Kroger shopping cart Jan. 30
It’s been awhile since I went on a bargain-picking supermarket shopping trip. I did one today at Kroger in Monroe, Mich.
You will not find on my blog detailed coupon scenarios that show how much product one can get for free, or 10 items of the same product for which multiple transactions were involved. What I show you are the groceries I buy and use in my own home, using the tricks I explain in the Grocery Shopping on a Budget sidebar.
This is my shopping cart. I paid $31.89 and submitted nine coupons at checkout. You will notice that some items are from the 10 Mega sale, others are store brand, others were couponable products, others were just the sale of the week.
That’s how you do it, shoppers. You don’t rely on just one money-saving trick at the supermarket. You use as many as possible.
A couple of points to make:
- We were completely out of cereal as of this morning. We normally don’t go through it as fast as we have been; but cereal has been a quick breakfast and sometimes quick lunch during what has been a more hectic few weeks than usual. But I bought only two boxes of Special K strawberry today. It was the best choice out of what my husband and I like and I could get a good price on. This will do for now. There was no need to pay full price today for additional varieties. After all, the grocery sales turn over on Sunday and Monday in the Monroe area.
- I was extremely flexible today with my shopping list. I made my decisions based on what I could get good prices on, what I knew I had at home, and what we would eat. The refried beans and salsa can go with chicken, beef, tortillas and cheese that I already have in the freezer.
- The granola bars, and candy bars you don’t see, are for my husband and I to take to work. You may think it’s pricey to buy snacks at the supermarket, and it can be. But are you going to the vending machines instead when you are at work or on the road? Stop that. Be your own vending machine.
- Fresh fruit prices do vary throughout the year, and I liked the prices I found on bananas and grapes. Buying fresh looked like an even better decision today once I saw what the canned and frozen fruit prices were posted at.
Continue reading Kroger shopping cart Jan. 30 …
From Monroe on a Budget.
Late January best bets at the grocery and drugstores
Picking out some trends from the grocery and drugstore sales fliers that were in the Saturday and Sunday papers Jan. 16 and 17:
- Remember that the third and fourth week of the month has been pretty good lately for grocery sales. Many of the stores where families on a budget shop are noticing steep swings in customer traffic around pay cycles and food stamp weeks; third week of the month is one of the slow times and they’d like to get your attention.
- Party foods are showing up on the promotions because of Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 in February. Even if you aren’t hosting the party, you might be asked to contribute some of the goodies.
- Valentine’s Day promotions have started. Before you go shopping, make a list of what you plan to buy. Otherwise that all-too-cute stuff will somehow find its way in your shopping cart, and then how much money did you save?
Continue reading Late January best bets at the grocery and drugstores …
From Monroe on a Budget.
Grocery and drugstore reports: stay or go?
One of the most time-consuming details on this blog are the weekly grocery and drugstore reports.
I started doing that about eight or nine months into the blog, when The Monroe Evening News got a suggestion for a shopping blog. The managing editor responded to the reader’s email that Monroe on a Budget was our money-saving blog, and I started brainstorming how to do shopping reports.
The routine I settled into was picking out highlights from the grocery and drugstore fliers for the week. Depending on what the advertisers want, these could be in the Saturday, Sunday or Monday editions of our newspaper; or in the mail.
I don’t have the time to write detailed coupon match scenarios every week like some bloggers do. There also are a lot more people doing grocery shopping or bargain blogs in the Michigan and Ohio markets than when I got started.
So here’s what I’ll do: I’ll back off doing the shopping reports for a couple of weeks and see how that settles out. I assume that you all are finding that information in your newspapers or elsewhere on the web?
Now … you DO want to read the sales fliers this week because there are some 10 for $10 grocery sales!!!! Yeah, baby!
Continue reading Grocery and drugstore reports: stay or go? …
From Monroe on a Budget.
Danny’s and Hi-Lite grocery sales Dec. 14
Danny’s Fine Foods and Hi-Lite Supermarket in Monroe, Mich., schedule their grocery ads for Mondays in The Monroe Evening News.
- Danny’s has strawberries at $2.99 a pound, yellow cooking onions 69 cents for three-pound bag, Claxton fruitcakes at $3.99 each, and storemade breakfast sausage at $1.99 a pound.
- Hi-Lite has Spartan flour at $1.19 for five-pound bag. Cool Whip 89 cents. Freshlike veggies 89 cents, fresh Italian sausage $3.49 a pound.
Continue reading Danny’s and Hi-Lite grocery sales Dec. 14 …
From Monroe on a Budget.
Hi-Lite and Danny’s grocery sales Dec. 7
Hi-Lite Supermarket and Danny’s Fine Foods in Monroe, Mich., schedule their grocery ads on Mondays.
- Danny’s has mix or match fresh raspberries, blueberries or blackberries two for $4. Fresh walnut meats $2.99 a pound. Loin pork chops $2.99 a pound. Calder’s egg nog $4.99.
- Hi-Lite has assorted Betty Crocker cake mixes 79 cents, Muellers pasta 69 cents, assorted Post cereal two for $3, milk at $2.09 a gallon.
Continue reading Hi-Lite and Danny’s grocery sales Dec. 7 …
From Monroe on a Budget.
Thanksgiving food specials are picking up steam
The grocery sales that are in effect for the week of Nov. 16 are when you can expect to find really good promotions on anything you might want for a Thanksgiving dinner.
I haven’t seen all the sales fliers yet, but the timing is easy to predict. The week of Nov. 16 is the last full week before Thanksgiving. Besides, the grocery sales have been pretty good in recent months during the third and fourth weeks of the month.
Some of the items I’ve seen so far in the sales fliers have been featured in grocery coupons this month, so be sure to clip and sort your coupons, and take that coupon box or coupon binder with you to the store.
Now the really smart shoppers know to take advantage of the seasonal specials to stock up on products that can carry over into the Christmas holiday season or for everyday use. If you are running out of room in your freezer, do not panic. A lot of the sale items are boxed or canned goods that go on a pantry shelf.
Here are the grocery and drugstore fliers that were in my home-delivery edition of The Monroe Evening News today (I live in the 48162 zip code):
- Busch’s Fresh Food Market (sale starts Monday Nov. 16) will have turkey at 39 cents a pound with additional $25 purchase. Freshlike vegetables 88 cents. Campbell’s cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup 69 cents. Busch’s spiral sliced ham $2.49 a pound. Fresh Amish turkey is $1.49 a pound but you are asked to reserve a turkey at the meat department. Pillsbury crescent rolls three for $5. Cool Whip 99 cents. Buy any four General Mills cereal at four for $10 or Betty Crocker fruit shapes at four for $10, get $4 off at checkout.
- Wal-Mart (sale starts Sunday Nov. 15) has embossed stoneware four-packs or a serving platter on sale for $5. Better Homes and Gardens damask tablecloths are $9 each and the colors shown would work just as well for Christmas. Paula Dean roasting pan for $29. Frozen cooked shrimp cocktail ring for $5. Nestle Toll House morsels at $2. Kraft mini marshmallows for $1. Cheesecake sampler for $12.
- Rite Aid (sale starts Sunday Nov. 15) will have Campbell’s cream soup, Del Monte corn and College Inn broth at 99 cents each. There will also be buy one get one free on Andes and Mrs. Fields creme sticks. Russel Stover and Whitman’s Sampler candies also on buy one get one free. A variety of mini light sets, gift wrap and Christmas cards are in the flier. Other specials include buy one get second one free Revlon (coupon match in Sunday’s paper). Vo5 shampoo or conditioner 79 cents. Kotex on Single Check Rebate.
Continue reading Thanksgiving food specials are picking up steam …
From Monroe on a Budget.
Monroe grocery sales fliers Nov. 9
Here are the Monday grocery fliers for Monroe, Mich.:
- Food Town in Monroe and Rockwood’s flier arrived in my mail today. This week’s specials include bananas at 29 cents, boneless beef chuck roast at $1.99 and Dannon yogurt at 39 cents. During the week of Nov. 16-22, get a free holiday turkey at Food Town with up to $150 or more in additional purchase; or at 18 cents a pound with $100 or more in additional purchase; or at 38 cents a pound with $50 or more additional purchase (alcohol and tobacco excluded.)
- Hi-Lite Supermarket in Monroe Township has its flier in The Monroe Evening News today. Look for Mueller’s spaghetti at 49 cents a box, Hamburger Helper at 89 cents a box, Imperial spread quarters at 39 cents.
- Danny’s Fine Foods in Monroe has its ad on page 10A of The Monroe Evening News. Bone in chicken breast at 99 cents a pound. Sliced or chipped cooked ham at $1.99 a pound, Dairy Fresh cream cheese 88 cents for 8 ounces.
Click back a few posts to see the Saturday and Sunday grocery and drugstore sales information.
Continue reading Monroe grocery sales fliers Nov. 9 …
From Monroe on a Budget.
Frugal Thanksgiving tips
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where it’s a little hard to figure out how to cut back on expenses.
The traditional menu is not all that expensive to begin with. The bigger headaches for dinner hosts involve logistics (Who’s cooking what? Who’s sitting where? How do I time the bird in comparison to the side dishes? Who’s doing the dishes?).
And there is little that can be done about travel expenses except hope that you can schedule an off-peak day to avoid the congestion. College kids sometimes get a bye and can bail out to a roommate’s or cousin’s home instead of traveling all the way back home (I went to a college roommate’s home one year); but family loyalties usually just have to be worked around.
But there are tips that the frugal living experts can share on how to deal with Thankgiving costs. Most of them involve planning ahead with menus and grocery purchases, rather than leaving the details to the last minute.
- BeingFrugal’s Frugal Thanksgiving tips.
- SavingAdvice’s Frugal Thanksgiving savings.
- The Frugal Foodie’s 10 steps to a frugal Thanksgiving.
- Creative Homemaking’s A frugal but elegant Thanksgiving buffet.
This week or next will be a good time to make a list of what foods you are expected to provide, or will be asking others to provide, for Thanksgiving. When the holiday feast sales start, and in my area the weekly grocery sales change over on Sunday or Monday, you want to be ready with your shopping list.
Just before or after Halloween is also a good time to look for any remaining fall / harvest decor or merchandise that may be on clearance while the stores move in the Christmas merchandise. I bought a fall wreath today for $5 that was originally selling for $20.
Continue reading Frugal Thanksgiving tips …
From Monroe on a Budget.
Take Advantage Of Grocery Sales Using Freezer Cooking
Do you ever wish you could take advantage of grocery sales more? How about the last time chicken breast went on sale for example. Unfortunately there’s only so much chicken your family can eat in a week (without complaining). Freezer cooking allows you to take advantage of these sales and enjoy the rewards for weeks to come. Here’s how…
Take a look at grocery sales flyers each week. I like to keep a price book to make sure a sale really is a good deal.
“Price Book – A small notebook you carry in your purse that contains prices of the items you buy most often. It allows you to tell at a glance if something really is a good deal or not”.
If it is, think about how many different meals you could make with that meat that your family enjoys. I usually stick to 4 recipes or less. Let’s look at some examples.
Ground Beef – Spaghetti Sauce, Tacos, Meat Loaf, Beef and Vegetable Soup
Beef Roast – Pot Roast, Sauerbraten, Crockpot Pulled Beef, Beef BBQ Sandwiches
Stew Meat – Beef Stew, Chili, Goulash, Beef and Potato Soup
Whole Chickens – Roasted Chicken, Chicken Salad, Curried Chicken, Chicken Enchiladas
By the way, if more than one meat is on sale, I choose the one that’s the best deal for this.
Next, decide how many of these dishes you can store in your freezer at any given time. It may depend on the size of your freezer, how much is already in there and depending on what you’re cooking how many dishes you have (for casseroles for example). You also want to make sure you only make and freeze dishes you think you and your family will eat within the next 3 months.
Then it’s time to shop. Be sure to get enough of the sale item and all ingredients to cook multiple versions of each of the dishes you’ve decided on. Get them all home and then work on a game plan. Are there any steps that you can combine for all or most of the dishes? In our ground beef example, 3 out of the 4 dishes require me to brown the ground beef first. In this case I’d go ahead and make my meatloaves first and store them in the freezer, then I’d brown the rest of the ground beef in two or three large pans and keep working on the dishes from there.
The more organized you are with this, the smoother the cooking process will be. The first time you do this you may want to focus on making just one or two versions of the dish. As you become more comfortable with it, add more dishes for a maximum of four.
Susanne Myers – The Hillbilly Housewife
P.S. As a special thank you for reading this blog and Tawra and Jill’s newsletter, we put together a deal on my popular Freezer Cooking ebook and the recipe collections I’ve developed for it. Until midnight on October 19th 2009 you can get my entire freezer cooking system for 75% OFF (yes, you read that right)
Here’s where you can grab your entire freezer cooking system for a fraction of what you’d usually pay for it.
Continue reading Take Advantage Of Grocery Sales Using Freezer Cooking …
From Living On A Dime Blog » Living On A Dime Blog.
Take Advantage Of Grocery Sales Using Freezer Cooking
Do you ever wish you could take advantage of grocery sales more? How about the last time chicken breast went on sale for example. Unfortunately there’s only so much chicken your family can eat in a week (without complaining). Freezer cooking allows you to take advantage of these sales and enjoy the rewards for weeks to come. Here’s how…
Take a look at grocery sales flyers each week. I like to keep a price book to make sure a sale really is a good deal.
“Price Book – A small notebook you carry in your purse that contains prices of the items you buy most often. It allows you to tell at a glance if something really is a good deal or not”.
If it is, think about how many different meals you could make with that meat that your family enjoys. I usually stick to 4 recipes or less. Let’s look at some examples.
Ground Beef – Spaghetti Sauce, Tacos, Meat Loaf, Beef and Vegetable Soup
Beef Roast – Pot Roast, Sauerbraten, Crockpot Pulled Beef, Beef BBQ Sandwiches
Stew Meat – Beef Stew, Chili, Goulash, Beef and Potato Soup
Whole Chickens – Roasted Chicken, Chicken Salad, Curried Chicken, Chicken Enchiladas
By the way, if more than one meat is on sale, I choose the one that’s the best deal for this.
Next, decide how many of these dishes you can store in your freezer at any given time. It may depend on the size of your freezer, how much is already in there and depending on what you’re cooking how many dishes you have (for casseroles for example). You also want to make sure you only make and freeze dishes you think you and your family will eat within the next 3 months.
Then it’s time to shop. Be sure to get enough of the sale item and all ingredients to cook multiple versions of each of the dishes you’ve decided on. Get them all home and then work on a game plan. Are there any steps that you can combine for all or most of the dishes? In our ground beef example, 3 out of the 4 dishes require me to brown the ground beef first. In this case I’d go ahead and make my meatloaves first and store them in the freezer, then I’d brown the rest of the ground beef in two or three large pans and keep working on the dishes from there.
The more organized you are with this, the smoother the cooking process will be. The first time you do this you may want to focus on making just one or two versions of the dish. As you become more comfortable with it, add more dishes for a maximum of four.
Susanne Myers – The Hillbilly Housewife
P.S. As a special thank you for reading this blog and Tawra and Jill’s newsletter, we put together a deal on my popular Freezer Cooking ebook and the recipe collections I’ve developed for it. Until midnight on October 19th 2009 you can get my entire freezer cooking system for 75% OFF (yes, you read that right)
Here’s where you can grab your entire freezer cooking system for a fraction of what you’d usually pay for it.
Continue reading Take Advantage Of Grocery Sales Using Freezer Cooking …