She Did Have A List

And it was a good one and of course, she posted it early - usually she doesn't post till Sunday. Figures. Would've been able to use 2 coupons that expired yesterday - darn it!! And then Rachel shredded one with scissors. Yea, crazy. Don't they know these coupons are sacred?! Okay, not quite but I find myself quite addicted to them and the more I use them the more I can't ever live without them.

Take this week for example -

I spent: $53.16
And saved: $120.84!!

I'm serious - how crazy is that?

Here's what I got:



(Not pictured: 4 12-packs of soda and 2 gallons of milk)

Great sale on No Yolk Egg Noodles :

Regular price - $2.29
Sale price - Buy one get one free - or $1.15 each
I had $0.75 off each one from hereWhich doubles to $1.50
Total for 4 bags of noodles: $0.10 (they would only double 3 of the coupons or I would've gotten like $1.50 more off but it made sense - I didn't think about it that way).

I will say that the Grocery Game did not have this coupon listed - I found it by checking other blogs namely Frugal in Virginia. I do find checking other people's deals helps as well though normally I don't have the time to track down every coupon. But this wee I didn't expect the Grocery Game to have a list this week so I was trying to do it on my own and came across this great coupon so it wasn't a total loss :)

This week's menu:

Monday - Easter ham with mashed potatoes
Tuesday - Crock Pot Chicken w/ Black Beans and Cream Cheese
Wednesday - Stuffed Shells
Thursday - Beef Stroganoff
Friday - MOPS sale - leftovers
Saturday - Chicken Parmigan

I also qualified for HT's gas promotion and got $50 in gift cards for gas. We're saving it to travel to Florida next month and that will be a big help. I also got a $3.00 off coupon for my next trip from the register - so my extras back total $53 which is exactly what I spent so I guess my groceries were free :)

How'd you do this week?

TGI Fridays

I hope you and your family are having a wonderful Easter weekend. There is nothing better then celebrating our risen Lord!

We have enjoyed a good week off from school and a nice weekend together as a family. As a treat we went out to dinner tonight but of course we didn't pay full price :)

Recently I came across TGI Friday's Stripes Program . Seems a lot of restaurants are offering programs and deals these days and that is great for those of us trying to save a few dollars!

Once you join you'll receive coupons for a free appetizer or dessert as well as a jump-to-the-front-of-the-line pass. How cool is that? Skip to the front and get right in! (There was no line tonight so we didn't need to use it).

After that you receive $8 credit for every $100 you spend though in April you get double points. We spent $44 and got 84 points so we're already close to our 100. You'll also get other coupons in your e-mail. We ended up using a $1 entree coupon instead of the free appetizer because we saved more. Yummy food! I can't wait to go back - will have to be next month though...

There are no couopons in this Sunday's paper and the Grocery Game should be off this week - she takes off 4 weeks a year and this is one of them (though there's a note that she may do it so I won't know for sure till tomorrow). Either way I will not be at the grocery store tomorrow so I will share how I do on my own on Monday.

HAPPY EASTER!!

$10 Dinners - A Favorite

Layered Enchilada Bake

(I apologize that I have no picture but you can go here for a video tutorial and picture on how to make it)

1 lb ground beef ($1.98)
1 large onion (I left this out - we're not huge onion people and I never miss it)
2 cups salsa ($2.00)
1 can black beans, drained, rinsed ($0.67)
1/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing (I left this out)
2 tbsp. taco seasoning mix ($0.15)
6 flour tortillas ($1.20)
1 cup sour cream ($0.30)
1 pkg. (8 oz) mexican style shredded cheese ($1.50)

Total Cost: $7.80

HEAT oven to 400ºF.

BROWN meat with onions in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Stir in salsa, beans, dressing and seasoning mix.

ARRANGE 3 tortillas on bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with layers of half each meat mixture, sour cream and cheese. Repeat layers. Cover with foil.

BAKE 40 min.or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted, removing foil after 30 min. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Serving Suggestion

Top with chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce and cilantro.

Make Ahead

Line 13x9-inch baking dish with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of dish. Assemble recipe in prepared dish as directed. Cover with foil. Freeze up to 3 months. When ready to serve, heat oven to 400ºF. Bake, covered, 1 hour. Remove foil. Bake an additional 15 to 20 min. or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve. To decrease the baking time, thaw casserole in refrigerator overnight, then bake, uncovered, 45 min. or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted.

Trading

Like my toes?

I do!

Today I got a pedicure :) I love pedicures. After all what woman in her right mind would go out in sandals without perfect toes? Okay, I'm sure plenty but not me. I don't want anyone seeing my toes unless they're perfect (or close to it)

But on my budget I can NOT afford a $50 spa pedicure. So, what's a girl to do?

Befriend a manicurist of course!

Well, we've actually been friends for years. I know I'm so lucky :) Even better - I like her a lot!

For the past two years we've been making a trade. I pass down Kaitlyn's wardrobe and in return I get free pedicures whenever we can fit them in our schedules. I help her daughter look good, she helps my toes look good - saves us both some real money.

So, you may not know a manicurist but we all have talents and we can always make trades. We can always trade for babysitting but there are other things. If someone hands you down clothes is there something nice you can do for them? You just got a ton of free clothes - what about a gift certificate for dinner? Or just a free meal that you make yourself?

We all have talents - lets think of ways to share them and save each other some dough! What about you? Anything you trade?

Keep Those Random Coupons!

You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones you swear you'll never use. I have my favorites - Eggo Waffles are some of my favorites but I also look for the food coupons - the ones for cereal, for yogurt, for fruit snacks. These are the ones I use regularly and would cut out no matter what.

Then there are the others ones. The millions plus for deodarant, for cleaning supplies, for air freshener. In another "life" I would have just thrown those out and disregarded them as something I would never buy but not any longer.

The beauty of couponing the way I do for the Grocery Game is that I don't have to actually clip coupons until I need them so there's really no energy on my part to just leave them there. If I never use them they get thrown away when they expire but if I need them then I know they're there.

And sometimes it really pays off. I am not one to go out and buy home fragrances or home candles or the Glad plug-ins or whatever else they come up with. It's not in my budget - my concentration at the store is always food. Not that I don't want my house to smell nice but seriously that could be a chunk of my money to feed my family!


Anyway, this week the Airwick Starter Kit was on sale buy one get one free. Normally they are $9.99 each (see how that doesn't fit in my $100 a week grocery budget?!) $5.00 is a little closer but I'm still not feeling it. However, if you give me a $4.00 off coupon then I'm all for it! So, instead of paying $9.99 for an item that I would use but didn't really want I paid $1.00 for a savings of 90% and in my world that's pretty cool.

Moral of the story - keep those weird coupons. You never know when they may come in handy!

As for the rest of my trip to HT (you knew I had to go!) I got:



(Not pictured - 4 gallons of milk)

I spent: $48.93
And saved: $75.48

The deal on the starter kit helped my numbers quite a bit :)

I Tried Giant

I know I said I was going to stick with Harris Teeter but Giant had a lot of stuff on sale and they have started doubling coupons up to $0.99! This makes a HUGE difference on my bill. They still don't have as many sales at HT but this week I compared the 2 and found more things I needed at Giant. I'm sure I'll still do a HT run later this week but for tonight exhaustion and expediency won out so I ran across the street (not quite but close) to Giant.

How'd I do?

Not bad...



(Not pictured: 2 more sodas)

I spent: $26.82
And saved: $29.98

It seems that I track down the store that has the best deal on Eggo waffles. We go through a TON of these and they are often on sale. This week I also had a $0.75 coupon. At Giant they were on sale 2/$4.00 so I only paid $0.50 a box. Not bad for one or two breakfasts.

Sour cream was on sale for 2/$3.00 and I had a $0.60 coupon on 1 that doubled to $1.20 bringing my cost to $0.30 each.

I felt good that I stocked up on some things we use a lot for cheap. Giant has been trying to compete with HT by adding special coupons in the paper - this week they doubled 4 $1.00 coupons. So, I have decided to use the Grocery Game at Giant again and see if I can get some good deals there as well. I'll keep you updated!

Finding Freedom Friday: 2009 Goal Update

This week's Finding Freedom Friday on Cents to Get Debt Free is about checking yourself to see how your 2009 goals are going. Remember those? The ones we often make and rarely keep? I do!

At the beginning of the year I resolved to:

1. Spend $100 or less each week on groceries -

I have found that it averages out more like $125 because stuff comes up like the cat's food/litter and baby shower gifts like diapers which I include under here when I buy them on my trips but I am going to try and cut it down to $100 a week by sticking to one store unless another store has something SOO amazing I can't pass it up.

I've also decided to do Harris Teeter first every week with the Grocery Game that way I go to any other store second and only pick up the very best deals an item I might be lacking. When I go the other way around I definitely spend more. We also did a BJ's run tonight with coupons and spent about $100 on food which I will take off my monthly grocery budget and just supplement at the store each week - we'll see if this helps or hurts me long term (I'm always experimenting). I had originally also thought this to include going out but right now it doesn't - maybe as the year progresses and I have the best means to save money figured out!!

2. Pay $10 or less for dinner -

This we are very, very close on - a few go over but not many.

3. Pay down debt -

We're not wholly concentrating on this but I haven't added any new debt in months so it stands to reason that by the end of the year I will have paid off quite a bit.

4. Continue to buy brand name clothes but pay cash -

Yep! The kids are still in Gymboree and I've paid for it with the money I've made selling Gymboree. I am currently almost up to another $200 to use during Gymbuck redemption period which is in 2 weeks. I earned my $200 Gymbucks by spending $400 in Gymboree's store - all in cash and I have TONS to show for it as I NEVER pay full price. I'll post on that soon but generally I pay about 50% of retail at all times.

5. No more credit cards - check!

That's it! Those were my 5 big goals for this year and so far I am sticking to them as best I can. With my obsessive personality I check and re-check the budget just about every day and am getting a tad anal about where every penny goes and where it comes from. It's not as bad as it sounds - I feel a lot more in control of my money rather then the other way around.

I certainly hope you have been keeping your New Year's Resolutions! Can you believe we're already in the 4th month?!!