TEN BUCKS A WEEK!

[stayhomemom77]

All right! I've decided to bite the bullet. I'm a bit nervous about it, but I think it will be beneficial in the long run.
I am going to switch to cash for my groceries.

I will lose a small amount of points for not charging the purchases to my credit card, but I think I'll stay under budget better.

And for those times where I come across a deal I just "have to have" I can use the credit card for those couple of items ONLY and reconcile it when I get home. But those experiences should be few and far between.

Basically, I figured I'd aim to be about $7 under budget each week. I wouldn't make $7 a week in credit card rewards (it would be more like $2-$3), so I'll be ahead of the game for sure and any time I can get away with saving a little more than $7, I'll be REALLY well placed.

Tomorrow I head to the store with a crisp $20 for a bit of fresh produce as I did the bulk of this week's shopping while I was out yesterday.

And next Monday's shop will be all cash baby!! I'm actually pretty excited about this.

 

[azdisneylover]

Lurker here,
Do you have mini bread loaf pans? If so, mix up the gluten free bread dough in the bread machine, then bake one loaf ( in the oven) and freeze the rest of the dough for later.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Lurker here,
Do you have mini bread loaf pans? If so, mix up the gluten free bread dough in the bread machine, then bake one loaf ( in the oven) and freeze the rest of the dough for later.

Hmmmm...

I don't currently have mini pans, but I could consider buying them. I'll mull it over a bit and perhaps pull the trigger on this.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[DnA2010]

You can freeze the yogurt tubes to make them last longer, my kids liked to eat them frozen like froyo. If you put one in a lunchbox frozen its usually thawed by lunchtime.

Yup that's what I do- I have a few boxes in the freezer from when they were on sale- DD likes them a tiny bit frozen best

 

[beanner]

Really like this idea!! I've been going to the grocery store when we need items as opposed to planning..... After reading this entire post, I got thinking....we could save some money AND have a safety net if the need arose! Clipped many coupons this past Sunday and not only came home with the start of my "stash", but saved a significant amount of $$ on everything else!

My start.... 12 cans of green beans ($4) and a gallon of extra virgin olive oil (7.88). Went a little over the $10, but I'll plan to decrease next week's by $2. Total of the bill came to $155; saved $112! Eye-opening experience! Thank you!!!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Really like this idea!! I've been going to the grocery store when we need items as opposed to planning..... After reading this entire post, I got thinking....we could save some money AND have a safety net if the need arose! Clipped many coupons this past Sunday and not only came home with the start of my "stash", but saved a significant amount of $$ on everything else!

My start.... 12 cans of green beans ($4) and a gallon of extra virgin olive oil (7.88). Went a little over the $10, but I'll plan to decrease next week's by $2. Total of the bill came to $155; saved $112! Eye-opening experience! Thank you!!!

You are so welcome! I love to hear that others have been inspired by my crazy ideas.

It sounds like you are off to a great start! Once you start and have a positive experience, it's so easy to get hooked! There's something to be said for a savers/stockpilers high!

Glad to have you along for the ride!

 

[stayhomemom77]

So this kids went back to school this week, but DH who teaches university doesn't return until Monday. And he tends to get underfoot a lot when he's home and I'm trying to get into a normal routine. So I went shopping for groceries FOUR TIMES THIS WEEK!! Just to get out of the house and take advantage of some really good sales.

I go through a lot of cans of diced tomatoes now that I make soups, stews and chilis from scratch on a weekly basis so when they go on sale, I pick a few up. I got these things on Wednesday.

TEN BUCKS
3 cans diced tomatoes $3
1 bottle of ketchup $1.77
2 jars PB (hiding in the back) $4.94

DH's schedule changed a little bit as well and now I won't be doing my shopping on Mondays anymore. I'll have to go on Thursdays. I actually like this arrangement better but it messed up all my careful budgeting calculations and it took me nearly an hour yesterday to get it all straightened out again.

Anyway, this month is all messed up since I did so much shopping and stocking up this week but in February we should be back to normal.

 

[stayhomemom77]

As I mentioned, DH goes back to work on Monday and when he does, he also goes back to eating low carb through the week. FreshCo has sausages and chicken thighs on sale for $2 a pound right now, so I picked some up yesterday for his lunches. This will feed him for 20 days, so that's four weeks of low carb lunches covered. I bought two packages of each (so it's TEN BUCKS X2) and DH was thrilled. He's marinating some chicken right now and is going to BBQ tonight (sorta mild here today) so that half of his lunches are cooked, packaged, frozen and ready for the next two week.

TEN BUCKS
one dozen sausages $4.09
8 chicken thighs $5.59

 

[barkley]

So this kids went back to school this week, but DH who teaches university doesn't return until Monday. And he tends to get underfoot a lot when he's home and I'm trying to get into a normal routine. So I went shopping for groceries FOUR TIMES THIS WEEK!! Just to get out of the house and take advantage of some really good sales.

I go through a lot of cans of diced tomatoes now that I make soups, stews and chilis from scratch on a weekly basis so when they go on sale, I pick a few up. I got these things on Wednesday.

TEN BUCKS
3 cans diced tomatoes $3
1 bottle of ketchup $1.77
2 jars PB (hiding in the back) $4.94

DH's schedule changed a little bit as well and now I won't be doing my shopping on Mondays anymore. I'll have to go on Thursdays. I actually like this arrangement better but it messed up all my careful budgeting calculations and it took me nearly an hour yesterday to get it all straightened out again.

Anyway, this month is all messed up since I did so much shopping and stocking up this week but in February we should be back to normal.

I gotta ask-is that the normal price for that ketchup or a sales price????????? if it's the sale price then I need to start loading up my car and crossing the boarder to supplement my income-the same brand here sells NOT on sale for the equivalent amount at $1.35 (but the store brand I get on sale goes would only run for about $1.25 for a litre).

great price on those chicken thighs!

 

[stayhomemom77]

I gotta ask-is that the normal price for that ketchup or a sales price????????? if it's the sale price then I need to start loading up my car and crossing the boarder to supplement my income-the same brand here sells NOT on sale for the equivalent amount at $1.35 (but the store brand I get on sale goes would only run for about $1.25 for a litre).

great price on those chicken thighs!

Well, I got it at Walmart NOT marked down in any way but usually their ketchup is $2. The regular price tag said $1.77 but I was expecting to pay $2. So, I don't know if that was a "sale" price exactly but it was definitely lower than the last time I bought some.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

So .... inspired by your thread... I started the $10 a week towards my camping stash. These are things we like to leave in the trailer or special treats that really add up when you do that grocery shop right before a camping weekend. Focusing first on the non food stuff. This will make my life easier so we don't have to pack these things each time as well. I've made a list of the things I would like to leave in there and will pick stuff up over the course of the next few months. Will stash this stuff in closet or at work so aren't tempted to dig into it.

This week I got 3 deodorants for dh, dd and I, 1 shampoo and 1 pkg tin foil!

 

[barkley]

So .... inspired by your thread... I started the $10 a week towards my camping stash. These are things we like to leave in the trailer or special treats that really add up when you do that grocery shop right before a camping weekend. Focusing first on the non food stuff. This will make my life easier so we don't have to pack these things each time as well. I've made a list of the things I would like to leave in there and will pick stuff up over the course of the next few months. Will stash this stuff in closet or at work so aren't tempted to dig into it.

This week I got 3 deodorants for dh, dd and I, 1 shampoo and 1 pkg tin foil!

we don't camp but whenever those that do visit our home and see an item in my pantry they immediately ask where I purchase it to add to their camping supplies-single serving packets of smucker's jam, jelly and marmalade (the same ones restaurants have on the table). I get them b/c dh is the only one in our house who likes orange marmalade but full jars go bad before he will use them up. if you're interested check out the smucker's on-line store website. in addition to jams and jelly they also sell peanut butter, honey and breakfast syrup in individual packs (and the price isn't bad-I paid $26 for 200 individual packets so it works out to 13 cents per packet).

 

[stayhomemom77]

Bags of frozen, seasoned boneless, skinless chicken breasts are on sale this week at No Frills for $2 a pound. That's a crazy good price for around here and although fresh is better...I thought I'd better stock up. I got 4 bags on Thursday for about $6 each. And then my deep freeze was so full I couldn't fit anything else in it.

I needed to pull out some ground beef for Tuesday night and it was at the bottom of the freezer. I think I just took the last one from that time I bought 12 pounds in October. But who knows? There might be more buried down there under all that stuff. I managed to reorganize some things a little bit and make a bit more room. And when I pull a turkey out of there in a couple of days, I'll have even more room.

This morning DH accused me of making too much food this week. Which is his way of telling me he's tired of eating leftovers for lunch. In my defense, I was trying out a bunch of crockpot recipes that the kids wouldn't touch (so multiple leftover servings available) and I was eating them too!! Anyway, I froze some homemade baked beans and some chicken chili, so we didn't have to work on those for more than one lunch. I'll finish up the chicken tikka masala for lunch tomorrow and we are eating up the taco meat and refried beans tonight. Next week's menu calls for very little in the way of leftovers, but I suspect he'll complain about THAT by Saturday.

I've had to switch to Thursdays for my regular shopping days, so that will be my next opportunity to stock up. But I have a few pics still to come from the all the shopping I did this past week.

Here's is my gluten free bread. I loooooove this bread. Each loaf costs $4.89, so two loaves (which repose in my freezer) are just under $10.

 

[stayhomemom77]

And finally....

GIANT bags of rice. We like jasmine rice. And I'm eating more of it now than I ever have before. It's great with beans! Anyway, these beauties went on sale at No Frills this past week for $9.88 for 8 KG (which is 17.6 lbs). A great deal at $0.56 a pound. I bought two bags and threw them on the basement shelves. So proud of this purchase. So, OFFICIALLY I have stocked up on MORE than 4 $10 weeks. January is COVERED! I have a little money left for the next two Thursdays and I'm sure I'll stock up on something, but it may not be TEN BUCKS more for each week.

I promise that in FEBRUARY, I'll be back on proper track.

 

[squirrel]

Just found this thread. I don't do a set amount each week for extras. I have noticed that sales seem to go in a 3 month rotation (sometimes there are a lot of things I normally buy on sale the same week). I try to buy as many as I need to make it through to the next sale. I also buy if I have a coupon and the item is on sale.

I try not to buy items that are wants unless they are on sale. (ex. my favourite flavoured coffee, I won't buy it unless it's on sale or I have a coupon).

Apparently my dad thinks I stock pile too much as he asked me how long I could survive with all the food in my house. I guessed a month. It could be more, I'm not sure exactly.

 

[Debbie]

I've had to switch to Thursdays for my regular shopping days, so that will be my next opportunity to stock up.

Uh-oh! We went to No Frills last Thursday afternoon. Most of what we wanted was not on the shelves.

And finally....GIANT bags of rice. We like jasmine rice. And I'm eating more of it now than I ever have before. It's great with beans! Anyway, these beauties went on sale at No Frills this past week for $9.88 for 8 KG (which is 17.6 lbs). A great deal at $0.56 a pound.

Darn! I didn't know that they were on sale last week. I would've picked up a bag for us. Great price on the Jasmine rice. (We're working through a bag of basmati at the moment. )

 

[stayhomemom77]

Uh-oh! We went to No Frills last Thursday afternoon. Most of what we wanted was not on the shelves.
Darn! I didn't know that they were on sale last week. I would've picked up a bag for us. Great price on the Jasmine rice. (We're working through a bag of basmati at the moment. )

For some reason Mondays is when my store is completely empty. I took pictures one time because I was so mad. They had huge chunks of produce that were just empty spaces and not just the on special stuff for that week but EVERYTHING. It's crazy!! Thursdays from what I have seen so far are not bad at all at our local No Frills. Anyway, I put in a caveat for DH where if it was an item I was worried might not be there come Thursday, I'd run over Saturday to stockpile it. Hopefully this works but if it doesn't it's only for about 13 weeks and then I can go Fridays again.

Yes, sorry about that. I meant to post that photo before the sale ended so that people COULD run out and get some but it was a busy week. I'll try to be faster next time.

 

[Debbie]

Yes, sorry about that. I meant to post that photo before the sale ended so that people COULD run out and get some but it was a busy week. I'll try to be faster next time.

No problem! We're eating from the freezer/pantry, so i don't always read the ads. Although, if I see a bargain, I do buy it!

 

[star72232]

I've had issues with No Frills on Wednesdays and Thursdays before. It's their last day of the sale week, and it isn't uncommon for them to be out of stuff here. And they don't give rain checks. My biggest issues are their policy on price matching (the local store won't match so much stuff!) and that they no longer take Visa. I'm really trying to weigh the benefit of PC Points vs. the aggravation of their policies - I might start doing most of my shopping at FreshCo again. But then I'm chasing around to price match meat. Grr.

 

[stayhomemom77]

I've had issues with No Frills on Wednesdays and Thursdays before. It's their last day of the sale week, and it isn't uncommon for them to be out of stuff here. And they don't give rain checks. My biggest issues are their policy on price matching (the local store won't match so much stuff!) and that they no longer take Visa. I'm really trying to weigh the benefit of PC Points vs. the aggravation of their policies - I might start doing most of my shopping at FreshCo again. But then I'm chasing around to price match meat. Grr.

Bummer. This particular store has gotten annoying with the pull backs on price matching (it's a much shorter list of stores now) but they haven't hampered me too much. I didn't know that about the visa...wonder if that's store specific or a new chainwide policy? Our FreshCo is directly across the street from No Frills so I usually nip across the road for whatever I need from there. Except in the really crappy weather, I prefer to store hop and don't price match too often. When it's cold, rainy or snowy out and I HAVE to go to the store, I tend to just hit one or two and make do.