Stop and Shop sale 10/30-11/5

If you could see me, I'm doing the Dollar Doubler dance! There should be 4 Dollar Doubler coupons in your home mailed circular this week (and don't forget, if you can't find a good use for them at S&S, Shaw's will also honor them!).

Whole Boneless Pork Loin - $1.99/lb
White Gem whole roasting chicken - $0.99/lb
Fresh Pork Shoulder Picnic - $0.79/lb

Pepsi 2L products - 10/$10

Progresso Vegetable Classics soups - 10/$10
Francesco Rinaldi sauces - 10/$10
Stop & Shop canned beans - 3/$1

Pillsbury Moist Cake or Fudge Brownie mixes - 10/$10
Stop & Shop English Muffins - 10/$10




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Shaw's sale and coupon matchup, 10/30-11/5

The supermarkets are definitely stepping up their game before the holidays - this week's home circular for Shaw's included a sheet of $5 off store coupons for 20 different items! The Stop & Shop circular also had $1 doublers, which Shaw's will honor. Here are some coupon matchups for the $5 coupon items:
$0.50/1 Cottonelle 4pk or larger printable
$1/1 Tide any product 9/27 PG
$1/1 Bertolli Olive Oil 9/13 SS
$1/1 Brita mulitpack filters 10/18 RP
$5/1 Swiffer WetJet starter kit 9/27 PG
$3/1 Prilosec OTC 10/11 PG
$1/1 Prilosec OTC 9/27 PG
$1/1 L'Oreal Skin Genesis 9/20 RP
$1/1 and $3/2 L'Oreal any skincare product 10/18 RP

5 lb Russet Potatoes - $0.99
Half Boneless pork loin - $1.99/lb

Kelloggs Cereals - $1.88

Hunts Pasta Sauce - $0.88






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Menu Plan Monday - Oct 26th '09

What a strange week we had last week (nevermind the fact that I thought Monday was the 24th). I ended up with an overload of leftovers in the fridge, and Saturday we got home too late to do anything really involved for dinner so I ended up making scrambled eggs instead :) I still got through the entire week without having to buy anything but bread and milk though! I love it when my total weekly shopping bill is less than $6. The Butternut Squash mac & cheese was a HUGE hit with the kiddo, and made a ton of leftovers, and I have 10 cups of chicken broth plus lots of meat from the roast chicken too.

This week we have two meals out of the house, since we'll be trick-or-treating in my hubby's grandmother's neighborhood and eating pizza there, then Sunday is a family party. I tried to do this week with as little shopping as possible again - if I'm ever going to get the freezer defrosted, I need to thin out the reserves a LOT!

Here's what's on our table, don't forget to visit Laura over at I'm an Organizing Junkie to find hundreds more menus and recipe ideas!

monday - Black Beans and Rice ($2.16 for 4 servings)

tuesday - Mexican Braid ($5.29 for 6-8 servings)

wednesday - Honey Ginger Pork Chops, veggie, mashed sweet potatoes - OAMC ($6.15 for 4 servings)

thursday - Shepherd's Pie with leftover beef roast ($2.00 for 4 servings)

friday - Leftovers (Free!)

saturday - Trick or Treats at Nana's house

sunday - Family party






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Restaurant.com - $25 gift certificates for $3

Restaurant.com is offering all gift certificates for 70% off! That translates to $25 gift certs for just $3!

Just visit Restaurant.com, look up your area (by zip code or region), select your restaurant gift certificates and enter the promo code PUMPKIN before checkout. Discount will be applied to all GC's in your shopping cart.

As always, most restaurants place some restrictions on use of the gc's, so be sure to read the fine print. Once purchased the GC's are good for up to a year, so don't be afraid to do a little early gift shopping!!








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Menu Plan Monday - Oct 19th, '09

I have been baking WAY too many sweets. My oven has been working overtime making cookies, monkey bread, more cookies, brownies....and now I have a bunch of apples and recipes for Apple Kuchen, Apple Brownies and Apple Butter. My hips are in BIG trouble, with an extra helping of BIG :)

This week shouldn't be too crazy, I really need to defrost the chest freezer so I'm trying to eat through some of the stockpile in there. I am hoping to have a small shopping week but we'll see how things go (and whether the baking bug takes a little break!)

Here's what's on our table, don't forget to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for TONS of other menus and recipes!

monday - Quesadillas with leftover Mexican Chicken and leftover rice & beans ($1.53 for 4 servings)

tuesday - Homemade pizza ($2.20 for 6-8 servings)

wednesday - Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese ($5.06 for 8 servings)

thursday - Mimi's sticky chicken, carrots, mashed potatoes ($8.20 for 6 servings and TONS of chicken leftovers!)

friday - Honey Ginger Pork chops, rice, veggies ($5.30 4 servings)

saturday - Steaks, potatoes, veggies - Date night! ($6.80 for 2 servings)

sunday - Attending a wedding!




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Grocery giveaway AND two Ronzoni coupons

I had bought a couple of boxes of Ronzoni pasta last week, and just realized there were peelies on them for their It Pays to Eat Pasta Sweepstakes - so I checked it out. The New World Pasta group (makers of Ronzoni and Prince Pasta) is giving away a year's supply of groceries to EIGHT winners! Click on the link to enter - in addition to the eight grand prizes, there will be 42 first prize winners of a $200 grocery shopping spree. The contest ends on 10/30 so get your entries in soon!

When you enter the contest you will ALSO be able to print two coupons for $1 off 2 boxes of both Ronzoni Smart Taste and Ronzoni Healthy Harvest pastas! I was able to print both of these twice. They are good until mid-November, and I've seen Ronzoni go on sale for $1 a box a LOT lately!




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TOT Thursday - Save some beans!

Beans, beans, the magical fruit...the more you eat the more you....SAVE!

Silly, yes...but oh so true! Beans are the frugalista's magic wand when it comes to making meals that satisfy AND save money.

They are incredibly good for you - high in fiber, low glycemic index, and even full of antioxidants and vitamins! Beans also become a complete protein when combined with grains or dairy. Adding beans to your diet is equally good for your wallet - canned beans can be found for under $0.80 in almost all areas (one can is about 3.5 servings, $0.23 per serving). If you're REALLY resourceful, you can cook dried beans in your crockpot for around $0.08 per serving!

Don't like beans? My husband was a bean-ophobe because he didn't like the texture or the skins of some of the bigger bean varieties. Black beans are the least "intrusive" bean that I've found - the skins aren't thick and they have a very mild flavor, pleasing even to his picky palate! If you're more adventurous, do a quick search on Recipezaar.com or AllRecipes for bean concoctions and experiment with kidney beans, black eyed peas, fava veans, butter beans and chickpeas!

Some practical ideas to incorporate beans this week:

- Mash up some rinsed black beans and mix with your ground beef in any recipe. It will make the meat stretch further AND add healthy fiber to your dish!

- Toss chickpeas or kidney beans in your salad along with sesame seeds or shredded cheese instead of meat - the combination makes a complete protein.

- Make a super cheap dinner of beans (red or black) and rice - four servings will run you about $1.75!

- Just about any broth- or tomato-based soup will benefit from the addition of beans, they add flavor and heartiness! Or break out your crockpot and find out how easy it is to make great chili! Substitute half the meat with beans (I prefer kidney or black).

- Have beans for breakfast - peanuts are a legume! PB on toast is a super healthy way to start your day.




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A little extra shopping...

I did a little extra shopping this week, we needed formula and I wanted to hit a few sale items at Shaw's. Before today my total spending for the month was at $119, including diapers and paper goods. I'm loosening up on my goal amount because of the need to buy formula - my new aim is for $200-$250 monthly (still a pretty good target!) I still have $80-130 for the next two weeks, based on the new goals.

When determining my budget for sale/stockpile items, I figured out what I'd need to get through the rest of the month (2 loaves bread - $2.40, 5 gallons milk - $12.00, 1 can formula - $19.99, 8 bottles soda (for hubby) - $9.12, 1 pack TP - $4.99, $10 per week allowance for fruit and veggies), which came to just under $70. That leaves me with $10-60 to play with. What I bought today includes some items on the necessity list (milk and soda were under my budgeted amounts!) and some stockpile stuff, so I'm on track to meet my goal!

I hit Shaw's, Stop & Shop and BJ's, and here were my totals (amt saved doesn't factor in BJ's regular lower prices):

Total OOP: $56.57
Total saved: $29.15
Total left for the month: $24-$74

BJ's
Gallon milk - $2.28 (actually cheaper than Price Rite!)
3 lb bananas - $1.44
Diaper Genie refill - $4.99
BJ's formula - $19.99

Total: $29.01

Stop & Shop
Reusable Grocery Bag - $0.99
free reusable bag reward loaded on my Rewards card!
Quilted Northern 9 Mega roll - $5.99
used $1/1 coupon from 10/11 RP
Stop & Shop sugar cookies - $1.00 (had a craving!)

Total: $9.98
Total Saved: $3.99 ($1.00 coupon, $2.00 store savings, $0.99 reward)
Total OOP: $6.30

Shaw's
Hotel Style turkey breast - $8.30 (on sale $0.99/lb, 8-10lb avg weight)
8 bottles soda - $7.44 (all the soda we'll need for the month!)
2 boxes Barilla Whole grain pasta - $1.76
used $1/2 coupon from 8/23 SS
2 boxes Barilla Piccolini pasta - $1.76
used $1/2 coupon from 8/23 SS
***Barilla pasta for $0.38 per box!!!
2 Coffeemate creamers 16 oz - $4.00

Total: $46.42
Total saved: $25.16 ($2.00 coupons, $23.16 store savings)
Total OOP: $21.26




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Menu Plan Monday - Oct 12th, '09

I love the fall! I especially love apple season - and since I came across several great recipes for apple butter among the bloggers, you can bet my crockpot will be working overtime :)

And a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to the far northerners, too!

The Sausage Potato soup from last week was awesome! (Thanks, Laura for sharing!) I actually made a double batch and froze half of it, I don't know when I'll be able to do a true OAMC cooking session so I'm trying to just double recipes where it's possible for now. I did squeeze in a baking day and made breadsticks and muffins, and I'm on a quest for the perfect sandwich bread recipe...

Here's our table for the week, don't forget to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for hundreds of menu ideas and recipes!

monday - Sausage and Penne Bake, salad ($7.00 for 6 servings)

tuesday - Enchiladas using leftover Mexican chicken and rice, mixed veggies ($3.70 for 6 servings)

wednesday - Leftovers - Clean out the fridge! (free!)

thursday - Beef and Biscuit bake, in the crockpot ($5.50 for 6 servings)

friday - Homemade pepperoni pizza ($3.84 for 8 servings)

saturday - Grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit ($3.60 for 4 servings)

sunday - Going to a friend's wedding!




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More photo print deals from ArtsCow!

Photo products make great holiday gifts, especially for those of us with children (and grandparents who never have enough bragging material in their houses!). ArtsCow.com has yet another great deal that will make holiday shopping even easier!

From now until 10/22, ArstCow.com is offering three 8X10 photo canvas prints for $8.99 when you use the code 8X10CP899 at checkout - that's a $95 value for $8.99 SHIPPED!! You can actually apply this code multiple times on a single order, just make sure that the total quantities (either duplicates of one print or individual prints) are a multiple of 3.

Some info about the prints:
•Artist Quality Ultra-thick Canvas Material
•360gsm Woven Cotton Canvas
•Fade Resistant UV Archival Inks
They also apply a protective coating that is resistant to scratching and spillages.

From what I can see there is NO LIMIT on this deal, so this is a GREAT opportunity to get high-quality prints for holiday gifts, or decorating your home, for very little cash!





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80% off at Restaurant.com until 10/12!

Restaurant.com is having another 80% off sale! That means $25 GC for just $2!

Just visit Restaurant.com, choose the GC's you want, and enter the code FOUR at checkout - the discount will apply to everything in your shopping cart. You can search by zip code or by region - The offer is good until Oct 12th!

Be sure to read the fine print, as most restaurants place some restrictions on GC use. This is a great way to get early gift shopping done, or to try out new restaurants without breaking the bank!








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TOT Thursday

I decided to start a new little series, which I am dubbing Tricks Of the Trade Thursday! My goal will be to pass on small pointers and tips that you can use TODAY to save some money!

Here's today's tidbit:

Portion control

It's no secret that our portion sizes are out of whack - check out this article from MSNBC about a Rutgers portion perception study - we are eating 20-40% more than we did two decades ago, because we really don't know what healthy portions are!

You can improve your grocery spending RIGHT NOW by taking a hard look at how you portion out your meals:
*Read the actual serving sizes on the side of the box. And follow them!
*Check out this great chart of visual serving sizes.
*Stop using the 12" dinner plate - try portioning out your meals on an 8" sandwich plate instead (your plate will look fuller so you won't feel like you're missing anything!)

If you've followed correct portion sizes and your meal leaves you wanting more, try serving your meals with a slice of bread or a roll, and be sure you are drinking enough fluid while you eat! Taking breaks from the plate to take a drink gives your body time to realize it's being fed, so you may find you're getting fuller faster.

You may be surprised at how much further your meals will stretch once you're not supersizing your servings! And an added bonus - eating correct portions means your calorie intake may reduce...which may bring those "skinny" jeans out of the closet a little sooner :)




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Price Rite shopping trip

Ok...so this week SHOULD have been a nearly-free week...all of the week's meals were straight from the stockpile, or so I thought. Then I realized the celery was gone, and I didn't have enough potatoes to double the Sausage Potato Soup recipe...and the bread-and-milk run turned into a wee bit more. I had to get bread flour from Shaw's too (for $3.79 - OUCH!) - if anyone has suggestions for finding bread flour in bulk I'm all ears! Seems like I can only find it at the major grocery stores.

Last night hubby decided to make chocolate chip cookies with the Boy Wonder and ended up buying a pound of butter and a bag of semi-sweet chips for $3.18 - not really on the game plan but they had fun baking so I can't really complain :)

Here's what my nearly $23 got me:

1 Red pepper - $0.90
4 bottles Pepsi - $4.56 (Hey SodaStream - need another reviewer???)
4 cans biscuits - $1.52 (craving monkey bread!)
Worcestershire sauce - $0.99
Soy sauce - $0.99
1 gallon milk - $2.39
5 lb bag potatoes - $1.89
1 bunch celery - $0.99
Wheat sandwich bread - $1.19
5-pk garlic sleeve - $1.49
5 lb bag all purpose flour - $1.79
2 lb unsalted butter - $2.98
20 oz bag frozen corn kernels - $1.29

Total OOP: $22.97
Bread flour - $3.79
Cookie stuff - $3.18

Total spending for the week: $29.94
Total spending for October: $83.80

Target run - cheap applesauce and PB!

Tara over at Deal Seeking Mom posted about a great Target deal on Skippy Peanut butter this week, so I had to check it out! Between hubby and the Boy Wonder we go thru a LOT of peanut butter :) While I was there I also checked into the Mott's applesauce deal (buy 5, get a $5 gift card) to see if it was worthwhile.

The Skippy was priced at $2.04 per 16oz jar, a little higher than what other areas are finding. We also didn't get the $0.75/1 coupon in RedPlum, we had a $1/2 instead. But I usually pay $7.50 for two 40OZ jars at BJ's (about $0.09/oz) which makes a 16 oz jar about $1.50 - with the coupons I'd be paying $1 or less at Target so it was definitely worth it!

The Mott's deal was pretty great too! The sale includes the more expensive flavored/no sugar types which usually cost about $2.70 for a 6 pack, so picking those up at $1.75 (before the gift card) made for a great deal! There were also some packages marked at $1.69 but still part of the gift card promo!

Here's what I got for $25.98 (and yes, I spoiled my Boy just a wee bit, but with sale prices I can afford to!)

Transaction #1:
5 Motts applesauce 6-packs - $8.69

Total OOP: $8.69
got $5 gift card

Transaction #2
5 Motts applesauce 6-packs - $8.75

used $5 GC
Total OOP: $3.75
got $5 gift card

Transaction #3
6 Skippy 16 oz peanut butter - $2.04
used 6 $1/1 Target coupons
used one $1/2 coupon from 10/4 RedPlum
2 Toddler plates - $2
2 Toddler flatware sets - $2
2 Coffeemate 16 oz - $3.74
1 Bob the Builder DVD - $5

used $5 GC
Total OOP: $13.54




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Walgreens photo deals - 10 cent prints and 33% off calendars

Walgreens has a few more photo deals available from now until Oct 10th!

Use the code FALLFEST at checkout to get 50 photos for $5! That's 10 cents a print, and any photos over 50 are also 10 cents.

Also, create a custom photo calendar and get 33% off by using the code BIRD33 at checkout - the calendars are $19.99 for a 12-month, so with the discount that's just over $13 before shipping. These make GREAT gifts, and the code is valid for up to 5 uses.




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Menu Plan Monday - Oct 5th, '09

Short and sweet today - I was a bad mommy and fudged with the new baby's schedule a little last night. Paid dearly when he decided that 3AM would be a GREAT time to stay awake. And 4AM. And 5AM. Several pots of coffee later and I'm just barely conscious enough to assemble the menu plan for the week. But since my first day back to work is TOMORROW, I definitely need to get the menu in order!

This MPM is COMPLETELY out of the existing pantry and freezer - we had a VERY tight week financially (my Short term disability for maternity leave just ran out and hubby had a slight reduction in his work schedule) so this will be a bare minimum shopping week. I go back to work Monday so things will get a little easier, but I'm SO thankful to have built up my stockpile enough to cover us when these times come!

Here's my table for the week, don't forget to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for MANY more awesome menus and recipes!

monday - Crockpot Beef Stew ($7.20 for 8-10 servings)

tuesday - Spaghetti Pie, salad - OAMC ($8.28 for 6 servings)

wednesday - Mexican Chicken with beans and rice ($5.45 for 6 servings)

thursday - Sausage Potato Soup, homemade breadsticks ($4.21 for 8-10 servings)

friday - leftovers - FREE!

saturday, sunday- Visiting friends for the weekend




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