Shaws- I Really Didn't Want to Go But I Had To

I really didn't feel like going to the grocery store but we had no milk, bread, fresh produce, pasta sauce, yogurt for my son and soda for my husband. I have been off my game for a bit so now I must jump back on the deal hunting bandwagon.

1.57 lb Oranges $2.34

2.06 lb Bananas $1.22

1.08 lb Watermelon $1.61

1.36 lb Pears $2.03

5 lb Bag Potatoes $1.79

4.74 lb Apples $5.64

1 lb Strawberries $2.50

1.63 lb Purdue Drumsticks $3.24 - $1.00 Meat Markdown

1.58 lb Purdue Drumsticks $0.00 BOGO - $1.00 Meat Markdown

1.55 lb Purdue Drumsticks $3.08 - $1.00 Meat Markdown

1.52 lb Perdue Drumsticks $0.00 BOGO - $1.00 Meat Markdown

2.89 lb Beef Roast $6.62 - $1.00 Meat Markdown

5 Vanilla/Chocolate Wafers @ .50 each

Fruitables Juice Boxes $2.50 - .75 MC (doubled)

Lance Sandwich Crackers $2.00 - $1.00 MC

Nature's Pride Whole Wheat Bread $1.99

3 Sierra Mist Natural @ $3.00 each with $1.80 bottle deposit

2 Whole Wheat Ritz @ $2.77 each - $1/2 MC

6 Tuttarosa Sauce @ $1.99 BOGO

Hood Milk $3.89

Eggs $1.49

Simply GoGurt $2.99 - $1.00 MC

Less $20 in Catalinas earned last week

Less $3.80 in bottle refund

Total: $36.44

Saved  64%

Thank goodness for those Catalinas I earned last week because otherwise I would have been way over budget. I made a list this week but most of the things I needed were not things that I had no coupons for- produce, eggs, milk and bread.

The Purdue drumsticks were a great deal- I ended up paying about .68 cents a pound after the BOGO sale and the meat markdown coupons. I am going to freeze them tomorrow using my trusty Food Saver and will use them in the future for I don't know what yet.

I made the roast tonight for dinner and will cut up the leftovers into strips so I can make a stir fry for dinner on Sunday night. That means each meal's beef will have cost $2.81. With all other ingredients for the meals each meal will have cost under $5.00- not too bad. One factor that keeps my meal costs down is that I use mostly frozen vegetables. They have about the same nutritional value as fresh vegetables, they don't spoil, they are way cheaper (even free sometimes with coupons) and they are easier for me to prepare (I just steam them in a pan). So say what you want about frozen veggies but I love them and without them my life would be a lot more stressful (and expensive) around dinnertime.

I have been toying with the idea of using powdered milk for my baking. It kind of scares me a bit because powdered milk sounds so weird but maybe I'll try it. It seems like a good way to save money on milk and I would always have milk on hand for when I get the hankering to bake something.