Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts

Friday, June 5, 2009

Weekly Steals and Deals: 6/3/09 thru 6/9/09

First of all let me apologize for not posting the Steals and Deals for the past two weeks. But I'm back and here are this weeks Steals and Deals!! You're going to like what they have on sale at King Soopers this week!


Safeway

10lb bag of potatoes, $1.98 each
8oz Mushrooms (whole or sliced), $0.98 each
Hot House Tomatoes, $0.98/lb
Romaine, Red or Green Leaf Lettuce, $0.48/lb <<----MAJOR STEAL
Cucumbers, 2/$1.00
Lucerne Milk, $1.58/gal <<----MAJOR STEAL
80% Lean Ground Beef, $1.69/lb
Boneless Pork Loin Roast, $1.69/lb
Boneless Skinless Chicken (Frozen in a 4lb bag), $1.69/lb


Albertson's

Assorted Pork Chops, $0.97/lb <<----MAJOR STEAL
Cantaloupe, $0.99 each
Red, Yellow or Orange Bell Peppers, $0.99 each
Pork Picnic Roast, $0.99/lb
Whole Chicken Fryer, $0.89/lb
Medium Raw Shrimp (frozen sold in a 2lb bag), $2.99/lb <<----MAJOR STEAL


King Soopers

Raspberries (6oz container), 10/$10 <<-----MAJOR STEAL
Strawberries (16oz container), 10/$10 <<-----MAJOR STEAL
Kroger Cheese (8oz, select varieties), 2/$3
Maxwell House or Yuban Coffee, $5.49
1/2 gal King Soopers Milk, 10/$10
1/gal Kroger Orange Juice, 10/$10
Pineapples, $0.99 each <<----MAJOR STEAL
Cabbage, 3 lbs/$1.00
Atalulfo Mango, 3/$1.00
Carrots, 3 16oz packages/$1.00 <<----MAJOR STEAL
Organic Mini Peeled Carrots (16oz bag), $0.99
Organic Green Pears $0.99/lb
Organic Red Delicious Apples, $0.99/lb
Organic Spinach Bunch, $0.99 each
Chicken Leg Quarters, $0.66/lb <<----MAJOR STEAL

Thursday, May 7, 2009

This Weeks Grocery Steals and Deals: 5-6-09 thru 5-12-09

King Soopers

Blue Label Bread $0.78 each <------MAJOR STEAL!!!
Yoplait Yogurt $0.50 each
Laura's Lean Ground Beef or Patties 50% off
Kroger Deluxe Ice Cream $1.99 each
Barilla Pasta $1.00 each
Bumble Bee/Chicken of the Sea/Starkist Tuna 5oz can $0.69
Hormel Black Label Bacon $1.99 each (on sale May 8-10 only)
Lobster Tails $4.99 each (on sale May 8-10 only)
Asian Pears $0.99 each
Organic Mangoes $0.99 each
Organic Gala Apples $0.99 each

Albertsons

Albertson's Gallon Milk $1.88
Campbells Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup 2/$1.00
Seedless Watermelon $0.27/lb
Ribeye Steaks (Bone-in, Family Pack) $4.97/lb
Albertson's Cheese (16oz Chunks or Shreds) $2.99
Pork Spare Ribs $1.99/lb
Pork Loin Roast $1.77/lb <-----MAJOR STEAL
Boulder Canyon Potato Chips (5oz, Select Varieties) $1.79
Albertsons Old Fashioned or Quick Oats (42oz) $2.50
Ragu Pasta Sauce (Select Varieties) $1.69
Albertsons Butter (16oz) 2/$4.00
Totino's Pizza 10/$10.00
Betty Crocker Frosting 10/$10.00
Green Giant Steamers 10/$10.00

Safeway

Bananas $0.48/lb <-----MAJOR STEAL
Strawberries (16oz) 2/$3.00
Safeway Select Ice Cream 2/$5.00
Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies $1.77 <------MAJOR STEAL
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts $1.88/lb

Monday, April 20, 2009

Resolution Revolution

Happy New Year everyone!
New Year= Fresh Start= Resolution Season.

I am not normally a person who makes resolutions. I have a hard time sticking to my daily to do list so long term goals like lose weight and pay off debt, forget about it! But this year, I decided to go ahead and make some resolutions or rather long term goals.

Why? Because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. I haven’t changed the way I do things but I have been expecting things to magically change. Unless I change myself and the way I do things, I cannot move forward.

One of my long term goals this year is to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle. But, I always make so many excuses. The two biggest ones are: not wanting to cook two meals (because my husband won’t eat “rabbit food” and tofu will kill him) and healthy food is expensive.

But excuses only serve to keep us subservient to our bad habits. So I sat and thought about those two things for a while. How could I overcome the daunting task of cooking two meals and the expense of good food. I like the idea of the Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig diets but both diets are so cost prohibitive. But they do solve the problem of cooking two meals. You cook for your family and then you have your own healthy meal in the freezer ready to go. So why can’t I make my own healthy meals in bulk and freeze them in portion sizes? Well, it costs too much to eat right! WRONG.

I sat down and started making a list of budget meals that I can make that are healthy and that will freeze well. I came up with a pretty long list. Things like enchiladas freeze well and if you skip the meat and use beans for protein and bulk it up with veggies, use salsa instead of enchilada sauce and sprinkle with reduced fat cheese, you have a healthy, filling meal that isn’t hard on your budget.

The same thing is true with lasagna. I came across a great, easy, and budget friendly lasagna recipe when I was excluding dairy from my diet while I was nursing my youngest. There isn’t any cheese in it and that’s what usually costs so much when you are putting together lasagna. It’s filled with spinach, tofu and turkey sausage and I promise you won’t miss the cheese! So what’s my point?

You can eat well, on a budget but you just have to get creative. My family’s weekly grocery budget is $60.00 and now granted I haven’t shopped for my freezer friendly healthy meals yet, but I can tell you through sales, coupons and smart shopping, I won’t be breaking my budget to lose weight. It just takes creativity and some time. I scour the web for easy meals that are budget friendly. There are little changes you can do to any of your meals to make them healthier. Ground turkey for instance is much cheaper than ground beef. You can get a pound of very lean ground turkey for $2.00 (at Walmart) and just substituting that for ground beef in a recipe will save you money and your waist line.

The biggest thing you can do for your waist line (and your wallet for that matter) is portion control. That’s the thing I have the hardest time with. I hate to watch my portions but when you are looking to lose weight, it is a must. I did Weight Watchers for a while and the thing that worked best for me was to actually measure out my portions and not eat anymore than that. It was hard for the first 2 weeks but I got used to it and managed to stick to my Weight Watchers plan for a couple of months until my husband came home from Iraq and declared that real Asians don’t eat brown rice.

But I’m not going to let my husband or my finances stop me from accomplishing my goal this year.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Going Green to Save Some Green

"Going green” is a phrase that we hear a lot lately. Today, you’re not considered a “hippie” for being environmentally conscious, you’re just considered “hip”. There are so many ways to “go green” even the big box stores have jumped on the trend. Long gone are the days where you had to haul yourself to the elusive health food store to find your organic and environmentally friendly products.

But with rising fuel costs, why bother going to the store to find your eco-friendly products? You probably have everything you need to get started right in your kitchen cabinets.

There really are very few things that you need to get started. My basic cleaning arsenal consists of baking soda, vinegar, olive oil, essential oils and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. I’m sure that you can find the first 3 ingredients readily available in your home already.

Baking soda is a natural water softener so it’s great to use in your laundry. It’s also a mild abrasive and when you make a paste with the Dr. Bronner’s Soap, it’s fantastic for cleaning the scum out of the bathtub, spots on your kitchen counter, and even the burnt bits on your flat top range.

Vinegar is anti-microbial/anti-bacterial and a very mild bleaching agent. Use 1 cup in the rinse cycle as a fabric softener and when you mix it in a 50/50 solution with water and 2-4 drops of essential oil in a squirt bottle, it makes a fantastic all purpose cleaner. Straight vinegar in a squirt bottle makes a great glass cleaner or natural odor neutralizer.

My husband absolutely cannot stand the smell of vinegar so I use a couple of drops of essential oil in my vinegar solutions to mask the smell. Essential oils are easy to find at your local health food stores, both Mountain Mama’s and Vitamin Cottage carry a wide variety. I have also managed to find a limited supply at The Vitamin Shoppe and GNC. My favorites are lavender and tea tree. Not only do they smell fantastic, but both are anti-microbial/anti-bacterial. They are pricey initially, starting at around $7.00 for a .5 ounce, but that small bottle will last you a very long time. I still have my bottle of lavender oil that I bought over a year ago.

Olive oil is fantastic for polishing furniture. I have found that it works even better than commercial cleaners. All you need is one tablespoon rubbed well into a coffee table to revitalize the wood.

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap is not easy to find and it is not cheap. I bought my Tea Tree scented 16oz bottle at Vitamin Cottage for $7.49. But it’s a fabulous cleaner. I dilute 1 tbsp to a gallon of hot water to mop my floor. I also make a paste with baking soda to scrub my tub and shower clean and I even use it as a face wash and hand soap. Yep, because it’s pure castile soap, it’s safe to use on your skin. The bottle actually says that this soap has at least 18 different uses. And like the essential oils, it will last a long time because you don’t need to use a lot.

So now that you have your basic kit assembled, go forth and clean! Enjoy, for the first time, cleaning without breathing in all of the toxic fumes from traditional cleaners. Enjoy the knowledge that your new cleaning kit is doing something good for you, the planet and your pocket book!

For more ideas on eco-friendly and wallet friendly cleaning, check out the book, “Clean House, Clean Planet” by Karen Logan.

Friday, March 20, 2009

What Does It Cost To Eat In America?

I ran across this website after watching an Internet broadcast of Fox and Friends. Its called One Dollar Diet Project. These two teachers decided to try an experiment. They wanted to see if the could eat for $1.00 a day per person for an entire month. Sounds crazy right. They blogged about their experiences. He lost weight (15lbs), they both were cranky, tired and irritable but they did it for an entire month. Why? Because people all over the world live on $1.00 of food a day. They were talking about how much food they wasted on a daily basis and wanted to see if they could live off of one dollar a day. So they tried it for a whole month and they were thankful when that month ended. So that got me thinking. How much do I spend in a month just on groceries.

My budget is $60.00 a week. Sometimes I spend a little more sometimes I spend a little less but it usually evens out to $60.00 a week. If you break that down per person, you come out with $15.00 per person, per week which is about $2.14 per day. Not too bad right? Granted two of the people in the house are tiny but they still eat A LOT. Just for breakfast today, Kylie ate 1 egg, a biscuit, a glass of homemade chocolate milk (milk, 1/2 tbsp baking cocoa and 1 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar) and about a half a can of fruit salad. Kaitlynn also had an egg, fruit salad and a biscuit. So they maybe tiny but they are not little eaters.

For $2.14 a day, we have plenty of fruits and veggies. Granted the veggies are mostly the frozen variety and the fruit mostly the canned. We have snacks, hot breakfasts, desserts. We have meat which is mostly cheaper cuts but its still meat. We eat really well for $2.14 a day per person. Most of that money is funneled into dinner. Breakfasts and lunches cost a lot less. We are not malnourished and no one here is losing any weight (yet, check back with me when the national body challenge starts next month).

A typical day for us looks something like this...

Breakfast

Either oatmeal in some form (baked or cooked with flax and cranberries, if its cooked instead of baked I usually throw some canned pumpkin in there) or eggs (we like green eggs: spinach, eggs and garlic pulsed in a food processor and then scrambled in the pan) and toast both served with some kind of fruit.

Lunch

Its a smattering of different things but always includes some kind of fruit: either apples, oranges or something from the can; and a veggie: carrot sticks, frozen peas and carrots or corn. The main dish varies from sandwiches (PB & J for Kylie, Sunbutter and Jelly for Kaitlynn who is allergic to peanuts), to chicken nuggets, leftovers from dinner the night before, soup (if I serve soup, I don't usually include a veggie side)

Dinner

Also a variety of things. I get bored easily with food so I try to vary the kinds of foods I make. I posted about the soup I made the other night. On Kylie's birthday (this past Thursday), I made spaghetti. We had this with warm pears (29oz canned pears in their syrup throw into a 425 degree oven with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top) and my quick greens recipe (I used frozen green beans this time. Green beans cooked in chicken broth with garlic, 2 pieces of chopped fried bacon, garlic powder, onion powder, and garlic pepper. YUM!) The price of this dinner?

Spaghetti
Sauce: $1.00 (purchased on sale)
Noodles: $.88 (purchased in bulk at Sam's Club)
1/2 lb ground beef: $1.50
1/2 chopped onion: $.02 (a 3 lb bag bought on sale for $1.00 6 onions in the bag)
1 tsp minced garlic: $.02 (1 jar of minced garlic bought for $1.00, 48 tsp in a jar)

Pears
29oz can of pears: $1.00 (purchased on sale last week)
Cinnamon: ? (I really couldn't tell you how much cinnamon I used so I can't really determine a price but I just sprinkled a little on top and the jar of cinnamon cost me about $1.25 at Walmart)

Green Beans
16oz frozen Green Beans: $1.00 (purchased on sale)
1 tsp minced garlic: $.02
1 can chicken broth: $.39
2 pieces of bacon: $0.16 (purchased on sale for $1.77, 21 pieces in a packages)
Spices: again, I don't know the quantities I used so I can't tell you exactly how much they cost.

Total price for dinner approximately: $5.99 or $1.50 per person, a lot less if you include that we had a lot of leftovers. It probably ended up factoring to more like $.75 a person just because we had 1/2 of everything leftover after we were done eating. We had enough food leftover for the girls to have it again for dinner on Friday and for Jeff to take the majority of it to work with him for lunch the next day.


So okay, typical long winded Kristi. My point is that $1.00 a day in our economic climate is extreme. Most people around the world live on $1.00 a day because they grow or gather their own foods, raise their own animals for meat or hunt for it. So meat costs them nothing to very little and the same goes for vegetables and fruits. It takes time and not much money but you are subject to low food supplies during times of extreme weather. I think in a truer $1.00 a day experiment, they should have grown some of their own foods. They would have been able to eat well while maintaining their budget. It would be interesting if they did this again but planned on starting a garden in spring. I wonder what their food intake would look like then.

**Cross post from my personal blog