt myself but thought maybe I was just being too cautious. I decided instead to just give myself the freedom to scale back some weeks on my shopping. For instance, if there is a week that I an unusually busy or just don’t feel in the mood to do the deals, I won’t. In the past I typically felt obligated to go no matter what. Now I’m going to try not to feel that pressure. Notice I said try. When you are a saver like me, sometimes it’s hard to remember that you actually don’t need to do every deal!
Another thing that some of you have asked is whether I plan to keep my same grocery budget dollar amount, especially with so many food prices rising. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Many food prices are increasing and this year we do have 2 children eating instead of just 1 eating and 1 breastfeeding. However, since we’ve been away the last 6 weeks and have had our food provided for us, it has enabled me to get ahead budget wise. I had thought we would just scale back our budget accordingly but my husband really felt like we should just keep it like it is to reflect rising food prices and also to make me feel more free about skipping some deals like I mentioned above. Plus I didn’t have to purchase any beef last year thanks to a huge beef purchase from friends the year before. But that meat is almost all gone so I’ll be needing to restock our freezer with beef.
So in some ways we are increasing our budget. I’m not sure how you’d figure out how much since the 6 weeks we were away we still had to supply personal care items and diapers, laundry soap etc. In other words, it’s not like we had no expenses. I’m guessing though it would work out to be about a $13/mo. increase.
I hope that all makes sense and please, as always, feel free to ask questions!
Okay, so about this month’s budget. Since we were gone 4 out of the 5 weeks, I didn’t spend very much and I plan to just roll the excess over to use in future months. I know I’ll use it up quickly when canning time comes and I purchase large amounts of fruit and veggies!
Monthly Grocery/Household Budget: $200
Total Spent: $20.53
Total Saved with Coupons: $61.85
Total Saved with Sales: $33.87
Total Saved: $95.72
Week 1: $12.55
Week 2: $6.19
Week 3: $0
Week 4: $1.79
Week 5: $0
Ending Monthly Balance: $179.47
This is the amount I am under budget for the month. I will roll this over to use in future months.
Tuesday, February 12th, 2013
Some of you have wondered where I get my printable coupons. Here are the main coupon sites that I use: Coupons.com, Coupon Network, Smart Source, Red Plum and Saving Star. Manufacturer websites and Facebook pages are another great source.
We’re still not at home….and I once again went to Giant and did some shopping for the school where we are presently. I’m having fun using coupons to save them money on things that they use! Anyway, while I was there I picked up a couple of things for myself. Not much, but you’ll see that for yourself.
Giant: $1.99
Saved with Coupons: $4.00
Saved with Sales: $3.55
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that one of the 12 money saving things I don’t do is use the cheapest brand of mayo. Yup, I’m rather partial to Kraft mayo, especially the one made with olive oil. So I was pretty happy to see that I could get it for less than the store brand mayo at Giant this week! Yay for using coupons!
The Zatarain rice was free after coupons/sales and honestly, I doubt that we will eat it. I’ve never had it and somehow it doesn’t appeal knowing it is full of all sorts of preservatives etc. But who knows, maybe I’ll try a box and we’ll love it. But most likely I’ll just donate it to our local food bank. Yay for using coupons to help out those who have hit unfortunate times!
Bought:
- 3 Zatarain Rice $1.00 each
- Kraft Mayo $2.99
Coupons Used:
- Three $0.50 Zatarain Rice printable coupons (doubled to $1.00 each)
- $1.00 Kraft Mayo printable coupon
Wednesday, January 30th, 2013
I did very little shopping again this week, thanks to still being primarily away from home. I sort of miss the shopping but it also feels good to take a breakandit is good for our grocery budget!
Total Spent: $1.79
Total Saved with Coupons: $2.00
Total Saved with Sales: $2.95
Total Saved: $4.95
Giant: $1.79
Saved with Coupons: $2.00
Saved with Sales: $2.95
I was going to Giant to get some things for the school we are currently at and so I grabbed these 2 items for myself. My hubby loves the Eight O’clock coffee and I love getting it for a great price! And free tuna? Yes, please! I haven’t been able to get that free in months and we do love tuna sandwiches and wraps. They make such a fast, easy meal!
Bought:
- Eight O’clock Coffee $2.80 (bought with rain check)
- Chicken of the Sea Tuna $1.00
Coupons Used:
- $1.00 Eight O’clock printable coupon
- $0.50 Chicken of the Sea printable coupon (doubled to $1.00)
Sheetz: $0
I was driving by Sheetz anyway and since I knew that I had a free cup of fruit offer on MySheetz card I stopped and got it. We love pineapple and will enjoy this a lot! I don’t typically make a stop just for something like this but I was not pushed for time and was by myself so I obliged.
