Something I am Trying

When I was first married, I bought a book called Miserly Moms. Corey thought it said Miserable Moms! ha ha!

Anyway, it is a book explaining how to live a frugal lifestyle while raising children and having a family. I have lost the book, but I remember it talking about basing your menus on the sale items at your grocery store. I did this one time in the past and I remember saving $80 during a 2-week period. I usually grocery shop for 2 weeks at a time.

Well, I decided to try this again. This week I got the sale papers from each grocery store in or town (only 3) and I circled the good deals. I called my sister Christina to ask her about each thing because she is really good at spotting good deals at the grocery store. Natalie is, too. I however am not.

So this is what was on sale:
split pork spareribs .99/lb
Whole chicken .59/lb
Philadelphia cream cheese .88 each
Bush's baked beans, 28 oz can .88 each
Hunt's ketchup .88 each
15-lb bag of russet potatoes 3.99
Hass avocados 3 for .99
Pilgrim's Pride boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen, 3 lb bag 5.99
Kraft singles 3 for 3.00
fresh split chicken breasts .99/lb
green seedless grapes .97/lb
Oscar Mayer hot dogs 4 for 5.00
State Fair corn dogs, 16 ct. 2 for 4.00

Okay, so those are the good deals this week. I took those items and made my menu.

This is the menu (I do have to buy somethings that are not on sale, but not many):
Breakfasts: cereal, eggs, toast
Lunches: hot dogs, corn dogs, sandwiches
Dinners:

1. Tender and Tangy Ribs (crockpot), baked potatoes, green peas, peach cobbler
2. 40 Clove Garlic Chicken (crockpot), mashed potatoes, corn on the cob
3. Creamy Italian Chicken (crockpot), noodles, salad
4. Spanish Rice with Beef, green beans, salad
5. Roast Sticky Chicken (crockpot), grilled potatoes, salad
6. Cream Cheese Chicken (crockpot), mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables
7. Burgers and hot dogs, baked beans
8. Porcupine Meatballs, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob
9. Chicken fajitas, toppings, Spanish rice
10. Chicken-Rice Casserole, salad, green beans
11. Chicken Rice Soup

Some of the sales ended last night so I took my sale papers to Wal Mart (they match prices) and I bought several things. I took cash and left my debit card in the van. That way I wouldn't spend more than I planned to spend. I actually had to put some things back because I ran out of cash, but this is a learning experience and I did very well for my first time at this (first time in a long time anyway). It was my first time to take advantage of Super Wal Mart's price matching system and it went very well. It was great to get everything at one store. The last time, and only time, I based my menus on the sale items, I went to 6 different grocery store and took several hours to do all of the shopping. This time it took me one hour at one store. I think in the future it will take even less time because I will get better at it.

This is what I got for $39.03:
4.6 lbs of green grapes
3 green bell peppers
2 whole roasting hens (about 5 lbs each)
2 3-lb bags of frozen chicken breasts
6 cans of Bush's baked beans
5 lbs of fresh chicken breasts (I got this for $5 and it is normally $15)
3 packages of Kraft singles
2 packages of light cream cheese

The chicken alone would have cost more than $40 if it had not been on sale. I am very excited about my savings, obviously. : )

I will do the rest of my shopping tomorrow, on payday. My goal is to spend $100 or less on 2 weeks of groceries for our family of 9.