More Pantry/Freezer Stock Up

 I did a bit more stocking up because I didn't use all of my $100 weekly budget yesterday at Safeway. I decided to order grocery pickup from Fred Meyer last night. I get loyalty reward coupons from Fred Meyer each month and I really try to utilize them to get the most for my money. I knew that I only had a $20 budget to work with.

Bob and I enjoy having a couple of hot dogs for lunch and Fred Meyer had the Bar S brand 10 for $10. I bought 5 packs. They freeze well and we can simply pull out a pack and that should last us a week. If we get ambitious, we can get our tripod cooking grate and put it out over the fire pit and cook them on there. I don't care how old I get, I still love to have a couple of hot dogs with mustard.
I stocked up on a bottle of chocolate syrup for Bob. He's a chocoholic. He loves chocolate. I have a hard time eating chocolate as it gives me horrid acid reflux, even after taking a antacid. I tend to avoid it.
I bought the mandarin oranges for me. Those are my chocolate.

One of my loyalty coupons was for a free jar of Kraft mayonnaise. I like the stuff made with olive oil. The puddings are for Bob. The chocolate chips are to make chocolate chip cookies with and I actually got 3 green peppers, not 1. I'm going to slice them up and freeze them.

I wanted the red potatoes to make a specific recipe with and I held onto the salsa coupon from last month.

So I was still able to bring this small grocery haul in under my $20 budget and we have several more meals in the freezer for our no spend challenge.

Let me know in the comments if you like seeing these types of posts. If you do, I'll continue to post them.

How I Buy Ribeyes For The Summer For Under $100

 Memorial Day is just a few days away. I wasn't sure what I wanted to make this year, but I knew that two of our local supermarkets were having hellacious Memorial Day sales according to their fliers.

At Safeway, value packs of bone-in rib steaks were on sale, via digital deal, for $4.97 per pound, with a limit of 1. Whole racks of pork ribs were on sale, via digital deal, for 97 cents per pound, limit of 1 and Signature Select ice cream was 17 cents per half-gallon, again, with a limit of 1.

I jumped onto Safeway and created Bob a profile with his phone number. There was no way that we weren't going to double up on these sales.

I also saw that corn on the cob was 3 for $1, with a limit of 6. I decided that we would only get 6 ears of corn. We can only eat just so much corn and 3 meals worth for $2 is not a bad price, in my opinion.

Then, I looked at Fred Meyer. Safeway (we have 3 Safeway locations in the twin cities area that I live in) has a location just across the street from Fred Meyer, so we decided we would go to that location.

Fred Meyer had their bone-in rib steaks on sale for $5.97 per pound, with a limit of 2, with an online coupon that I added. We opted to not double up on things at Fred Meyer. FM, weekly, has this deal that if you buy five things from their list of certain items, you get a $1 off of each one. Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce was included in that. We stocked up and bought 5 to get the deal. We also had a $13 credit on our Fred Meyer account because they screwed up on our previous pickup order. So, we only got 1 of the Fred Meyer deals, but we did limit out. We can only eat just so much steak and bone-in rib steaks are our favorite cut off the cow.

There was a total of 10 bone-in rib steaks. Between the 10 steaks, we got 15.49 pounds. Stay tuned to the end of the post as to what our total was on just the steaks and what the total amount was that we spent today stocking up for this summer.

I found that the Fred Meyer steaks were better trimmed than the Safeway ones were.

The Fred Meyer packs had 2 steaks in them. The Safeway ones had 3.

I picked up the burger to make into Salisbury steaks tonight for dinner.

We picked out the 2 largest racks of ribs that Safeway had. I think I'll put one in the crock pot for Memorial Day, but I'm not writing it in stone.

Here are our receipts.

The total amount we spent on bone-in rib steaks today was $80.84. We got 10 steaks total and they were a combined weight of 15.49 pounds. Keep in mind that Bob and I split a steak. We cannot eat that much meat. These steaks make 2-3 meals for us as I make fried rice the leftover meat and soup with the leftover bones. Beef and barley soup using those grilled bones is amazing.
We got 2 half-gallons of ice cream and paid 17 cents each for them.
We got 2 racks of pork ribs that weigh over 12 pounds total for a grand total of $12.23.
I got 6 ears of corn for $2.
I also bought just under a pound of asparagus for $1.70.
5 bottles of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce were $4.95.
And then we got a few items not on sale but needed for the house like half and half.


Our grocery grand total, from both stores, all 3 transactions, was $101.29.

We are set for grilling season! Bring on summer!

**I am not compensated by any of these companies or products listed.

Stocking Up On A Year's Worth Of Laundry Detergent

 I do not like going into stores. They are crowded. People don't respect personal space. I just have no love lost if I don't go into a grocery store again.

I do, however, like to stock up on items so that we are not constantly running to the store. I stock up on a lot of food items, but I don't stockpile them, if that makes sense.

I will mini-stockpile non-perishables that we use. I just did a toothpaste stock up today. I have enough Crest toothpaste to last me for a couple of years and I paid 87 cents per tube. Prices are going up. Costs are going through the roof. When I find a good deal, I take advantage of it. I bought 5 pounds of a butter at $2.47 per pound. I haven't seen a better deal than that for quite some time.

I am getting off track here, though.

I'm getting my washer and dryer hooked up and I wanted to make sure I was stocked up on laundry detergent.

I jumped onto Amazon to see what I could find. I ran into what I thought was a decent deal on Ecos laundry detergent. I could buy 2 100-ounce bottles for $19.47, if I wanted to do a subscribe and save. I always opt in to subscribe and save because it's a way to save some money on my Amazon order. I am also member of Prime. It's worth the money, for us, because we watch videos, I utilize Kindle Unlimited and we take advantage of free shipping.

I looked on Walmart's website and they just didn't have any decent deals worth mentioning, which is surprising because that is where I tend to find overall lower prices on cleaning supplies.

I jumped onto Fred Meyer's (Kroger) website and I found 75-ounce bottles of Purex Free & Clear laundry detergent, regularly $5.19, on sale for $4.99. There was also a coupon.

Here's what I viewed on Amazon. 200 loads of Ecos laundry detergent for $19.47, if I do subscribe and save. I don't look at the cost per ounce when I do these deals. It doesn't pertain to anything. I'm just trying to get the most bang for my buck. The less money that I have to pay out to a retailer, the happier I am about things.

Here's what I viewed on Fred Meyer's website. $4.99 for 57 loads. I was thinking at this time that I would be able to get a few more loads for a $20 bill if I bought these.

I looked at the coupon that was an option to use on the Fred Meyer Purex detergent. It states that I get $2.50 off of $4.99 (sale price), which brings each bottle of this particular size of detergent down to $2.49. Better still, I was able to use this coupon up to 5 times in a single transaction.

Some quick calculation and I placed my order for pickup this afternoon. I held my breath that they had them in stock.

So, I multiplied 57 x 5. That equals 285 loads. 5 bottles of this, using a $2.50 coupon on each one, is a total of $12.45. This versus 200 loads for $19,47. As far as I'm concerned, they are comparable detergents. I've never used Ecos brand, but I've definitely used Purex.

So, we got home a little while ago with my 5 75-ounce bottles of Purex laundry detergent that will definitely last me a year or more.
I'm good to do and we'll have clean clothes and I won't need to run to the store for laundry detergent unless I find another deal like this.


***I am not compensated by any of the companies or products mentioned above.

Meal Planning & Budgeting

 I thought I would try a bit of a different type of blog post today. I wanted to show you all how I go about meal planning, how I budget and how I shop for groceries each week.

What I do is allot us $100 per week for groceries and necessities. Necessities are things like shampoo, dish soap, laundry soap, toothpaste, etc. Whatever I don't use out of that $100, I roll it over to the following week. I try to buy a few items each week that will stock us up so that we don't have to buy that product for quite some time, like toothpaste, razors or shampoo. I did a toothpaste stock-up about 3 years ago and I still don't need to buy it. We just recently ran out of shampoo, so we did a minor stock-up yesterday at Rite-Aid. I watch sales. I read the ads. I figure out how to get the most bang for my buck. I like walking out of the store with 5 bags full of stuff and paying only $35 for it all. I find this to be one challenge that I'm always up for.

The very first thing I do is figure out a menu. I try to utilize what I have on hand, for the most part, but I usually do have to purchase chicken. We eat a ton of chicken.

Here's what my meal plan for next week looks like. I went heavy on the chicken to compensate the heavy ground beef menu that I have for this week.

My two main supermarkets are Safeway and Fred Meyer. I do the majority of shopping there because they both offer online grocery shopping and grocery pickup. I got used to grocery shopping this way. It's economical and it's easy to comparison shop with 4 different stores at the same time (Safeway, Fred Meyer, Walmart and Amazon).

First, I figure out what even sounds like it would be tasty. I generally just go with the main dish when I do these meal plans. Side dishes are easy enough and I have a fully stocked pantry, which includes many types of rice, pasta, etc. I always have potatoes on hand, as well. If worse came to worse, I can forage a nutritious veggie side dish out of my yard. I don't worry about those things. Side dishes are not written in stone and are subject to change, depending on what we feel like and what we can find. While I figure out what we'd like, I'm also jotting down what I will need from the store and any good deals that particular store has going on. I plan my meals between Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesdays are when I get an online sneak preview of Wednesday's sales items for Fred Meyer and Safeway. Wednesday is when I finalize what we will be dining on and that is when I start adding items into my grocery carts.
I usually purchase my groceries every Saturday for pickup on Sunday. However, Safeway has their $5 Friday specials, so I will venture into the store on those days to get the best deal, if it is something that I need. If it's just a bunch of bakery goods and chips on $5 Friday, I skip it. If it's $5 per pound good ground beef, I'll drop $25 stocking up on it. This Friday, they have 5 for $5 bags of shredded lettuce and shredded cabbage. I'll pick up 3-5 bags of the shredded cabbage because I can put it into my Ninja and blitz it up into small pieces that can be frozen and added into soups and stews and I have yet another stock up item that cost $5 or less and it will last for several months in my freezer. On my list, you'll see grocery items with an S that's circled. That simply means that those items are cheaper at Safeway this week, like half gallons of milk for 97 cents. I'll buy the limit of 4 of those because I'll be making my own yogurt.

Granted, a lot of this produce will not be purchased once my garden produces, but, for right now, I have to purchase it.
If you notice up at the top, I have tabs open for Fred Meyer, Safeway, Walmart and Amazon. It's super easy to go between them all and see where I will find the best deal. I do not buy anything fresh from Amazon. We don't have that option available to us. 

I leave specific instructions on how I'd like to have them pick out my produce. The way that I figure it is that these people are taking my place in the store, so it's up to them to shop as I would. It's my responsibility to be very precise on how I like to pick stuff out. 

I feel that if I'm not this precise with my special instructions, I wind up with half green oranges, like what happened last week when I was in too much of a hurry to specify that I like my oranges to be all orange all over.

I also opt to not substitute some of the items. I do not want low fat or fat free cottage cheese or sour cream. That's just my personal preference. Everyone has their own.

Anyhow, my grocery total this week, before they weight the chicken thighs, celery, chicken breast, etc. is approximately $85. It will, most likely, be a lower amount, but when I'm estimating, I'd rather estimate and budget for too much than have to scramble to take the money from another part of our monthly budget. That $85 amount is also before I figure in digital coupons I have added or the free dozen of eggs that Fred Meyer has.

So, in a nutshell, I budget $100 per week for the 2 of us. I make it a game/challenge to come in as low as I possibly can and spend as little as I can each week. I shop the sales. I comparison shop. I always find at least 2 or 3 items to stockpile a bit of. This week, it's rennet (for making cheese), pectin (for making jam) and cabbage to put in the freezer for meals another time.
Most of all, I make shopping fun because I can do this in my PJ's and I don't ever have to leave home. I can have Bob pick up the grocery order(s) whenever he's got something scheduled out in that area of town. We do not make special trips. We bunch errands, etc. up to maximize our gas. Washington state gas is close to $5 per gallon.

If you're interested in how someone else likes to save money, be sure to check out my friend, Patrick's blog, Southern Dreams Homestead. He's got great tips and tricks. Make sure to give Southern Dreams Homestead a follow, too.

Let me know if you found any of this information useful in the comments below or if you even like these types of blog posts.
Peace!