At the start of this year, I made a goal to save up my Swagbucks and purchase Amazon gift card credits and use them to buy Christmas gifts for friends and family.  It looks like I’ll be exceeding my “Christmas goal,” so we have decided to use some of the credit to help get our out of pocket grocery spending even less.  There are a few favorite products of ours, like Rice Chex and Annie’s Bunnies snacks, that are on the more expensive side.  But I discovered those products on Amazon Grocery…and better yet, some of our faves are on sale for the next week or so!

(I’ve loved being able to get organic maple syrup every 3 months for free using Amazon credit from Swagbucks…and I can’t wait to stock up on some of these goodies below!)

Now…on to the current Grocery Sales and Special Offers from Amazon!

• Organic Valley Milk: Save up to 30% on select Organic Valley organic milk

• General Mills Groceries: Save up to 30% on select General Mills breakfast, baking, snacks and boxed meals…including Chex, Cheerios, Nature Valley,  and more

• Annie’s Homegrown: Save up to 30% on select Annie’s Homegrown boxed meals, snacks, cereals and dressings

These offers are good through September 11, 2010.  Please note that you have to enter a promotional code that appears on each page to receive 15% off.  Then you will receive another 15% off for Subscribe and Save.  You can cancel the Subscribe and Save at any time after your first order.

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As to be expected, I came in way under budget this week!  Mainly because I did not buy a “full load” of groceries, as most of us will be away for half the week.  I did, however, snag some great deals, as well as get all stocked up on chicken breasts for the next round of batch grilling!!!

Kroger

(Milk not pictured…left it in the car…and so thankful I remembered it out there…before it was too late!)

*HOT DEALS*

• 2 $.50 boxes Creamette pasta – $1 sale, used $1/2 store coupon (I’ll be getting that $.50 Barilla pasta next week!)
• $1 cheese slices
• $.67 Kraft Raspberry Vinaigrette (my fave store bought dressing!) – $1.67 sale, used $1 coupon from All You magazine
• $.49 loaf Soft & Smooth Sara Lee bread – $1.49 sale, used $1 store coupon
• $.99 loaf Arnold Whole Wheat bread – $1.99 sale, used $1 store coupon
• 2 $1.50/half gallon Almond Milk – $2.50 sale, used 2 $1 store coupons
  

Free

• 2 Colgate toothpaste – $1 sale, used 1 $1 store coupon and 1 $.75/1 newspaper coupon (doubled to $1)
• Dozen eggs – used 1 free item store coupon
  

Produce

• Bananas – That’s it..as we have some produce leftover from last week, and don’t need much this week.

Meats

• 3 pkg chicken breasts – $1.99/lb

Other Odds and Ends

• Splurged on box raisins and juice boxes for the plane ride
• Splurged on Starbucks coffee for Steve

Total spent at Kroger: $53.84

My grocery store’s ad scan

Thanks to Andrea at Mommy Snacks and Marcy at Stretching a Buck for posting the best deals and coupon matchups at my stores each week!  Find the coupon match-ups for your grocery store at The Frugal Map!

A

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• Free Money Management Software at Mint.com
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• Print Grocery Coupons
• Join AFullCup to find more ways to save on Groceries!!!

1 lb boxes of Barilla pasta, including whole wheat and piccolini, are on sale at Kroger this week and next (sale at my store expires on 9/12) for just $1…

Match with the $1/2 coupons from yesterday’s Sunday paper and you’ve got yourself $.50 boxes of pasta!

I’m often asked…how much couponing goes into the food part of $5 Dinners?! I reply that most of the couponing that I do is for toiletries and other household items, but every once in a while a great coupon (like these) will come along and really help reduce the costs of the overall meal.

I love to get $.50 boxes of pasta…as it gives me a little more wiggle room to get creative and come up with a new $5 dinner!  The $.50 difference in paying regular sale price for a box of pasta (around $1) and matching up those coupons to get $.50 boxes…can make or break the cost of the meal!

What about you…how much of your couponing goes towards food and meal ingredients?!

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Maureen writes…

Trying to be the organized mom, I keep a list of our meals, who likes them, what to have as sides, which meats we like & how expensive they are in an excel spreadsheet. I open up the spreadsheet every time I work on our grocery list and meal plan.

I do this so we don’t keep having the same things over and over, and forget about other things we like. But, we are still having the same things all the time and mostly because of the reasons below…

Problems

• Everyone loves spaghetti, but I can’t eat it due to recent health issues.
• I have 2 health conditions that I really need to consider what I eat. I cannot eat soy or any of it’s counterparts. And secondly, it is painful for me to ingest tomato based foods, citrus based foods or other highly acidic and spicy foods.
• I am willing to try lots of foods, but the family wants to eat the same old foods with the ingredients that I can’t have.
• Budget-like everyone else in America during these times, or if you’re wise, frugal minded during any time.

I sincerely hope you can help us. Spaghetti (which I can’t have) every week is beyond old at this point.  Thanks! – Maureen

My Suggestions

• Start with a family recipes pow-wow. Get some cookbooks, magazines, pull up some websites
• Add to your spreadsheet and start incorporating your new recipes into your meal plan. Tett
  
• Encourage flexibility. And this might have to come from your husband!
• Check out the following soy-free recipes here on $5 Dinners.
• If all else fails, short order cook a similar meal for yourself. Example, if you are making spaghetti for everyone else, you set aside some noodles and make noodles with olive oil and some batch grilled chicken for yourself.  It’s not ideal…but it might be worth doing once or twice a week!

What about you guys?!  Do you have any ideas for Maureen or recipes to share?!?  How can we help her out!?

Find More Savings

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• Get Free Coupon Alerts
• Print Grocery Coupons
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After waking up to a string of interesting and not-so-pleasant emails about my shopping cart soapbox, I’ve decided to add to my soapbox! This is not about getting out of the way…it’s about paying attention and being courteous!

OK.

I need to step up on one of my soapboxes for a minute. It’ll be quick, I promise.

This summer I have been shopping with all 3 kids. I take my time. I don’t fret if I miss a deal. I don’t bother going back to the produce section from the other side of the store if I forgot something. And I bring an extra dose of patience and save it for the inevitable meltdown in the checkout line because either a baby is tired, or a big kid is upset that I won’t buy them Twizzlers.

I have more or less mastered the art of pushing around a 100 lb + grocery cart. I have more or less mastered the “ok kids, you can switch places when we get to the lobster tank” routine. And I have more or less mastered the art of preventing the Twizzler meltdown.

Getting on soapbox now…

If you see me, or any other mom or dad, pushing one of those massive car carts filled with groceries and kids through the grocery store…leaning towards the ground and pushing it as if they were one of those crazy body builders who push and lift cars and trucks on ESPN…

GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!

If you find yourself accidentally in the way of a monstrous cart coming at you, at least move out of the way quickly and say excuse me. Common courtesy, right?!

Yesterday I had a cart full of groceries, not only my own, but also some items for a church event I’m hostessing this week, in addition to the baby and the biggest boy (totally nearly 75 lbs)…and I can’t tell you how many times people went right in my way without even apologizing or moving quickly to get out of the way. Including Kroger employees.

Hell-uuuuu?!

DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO STOP AND START ONE OF THESE CARTS?!?!?!?

The rusty, stubborn wheels don’t help either. WD-40 much?!

Please be courteous to those who are pushing these mini-tanks around the store. Get out of the way. Pretty please.

Ok…hopping down off my soapbox now.

On to the deals…

Kroger

After several weeks of great sales, this is not a stellar sale week for Kroger. I basically got the basics! I also had to grab a few things that I wouldn’t normally buy…but we have 3 events this week that required some “special ingredients”…like mint extract, and some extra bread and lettuce. And no, I won’t be using the mint extract, bread and lettuce for the same meal!

*HOT DEALS*

• $.99 Hefty Sandwich Zipper Bags
• $1 Cooking Spray
• $1 Dial Soap
• $.49 bread loaf – On sale $1.49, used $1 best customer coupon
• 2 $.19 Muir Glen tomato paste – used $.75/1 Muir Glen coupon

Free

• Almond Milk – Half gallon – Free item catalina from last week

Produce

• Organic Lettuce and Spinach- $2 per pack
• $.39/lb bananas – Bought extra to freeze for smoothies
• $1.25 Cantaloupe
• Apples and sweet potatoes to make baby food
  

Other Coupons Used

• $1 off for $5 fresh fruit purchase
• $1 Hefty Sandwich Zip Bags

Total spent at Kroger: $67.34

I also stopped by the farmer’s stand down the road to get squash for more baby food and for Summer Garden Ratatouille (recipe coming soon). $7.50

I also paid up for this summer’s Farm Fresh Eggs. $20.

Total for the week: $94.84

My grocery store’s ad scan

Thanks to Andrea at Mommy Snacks and Marcy at Stretching a Buck for posting the best deals and coupon matchups at my stores each week!

Find the coupon match-ups for your grocery store at The Frugal Map!

A

Find More Savings

• Free Money Management Software at Mint.com
• Get Free Coupon Alerts
• Print Grocery Coupons
• Join AFullCup to find more ways to save on Groceries!!!

It’s about time for a great sale…and it’s about time for some amazing coupon matchups too!

Many of our favorite products are included in the Buy 8, Get $4 off sale…and I have coupons for LOTS of them!  Both internet printable coupons and store issued “best customer” coupons!

The guy behind me was quite impressed, as he watched my total of $130 wittle down to $71! I love watching the numbers dive too!

Kroger

*HOT DEALS*

• 4 $.69 Old El Paso Taco Shells and  Tortillas – $.99 store promo sale plus $.60/2 Cellfire E-Coupon
• 3 $1.49 Cascadian Farm cereal and granolas – Coupons.com Coupon
• 2 $.89 Kroger Apple Juice – Best Customer Coupon
• $.30 Dial Handsoap – Coupon in this past Sunday’s paper
• $1 Hefty plastic freezer baggies
• $.19 Muir Glen Tomato Paste – Coupons.com Coupon
• $1.50 Hormel Delimeat
• $.49 Smart Balance Dairy Free Margarine
• $.40 Country Crock Margarine
  

Free

• Bag Lettuce – Best Customer Coupon
• Half Gallon Blue Diamond Almond Milk – Free item catalina from last week…and got another one this week!
• 2 Bumblebee Tuna Packets – On sale for $.49 each, used $.75/1 catalina coupon
  

Produce

• Bananas, Apples, Strawberries
• Radishes, Green Onions
• We are mostly relying on the garden for tomatoes and green beans at this point!  Green beans at every meal!!!
  

Meats

• 2 whole chickens – That went straight into the slow cooker. Part of the batch cooking plan!
• 2 2 lb packages ground beef – Made mini-meatballs and 3 meatloaves. Part of the batch cooking plan!
• $2.99 Tilapia

Other Coupons Used

• $1.50 off meat when you spend $7 – Best Customer Coupon

Manager’s Specials

• 2 big boxes of Rigatoni $.89 each (not pictured…left that bag in the car…good thing they aren’t perishable!)
• $.99 apples for this week’s Quinoa Waldorf Salad
• $.99 tomatoes (Might have to make salsa from these…not sure why I grabbed these?!?  With plenty growing in the garden!)

Total spent at Kroger: $71.53

Total for the month:

My grocery store’s ad scan

Thanks to Andrea at Mommy Snacks and Marcy at Stretching a Buck for posting the best deals and coupon matchups at my stores each week!

Find the coupon match-ups for your grocery store at The Frugal Map!

A

Find More Savings

• Free Money Management Software at Mint.com
• Get Free Coupon Alerts
• Print Grocery Coupons
• Join AFullCup to find more ways to save on Groceries!!!

Wicked hot.

That is all I have to say about this week’s farmer’s market trip.  We stopped by the “traveling market,” that comes to our little suburb every Thursday.  By the time we left, we were all dripping…and you can see that from the little that we bought, we weren’t there long!  A quote from Ryan…

“I’m SO HOT, I think I’m turning into fire!”

Hot. Yes, but we still gotta eat…and I still gotta blog! I needed some tomatoes to make Stuffed Tomatoes. I have a few from the garden, but wanted to try the orange variety and grabbed 2 extras…just in case.  I was also looking for some small-ish red potatoes to put onto skewers and grill with our burgers this weekend. (More on that next week.)  I only grabbed eight, because that is all that would fit into one hand, pressed against my stomach.  I was holding Tyler, and my market bag with the butternut squash and eggplant already weighing it down.  I had little hand space and zero ability to balance.  I pleaded for help from the boys, but they were only interested in the cookies and mini-pies on the table. So eight little red taters will have to do.

The butternut squash…it was not at all on my radar, but as soon as I saw how gigantic it was, and how little it cost…the “great deal” signal on the radar started blipping. And beeping. Loudly.

So I grabbed one. I’ll “process” it this weekend and let you know what I did with it next week!

And the meats…as part of my baby steps towards more natural/grass fed/preservative/antibiotic/free-range/locavore eating. I decided to grab a pound of chorizo and a pound of Italian sausage.

(Pricey yes…worth it…double yes. Not only for the taste, but for the natural-ness too!)

Cost breakdown:

• 1 pound chorizo sausage – $4.80
• 1 pound Italian sausage – $4.80
• 1 large eggplant – $2.50
• 8 itty red taters – $3
• 4 maters – $3
• 1 humongous butternut squash – $3.50

Have you stopped in at your local farmer’s market?!?  Snag any amazing deals this week?!?

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Kroger

This week and next, Kroger is running a Buy 8, Get $4 off promotion…and many of my favorite products and brands are included in the promotion.  I didn’t have a chance to do a lot of coupon hunting for this trip…so I’ll do that for next week’s trip and take full advantage of the store promotion!!!

*HOT DEALS*

• $1 each Hefty Freezer Baggies
• $.19 Muir Glen Tomato Paste – using coupon
• $1.99 half gallon shelf stable Almond Breeze (for an upcoming dairy-free batch cooking day!)
• $.49 tuna packets
• $1.49 Cascadian Farms cereal – using coupon
• $.98 Apple Juice – used a catalina $1/1 coupon
• $2.49 for BIG bag of cheese
• $.92/box pasta…for my marathon training husband!

Produce

• Avocados, Butternut Squash, Sweet Potatoes…to make some baby food for Tyler.  He’s almost ready for more solid foods. His bottom chompers are in…and I suspect the top chompers will be making their debut soon.
• Bananas…HELLO, I forgot bananas!  Will be going back tomorrow for some.

Meats

• $1.99/lb chicken breasts – Not the lowest price, but we were running low.

Total spent at Kroger: $52.93

So glad to have spent this little after last week’s overspending episode!!! I’ve got a little extra, so I might stop by the farmer’s market!

My grocery store’s ad scan

Thanks to Andrea at Mommy Snacks and Marcy at Stretching a Buck for posting the best deals and coupon matchups at my stores each week!

Find the coupon match-ups for your grocery store at The Frugal Map!

A

Find More Savings

• Free Money Management Software at Mint.com
• Get Free Coupon Alerts
• Print Grocery Coupons
• Join AFullCup to find more ways to save on Groceries!!!

Alrighty friends…I mentioned earlier this week that I’m a little behind and am playing catch-up…and that I spent the day yesterday using just about every form of transportation possible. (Except a motorcycle. Because it’s not really okay to ride on a motorcycle with 3 small children on board. Unless you are in the Dominican Republic.)

(Rabbit Trail Confession: When we were living in the Dominican Republic, I took Ryan on a moped/passola. It was my “mom of the century” moment. It was out of pure desperation that I took him on this moped. He had been SCREAMING for hours. Our car was in the shop. My neighbor’s weren’t home. And I needed to get him to the clinic…and fast. And it’s a good thing I did.  Turns out he had a parasite and needed medication right away. And about the parasite…despite my many efforts to keep the non-potable tap water away from his mouth while bathing him, he still managed to get a parasite. Writing this makes me feel like I should win the “mom of the millennium” award. Let my kid get a parasite. Took him for a ride on the back of a moped. Hmm…)

So back to yesterday. We spent 2 hours in a rental car, 6 minutes on an airport tram, 3 minutes on a moving walkway, too many hours on 2 different airplanes, 9 minutes on an airport parking shuttle, and 1.5 hours in our own car…all to get from Inverness, CA to our home.

(I’m exhausted just thinking about it.)

We spent the weekend out in Northern California, celebrating the marriage of my brother in law and his lovely new bride!  (I’m sorry to keep this from you, but for security reasons…I don’t share on the site when our whole family is away. I know you understand.)

Anytime I travel, I always make a point to bop into a local grocery store. For research sake. And in this case, the local farmer’s market, too. More research.

I receive email after email about how grocery shopping is SO EXPENSIVE in higher cost of living markets like northern Cali and NYC. To which I reply, it probably is…and I’m super fortunate to live in the middle of the country…where prices seem to be less.

Well…let me tell you this…I don’t buy it anymore. I will no longer be responding as I typically have.  I will now respond with a link to this post. And a lovely note encouraging people to watch their prices and pay closer attention.

Before we proceed..It’s not entirely fair to make this judgment based on looking at 1 grocery store circular. And comparing for just 1 week. Proper research would requiring tracking prices for several weeks or months.

But here’s my evidence anyways…

Pictured above…the front page of the Safeway circular in Marin County, CA.

$1.88/lb Chicken Breast…same as here.  $4.99/lb steak…same as here.  6/$1 corn cobs…same as here.

There: $1.50 for cantaloupes.

Around here: Regularly on sale for $1.25-$1.75.

There: $.50 for organic kiwis.

Around here: $.50 for non-organic kiwis.

I bought a few of these for a fruit salad that I made for the Sunday brunch that we hosted for wedding guests, family and friends.

There: $1.50 for organic avocados.

Around here: $.65-$1 for regular avocados.

While yes, I realize this is just a few products…it’s just to show that if you pay attention, shop seasonally & locally, and stock up when you see great prices…you can actually eat on a budget if you live in a high cost of living area.

And for the record, the Safeway that I bopped into was just minutes from Robin Williams’ home in Marin County, just north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. How’s that for inexpensive food in a ritzy area.

Northern Californians…your thoughts please?!!!?!!!?

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So I chatting with a friend recently, and she asked…”How do you get these great prices at the farmer’s market? Do you bargain with them or something?”

I replied, “No. I just get lucky, I guess!”

But the convo got me thinking about bargaining, and how widely unacceptable it has become in our culture.  In the Dominican Republic, it was commonplace to bargain.  I felt uncomfortable doing it when I was first there, but after a few years and some practice, I found it less intimidating.

I digress.

I decided to ask Tim, one of the farmers at my local market, what his thoughts were on bargaining. I LOVE his answer…and I think you will to!

Thoughts? Opinions on bargaining? Do share!

Find More Savings

• Free Money Management Software at Mint.com
• Get Free Coupon Alerts
• Print Grocery Coupons
• Join AFullCup to find more ways to save on Groceries!!!