Cutting the Grocery Budget

I would like to learn more ways to save on our food budget while maximizing each dollar. I do not want to sacrifice the quality of the food either. I would like to coupon with each grocery store visit. I would love to learn how to successfully coupon.

Not to long ago, I read about an interesting way to save on the grocery bill. Many people believe that shopping at ethnic stores may save money. I took a look in a local store to compare prices will my normal grocery store. I was visiting the store to purchase a small bag of pinto beans. I did find a one pound bag of dry beans for roughly 30 cents cheaper than the regular grocery store.

This evening, I decided to make chicken soup for dinner tomorrow. Half of our family has been sick. I thought between the illness and the first day back to regular work schedules and school, a pot of soup would be a perfect dinner idea. While running errands, we made a stop at a Dollar Tree. I stumbled upon egg noodles and frozen corn. A family favorite is a Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken, corn and noodle soup. My parents have made the soup since I was a child. It is literally the mentioned ingredients. We add onion, garlic, parsley and so forth. It is a hearty chicken based soup. We normally boil a whole chicken, cool and debone. I decided tonight,  based upon feeling really sick and my work schedule,  I will make the soup in the crock pot and with a chicken breast.

I planned to head over to Walmart with my grocery store flyer to pick up several buy one get one free sales at a lower price. However, on the way, I remembered the ethnic store. I made a stop hoping to find a reasonably priced chicken breast.

To my surprise, I found that chicken breast. I managed to pick up the breast for just over $3.00. I also found a large package of the boneless skinless chicken breast and hamburger. All for $13.00 and change. I found a five pound bag of rice for under  $4.00. I ended up getting all of my shopping trip for $30.71. I was truly surprised and shocked. The grocery store would have charged over $15.00 for the larger package of chicken itself.

I would definitely agree that shopping at an ethnic grocery store can save money. We will get at least four meals out of the meat alone. In all, I purchased:

2 packages boneless skinless chicken breast
1 package of hamburger
5 ibs. Rice
1 package yellow rice
1 ib. Dry pinto beans
2 small packages of noodles
3 packages of spices
Fresh Garlic
1 package of cookies for snack
Dried Herbal tea

This was an excellent shopping trip!

Frugal Tips Via Jill Cataldo

I was recently reading an article that a friend shared with me. A newspaper columnist Jill Cataldo wrote in reference to saving money. Jill reached out to her readers to inquire about their money saving tips. Apparently, there was no shortage of ideas on how to cut corners.

I found the article to be interesting. Although a few of the ideas may be controversial. I learned a few frugal lessons that could very well pertain to my family. For instance,  Jill suggest to take beverages along with you in the car to avoid overspending on drinks during your outting. I am definitely an individual that must have a drink on hand. I make this mistakes often. If the family is with me, the price definitely climbs. One of the ways that I've been trying to curb this appetite to wet my wistle is by keeping both a cup for cold drinks and hot beverages at work. Fortunately,  in my office ice, water, coffee,  hot tea and hot chocolate are complimentary and readily available. However, you must bring your own container to take advantage of the beverages available. In addition, there is an overpriced vending machine that has welcomed my hard earned dollars on more than one occasion. Each beverage ranges between $1.50 to $2.00 a piece. I have reduced my dependence on that wonderful modern vending machine. The machine even accepts credit and debit cards. The convenience surely is thickening someone's wallet. I would imagine that I'm saving at least 3 to 5 trips a week by not visiting the vending machine. I'd say I'm saving a minimum of five dollars a week by having the convenience of my own personal cups. Now to avoid the gas station.


I completely agree with her idea of only shopping online if the store is offering free shipping. I like to occasionally take advantage of online deals. There are a few exceptions. I believe in small business and Etsy.com. I would make an exception for Etsy, perhaps eBay. It just depends on the circumstance and where the money comes from. If I sell on eBay or Etsy, then I am more likely to be comfortable with paying for shipping.I generally stick to free shipping offers. I also like Amazon. You can purchase$35.00 of Amazon goods to qualify for free shipping. One year,  I purchased Amazon Prime to benefit from the free shipping. It depends on the situation but overall, I rarely pay for shipping outside of eBay and Etsy.

Jill mentions taking advantage of the dollar store.I definitely agree with this.I understand that the Dollar Tree stores now accept coupons, That is a bonus too.

Jill suggest bringing home extra condiments from dining out, fast food and such. I won't throw away an extra ketchup or hot sauce package but I've never shopped for free condiments. I don't know if I would play along with this idea. Naturally, I won't waste leftover packets but I'm not quite an "extreme cheapskate." Then again, have you noticed the rising cost of mayonnaise? Hmm, perhaps I should contemplate this one. My children did once go through an eight pound container of ketchup. (and that was before Master K. was born. [Plus Miss.B. did share the remainder of the bottle with our German Sheppard, Sable, at that time. Sable had a large appetite,  Lol. Imagine my surprise when I returned from the laundry room. Lol.] However, I must state that I wouldn't shop for condiments at a restaurant. Taking an abundance of condiments would be stealing. I will however bring home and save the extras given to me. I also know that others in my office save leftover condiments and share them with others by placing them in the break room.

Speaking of eight pounds of ketchup. Jill suggest avoiding the membership warehouse type stores. I'm not sure about this. I've heard that some people save money by purchasing in bulk. I imagine that it would be the impulse shopping that would be the issue. Debatable I guess.





Now for my personal preferences:

Jill suggest turning off the air conditioner and heater.It is also recommend to only use window units. Sorry,  that's not happening in Florida. Certainly not for a lady with a thyroid condition constantly making me hot, the Florida heat and humidity and let's not even mention the hot flashes. However, against my better judgment (Preference really) our air conditioner has been set at the same temperature for the last six months since our move.  We are saving $200 a month by moving away from a horrible electric company. We are also  saving energy by only using appliances during non peak hours at night. I'd still like to see this bill reduced. As far as window units,  not all communities allow them. When ut cools off, I'm not against window fans. In the future I'd like to consider a portable air conditioner to see how that would compare.

Jill or perhaps her readers, suggest ordering only one meal for two people if dining out. I guess this would have to depend on the location,  pricing, occasion and similar. If it is a special occasion I'd rather not. Dining out is an enjoyable outting. I do believe that there are ways to save but for me,  it would have to be a case per case basis. I do agree that it would save money to eat at home.

There is a handful of suggestions in the article. You can read the original article on her website. I recommend taking a peek at it.

How do you save money? Any frugal ideas? Are any of you extreme cheapskates? I'd love to learn of your ideas and suggestions.

Weekly Plan Week Two

I'm happy about making a weekly plan. I think it helped me to know ahead of time that I wanted to do a few particular goals. I didn't complete everything on my list but no one is perfect right? So now for week two:

School:
-Complete application for volunteer work.
- Help Miss.J. with completing College application #2.
-Telephone conference with the boys teacher.
-Complete order for Graduation announcements, Cap and Gown and Class Ring for Miss.J.
-Attend a Fundraiser community event.

Work:
-Go to work.
-Store a change of clothing in my locker.
-Stash a lunch or snack pantry safe item in my locker.

Work At Home:
-Write 5 blog post.
-Update Freelance Profile
-Work on Media Kit.
-Work in helping my daughter with a side business idea that we would like to develop.

Home:
-Get a newspaper on Sunday September 21, 2914
-Organize Coupons
-Get snacks for the children. We don't purchase many snacks but I like to try to keep some healthy items on hand with an occasional Happy snack.
-Organize my son's dresser.
-Clip doggy nails
-Unpack and Decorate our Autumn and Halloween Decorations.
-Clean out my sewing bag.
-Donate Sewing and craft supplies to a volunteer group that I'm joining.
-Remove the 5000 pound television that went out on us. This will be a 2 or 3 person project.
-Organize the pantry.
-Time again to clean out the refrigerator.
-Work on meal planning for a grocery shopping.

Financial:
-Send in payment for school trip for Miss.J.
-Find out cost of Miss.A . school required gym uniform and/or pay for it.
-Send in deposit for Miss.J . Graduation and Class Ring orders.
-Complete rent issue resolution and payment.
-Make the call to start company 401K plan and stock purchase options.
-Apply for health insurance.
-Gather car insurance quotes (either my DH or myself)

Personal:
-Get a hair trim
-Find my missing Thirty One bag to keep my change of clothing in for work.

Hobby:
-Complete the Halloween mug rug.
-Complete sewing portion of a Halloween Swap Project.
-Enter 50 Giveaways and Sweepstakes


Wish me luck! Enjoy your week!