Menu Plan Monday: Angel Food

One of the biggest struggles I have is dinner. It's easy for me to get cheap/free breakfast food and cheap/free snacks for lunches but dinner can often be a challenge. I like to make meals that have a large number of ingredents to be sure we are eating a well-balanced meal. So this month I tried something different: ordering from Angel Food Ministries.

Angel Food is a ministry that provides boxes of food at discounted prices - most boxes are supposed to feed a family of 4 for a week. Obviously we are a family of 7 but for meals they seem to feed us sufficiently but we have no leftovers. However, if anyone has a decent appetite you'd need twice as much food - for us the girls don't eat much dinner

Sunday: Meatloaf and green beans from Angel Food with homemade mashed potatoes

Monday: Shepherd's Pie - using ground beef from Angel Food and mashed potatoes from Monday

Tuesday: Pot Roast from Angel Food (complete meal)

Wednesday: Pork Chops from Angel Food with Applesauce and Cheesy Potatoes

Thursday: Chicken Taco Bake using chicken from Angel Food

Friday: Hamburgers from Angel Food with mac n cheese and corn

Saturday: Women's event at church - dad to feed kids - dad will probably eat beef and bean burritos from Angel Food

Sunday: Broccoli, Chicken, Cheese dish (Angel Food)

Monday: Wahoo! Chili from Tastefully Simple using Angel Food ground beef

Tuesday: Creamy Chicken and Rigatoni - chicken from Angel Food

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chicken Chow Mein - chicken from Angel Food - slightly modified - we don't eat mushrooms :)

Thursday: Finally September is over! We'll eat leftovers to give me and the budget a break

For just $64 I got 2 boxes of food that included all this:





We've had some of the food already and I wouldn't say it's the greatest - you do get what you pay for so it is discount food but it hasn't been bad and it will really help my budget for this month as I have all of $40 left in my September grocery budget!

Super Double Trip #2

I don't intend to bore you with each and every purchase I make but I wanted to show you the large variety of items that you can buy with coupons. Before I started couponing I wondered if when I started I would have a pantry full of random, obscure food that was free but we wouldn't eat. Even today, the biggest objection I get to couponing is that they never find coupons for what their kids eat or what their family eats. In rare cases I know that's true - if your family only eats veggies and meats then it's a possibility (though even then I've seen coupons for both things) but for the most part if you coupon you will find a large enough variety for just about any diet.

Here's what I picked up today:



I spent: $34.19
And saved: $82.47
And earned: $1.00 back in Catalinas

As you can see I got a number of different items than I did yesterday. Today I stocked up on yogurt and cat food (yes, the fun stuff!)

For a 2nd time I did the General Mills promotion - mixing coupons with $0.30 off each item when I bought 20. I don't think anything was free this time but things like the kids yogurt was cheap enough to stock up on ($0.95/each after coupons and discounts).

Once again I encourage you when you don't think couponing is for you is to give it a try - you never know what deals you may find!

Super Doubles Are Back At Harris Teeter!!!

It's that time again - Harris Teeter is doubling coupons up to $1.98 with a limit of 20 a day. I expected triples before dollar doubler again but that's not the case. Either way is fine - I am still able to get plenty at free to very low prices :)

In fact, this is what I picked up:



I spent: $19.40
And saved: $84.82!!
And earned: $4.00 back in Catalinas

My best deals were pretty much everything :)

For starters there's a great General Mills promotion when you buy 20 items you get $6.00 off your total as well as Catalinas (coupons that print from the register after you make your purchase) for Pillsbury and Green Giant.

My GM purchases were:

Betty Crocker Potatoes:
- regular price: $1.79/each
- sale price: $1.00/each (10/$10.00)
- used $1.00/2 coupon from HERE which doubled
- final price: FREE plus $0.60 overage with GM promotion

Green Giant Frozen Boxed Vegetables
- regular price: $1.79/each
- sale price: $0.99/each
- used $1.00/3 coupon (no longer available) and 2 $0.60/3 coupons from S 9/12
- final price: $0.03 to $0.29/each with GM promotion

Pillsbury Grand Biscuits
- regular price: $1.99
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used 2 $1.00/2 coupons from HERE which doubled
- final price: FREE plus $0.60 overage with GM promotion

Pillsbury Toaster Strudel
- regular price: $2.19
- sale price: 2/$4.00
- used $1.00/2 coupon from HERE which doubled
- final price: $0.70/each with GM promotion

Yoplait Frozen Smoothies
- regular price: $3.75/each
- sale price: $2.50
- used 4 $1.00/1 coupons from HERE and S 8/8 which doubled
- final price: $1.20/each with GM promotion

Other deals:

Quaker Oats (instant is no longer on sale - bummer)
- regular price: $2.85
- sale price: $1.50
- used $1.00/1 coupon from RP 9/12
- final price: FREE

Dannon Danimals Smoothies
- regular price: $2.69
- sale price: $1.99
- used $1.00/1 coupon from S 9/12
- final price: FREE

Pop Secret Popcorn
- regular price: $2.99
- sale price: buy 2 get 3 free
- used $1.00/2 coupon from HERE which doubled
- final price: $0.80/each

Kool-Aid Fizz Fun
- regular price: $2.79
- sale price: $1.99
- used 2 $1.00/1 coupons from S 8/29
- final price: FREE

Herbal Essence Shampoo
- regular price: $2.99
- sale price: $2.49
- used $1.00/1 from S 9/12
- final price: $0.49/each

This is what I bought to get the best deals today - I'll be heading back tomorrow to do the GM promotion again - not sure if I will do as well since I plan to pick up a few different things but we will see.

For other match-ups check out Southern Savers

This Week At Harris Teeter

Of course I only went for a few things but ended up with a cartful :) Not that I spent a fortune but still more than I had hoped for it only being September 8th.

Here's what I got:



I spent: $49.36
And saved: $68.62

My best deals:

Yocrunch Yogurt
- regular price: $3.19
- sale price: 2/$4.00
- used 3 $0.75/1 coupons from S 8/1
- final price: $0.50/each

New York Garlic Texas Toast
- regular price: $3.65
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used 3 $0.50/1 coupons from S 7/25
- final price: $0.83/each

Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup
- regular price: $1.50
- sale price: 10/$10.00
- used 2 $0.50/2 coupons from HERE
- final price: $0.50/each

Breakstone's Sour Cream
- regular price: $2.35
- sale price: $1.50
- used $5.00/5 coupon from HERE
- final price: $0.50/each
(I did buy one pack of sliced cheese instead of 5 things of sour cream so that was $1.79 after the coupon and not $0.50)

Quaker Instant Oatmeal
- regular price: $3.79
- sale price: 2/$5.00
- used 3 $1.00/1 coupons from RP 8/29
- final price: $1.50/each

I had coupons for a few other things like the Danimals yogurt and Lunchables but they weren't great deals I just wanted the Lunchables and didn't want the Danimals coupon to expire.

For more coupon match-ups check out Southern Savers.

Food Expiration Dates

I swear the articles on Yahoo! get me a lot. I know they're designed to get me to read them and well, they work. I see the title and I just have to know who rejected the show Dancing With The Stars. I have no idea why - I don't even watch the show - but I see the title and I need to know. Maybe it's just me.

But today I came across an article that I thought would be helpful for those of us trying to save money. Since a lot of us buy in bulk there's always that chance that some of the items we buy may expire.

I buy as much kid's yogurt as I can when it's on sale because we go through it so fast. It's rare that we reach the expiration date but on occasion we come close. And then I hold it up and stare at it and wonder if I should still feed it to my kids and then wonder if I'm a horrible mother for giving them food past the expiration day.

Turns out I'm not a horrible mother. At least where food is concerned - the rest will be decided by my kids when they're older :)

According to the author, Ann Pietrangelo yogurt can be eaten for up to 7 to 10 days past the expiration date. Yea! That buys me another week and in my financial notebook that's a big deal.

So, before you throw food in the garbage or down the drain check out this ARTICLE and maybe you'll save yourself a few bucks!

And as we already know, every buck counts :)

Month End Money Recap: August Splurge

I know I've said it before but some months are better than others :) And some months you just need to enjoy it. This past weekend was my birthday and we splurged. It was hard for me to add up the dollars and cents - to realize how much each meal cost - how far that money could go for to feed our family but sometimes you have to let it go and enjoy. It's not easy but life is meant to be enjoyed and every once in a while you need to let go and live a little.

But, no matter how much you spend life isn't meant to be lived that way (unless, of course, you can afford it and if you could why would you be reading this blog?!) - the next day you have to pay for it :) And in this case, literally.

So, how did the rest of the month go in general?

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

I spent: $503.33
And saved: $655.94
And earned: $76 in ECB's and other money back

- obviously more than $100 a week but we went away for a week and I set aside extra money for that and that's included in this total so it's not as bad as it sounds :)

2. Pay down debt and not acrue new debt. Done. Despite the splurge NONE of it was on a credit card.

3. Budget, budget, budget. Okay, sort of. Summer is just bad but the beginning of school is like the beginning of a new year - you get to start over and stay more on task :) Actually with the kids gone during the day it's easier for me to plan and stay on budget.

4. Make a price point book. Nope, still not done - some goals may never actually be realized and right now, I'm okay with that.

5. Get rid of stuff. No, but I will be getting rid of a lot in September since I have 3 consignment sales in October to prepare for so I'm not too concerned with the lack of progress in August.

6. Organize. Again, I think summer will be helpful in getting things done - no school schedules, no homework but it translates into no schedules and me home with 7 kids so nothing gets done. September SHOULD be better.

7. Make extra money. Summer is the only time I babysit so I get a weekly paycheck unlike the rest of the year - I guess that's extra :) But I did turn in some Swagbucks for $25 in Amazon gift cards. You are doing Swagbucks aren't you?

8. Still buying good kids clothes. In August I concentrated more on uniforms than other clothes so the brand name doesn't matter :) September will be different as I begin to prepare for cooler weather.

On a positive note - I got extremely stocked up in August for school snacks so I plan to cut back on my grocery bill for September. I didn't even do any major grocery shopping in the last week. I am hoping for better sales at HT come Wednesday morning but for the most part I plan to eat out of the pantry for as much of September as I can :) Make up for the over-spending in August!

Thus the lack of meal plan this week - it's mostly spaghetti or meals I didn't use last week. Very simple.

Splurging is always good within reason - like eating a cookie while on a diet - wets the appetite so you don't feel like you're depriving yourself - but you can't do that forever or all your hard work will be for naught. So, September will be better and my budget will be tighter but we had a great time in August and I don't regret it :)

Toiletries At CVS

I have certainly learned (and shared) that the best way to save money on your grocery bill is to buy your toiletries with "play money" at CVS. This week is an excellent example. I mean who really wants to pay a whole lot for toilet paper?

So, I didn't :)

This week I picked up:



I spent: $19.97
And saved: $19.80 (including $5.00 ECB's from last week)
And earned: $10.00 in ECB's

So after coupons and ECB's - I got 2 huge packs of toilet paper and 6 boxes of tissues (which are perfect to bring in to your kids school) for just $10!

I used coupons from PG 8/1: $1.00/2 Charmin Toilet Paper and $1.00/6 off Puffs Tissues - there are other combos using the same coupon insert but we needed toilet paper.

You haven't already be sure to sign up for e-mails at CVS - if you're new you should get a $4.00 off $20.00 coupon and you'll get notices for the coming week's ad early - I've already seen what's on sale starting Sunday. Seeing it this early means I can decide if I want to go back tomorrow or Saturday for any more of this weeks sales. If I know something great starts on Sunday then I will hold whatever ECB's I have for the coming week. I love planning :)