Adventures of a Wannabe Cheapskate

Back In The Drug Store Game!

2012-01-02T12:59:00.000-06:00

Today's Frugal Dinner: Baked Potato Soup

2011-12-31T21:42:00.000-06:00

Beautiful Bacon. Sizzling away, 8 slices of bacon comprise the first step of this lovely soup. Yes, I only have 7 slices in the pan. I only had 7 slices left in the pack and wasn't willing to thaw the package in the freezer just for one slice. (Plus I like to think that using 7 slices instead of 8 is somewhat cheapskate-y of me.)

While the bacon sizzles (and 4 or 5 potatoes cook in the microwave for 12 minutes), melt the butter in a large stock pot (I used my big Rachael Ray pot.) then add garlic. Mix in the flour. Then SLOWLY add milk, whisking to help eliminate lumps. Next, add in some chicken stock and KEEP WHISKING. You want the soup to be super smooth. This is the most labor-intensive step of this soup. Good news, though: once this step is done, your soup is almost done. When the soup is nicely smooth and thickening, the potatoes should be finished and ready to move on to the next step.

Cut open the potatoes and scoop the insides into the soup. (I LOVE that I don't have to peel the potatoes for this soup.) Mash the potatoes a bit with a wooden spoon. Stir in some cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, and some of that yummy bacon.

To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish with more sour cream, green onions, cheddar, and bacon. Or, if you are like my kids and have hang-ups about most of those items, just bacon. (That reminds me, don't tell my Dianna that there is cheese in here. She won't touch it if she knows, and she currently thinks I make "famous" potato soup. I'd like to keep up the delusion that I'm a good cook. And don't tell Jarod either, because he currently has a thing about "cooked" cheese. If it's melty, he doesn't like it, apparently. If we could just keep this between us, that would be great. Thanks a heap.)

This recipe is amazing, and the girls at http://www.ourbestbites.com/ has certainly helped to make it not-so-bad-for-you. I love their lower-fat twist to the soup. I must admit that I used 2% milk not skim and I used full-fat sour cream instead of low-fat, because that's how I roll. (Really, I needed to buy a big container of sour cream to help make several recipes and the only big container was the regular version.)

Potato Bacon Soup

from http://www.ourbestbites.com/

8 slices of bacon, divided

4 or 5 potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 c. flour

4 1/2 c. milk

1 14 oz. can of chicken broth

2 c. grated cheddar (I used sharp.), divided

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 1/2 c. sour cream, divided

1/2 c. chopped green onions, divided

Cook 8 slices of bacon. Crumble and set aside.

Wash the potatoes well, then poke them several times with a fork. Microwave for 12 minutes, or until cooked through. (12 minutes is perfect in my microwave.)

In a large pot, melt the butter, then add the garlic. Cook for several minutes, then add the flour, stirring well to combine.

Stir in the milk slowly, whisking constantly to make smooth. Add the chicken broth and whisk until completely smooth.

Once the soup is smooth and beginning to thicken, turn the heat down. Cut open the potatoes and use a spoon to scoop out the innards. Use a wooden spoon to smash the potatoes a good bit. Add 1 1/2 c. cheese, 3/4 c. sour cream, 1/4 c. green onions, and 4 slices of crumbled bacon.

That's it! The soup is ready to serve! Garnish with more cheese, sour cream, bacon, and green onions.

Let's talk price:
bacon - purchased at Sam's for $13.48 for 3 1/2 lbs. - $2.25
4-5 potatoes - purchased at Sam's for $3.98 for 10 lbs. - $1
2-3 cloves of garlic - purchased at Sam's for $4.72 for 48 oz. - $.10
1/2 c. flour - purchased at Sam's for $7.28 for 25 lbs. - $.05
4 1/2 c. milk - purchased at Sam's for $3.89 for 1 gal. - $1.09
14 oz. chicken broth - purchased at Publix on BOGO sale $2.59 for 2 (32 oz.) boxes - $.65
2 c. grated cheddar - purchased at Sam's for $3.98 for 2 lb. - $1.00
salt - $0.00
pepper - $.02 est.
1 1/2 c. sour cream - purchased at Publix for $2.59 for 24 oz. - $.86
green onions - purchased at Publix for $.60 for a bunch - $.08
Bread from the Publix bakery, because I just couldn't resist - $2.99
Tortilla chips - leftovers from lunch at Red Robin
Total cost for this meal: $10.09
We have enough leftovers to have a little snack tomorrow afternoon. Or when up at 2:00 am with a hungry baby. Plus there's enough bread for another 2 or 3 soup meals.

Tonight's Frugal Dinner - Talani's Famous Ham

2011-12-27T19:13:00.000-06:00

This ham that Talani makes with leftovers is so ridiculously delicious that we gobbled it up before we could take a picture of it. It may not be "famous" to the world, but we like it so much that it's definitely famous around our house. It's NOT a healthy meal, necessarily, but we like it anyway.

Talani combines chopped up leftover spiral sliced ham (from Christmas dinner this time) with spicy brown mustard, brown sugar, and butter. It just cooks until it's heated through and the sugar isn't grainy anymore. Sometimes it's really saucy; tonight it was not. Sometimes it's really sticky; tonight it was not. It was wonderful. We ate it with rice. I had seconds. And I don't regret it. At all.

Talani's Famous Ham and Rice

about 2 c. leftover spiral-sliced glazed ham, chopped $3 (We bought our ham at $1.99/lb., and I'm estimating that we ate 1 1/2 lb.)

1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar $.05

3 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard $.23

2 Tbsp. butter $.16

2 c. rice $.25

Combine rice and 4 c. water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Rice will be done in approximately 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine ham, sugar, mustard, and butter. Simmer and sizzle until heated through and the sugar isn't grainy anymore.

Total cost: $3.69

Today's Cheapskate DESSERT: Lime Meltaways

2011-12-24T11:30:00.000-06:00

Oh my, I LOVE baking. I can't believe it's taken me 34 years to figure out what a great hobby it is. I always dreaded the clean up, I guess, and that kept me from trying too many things. I have grasped the fact that clean up is part of the process, and that the process is captivating. I get more relaxation from baking, I think, than even a nap. (And I've always loved naps.)
I've followed http://www.closetcooking.com/ on twitter for quite some time, enjoying the recipes, but feeling like they were out of my league. I recently read the recipe for dark chocolate shortbread with fleur de sel, and I was intrigued. I browsed his Kevin's blog a little bit and came across the recipe for lime meltaways. WELL, if there's anything I'd like to snack on more than chocolate chunk cookies, it's lime cookies. I have a special affinity for just about anything citrus.

I did make a couple of tweaks, but nothing major. At least I hope it doesn't turn out to be major. I'm only about half way done with the recipe as I type this portion of this post.

Lime Meltaways

1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature ($.94)

1/3 c. powdered sugar ($.12)

zest of 2 limes ($.67)

2 Tbsp. lime juice

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (I used almond just because, and I was just shy of a tablespoon.) ($.21)

1 3/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. flour ($.30)

2 Tbsp. corn starch ($.05)

1/4 tsp. salt ($.00)

3/4 c. powdered sugar ($.27)

Total for the batch: $2.56

My batch made 3 dozen cookies.

Cream together butter and sugar.

Add lime zest and juice, vanilla (or almond) extract and beat well.

In a large bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, and salt.

Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Roll out the dough into a 1 1/4 inch log.

Wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. (I used the freezer for 30 minutes.)

Slice the dough into 1/4 inch pieces and place on a baking sheet 1 inch apart.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Let cook on a wire rack for 4 minutes.

Dredge in powdered sugar to coat.

Lime Meltaways in the cut-into-slices phase.

**UPDATE: The cookies are done, and they are different than I expected. They are drier than I thought. I was expecting really buttery meltiness, not crumbly meltiness. They taste good - tart and sweet at the same time. I'm somewhat disappointed to be honest. I wonder if the lack of vanilla extract was my mistake? I had thought I'd also try making the dark chocolate shortbread cookies linked above, but now I'm not sure I want to. Oh, well. Really, I like them. I do. But I'm afraid no one else will. And I think they might be messy with their crumbli-ness.

The first pan of Lime Meltaways as a finished product.

Today's Cheapskate Meal: Tortellini Sausage Soup

2011-12-23T10:40:00.000-06:00

Okay, so a food photographer I am not. This is 1/2 pound bulk pork sausage cooking up as the first step to creating this amazing soup. (Can I just say that, as I type this, the soup is about halfway finished, and my house already smells amazing. I can't wait for lunch.)

Some other ingredients I needed: parsley, basil, tomato puree, minced garlic, oregano, apple cider vinegar, beef broth, carrots (mine are matchsticks), zucchini (I bought several on sale, grated them up, and froze them in individual sized bags just for this purpose.), diced onion. On the left side, you can see a tiny corner of a cookie sheet. That cookie sheet is filled with breadsticks from an http://www.ourbestbites.com/ recipe, and they go great with this soup. On the right hand side, you can see my laptop with this recipe. I wonder how many times I'll make this soup before I'll have it memorized. I've made it at least a dozen times and I'd still be lost after the brown-the-sausage-and-add-onions-and-garlic phase.

Before I go any further, I need to give props to Kate and Sara at http://www.ourbestbites.com/. Seriously, I don't know what my family did for food before I stumbled upon this blog in the spring. About half of what I make comes from this blog! I wait anxiously for each new post, and I'm constantly adding their recipes to my "try these tasty eats" folder on my favorites.

I rarely vary from a recipes ingredients or steps, because I'm terrified of messing things up. I can say, though, that I make several tweeks to this soup and haven't had disastrous results.

Tortellini Sausage Soup

3 links Italian sausage (I use 1/2 lb. bulk sausage) $1.50

4 cloves minced garlic ($.12)

1 onion, diced (I use 1/2 an onion because I don't care for a lot of onion, and I get to make the call since I'm the one cooking!) $.25

1/2 c. water (I usually use double this, since I like to make the soup really stretch.) $0

2 cans chicken broth (I use beef.) $1.29 (BOGO)

1/2 c. apple cider (I use 1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar.) $.10

1 16 oz. can diced tomato

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce (I use a 29 oz. can of tomato puree. I don't like chunks of tomato. Again, I get to make that kind of substitution cuz I'm the one cooking, and usually no one is the wiser.) $1.89

1 c. sliced carrots ($.30)

1 tsp. dried basil ($.03)

1 tsp. dried oregano ($.03)

2 medium zucchini, grated (I use only about 1/2 of a zucchini.) $.50

8-10 oz. package frozen tortellini ($3.59)

2 Tbsp. dried parsley ($.18)

Total: $9.78. That seems like a lot of money for one soup meal! But it's oh-so-filling; I usually have leftovers for another meal or late night snack. Plus, it's still MUCH cheaper than going out for a soup lunch at Olive Garden or Panera Bread. I serve this with sprinkles of parmesan cheese and fresh breadsticks, which brings the total closer to $12 for the meal. I'm okay with that, really.

Brown the sausage. Drain fat if necessary. (I've never had enough to worry about draining.)

Add the onions and garlic, and cook just for a few minutes.

Add water, broth, cider or vinegar, tomatoes, carrots, basil, and oregano. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add zucchini and parsley. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add tortellini. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

(I usually divide my soup into two parts before adding the pasta. The grownups like tortellini, but the kids don't care for the cheese. I take a portion of the soup, put it in another pot, and add some kind of fun little pasta shape (today it's wheels), and cook for 7 minutes. That way, they get what they like, and it's more tortellini for me!)

Today's Cheapskate Meal: Chipotle Pork Tacos

2011-12-21T18:04:00.000-06:00

The sliced pork loin marinates briefly in a mixture of lime zest, lime juice, oregano, chipotle in adobo (sauce only), salt, and garlic.

I cooked up some sliced white onion then removed them from the pan. The sliced pork loin cooks super quickly, then the onions rejoin it in the pan.

I'm serving it on rice instead of in tortillas. Rice is soooo much cheaper than a pack of tortillas. I gave a thought to trying to make tortillas myself today, but I didn't think seriously enough about it to actually work up the effort it would take. Maybe next time. These tacos are on the menu again next week, so maybe I'll give it a shot then. This stay-at-home vacation is the perfect time to try making tortillas. Maybe you'll see a "cheapskate meal" post in the next week or so all about homemade tortillas. If you don't, you can assume that either I didn't try to make them or that I did and they totally flopped!

See the original recipe for this delicious meal from ourbestbites here.

Here's the breakdown of what we had tonight:

Chipotle Pork Tacos

1 lb. pork loin or chops, sliced thin ($2.00)

zest and juice of one lime ($.33)

1/2 tsp. dry oregano ($.03)

1 tsp. brown sugar ($.03)

chipotle in adobo ($.18)**

2 tsp. minced garlic ($.15)

1/4 tsp. salt ($.00)

3 tsp. olive oil ($.08)

1 c. chopped onion ($.21)

2 c. rice ($.17)***

sour cream ($.50)

Shredded cheese ($1)

Total cost: $4.18, plus the cost of tomatoes and ranch served alongside. So, maybe around $6?

**I used just about 1 Tbsp. of sauce from the can of chipotle in adobo. Our family doesn't want much heat at all, so I go easy on it. The original recipe calls for 2 tsp - 1 1/2 Tbsp, depending on the amount of heat desired. The peppers themselves contain more heat than the sauce.

***The original recipe calls for corn tortillas. I saved at least $2 by substituting rice.

In a bowl, combine the pork, lime juice and zest, oregano, garlic, salt, and chipotle in adobo. Set aside.

Saute chopped onions in a bit of olive oil, about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Add a little more oil to the pan, then saute the pork until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. (See, the recipe goes together QUICKLY!)

Add onions to the pork and allow to cook together and get all happy.

Serve on tortillas (or rice) with sour cream and chopped cilantro.

I like to add shredded cheese to mine. Salsa isn't necessary and would be insulting to the spicy pork, I think.

Shredded lettuce, diced tomato, diced avocado, etc., wouldn't be amiss, either but would add to the price bottom line.

Today's Cheapskate Meal: Dinner Rolls

2011-12-20T20:06:00.000-06:00

Dinner rolls during the first rise.

Uniform dinner rolls during the second rise. The recipe made 80 rolls weighing an average of 25 grams each.

Dinner rolls just after they came out of the oven. They're beautiful.

This recipe comes from the website http://www.onceamonthmom.com/. It is designed to be frozen part of the way through the procedure then thawed at some later date. The batch makes so many that you could totally do that. I could easily see making sets of 20 of these little beauties. However, I don't have the number of smaller baking dishes needed to freeze these. Plus, now I have plenty of excuse to eat delicious carbs over the next couple of days.

These rolls have a slightly pretzel-y flavor that I can't explain. If I were more like Alton Brown I might know why they have that distinct taste. Since I'm not more like Alton Brown, I'll just remain ignorant and enjoy the pretzel-y-ness.

These rolls have very normal rise times. Being slow in the kitchen, though, I - of course - have to find a way to make them take longer than necessary. I'm obsessive about uniform rolls so I weigh them out on my digital scale to get them to weigh the same. I weighed in grams and made rolls that were 24-27 grams each. I ended up with one roll that was 36 grams. I made two 18 gram rolls out of it and didn't notice a bit of difference when we ate them tonight.

I made this recipe at Thanksgiving and it was the one failure of the day. I think I made them too large, and that caused them to not cook through in the middle. These smaller rolls, though, were perfectly done.

I am planning to make potato soup for lunch tomorrow, and these will go great alongside.

Dinner Rolls

2 cups warm milk $.47

1/2 c. melted butter $.63

1/2 c. sugar $.17

2 1/4 tsp. yeast $.12

4 1/2 c. flour $.16

1/2 tsp. baking powder $.03

1 tsp. baking soda $.03

1/2 tsp. salt $.00

Combine warm milk, melted butter, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolve, then add the yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes. The yeast should be bubbly. (I assemble my bread doughs a little differently. I add the yeast to the milk and butter and let stand for 10 minutes. Then I add the sugar and stir until dissoved.)

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour the milk/butter/sugar/yeast mixture over the dry ingredients. Mix very well.

Place bowl in a warm place, cover, and let rise for about an hour.

After the rise is complete, punch down, and divide into two sections. Roll dough into golf-ball sized rolls and place in a greased 9x13 pan. (I used a 9x13 and a 9x9. I also didn't divide the dough into two sections; I just weighed it out.) Cover and allow to rise until double.

About half way through the rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls for 12-15 minutes. (I started at 12, then reset the timer for another 3 minutes when they were still very raw looking. After that 3 minutes, they still didn't look quite done, so I let them go another 3 minutes. That gives me a total of 18 minutes.)

Upon removing rolls from the oven, rub with cold butter. (I also like to sprinkle them with a tiny bit of salt.)

Enjoy as soon as you can touch them without blistering your fingers.

The total cost of these rolls is $1.61. These will last several meals.

Today's Frugal Meal: Caldereta with Pork

2011-12-20T17:57:00.001-06:00

Either my camera is on a weird setting or my kitchen lighting is funky. I promise this dish is not so completely orange.
Last Christmas, one of my students and her parents prepared a Filipino meal for us as a Christmas gift. It was incredible. They made us lumpia; we love lumpia. And they made us caldereta. I'd never had caldereta before. I'd never HEARD of caldereta before. We loved it! So much so, as a matter of fact, that I asked the mom of that student to share the recipe. Today is the second time I have made this dish. The first time I tried it, it was a hit, which is a good thing since I was being very daring and cooking it when we were having company.
The recipe calls for mixed vegetables to be added in, but I just didn't want to.
Tonight I made linguine noodles to serve under the stew. I also made some rolls which will show up in another post, probably later this evening.

Pork Caldereta

2 lb. pork loin, diced ( I used just 1 pound for our family.) $2.00
1 Tbsp. olive oil $.10
4 cups of water, divided $.00
1 pkg. Mama Sita's caldereta mix, available at Asian food stores (I used only half the packet for our little family. I didn't want the stew to be too spicy, and I wanted to minimize the amount of MSG I used.) $.60
3-4 medium potatoes $.99
2 c. frozen vegetables (peas, mixed veggies, etc.) $.99
1 Tbsp. cornstarch $.10

In a large skillet, brown diced pork in olive oil. When browned, add 2 cups of water and caldereta mix. Bring to light boil, then allow to simmer for several minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and dice potatoes. Add potatoes and vegetables to the pork. (I added an extra cup of water at this point. I didn't feel like I had enough to cook the potatoes through.) Allow to cook until the potatoes are tender. (I let it go 10 minutes.)
Mix cornstarch with 2 cups of cold water. Pour into pork and potato mixture. Bring back to a boil for a minute, then reduce heat and let simmer. (The whole cornstarch and extra water step is optional but is very appropriate to dilute the spicyness of the dish. Even with using only half the caldereta mix, I still did this step.)
Serve with rice or noodles.
The total cost for this meal is $5.18, including the cost of half a box of linguine. I only spent $4.19 since I left the veggies out tonight. Add to that the cost of the dinner rolls I made ($1.61 for the whole batch; we used 1/3 of that batch, or $.54 worth.), and tonight's dinner cost us $4.73.

Today's Cheapskate Meal: Black Bean Tomato Soup

2011-12-20T14:38:00.000-06:00

That's right, just two measly slices of bacon. You'll be able to taste it in every bite.

Hmm. Kinda doesn't look so good at this point. I'm telling you, though, less than 15 minutes after this moment: bliss in the form of creamy black beany soup.

I've stumbled upon a new-to-me cooking blog - http://www.deliciousmeliscious.com/ - and have saved about half of her recipes to my favorites. I've got a long list of new recipes to try. It will easily take me into the spring to try all of the dishes that appeal to me. I've tried two recipes already: mongolian beef, which was a HUGE hit at our house, and this black bean tomato soup. The kids weren't a big fan of the soup, but they don't seem to care for black beans much. (crazy kids) My husband is very easy to please, but he did make some happy sounds as he ate the soup. (maybe he tasted the bacon)

I'm pathetically slow in the kitchen - although I really do think I'm getting faster the more I cook - but this recipe didn't take too long at all. In fact, I made this soup, pao de queijo, rice, and moroccan beef (in case the soup didn't go over well) all at the same time. I wish I had one of those fancy blenders, like a vitamix or a ninja. Oh, well, my old food processor did the job well enough, even though I did wonder if the soup could be even smoother.

Black Bean Tomato Soup

2 center-cut bacon slices (I used the thick slices I like so much.)

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/4 c. chopped celery (I left this out since I didn't have any celery. I didn't miss it.)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed

1 (14.5 oz) organic no-salt-added diced tomatoes (I used the non-organic, salty, whole stewed tomatoes because that's what I had on hand. Since everything was pureed in the food processor, I don't figure it made a whole lot of difference.)

1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth

Cook up the two slices of bacon then remove it from the pan. Allow it to cool, then crumble it and set aside. Drain some fat, if necessary, so that there is just a trace left. (I didn't have to drain at all.) Add in the chopped onion and celery. Cook for 5 minutes or until the celery is cooked through. Stir in cumin, chili powder, garlic, and pepper; cook for 1 minute. Add in beans, tomatoes, broth, and crumbled bacon. Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Ladle half the soup into the bowl of your food processor or the carafe of your fancy blender. Process or blend until smooth, leaving the lid open but covered with a cloth to let steam escape. Remove blended soup to a bowl and repeat process with the rest of the soup.

Serve soup with sour cream. (The recipe on deliciousmeliscious gives guidelines for making a lime-cilantro cream. My hubby doesn't care at all for cilantro, so I didn't bother with this.)

I served it over rice, with the sour cream and a tiny sprinkle of cheddar cheese. It was really good, fairly healthy (would be more so without the bacon, but I couldn't do without the bacon!), and filling.

I'll definitely make it again. Two successful meals from this blog make it a winner in my book, and I can't wait to try another recipe!

Today's Cheapskate Meal: Pao de Queijo

2011-12-19T17:57:00.000-06:00

Oh, these rolls! They're AmAzInG! They really aren't cheapskate-y, except for the fact that they are part of a meal that is oh-so-much-cheaper than eating at a restaurant. I made these rolls to go alongside creamy black bean tomato soup. The un-cheapskate-y part of them is the tapioca flour. I paid $5.50 for a bag that will only make about 4 batches.
Once again, I called upon a recipe from my favorite cooking blog, http://www.ourbestbites.com/. I have wanted to make these rolls for, like, infinity, but couldn't because I couldn't find the tapioca flour that is a must-have. I finally stumbled upon it this morning, so I couldn't let the day go by without giving them a try. Sara of ourbestbites suggests sprinkling rosemary on top. I put a pinch of dried rosemary into the batter instead. Other than that, I pretty much did exactly what the recipe said to do. Oh, with one more exception: I used mild cheddar instead of sharp because that's what I have.
For Sara's great backstory and lots more fabulous recipes, be sure to check out http://www.ourbestbites.com/.

Pao de Queijo

1 large egg $.16
1/2 c. milk $.12
1/4 c. oil $.06
1 c. tapioca flour $1.38
1/2 tsp. salt $0
1/4 c. cheddar cheese $.22
1/4 c. parmesan cheese $.12

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put egg, milk, oil, flour, and salt into your blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.
Add cheeses and pulse a couple of times until combined. (This is when I added the rosemary, too.)
Pour into greased muffin tins, filling 3/4 full or a little less. (Sara says this gets her 16-20 muffins. I only got 9. Maybe she uses mini muffin tins?) Sprinkle with a little extra parmesan and/or salt. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes. (15 was perfect for me.) Try one as soon as it's cool enough to handle, and serve the rest while they're still warm. (They don't reheat well, according to Sara, so don't waste time with this!)
Total cost for this side dish: $2.06, or $.23 per roll.

Today's Frugal Meal: Homemade Barbeque Pizza

2011-12-19T16:04:00.000-06:00

This picture does not do this pizza justice. It's HUGE. It's delicious. It's saucy and cheesy. I'm getting hungry all over again just looking at the picture!
I used a wonderful dough recipe, one I regularly use for pizza dough as well as for breadsticks. I topped the beautiful pizza with a tub of barbeque pork in sauce and a couple of handsful of shredded mozzarella cheese. I baked the crust for about 10 minutes, added the toppings, then baked again for 10 or so minutes. I turned on the broiler for about half a minute to try to get the cheese a bit crispy, but it didn't work like I had hoped. I must have just not let it go long enough in my fear that it would burn.
The key to this amazing pizza is the crust. I use the recipe and method I learned on http://www.ourbestbites.com/. I rarely ever deviate from this recipe at all, with one exception that I'll mention in the recipe directions below.

Pizza Crust (Or Breadsticks)
from http://www.ourbestbites.com/

1 1/2 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour

In a large bowl, combine the water, sugar, and yeast. Allow to bloom for about 10 minutes. (Here's what I do differently: I only combine the water and yeast. After the 10 minutes, I stir the sugar in.)
Stir in the salt.
Add in 2 cups of flour and stir until well combined. Then add flour little by little (up to a total of 4 1/2 c.) until the dough is soft and elastic.
Spray a bowl with non-stick cooking spray, put dough in the bowl, and cover with a damp towel. Allow to rise for about 45 minutes.
Punch down and roll into a circle. (For last night's pizza, I put the whole dough into the cast iron skillet and pressed it out. Next time, I will only use half the dough because it got realllllllly big.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt. Use a pastry brush to spread seasoned oil all the way to the edge. Prick with a fork several times. Allow to rise for a few minutes, while the oven preheats to 425.
Bake at 425 for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top. Return to oven for another 10-12 minutes.
Enjoy the giantness that is your pizza.

Weekly Menu, Week of 12/5

2011-12-05T11:25:00.000-06:00

Ah, December! What a busy month! I've tried to plan out a few weeks in advance, even though I know full well that plans will change, and I'll end up doing something out of the plan somewhere along the way. Oh, well, it's important to me to at least start the month feeling organized!

Here's what I'm planning for us to eat this week.

Monday: Chili and frozen garlic bread
Tuesday: Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf and noodles
Wednesday: Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Thursday: Hamburger Helper
Friday: Not-sagna pasta toss
Saturday: (Lunch) birthday party
(Dinner) Sausage-Tortellini soup and breadsticks
Sunday: (Lunch) Pot roast and rice
(Dinner) Barbecue Pork Pizza using this crust

A couple of weeks ago I had a menu that I realized was really Asian inspired, though I didn't realize it until I typed out my meal plan here. This week, I realize that our menu is really heavy on red meat. But that's what we have, so that's what we're eatin'.

Look What I Made!: Stretchy Flower Headbands

2011-12-02T23:00:00.001-06:00

I am so excited about the success of this little project. I am so NOT crafty it's scary, so the fact that I was able to assemble anything at ALL is a minor miracle. Not only was I able to get through this project, but I also completed the project in just a few minutes.

Almost everything I bought was 50% off at Hobby Lobby. I bought 2 single-stemmed flowers for $1.67 total. The stretchy headbands were $.99 each, and the pearls in the center cost $1.49 for 105. I bought a package of alligator clips for $1.99 for 25. The only things that weren't 50% off were the glue gun and glue sticks I bought, at a total cost of $12.98. The cost for each headband was $1.96, plus the cost of the glue gun and glue sticks. And really, I probably completed both in just 15 minutes. I prepped myself thoroughly by reading through this blog post and assembling all my materials before beginning. I cannot get over how easy it was! I hope I remember to post pictures of my little girls wearing Mommy's handiwork tomorrow!

2011-11-22T08:58:00.001-06:00

Weekly Menu, Week of 11/21

2011-11-21T10:29:00.000-06:00

Wow, another week already! I am feeling my freedom slip away, as this week is my last week of maternity leave. This time next week, I'll be teaching language to my second class of beloved sixth graders.
Last week's menu was such a blessing; I loved having a game plan for each day. I will say that, on a couple of days, I changed my mind and made something else. That's acceptable, right? I mean, this is a menu PLAN, not a menu "commandment", after all.
Here's this week's plan:

Monday: Sausage Tortellini soup and breadsticks
Tuesday: baked chicken and garlic noodles
Wednesday: chili and garlic bread
Thursday: Thanksgiving feast!
Friday: Not-sagna pasta toss and garlic bread
Saturday:
Sunday: Chicken and Dumplings (Sunday dinner)
Summer sausage fried rice (after evening church service)

I'm purposely leaving Saturday undone. I want to see where we stand with Thanksgiving leftovers before I plan anything for that day!

If you didn't check out the recipe for Tuesday's baked chicken, you totally need to. I just saw it this morning on Rachael Ray. I don't have the ingredients for the poblano gravy, but I will totally try that sometime. The chicken (she used turkey on the show), looked AMAZING. I hope I can make it as mind-blowing as it looked!

I'm all set for a great week of home-cooked meals!

Menu Plan Monday: Week of November 14

2011-11-14T09:08:00.000-06:00

Wow, is November half over already? How did that happen? The FlyLady habit of the month is menu planning, and I'm getting in on it. I'm very proud to proclaim that I have been a menu planner for ages. Finally, a habit that I already have down!
Here's what my family will be eating this week:

Monday: fried rice with summer sausage, served with teriyaki vegetables

Tuesday: Orange-sesame chicken with rice and broccoli (I have made this once before, and we found the flavor from the marinade to be very mild. I'm planning to increase the amount of orange marmalade and red pepper flakes to give the flavor a bigger punch. I'll also marinate the chicken a good bit longer than called for.)

Wednesday: General Tso's chicken with rice and raw carrots (first-time try, but I've loved everything I've tried from this website)

Thursday: Japanese fried chicken with rice and orange slices (another first-time try, but my SIL has made it, and her family loved it. I really trust her when it comes to cooking, so I think this will be a winner.)

Friday: pepperoni and cheese pizza using this crust recipe

Okay, so I didn't realize that this week was so Asian-inspired. Next week looks pretty similar, to be honest. Must be cheap to make Asian food! Either that, or I have lots of Asian ingredients in the pantry already; I am looking to make as many meals as I can without buying additional ingredients.
Well, that planning session was fun. I have a menu planned for most of the rest of the month, with just 2 open slots. Since it's all subject to change, I'll keep it a secret for now.

Flylady mission #2: After

2011-11-07T08:48:00.001-06:00

Flylady Mission #1: Before

2011-11-07T08:35:00.000-06:00

Today's Frugal Meal: Three from One

2011-11-04T11:08:00.000-05:00

Not gonna lie: The past few weeks have been extremely tough financially. And it's not going to be easier this month. So, I am trying to be really, REALLY careful with menu planning. I have been browsing my favorite cooking blogs and exploring new ones to find recipes I can complete with the items I already have on hand or that I can make with only minimum additional ingredients to purchase. I am learning to repurpose (I don't know if that's the right word for it.) ingredients I have on hand in order to make a meal. One recent example was the package of ground pork I've had in the freezer for a month or more now. I bought it with the intent of making the best meatloaf I've ever had. (Seriously, those ourbestbites girls have it TOGETHER!) Some of the ingredients, though, can be pretty expensive: bacon (I don't mind the high cost of bacon, since I just LOVE it so much. I think I probably bought it and then used it for something else.) and chili sauce. I need to figure out how to make my own chili sauce. Or just find it on sale. I NEVER see coupons for chili sauce, and I don't remember it ever being on sale. It pains me to pay full price! Anyway, I never made the meatloaf, and now I'm trying not to buy those expensive ingredients. So, how to use the ground pork? I was able to stretch that one package of ground pork into three separate meals. I wish I had taken pictures of the dishes, but alas . . . I didn't. You can check out the links to the recipes below, though, to get an idea of how they looked.

Meal 1 - Sausage Tortellini Soup
This is another ourbestbites masterpiece. I really tweeked it this time, though. I used ground pork instead of sausage; I seasoned it up as close as I could come to match the flavors of that italian sausage. I also used a plain pasta instead of cheese tortellini because I only had a tiny bit of tortellini left. I had to leave the carrots and onions out, since I didn't have any. (I did use onion powder to give the flavor of the onion.) Truth be told, this soup was delicious as served. We didn't miss the missing ingredients or find it lacking at all. We ate almost the entire giant pot, just the four of us. After I cooked up the pork, I set half of it aside, so that I could make . . .

Meal 2 - Notsagna Pasta Toss
I could eat this meal every week. Rachael Ray has taught me to love ricotta. I could seriously eat the pasta with the ricotta, parmesan, and starchy water without the meaty sauce. Yum. I love it when I get bites that have extra of that creamy cheese. I didn't have to tweek this recipe that much, except to replace the onion with onion powder. I don't cook with wine, so I always leave that out. I usually use a bit extra stock to make up for the missing liquid. Oh, and I used beef broth instead of chicken . . . I think the recipe calls for chicken broth. My biggest tweek was to use the rest of the ground pork instead of ground beef. I love this meal. If I ever have opportunity to make you a dinner, don't be surprised if it's this lasagna-like feast. When I made the tomato sauce, I added a bit of extra stock to stretch the sauce and went a little bit shy on adding it to the creamy cheesy pasta. I knew I wanted a good bit of meaty sauce left so I could make . . .

Meal 3 - (Semi-) Homemade Pizza
I enjoy making pizza crust from scratch using this ourbestbites recipe, but this particular night I needed to be fast so I ended up using a refrigerated pizza dough from the Publix bakery. ($2.59 -- ouch! I think I could make 3 batches for that price.) I used a bit of plain tomato sauce plus the meaty tomato sauce from the previous meal along with shredded mozzarella for the toppings. The pizza was delicious, and I only missed my homemade pizza crust because the store bought one ended up being MUCH thinner than the crust I make.

All that from one 2-pound package of ground pork. I think I spent around $5 for that meat, so that averages out to $1.67 per meal. These three meals average out at about $4 each. We feasted! We didn't feel like we were being cheapskates, that's for sure. I'll just keep that little bit of information to myself.

Shake up!

2011-10-17T13:02:00.000-05:00

While I haven't left behind my wannabe cheapskate mindset, I'll admit to being seriously off track. The summer was tight financially; it always is. I thought for sure I'd do a better job starting in September, but I didn't. I discovered how much I like cooking from scratch at home and have come across several recipes that we love. I have found myself shopping for ingredients to make those dishes instead of buying what's on sale and at rock bottom price. I really do intend to get back to it soon.
Then, just about two weeks ago, we had the biggest shake up our family has ever experienced. The baby girl we were expecting to be born the week of thanksgiving was born October 4 - eight weeks early. Our little Audrey is doing great, but we are looking at another month in the NICU. I plan to make several posts about what brought about her early birth and pictures of our precious girl. I know it won't really have anything to do with being a cheapskate, but I'm so crazy about our little one and so amazed by the goodness of God and our friends that I just can't help it. Plus, it's my blog, and I can post whatever I like.

Tonight's Frugal Dinner - fried rice

2011-08-20T17:41:00.000-05:00

I doubt I'll get a picture in to this post. Sorry.
So, we should just establish a point after which the cost of the items used in recipes no longer has to be accounted. For instance, if I've had something over a year, could I just not calculate the cost in to my recipes? I know, that's silly reasoning. If that's all it took, I'd just keep everything for a year before cooking it, then everything would be free, right? Yeah, it doesn't work that way. It's just that, for the fried rice, I'm using sesame seeds that I've had for at least a year, and I don't have a clue how much they cost.

Here's the best estimate I can make:

2 c rice - $.30
butter - $.25
Soy sauce - $.30
Smoked sausage - $.50
bacon - $3.00
eggs - $.30
sesame seeds - $.15
ramen seasoning - $.17

Total for a huge pot of fried rice - $4.97. I'll serve my veggies separate from the fried rice. 'Cuz that's how I prefer it.
That takes my total for dinner to just about $6.00.

I had to estimate the cost of most of the items. I know the smoked sausage is right on. And the eggs. But the rest, since I don't really use measurements, is pure hypothesis.

Saturday's snack - homemade pretzels

2011-08-20T14:11:00.002-05:00

Let's see if I can come up with a close approximation of the cost of this yummy treat:

1 1/3 c water - free!

2 T butter - $.25

1 1/2 T sugar - $.04

3/4 t salt - free! (Still using the giant vat of salt I received as a gift)

4 c flour - $1.42

2 1/2 t yeast - $.17

1 1/2 T baking soda - $.03???

Plus more water for simmering. Plus more salt to sprinkle on top. Both free.

I did rub the tops with butter after they came out of the oven, but I didn't use more than a teaspoon. Maybe half that. So let's say $.05?

Total for 15 delicious pretzels - $1.96!

I'm thinking about making these for my class as a treat for getting through the first week of school. I'll have to figure out how to make them tomorrow but save them until Friday. Not sure how that's going to work. Or if I'll manage to keep my hands off of them that long! I'll have to make two batches to get everyone. I am thinking of making them a bit smaller/skinnier. That will give me enough to give to my team teacher(s) and assistant and principal, too. I think that will help them hold their shape better, too. They puffed up so much - in rising, simmering, and baking - that many of them lost their pretzel-shape, as you can tell in the picture.

Publix, 8/20 - 90% Savings!

2011-08-20T08:29:00.002-05:00

We went in to Publix early this morning (like 7:30) to see what deals we could find before other couponers swarmed in! I had two deals to work that would each give overage. We are tight in the budget this month, so I wanted to spend as little as possible. I have a good sized shopping list, but I only bought what would allow me to spend the least.

Here's the rundown:

2 Sundown Naturals vitamin D - $2.99 each

Used $6/2 Publix coupon from the Green Advantage Flier

Used 2 $1/1 printable coupons - link at http://www.hotcouponworld.com/

Paid: FREE for both, plus $2.02 overage

2 packs Paper Mate pens - $1.99 each

Used a rain check to get them for $.50 each

Used 2 $1/1 Target printable coupons (thanks, Terri!)

Paid: FREE for both, plus $1 overage

1 lb. Rico kidnew beans - $1.59

1 small Kikkoman soy sauce - $1.45

2 small yellow onions - $.55 ($1.19/lb)

2 gallons drinking water from the refill station - $.60

Total paid: $1.09

Total saved: $10.00

Percent saved: 90.1%

Side note: Since the pens have a shelf price of $1.99, using the raincheck saved an additional $2.98. Taking that into account, my percent of savings becomes 92.3%.

It's messy, it's not healthy; it's breakfast!

2011-08-09T06:49:00.001-05:00

Today's Frugal Dinner - homemade hamburger buns

2011-08-08T18:39:00.000-05:00

Today's Frugal Meal - Scones!

2011-08-08T07:25:00.002-05:00

This delicious batch of scones cost less than $2 to make! That is the cost without coupons. They are delicious -- Talani ate 3 for breakfast! We ate them plain, with no butter or jam or anything at all. I don't want to add to them; they are just right.
I still can't believe that I made them myself.

They are shockingly easy. The hardest part was cutting in the butter to the flour mixture. You're supposed to use a pastry cutter or pastry blender (what's that thing called?), but I don't have one so I used a fork. I wasn't sure if I was doing an adequate job of combining the flour mixture and the butter, but I must have. They turned out so so so great.

I definitely feel like a success in the kitchen this morning. (I needed that. Last night was ROUGH!)

In a somewhat-related note, I started a new blog dedicated to cooking frugally. I've posted more detail about making these scones, although I didn't post any pictures. (I have to figure out the whole picture on the phone sent to the blog thing again and set it up for the new blog.) I didn't know I was going to start a new blog when I made the scones, or I would have taken more pictures along the way. :) Anyway, feel free to go on over to the new spot and let me know what you think. I posted the detailed cost breakdown there.

Publix, 7/30 - spent $14.92, saved $29.33

2011-07-30T18:09:00.002-05:00

It's been too long since I posted a shopping trip. To be honest, it's been too long since I had a trip worth posting, and this one barely qualifies. Thank goodness for free marshmallows and super cheap Pop Tarts to inspire me to publish this trip. I am stuck in the habit now, it seems, of trying new recipes. I love that I am finding new favorites, and I'm really enjoying the variety I can serve my family. I have begun a good list of ingredients I need for these new recipes so I can know what to stock up on when the right sale hits. So, as I have for the past few weeks, I bought what I need today, not necessarily what was on sale, at least for the most part. I ended up noticing things in the store that I needed but had forgotten to add to the list, so I didn't have coupons for those items.

Here's how we did:

Pillsbury bread flour, 5 lb. - $2.99

King Arthur's whole wheat flour, 5 lb. - $3.99

1 dozen Publix eggs - $1.69

2 Kellogg's Rice Krispies - BOGO - 2 for $4.09

Publix mini marshmallows - $1.39

Used FREE peelie on Rice Krispies (wyb 2)

Paid: FREE!

6 boxes Pop Tarts - BOGO - $2.59 for 2

Used 2 $1/3 Target printables

Used 2 $1/3 MQ printables

Paid: $3.77 for all 6, or just $.63 per box!

Publix sliced pepperoni - $3.39

2 Cabot white cheddar cheese -- 2 for $5

Used $10 gift card I received as a gift

Paid: $14.92

Saved: $29.33 (includes $10 gift card)

Percent saved: 66.2%

The Pop Tarts are probably my favorite deal, followed by the marshmallows. I wish I had thought to look for Rice Krispie coupons to make this deal even better. I may get back to get a bit more of these things before the sale ends.

Doing Disney the Cheapskate Way

2011-07-16T18:33:00.000-05:00

I have several pictures of our room that I hope to upload here, but I'm really awful with that stuff, so I may have to wait until my technology guru (aka my husband) can work on it.
First of all, I want to say that just because we are being cheapskates at Walt Disney World doesn't mean we're slumming it. Quite the contrary. My husband and I are thoroughly enjoying the standard view studio we have for 4 nights (only 3 left) at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Villas. This beautiful resort and spacious, nicely appointed room is anything but cheapskate-y. You can read more about Kidani Villas here.
To view pictures other than my own (which I Talani really will work on.), see the information about the Animal Kingdom Jambo House here. The rooms here are very similar to Kidani, and just a short walk or bus ride away, since they are both part of Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Our lovely room has a small kitchenette with a little sink, a microwave, a coffee pot, a toaster, and a mini refrigerator. It also is stocked with paper plates, coffee cups and glasses, and plastic knives, forks, and spoons. We even received a roll of paper towels, a dishcloth and sponge, and a tiny bottle of Palmolive dish soap. The bathroom is wonderfully spacious, bigger than our bathroom at home by at least 50%. The bedroom area has a queen bed as well as a sofa that pulls out into another queen bed. The room also came with a pack and play at no extra charge. We have free high speed internet access (not wifi, though).

Since I'm being honest about finances here, it makes sense that I be honest about other things, too. I do think our room has a couple of drawbacks. Our view is of the parking lot and bus transportation area. In the time we have spent in the room, we haven't heard any noise from down there. (We're on the fifth floor, though; second floor rooms might not enjoy such quiet.) In defense of the Lodge, we did reserve a standard view, knowing we'd be overlooking the pool or the parking lot. We are high enough that, if there were any parks in our line of vision (I don't think there are), we'd have a good view of fireworks. The other thing that I would consider a negative is the fact that it seems as though the lobby and transportation options are far away. This is something we've experienced at the larger Jambo House, too. The layout of the resort means that some folks have a VERY long walk to the main hub of the resort. I wish we were closer to the lobby.

So, curious how this great resort could be on the Wannabe Cheapskate's blog? Simple: we are members of the Disney Vacation Club. This membership requires a large purchase (upwards of $17,000), but is soooo worth it for families like ours that want to vacation at Disney as often as possible. Our membership is valid for another 45+ YEARS, and it has already paid for itself in the money it's saved us on accomodations. I looked up the room we have this weekend on the official Walt Disney World website, and priced it out as though I were willing to make a cash reservation (yeah, right!). If we had to pay for this room ourselves, the cost would be $1,597! Our whole vacation is costing less than half that! There is no way we could stay at such a lovely resort, with such a great room, without DVC. Because the cost of our membership is considered one of our regular monthly expenses until it is paid off, it feels like our room is free. I did a little figuring about the actual cost of our membership over the years of the membership, and it comes out to around $3 per point. Since this vacation cost us 68 points (less than half the year's allottment of points), we are essentially paying $204 for this room, or just $51 per night!
If you are looking for a way to make Disney more affordable and enjoyable for your family, you should consider buying into the DVC. You can tour the model rooms and see a very honest and informative presentation at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort. And no pressure from the sales staff -- I mean it, NO pressure. When they ask you who introduced you to DVC, tell them it was Talani and Barbie Tupua of Pensacola, Florida. If you buy in, we get a kick back. :)
In posts later this vacation and on into next week, I'll let you in on how we are saving on every single aspect of this trip -- including how we are visiting the theme parks for FREE!!! (Now, to see about uploading those pictures . . . )

We're here!

2011-07-15T23:14:00.001-05:00

Tonight's Frugal Dinner, 6/9 -- Chicken Taquitos

2011-06-09T07:29:00.000-05:00

I'm planning to make Chicken Taquitos from http://www.ourbestbites.com/ for dinner tonight. I am setting myself up for success by putting the chicken in the crockpot already this morning. Stay tuned for the results and pictures.

I also have a loaf of bread in the works in the bread machine. I'm super excited about it. We'll have fresh bread just in time for lunch!

Another Resolution

2011-06-09T07:27:00.000-05:00

In my post yesterday about how I was planning to get back on the bandwagon in several areas I forgot one:

I plan to prepare more (all?) of our meals at home rather than going out. I really have no excuse not to do so. I don't have school work filling my evening schedule, and I am mostly past the nausea stage of pregnancy. Yes, I have every reason to do the cooking at home. Plus, the cost of one meal out could buy a week's worth of groceries. Since money is always tighter in the summer, I need to help all I can.

Last night's dinner wasn't an especially frugal one, but it was certainly more frugal than Chili's or even Whataburger. I made gnocchi that I bought at Fresh Market ($5.98), with a tomato cream sauce ($.15), and pork sausage ($2.79). I served it with garlic bread ($1.75). This dinner cost a total of $10.67. I liked it, although a commercial for Pizza Hut ruined my appetite. (Weird. Just 3 weeks ago I was CRAVING Pizza Hut like nobody's business. In fact, it was in the plan for today's lunch, but now I don't know if I can handle it. I did say I was almost out of the nausea phase of pregnancy, right?) The kids didn't seem to love it, either. That's probably because gnocchi is almost unheard of around our house. Oh, well.

Happy 400th Post!

2011-06-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

Time to get back with the program! (several programs, really) I've been so busy with school then so out of the loop with our vacation that I haven't posted anything in a really long time. I haven't stopped couponing or anything, although I haven't done as well as I feel like I should have. I have definitely been shopping for my needs and the needs of others rather than for what's on sale. And is it just me, or have the Publix sales been less than desirable lately? Anyway, we still have a few days of vacation left, and I want to get back on the bandwagon while it's easy and hope that I'll stick with it in the coming weeks.
Here are my summer resolutions:

1. Stick to stocking up on rock-bottom-priced grocery items and the basic perishable needs (milk, eggs, bread). Go back to a limit of $40 per week or less at Publix. (I spent $70 today. YIKES!)

2. Get back to following the fly lady's method of housekeeping. I loved the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with my home while I was working on my baby steps. I've gotten so far from that; my house is pitiful. Please don't ask to come over, because I will have to crisis clean. And it's in such disarray that I could crisis clean for 2 days and not get it all done. So, back to baby steps it is. (I feel the overwhelming urge to go shine my sink right now.)

3. Make bread. I really enjoyed making bread for my family last summer. I'm thankful for the time to do it again.

4. This one isn't a get-back-with-the-program thing, but it is something I've determined to accomplish soon. I want to have a yard sale. We have TONS of health and beauty aid stuff and lots of baby clothes and toys that I want to get rid off. I have to be careful on the baby clothes part, since we've got another one on the way and don't know if we should expect a Donovan or and Audrey, but we might be able to let some things go. And definitely a bunch of toys. We have way too many. Today I told Dianna and Jarod to go into their room and find 5 things that they could sell at the yard sale. Jarod quickly brought me 5 toys that are in good shape. Dianna cried and said that she didn't have anything she could sell because it's all special to her. We'll see. I guess even she can take baby steps.

5. Now this one I have to be careful with: I need to monitor my diet better. I can't go overboard with it since I'm carrying a baby, but I know I can do better than I am. I have a lot of extra padding. I wish I could direct my calorie intake to the baby while "living off the land" for my own nutritional needs. I want to keep my weight gain as minimal as possible. And I need to add exercise to my routine. (Notice I didn't say MORE exercise. That's because none exists in my current routine.) The dog might be able to help me with that. Even taking him on a better morning walk would be good for the both of us.

So there you have them . . . my summer resolutions. I'm gonna go shine my sink.

Walgreens, 5/30 -- saved 57%

2011-05-30T13:48:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. A lot has happened since then. An end to a busier-than-normal school year, dealing with first-trimester pregnancy stuff, it's been crazy! I finally found a good time to try Walgreens again, though, and I'm glad. Here's what I got:

Transaction #1:
calcium supplement - $10
Used $5 coupon from the May booklet
Paid $5.38
Received $10 rr

Transaction #2:
Celsius green tea - 3.99
Got $3 rr

Icy hot - $.99
Got $.99 rr

Bc headache powder $1.50
Got $1.50 rr

Liquid makeup - sale price $3.59

Illy canned coffee - $2
Got $2 rr

1 triscuit
1 wheat thins
$2 each
I thought I would get $2 rr each back, but I guess these were part of the same promotion, so I only got $2 rr.

Used $10 rr from first transaction. Paid $6.08. Received $9.50 in rr.

We're on Our Way to Disney!

2011-05-06T16:36:00.000-05:00

A little weekend getaway for our family is underway. We are thrilled to surprise our children with a quick trip to Disney World. It's been almost 5 months since our last trip, and since our annual passes are expiring soon, we wanted to get one more trip in. We are staying at Disney's pop century resort, a very cheapskate choice. We are heading to Epcot tomorrow and Magic Kingdom for a bit on Sunday before coming home. We are not being especially cheapskatey, at least not any more than usual, but are planning to enjoy this trip without being obsessive about each penny spent. We will be on the road for at least 6 more hours. More to come!

Publix, 4/25 -- 84% Savings

2011-04-25T09:12:00.002-05:00

What a fun trip! I love grocery shopping in the morning! I did have a little extra challenge today, since not all of the bogos and sale items were posted around the store. I really had to rely on my store ad to make sure I was getting the right things. I watched that check out computer like a HAWK to make sure things were ringing up as BOGOs.

I thought I had some more $/$$ from Apple Market, but I couldn't find them this morning. I was expecting to use a $10/$75, which would have brought my out-of-pocket to just over $10 for all that stuff. Oh well, I must have used those Apple Market coupons some other time and gotten the savings then. I can't wait until we get another Gulf Coast Shopper (or is it Gulf Coast Saver?) booklet. Those things have become my best friends since Apple Market stopped putting coupons in the paper every week!

Here's what I got:

8 Pace salsa/picante sauce -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.79

Used 4 $.60/2 from 1/30 RP

Paid: $8.76 for all 8, or just $1.10 each!

6 Bic disposable razors, 4 pk -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.49

Used 6 $3/1 from 4/10 SS

Paid: FREE for all 6, plus $1.53 overage!

2 Sominex -- $3.19 each

2 Phayzyme -- $3.49 each

Used 2 $2 printables for Sominex

Used 2 $2 printables for Phayzyme

Used 2 $5/2 from the Green Advantage flier

Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $4.64 overage!

4 Playtex tampons -- BOGO -- 2 for $4.29

Used 2 $3/2 from February All You

Used 4 $1/1 from Walgreens coupon booklet

Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $1.42 overage!

2 New York sliced garlic bread -- $1.74 each (50% off sale price)

Used 2 $.40 from 3/6 SS

Paid: $2.68 for both, or just $1.34 each!

4 Kozy Shak puddings -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.19

Used 4 $.40/1 from the 3/6 SS

Paid: $4.78 for all 4, or just $1.20 each

2 Tyson country fried steak -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.99
Paid: $5.99 for both, or just $3 each!

2 Purina cat food -- $2.79 each
Used 2 $2 coupons from 4/17
Used 2 $2 Target printables
Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $2.42 overage

3 Tangerines -- $1

1.26 lb. oranges @$.99 per pound -- $1.25

1.63 lb. apples @$1.79 per pound -- $2.92

1 refrigerated pizza dough -- $1.99

Total paid: $20.66
Total saved: $111.46
Percent savings: 84.4%

Feels good to have a trip like this one. I wish I could always keep my percent of savings in the 80's.

Step two of dessert. Btw, this dessert cost only $1.79!

2011-04-23T21:53:00.001-05:00

The first step to our Easter dessert

2011-04-23T15:39:00.001-05:00

Executing the Meal Plan

2011-04-17T17:23:00.000-05:00

Meal plan this week -- already a fail.
I thought we had a pot roast in the freezer, but it was really pork loin. So we had frozen pizza for lunch and I'm working on the pork loin for dinner.
So far, no anticipated problems the rest of the week.

Some Attempt at a Meal Plan

2011-04-16T18:31:00.000-05:00

I've done horribly at menu planning, and it's been so obvious around here by how much we've been eating out. Here's my best attempt at a meal plan for the week (I'm not about to get up and go scour the freezer & pantry; just going from memory here.)

All breakfasts will be oatmeal, cereal, or pop tarts.

Lunches/Dinners:

Sunday:
Lunch: pot roast, rice, corn
Dinner: frozen pizza

Monday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: not-sagna pasta toss

Tuesday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: pork fried rice

Wednesday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: Mrs. Callender's frozen meal

Thursday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: taco rice

Friday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: Swedish pancakes and turkey sausage

Saturday:
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: soup or chili

Now, if I can just have the foresight to get the meat out of the freezer each day before work or each night after dinner, I'll be in pretty good shape.

Publix, 4/15 -- 73% savings!

2011-04-15T16:26:00.022-05:00

8 cans Dole pineapple -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.65
Used 4 $.50/2 from the 4/10 SS
Paid: $4.36 for all 8, or just $.55 each!

1 Sorrento mozzarella cheese -- $3
Used $1/1 from the 4/10 SS
Paid: $2 (not that great of a deal, but I thought I needed it. I then got home and finished my pasta salad with shredded mozzarella instead. oh well.)

6 kellogg's pop tarts -- BOGO -- $2.59 for 2
Used 3 $1/3 from the 3/6 RP
Paid: $5.77 for all 6, or just $.97 each

2 Immaculate Baking refrigerated cookie dough -- 2 for $5

6 Birds Eye Steamfresh veggies -- $.89 each (thanks to 50% off sale)
Used 2 $1/3 from the 3/6 RP
Paid: $3.34 for all 6, or just $.56 each!

2 Kraft shredded mozzarella -- 3 for $5
Used $1/2 from 3/13 SS
Paid: $2.34 for both, or just $1.17 each!

2 Kraft shredded cheddar -- 3 for $5
Used $1/2 from the 3/13 SS
Paid: $2.34 for both, or just $1.17 each

1 Hormel mini pepperoni -- $3.69

8 Lay's potato chips -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.99
Used 8 $1/1 from the Yellow Advantage Flier (expires today)
Used 8 $.55/1 from the 3/13 SS
Paid: $3.56 for all 8 bags, or just $.45 each!
(This is my favorite deal of the trip!)

Used $5/$50 Apple Market coupon

Paid: $26.56
Saved: 73.87
Percent saved: 73.6%

Getting Caught Up On Publix Trips

2011-03-20T12:54:00.000-05:00

I have a couple receipts that I haven't logged yet. I don't really know the coupon matchups for these, since the receipts were just lying randomly in my purse. I'll do my best to remember. I should be mostly okay, since one of the transactions was just yesterday. Here goes:

From 3/19:

4 Betty Crocker potatoes -- $1 each
Used 2 $.50/2 blinkies
Paid: $3 for all 4, or just $.75 each

2 Sundown Naturals vitamins -- total of $9.58
Used $6/2 Green Advantage flier
Used 2 $1/1 insert coupon
Paid: $1.58 for both, or just an average of $.79 each

2 Mueller's Corkscrews -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.39
Used 2 $1/1
Paid: FREE for both, plus $.61 overage!

4 Colgate toothpaste -- $1 each
Used 4 $.75 insert coupon
Paid: $1 for all 4!
(A great price for a donation to a summer missions trip!)

12 Propel waters -- 2 for $1
Used 6 $1/2 insert coupon
Paid: FREE for all 12!

Total paid: $5.72
Total saved: $40.79
Percent saved: 87.7%

From 3/14:

2 Pedigree Dentastix -- BOGO -- 2 for $3
Used 2 $2/1 insert coupons
Paid: FREE for both, plus $1 overage!

2 Maruchan ramen -- $.34

4 Sundown Vitamins -- total of $21.86
Used 2 $6/2 Green Advantage flier
Used 4 $1/1 insert coupon
Paid: $5.86 for all 4!

Total spent: 5.43
Total saved: $23.10
Percent saved: 80.9%!

Menu Plan -- 3/19-3/25

2011-03-19T11:33:00.000-05:00

I varied quite a bit from last week's plan. We still ate most of the things I planned, but completely out of order. And we did eat out a little.
I'll hope for the best with this week's plan:

Saturday: breakfast -- pierogies, turkey sausage, and muffins -- yummy!
               lunch -- sauteed beef and basil-pesto pasta
               dinner -- out?

Sunday: breakfast -- egg casserole
             lunch -- ham and rice
            dinner -- frozen pizza

Monday: breakfast -- oatmeal/pop tarts
              dinner -- Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Tuesday: breakfast -- oatmeal/pop tarts
               dinner -- Talani's honey-mustard ham

Wednesday: breakfast -- oatmeal/pop tarts
                    dinner -- beef/bean burritos

Thursday: breakfast -- out
                dinner -- Wanchai Ferry frozen meal

Friday: breakfast -- oatmeal/pop tarts
           dinner -- salsa chicken

We will probably have rice with 5 out of the 7 dinners, cuz that's how we roll. And with so many frozen veggies in our freezer, we'll have something for every meal with little effort. I wish I had time to make bread or rolls or biscuits. And I'm currently obsessed with http://www.ourbestbites.com/ and really want to try some of their recipes, such as the creamy chicken taquitos for Monday night.

Publix, 3/18 -- 71% Savings!

2011-03-19T06:54:00.002-05:00

I got all of my info from http://www.iheartpublix.com/, http://www.mysweetsavings.com/, and http://www.addictedtosaving.com/. You can see those websites to check out what coupons to print/use to make these deals for yourselves.

Here's what I got:

4 Philadelphia cooking creme -- $2 each

4 Zephyrhills 3-liters -- $.89

2 Mueller's corkscrew pasta -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.39

4 Mrs. T's pierogies -- $2 each

8 Propel waters -- 2 for $1

2 Breyer's 1.5 qt ice cream -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.49

I used coupons for:

Philadelphia cooking creme

Mueller's

Mrs. T's

Propel

Total spent: $14.74

Total saved: $37.12

Percent saved: 71.6%

Publix, 3/15 -- 99.5% savings!

2011-03-15T18:47:00.002-05:00

What a fun, spur-of-the-moment trip! We were on our way home from Krispy Kreme having celebrated Dianna's good report card with some free doughnuts, and I asked if we could pop in so I could check to see if they had a few items. I left the family in the car for like 20 minutes while I "quickly" checked. See, they ended up having the items I was checking on, which meant I had to find things to buy to cover the overage that my coupons generated.

Here's what I got:

4 Maruchan ramen (fillers) -- $.67

4 Sundown Naturals vitamin D -- $2.99 each

Used 4 $1 coupons (from a recent insert)

Used 2 $6/2 Green Advantage Flier coupons

Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $4.04 overage!

2 Loving Care Natural Instincts hair color -- clearance priced at 2 for $3.99

Used 4 $1 Publix coupons from the Save $29 one-page flier

Used 4 $2 coupons from a recent insert

Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $4.02 overage!

Thanks, Faith, for the info to make this deal work!

1 pkg. beef chunks (I love these for chili) -- $4.47 (I think they are $3.99/lb. right now.)

1 New York sliced garlic bread -- $2.50

(I think I missed a $.55 coupon that I could have used. boo.)

Total paid: $.18

Total saved: $35.97

Percent saved: 99.5%!

WOO HOO!!

Weekly Meal Plan, 3/13-3/19

2011-03-12T18:23:00.000-06:00

Sunday -- corned beef and rice
-- frozen pizza

Monday -- chicken nuggets and pasta

Tuesday -- Not-sagna pasta toss

Wednesday -- Marie Callender's meal

Thursday -- beef and bean burritos

Friday -- chicken and rice

Publix, 3/12 -- 52.8% total savings!

2011-03-12T12:23:00.001-06:00

What a fun trip today! I was amazed with the deals I was able to find, considering how many I found sold out last night. Here's how I did:

First of all, the gas cards . . .

I bought 3 $50 gas cards and was able to use 3 $10 off coupons, making my spending on these gas cards $120, a 20% savings.

Plus, all these groceries for just $17.15 more . . .

4 assorted Sundown Naturals vitamins -- $17.96 total

Used 2 $3/2 printable coupons

Used 2 $6/2 Green Advantage flier coupons

Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $.04 overage

3 Excedrin Migraine, 100 ct. -- $5.99 each

3 Excedrin Extra Strength, 100 ct. -- $5.99 each

Used 6 $1.50 insert coupons

Used 6 $3 Target printable coupons
Paid: $8.94 for all 6, or just $1.49 for each bottle!

2 Pompeian olive oil -- BOGO -- 2 for $6.59

Used 2 $1/1 printable coupons

Paid: $4.59 for both, or $2.30 for each 16 oz. bottle

5 Voskos Greek yogurt -- $1 each

Used 2 $1/1 printable coupons

Used 3 $.75 printable coupons

Paid: $.75 for all 5, or just $.15 each!

6 Birds Eye steamfresh veggies -- $.89 each

Used 3 $1/2 Yellow Advantage flier

Used 2 $1/3 printable coupons

Paid: $.34 for all 6, or just $.06 each!

2 Yoplait Yoplus 4-pks -- BOGO -- 2 for $2

Used 2 $1 printable coupons

Paid: FREE for both!

4 Sargento pepper jack shredded cheese -- $2 each

Used 4 $1.50 printable coupons

Paid: $2 for all 4, or just $.50 each!

10 Maruchan ramen (for the fillers) -- $1.67

My total percent of savings, gas cards included, is 52.8%.

My totals apart from the gas cards are as follows:

Amount spent: $17.15

Amount saved: $117.25

Percent savings: 87.2%

Can You Tell Which Pocket Is for Publix Coupons?

2011-03-12T06:52:00.001-06:00

Publix, 3/11 -- 38% Savings

2011-03-11T21:10:00.000-06:00

Yes, you read the title right -- just 38% savings. Needless to say, things did not go the way I had hoped, but I forged ahead anyway.

Transaction 1:

1 brocolli -- $2

Corned beef -- $10.59

1 Voskos yogurt -- $1 each

Used 2 $1 printables

Paid: FREE! for both!

1 Publix hydrogen peroxide -- $1.89

2 Pompeian olive oil -- BOGO -- $6.59 for 2

Used 2 $1 printable coupons

Paid: $4.59 for both!

1 pkg. Publix bandages -- $2.79

$50 Chevron gas card -- $50

Used $10/$50 in-ad coupons

Paid: $40!

Transaction total: $61.86

Transaction savings: $26.92

Percent savings: 30.3%

Transaction 2:

8 Pedigree dentastix -- BOGO -- 2 for $3

Used 8 $2 coupons purchased from mycouponhunters.com

Paid: FREE for all 8! plus $4 overage!

4 Butterball turkey sausage -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.49

Used 4 $.55 coupons

Paid: $4.78 for all 4, or just $1.20 each

1 CLR septic treatment -- $4.19

$50 BP gas card -- $50

Used $10 in-ad coupon

Paid: $40!

1 knee brace -- $12.99

Transaction total: $59.18

Transaction savings: 47.98

Percent savings: 44.8%

Total spent: $121.04

Total saved: $74.90

Percent saved: 38.2%

I know that my percent of savings is terrible, but I'm thrilled with the $100 in gas I purchased for just $80!

Tonight's Frugal Dinner, 3/10

2011-03-10T18:51:00.002-06:00

I made pancakes (from a boxed mix) flavored with vanilla, allspice, and cinnamon. I used the rest of a box that I bought so long that I don't remember buying it! I served them with strawberries ($.17 at Publix), butter or peanut butter or syrup, and the Butterball turkey sausage patties pictured. They were bought at Publix this week (sale still on through Tuesday, 3/15). They were $3.49 for 2, plus I had $.55 coupons on each. That makes each box just $1.20.

My best guess about the cost of this meal is $3.00. I did cook the pancakes with coconut oil, which is a pricier ingredient.

My New "Pantry" in my Garage!

2011-03-05T18:55:00.000-06:00

The beef and bean mixture for our dinner

2011-03-05T18:09:00.001-06:00

Tonight's Frugal Dinner

2011-03-05T17:51:00.002-06:00

I'm working on a recipe I got from http://www.afewshortcuts.com/. Here's the link to the recipe: Beef and Bean Burritos. I made this once before, following the recipe very closely, and it was an enormous success! The meat and bean mixture was wonderfully flavorful and somehow entirely different from plain old ground beef. This time, I didn't have garlic or onion, so I used garlic and onion powder instead. Instead of tomato sauce, I used some V-8 tomato juice that I had in the fridge from the last time I made chili. I also used some broth, just because. And, instead of refried beans, I used a can of black beans that I slightly mashed before putting them in the crockpot. I even substituted the roast I used. I got a small roast yesterday at Publix using a $1 coupon (wyb Uncle Ben's rice). It's been cooking since around 10:00 am, and just now, a little after 5:00 pm, I went in to do the second half of the preparation and to shred the meat, and it just didn't fall apart like I expected. I'm not sure why it's not tender, but I just stuck it back in the crockpot on high after adding the black beans. After a bit I'll go see what I can do. As I was working on it, I remembered that the last time I made this meal I put about half of it in the freezer. I guess now I'll have two freezer beef and bean burrito meals ready in the freezer!
I plan to use a Taco Bell taco dinner boxed meal for serving. It has sauce, crunchy taco shells, and soft flour tortillas. I might make some rice, too. Cheese and sour cream, of course.

Let's see if I can come up with a cost analysis for this meal:

beef roast -- $4.58
onion powder and garlic powder -- $.05 (I think that's a high estimate for the tiny bit I used out of the giant bulk containers from Sam's Club!)
V-8 juice -- $.59
broth -- $.25
black beans -- $.17
Taco Bell boxed dinner -- $.66
Cheese -- $.50
Sour cream -- $.40

Total for this dinner: $7.20

Plus, I'll have enough beef and bean mixture to make into another meal, which will cost just an additional $1.56!

So I have two meals at a total of $8.76, or just $4.38 each!

Our $5 Lunch

2011-03-05T11:33:00.002-06:00

I made Rachael Ray's Not-sagna Pasta Toss again today (I think this is the third weekend in a row!). I estimate that it cost us $3.50. I made a steam-in-bag veggie that cost $1. I used up the rest of the cookie dough I had made earlier this week. Even with the added butterscotch chips, the dough cost no more than $.50!

Can You Tell How Full My Cart Is? Publix, 3/4

2011-03-04T20:00:00.001-06:00

Oh, my! We got a whole lotta stuff tonight! Our percent of savings wasn't the best -- just 64.3% -- but I am still pleased with the trip.

6 Uncle Ben's boil-in-bag brown rice -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.29

6 packages of beef (1 small roast, 5 pkgs of steak) -- total $22.78

Used 6 $1/1 beef wyb Uncle Ben's (2/13 RP)

Paid: $6.87 for the rice and $16.78 for the meat!

2 Ritz crackers -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.69

Used $1/2 Target coupon

Used $1/2 from 1/30 SS

Paid: $1.69 for both!

4 New York bagel chips -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.69

Used 4 $.75 printable coupons

Paid: $2.38 for 4 bags!

6 Crystal Light 10 or 12 qt canisters -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.99

Used 2 $1/3 Target coupons

Paid: $9.97 for all 6!

2 Zephyrhills 3-liter water bottles (I miss my distiller!) -- $.89 each

Paid: $1.78 for both!

2 Stouffer's family sized entrees -- $3.99 each

Used 2 $1 printable coupons

Paid: $5.98 for both!

4 Quaker chewy granola bars, 10 pk -- $2 each

Used 2 $1/2 peelies

Paid: $6 for 4 boxes!

1 Post-it highlighter -- $1.35

2 Hall's cough drops -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.69

Used 2 $.50 Target printables

Used $1/2 from 2/6 SS

Paid: FREE for both, plus $.31 overage!

6 Diet Mt. Dew 8-pks (12 oz bottles) -- BOGO -- 2 for $4.29

Use 2 $5/3 Pu blix Shopping Spree coupons from March Good Housekeeping

Paid: $2.87 for all 48 bottles of soda!

4 Milkbone dog biscuits -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.69

2 Milkbone Soft and Chewy treats -- $2.99 each

Used 2 $1.50/2 coupons from 2/6 RP

Used 2 FREE Soft and Chewy treats coupons from 2/6 RP

Paid: $4.38 for all 6 packages!

Used $3/$30 Publix coupon

Paid: $59.11

Saved: $106.67

Percent saved: 64.3%

Publix Savings February 2011

2011-02-27T20:04:00.000-06:00

Ah, the end of another month! I plan to get over to Publix during the current sale, but it will probably be Tuesday, 3/1. Which means that I have completed my Publix shopping for February 2011!

February 2011 Publix spending: $138.48
February 2011 Publix saving: $431.44
February 2011 percent saved: 75.7%

My Decidedly Non-cheapskate Splurge

2011-02-26T14:58:00.001-06:00

A Super-quick Publix Stop

2011-02-22T17:42:00.020-06:00

I got my coupons from www.wholecouponinserts.com today, so I decided to take a quick visit to Publix beforemyhe current sale ended. I spent $1.95 and saved $19.11!
Here's how I did:

2 Bertolli pasta sauce -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.79
Used $1.50/2 coupon from the 2/19 insert
Used $1/2 target printable
Paid: $.29 for both!

2 Betty Crocker brownie mix -- $1.99 each
Used 2 $.50 from the 2/13 GM
Used 2 $1/1 from the Great Deals on Great Meals (or whatever that Publix coupon flier is called)
Paid: $.98 for both!

1 Sundown Naturals folic acid -- $3.79
Used $1/1 peelie
Used $3/1 Green Advantage flier coupon
Paid: FREE! plus $.21 overage

3 Ramen (needed the fillers) -- $.50 for all 3

2 Wishbone salad dressing -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.89
Used $1.50/2 Target coupon
Used $1/2 from the 1/30 RP
Paid: $.39 for both!

Total paid: $1.95
Total saved: $19.11
Percent saved: 90.7%

Tonight's Frugal Dinner

2011-02-21T18:07:00.002-06:00

I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a line-item analysis of the cost for tonight's dinner. The Italian Days sale at Publix has such a complicated combination of coupons that it is physically impossible (for me, anyway) to figure just how much I spent on certain of these items.

I used a Rachael Ray recipe on http://www.foodnetwork.com/. I searched "not-sagna" to find the recipe. I did made a few changes -- I used onion powder and garlic powder since I don't currently have fresh onions or garlic. I didn't use red wine; I used extra beef stock instead. I didn't use red pepper flakes; I used a touch of ground red pepper.

When all was said and done, I am guessing I spent around $6 for this dinner. I served it with some of the free bread, thanks to the Italian Days sale, from the Publix bakery. I had planned to serve some broccoli or something, but it was such a HUGE bowl of pasta, I couldn't manage it.

I have only just realized that I love ricotta cheese. I could have eaten the pasta with the ricotta, pasta water, and parmesan cheese, without the meat sauce. I'm glad I have another big container of ricotta!

Publix, 2/19 -- 80% Savings!

2011-02-19T20:29:00.015-06:00

2 Publix bakery hoagie rolls, 4-ct -- $2.19 each ($4.38)
8 Hunts tomato sauce, 8 oz -- 6 for $2 ($2.67)
8 Progresso black beans -- 3 for $2 ($5.33)
6 Hunts tomato puree, 29 oz -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.89 ($5.67)
Used $5/20 Publix coupon
Used 2 $1.50 off bakery bread wyb 6 Hunts tomato sauces Publix coupons
Used 2 $1/4 Progresso Publix coupons
Used 2 $1/3 Hunts 29 oz
Paid: $6.05 for all 24 items!

1 La Creme yogurt, 4pk -- $2.29
Used $1 Publix coupon
Paid: $1.29

1 Marie Callenders potatoes and ham casserole -- $3.99
2 Marie Callenders southwest chicken casserole -- $3 each
Used $2/1 coupon from January All You
Used 2 $1 coupons from 2/13 GM
Used 3 $1.50 Publix coupons
Paid: $1.49 for all 3!

1 Orajel severe pain relief -- $6.99
Used $1 peelie
Paid: $5.99

1 Publix antibiotic cream -- $3.99

4 Betty Crocker mixes -- $1.99 each
Used 4 $.50/1 from 2/13 GM
Used 4 $1 Publix coupons
Paid: $1.96 for all 4

2 Sundown Naturals folic acid -- $3.79 each
Used 2 $3 Green Advantage flier coupons
Used 2 $1 peelies
Paid: FREE for both, plus $.42 overage!

Used $5/$50 Apple Market coupon

Total spent: $15.36

Total saved: $62.37

Percent saved: 80.2%

Good to Know: Publix at Mobile Hwy

2011-02-19T19:19:00.000-06:00

Publix, 2/19 -- 86% savings!

2011-02-19T13:33:00.002-06:00

Amazing trip today! I am super excited to share what I got. I want to give two quick notes before I detail my purchases:

1. I didn't use any printable coupons because my printer is psycho. I decided this morning that I hate it and want a new one. It figures that it would have a breakdown just AFTER we replaced both ink cartriges. Laser jet, here we come.

2. I forgot to somehow strategically place the 3 loaves of bakery bread into the picture.

3. I used http://www.mysweetsavings.com/, http://www.addictedtosaving.com/, and http://www.iheartpublix.com/ to compile my list. And yes, I realize that this is my 3'rd note before detailing my purchases.

First Transaction:

20 Hunt's tomato sauce, 8 oz. -- 6 for $2

6 Hunt's tomato puree, 29 oz. -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.89

4 Progresso cannelini beans, 14-15 oz. -- 3 for $2

6 Totinos frozen pizza -- 4 for $5

4 Progresso broth, 32 oz. -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.59

2 half-loaves of Publix sliced bakery bread -- $1.35 each

1 Publix bakery baguette -- $1.49

Used 2 $5/20 Publix Italian Days coupons

Used 2 $1/3 Hunt's tomatoes Publix Italian Days coupons

Used 2 $1/4 Progresso Publix Italian Days coupons

Used 2 $.50/3 Totinos coupons from the 2/13 GM

Used 3 $1.50 off bakery bread wyb 6 Hunts products Publix Italian Days coupons

Paid: $12.38 for all 43 items!

1 Sorrento ricotta, 16 oz. -- $3

Used $1 from 2/6 SS

Paid: $2

1 Jennie-O lean ground turkey -- $2.99

2 Sorrento mozzarella -- 2 for $5

Used $1 coupon from 2/6 SS

Used $1 blinkie found right in front of the items

Paid: $3 for both

1 Pedigree Dentasticks -- $3

Used $2 coupon from 2/13 RP (I think that's where it came from)

Paid: $1

2 Advil migraine -- $4.49

Used 2 $1 coupons from the 1/30 RP

Used $5/2 Publix coupon from the Green Advantage flier that starts today

Paid: $1.98 for both!

Used $5/30 Publix coupon found in the 2/16 PNJ

Paid: $18.58

Saved: $69.21

Percent saved: 78.8%

Second Transaction:

2 Wanchai Ferry frozen meal kits -- BOGO -- 2 for $7.99

Used 2 $1 coupons from 2/13 GM

Paid: $5.99 for both

1 Marie Callender's frozen casserole -- $3.99

Used $1.50 Publix Italian Days coupon

Paid: $2.49

1 pkg. Publix sliced pepperoni -- $3.29

6 Sundown Naturals vitamin D -- $4.99

Used 6 $3 coupons from the current Green Advantage flier

Used 6 $1 peelies found right on the product

Paid: $5.94 for all 6

Our cheapskate dinner -- using a coupon at Hong Kong!

2011-02-18T18:50:00.001-06:00

Get these coupons for the Italian Days sale! Cute four year old not available!

2011-02-16T18:07:00.001-06:00

The Beginnings of Tonight's Frugal Dinner

2011-02-15T17:08:00.001-06:00

The Wannabe Cheapskate's afternoon Pick-Me-Up

2011-02-15T16:54:00.002-06:00

This refreshing beverage was free thanks to a sale and a coupon at Publix a while back. Even beats Sonic's happy hour!

Our not-so-frugal Valentines dinner at Logans

2011-02-14T18:09:00.001-06:00

Last Night's Frugal Dinner

2011-02-13T13:37:00.009-06:00

I think I'm going to love this iphone picture directly sent to my blog business. Last night's dinner was a super frugal chicken and rice casserole. I put 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot (on high) yesterday shortly after lunch. When we got up from our beloved traditional Saturday afternoon naps, the chicken was cooked through and the house smelled like the herb and garlic marinade I'd used. I shredded 2 of the 3 chicken breasts (which made a huge amount of meat! I had no idea!) and added it to the casserole pan where I already had 2 cups of rice, 5 cups of water, and a packet of chicken noodle soup mix. That's it! In hindsight, I wish I'd added just a touch more water.

I baked it at 350 for 45 minutes or so. The rice seemed to really not want to get un-crunchy. That's why I wish I'd added a bit more water. When all was said and done, it was okay, but it might have been quicker and even better if I'd added more water.

I thought about adding some Velveeta, since I still have several in my pantry from ages ago, but decided against it since my daughter wouldn't touch it and my son would probably balk at it in sympathy for his sister.

Here's the cost breakdown:

3 chicken breasts (approx. 2 lb.) -- $3.54

2 1/2 c rice -- $.30

chicken noodle soup mix -- free!

New York Texas Toast -- $.86
We went veggie-less with this meal. I should have thrown some broccoli right in the casserole, shouldn't I?

Total cost: $4.70 for a huge casserole!
We had enough leftovers to use as a starter for a fried rice or for a light lunch.
PLUS! I have another cooked chicken breast to use in a pasta salad or something, making a second meal for probably around $2!

Trying Something New

2011-02-13T13:29:00.002-06:00

So I have been wondering, ever since we got our iPhone last week, how I could take pictures and post them here. It took me an hour this afternoon, but I think I have it figured out! And it figures, doesn't it, that the only thing I'm not embarrassed about around here is my Publix receipt from yesterday? Not a pic of me, blech! Not a pic of my house--too messy! Oh well.

Meal Plan, 2/12-2/18

2011-02-12T19:42:00.002-06:00

I'm super excited about the amount of stockpile meals this week.

Saturday -- chicken and rice casserole ($6)

Sunday -- ham and rice ($10)
-- pasta salad with chicken ($2)

Monday -- barbeque beef sandwiches and homemade french fries ($4)

Tuesday -- jumbalaya with smoked sausage ($3)

Wednesday -- lasagna pasta toss (about $4)

Thursday -- taco rice or boxed taco dinner ($4)

Friday -- leftover ham with garlic noodles ($2)

Saturday -- steak or pork chops, on the grill if the weather is nice. :)

Publix, 2/12 -- 71% savings

2011-02-12T18:04:00.006-06:00

Just a little trip today. That's a good thing, since I've gone over budget the last three weeks in a row, and last week was WAY over budget -- like $20 or so over!
I also got a raincheck for the $10 off $50 AmEx gift card, since my store was out of them. I'm glad for that because I didn't get a paper this week to get a $5/$50 Apple Market coupon. I can save that raincheck and get the gift card when I have the coupon to off-set the cost even more.

I got all my coupon matchups from http://www.iheartpublix.com/. I don't know how I ever functioned without this website.

Here's what we got:

1 pkg. Publix hamburger buns -- $1.23

2 Lysol antibacterial kitchen cleaner -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.69

Used $1 coupon from

Paid: $1.69 for both, or just $.85 each!

2 Emerald trail mix -- 2 for $3 (Yellow Advantage Deal)

Used 2 $1 coupons from 1/30 SS

Paid: $.50 for both, or just $.25 each!

1 Pedigree dentastix -- $3 (Yellow Advantage Deal)

Used $2/1 coupon from 1/30 RP

Paid: $1!

2 Hefty trashbags -- BOGO -- 2 for $6.89

Used 2 $.55/1 coupons from

Paid: $5.79 for both, or just $2.90 each!

(I'm not a brand-snob, generally speaking, but I refuse to buy cheap trash bags. It's not worth the little savings when I have to clean up garbage juice off the kitchen floor because the bag tore. Yuck. I am happy to pay this price for 76 trash bags!)

1 3-pk Scotch Brite sponges -- $2

1 Publix multivitamin, 100 pk -- $4.39

2 Vivarin -- $3.19 each

Used 2 $2 printables

Used $5/2 from the Green Advantage flier

Paid: FREE, plus $2.62 overage!

2 Phazyme -- $3.49 each

Used 2 $2 printables

Used $5/2 from the Green Advantage flier

Paid: FREE, plus $2.02 overage!

10 Mentos rolls -- $.50 each (Yellow Advantage deal)

Used 10 $.50/1 from 2/6 SS

Paid: FREE for all 10!

1 Silk soymilk -- $3.39

Used $.75 coupon from

Used $.75 coupon from Yellow Advantage flier

Paid: $1.89!

Paid: $19.82

Saved: $48.74

Percent saved: 71.1%

Plus, I had a quick trip yesterday to Publix to pick up one item: Hebrew National hot dogs. I bought 4 packs (BOGO -- $4.99 for 2), plus a $2 package of smoked sausage. I used 4 $1/1 coupons from the Yellow Advantage flier that expired yesterday. I paid $7.98, I think. I don't have the receipt, so I don't know if that's exactly right, but it should be. I will get 3 - 5 meals out of this!

A trial post

2011-02-07T21:14:00.002-06:00

My husband got an iPhone! I just had to see if I could blog with it! Looks like it might work!

Publix, 2/7 -- 75% Savings

2011-02-07T19:58:00.005-06:00

Still didn't find some of the best deals out there -- I must be the last couponer to make it to Publix these days! Still, I got a TON of stuff for less than $23. Check it out!

7 assorted Publix 2-liters -- $.50 each

Paid: $3.50

2 Edy's ice cream -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.97

Paid: $5.97

2 Lloyd's barbecue meat -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.49

Used 2 $1/1

Paid: $3.49 for both!

2 U by Kotex -- $4.79 each

Used 2 $2/1 Publix coupon

Used $2.50/2 printable coupon

Paid: $3.08 for both, or just $1.54 each!

6 Kotex -- $3.31 each

Used 6 $2/1 Publix coupons

Used 6 $1/1 coupons

Paid: $1.86 for all 6, or just $.31 each!

6 Ramen noodles (for fillers) -- 6 for $1

Paid: $1

1 Triaminic liquid fever medicine -- $5.59

Used $1 blinkie I found a while back

Paid: $4.49

8 Secret deoderant -- $2.99 each

Used 8 $2/1 coupons

Used 8 $1/1 Publix Green Advantage flier

Paid: FREE for all 8!

Used $5/$30 Winn-Dixie coupon

Tax -- $4.27

Total paid: $22.68

Total saved: $70.29

Percent saved: 75.6%

Plus, we also filled 2 prescriptions for antibiotics: one for our daughter with strep throat and one for my son just in case. These were free at Publix, but the receipt from the pharmacy says that we saved $31.90! Nice!

FlyLady Decluttering Mission Before and After

2011-02-06T13:58:00.003-06:00

I haven't been doing a good job at all lately with FlyLady. I barely get the kitchen sink shiny each day, although I suppose I AM grateful for that little bit of progress. Until today, I hadn't done a swish-and-swipe in the master bath, probably since early January. Well, my daughter has strep throat, and I stayed home from church today with her. I decided not to let my time be wasted. I did my swish-and-swipe, which took quite a bit more time than usual, thanks to the build-up of yuck in the toilet. Then I decided to attack the desk. Isn't it awful? Notice that there's no computer . . . that's right, the desk was so crowded that the laptop wouldn't even fit. I would just put the laptop on top of the pile to plug it in to the printer for printing coupons. I didn't use this desk for anything else. Seeing the picture, I know you are not surprised. Our desk is a really pretty roll top, so when company would come, we'd just close up the desk and pretend the mess didn't exist. The rest of the time, the mess was mostly invisible to us.

I decided that I would set the timer for 15 minutes, figuring that it would take several days of doing a 15 minute session each day to get the desk presentable. Off I went!

Fifteen minutes later, this was the result. I know it's not perfect; there are still the little cubbies to attack, as well as the top and the underneath area. But, oh my! We can use the desk again! I threw away trash and lots of coupons, many of which expired almost a year ago! I'm pleased! And, apparently, so is beautiful Dianna, who isn't letting her strep throat keep her from having a delightful countenance and attitude.

Publix, 2/5 -- 66% Savings

2011-02-05T22:25:00.003-06:00

I didn't have as much luck finding the deals I was looking for at the Bayou/9th Avenue store. I think 66% is a decent savings and better than most weeks here lately. I'll still keep trying to improve! I used several websites today to put together my trip. I perused the show-and-tell posts on these sights: http://www.mysweetsavings.com/ , http://www.addictedtosaving.com/. I used http://www.iheartpublix.com/ for the general lists, info, and links. Actually, I guess I used links from all three sites as well as from http://www.hotcouponworld.com/.

Here's how I did:

8 Lloyd's barbecue meat -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.49

Used 8 $1/1 from the 1/30 SS

Paid: $13.96 for all 8, or just $1.75

2 Kraft singles -- 2 for $5

Used $1/2 Target printable coupon

Paid: $4 for both, or just $2 each!

2 Kraft chunk cheese -- 2 for $4

Used $1.25/2 Target printable coupon

Paid: $2.75 for both, or just $1.38 each

1 Polly-O mozzarella -- $2.69

Used $1/1 Yellow Advantage flier

Used $1/1 printable

Paid: $.69!

1 Polly-O ricotta cheese -- $3.99

Used $1/1 Yellow Advantage flier

Used $1/1 printable

Paid: $1.99!

2 Athenos Greek yogurt -- $1.20 each

Used $1/1 printable coupon

Paid: $.40 for both, or just $.20 each!

2 Breakstone sour cream -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.95

Used $.55/1 printable

Paid: $1.40 for both, or just $.70 each!

1 Publix aluminum foil -- $2.89

12 Rotel diced tomatoes -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.39

Used B3G1 from January All You

Used 4 $.75/3 Yellow Advantage flier

Paid: $3.95 for all 12, or just $.33 each!

2 Oscar Mayer deli creations -- $2.19 each

Used $2/2 Publix coupon

Used $1/2 printable

Paid: $1.38 for both, or just $.69 each!

1 pkg. Publix hotdog buns -- $1.23

1 Publix bakery rye bread -- $1.99

Used $1 wyb Kraft singles

Paid: $.99

4 Honest Kids 8-pk juice pouches -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.49

Used 3 $.75/1 printables

Paid: $4.73 for all 4, or just $1.19 each!

2 Kotex pads -- $3.31 each

Used $2/2 from 1/16 SS

Used 2 $2/1 Publix coupons from 1/16 SS

Paid: $.62 for both, or just $.31 each!

1 Dove deoderant -- $2.99

Used $2/1 from 1/30 RP

Used $1 from the Green Advantage flier

Paid: FREE!

3 Milk Bone treats -- $2.50 each

Used 2 $1.50 peelies

Paid: $4.50 for all 3, or just $1.50 each!

1 CLR septic treatment -- $4.99

Used $5/$50 Apple Market coupon

Total paid: $48.39

Total saved: $93.84

Percent saved: 66%

Publix, 2/5 -- 73% savings

2011-02-05T16:03:00.004-06:00

Okay, before you scroll down to the rest of this post, I just want you to know that I didn't highlight the second half in yellow on purpose. I don't know how it happened, and I don't know how to make it go away. Also, just wanted you to know that, as I type here in the "posting" portion of blogger, there are blank lines between item descriptions where I have double spaced to make it easy to read. I don't know why blogger has bunched almost everything together, and I don't know how to change it. This is another good proof that I could never be a blogger by trade. I obviously don't know how to make the little things that go wrong to be right. Anyhoo, here's my info. for what it's worth . . .

Finally, a semi-decent percent of savings! Just when I was beginning to despair of ever getting back where I want to be! (At least 75% average savings is my goal. I have a ways to go still.) I had some deals that I wanted to try because they seemed a little too-good-to-be-true, so I went to Publix this morning to get just a few items to try those deals. I knew if they worked, I'd be back later to get more. I am in the middle of preparing my list for later, and it is HUGE -- and so is my stack of coupons! I hope I can get all the printables I need and that all the deals are in stock. I can't wait!

Here are the few things I picked up this morning:

2 Kotex pads -- $3.31 each

Used 2 $2/1 Publix coupon from the 1/9 SS

Used $2/2 from the 1/9 SS

Paid: $.31 each, or just $.62 for both!

1 Secret deoderant -- $2.99

Used $2/1 from 1/30 RP

Used $1/1 from the Green Advantage flier

Paid: FREE!

1 Publix brand cream soda -- $.50 on sale

needed a filler item and this is a favorite in our house

2 Oscar Mayer deli creations -- $2.19 each

Used $2/2 from 1/9 SS

Paid: $1.19 each, or $2.38 for both!

This is something we never would have tried before couponing. I know it's not the greatest deal in the world, but we get to try something new!

Total spent: $4.25

Total saved: $11.91

Percent savings: 73.7%!

Menu Plan, February 5-11

2011-02-04T21:51:00.002-06:00

We've done well this week -- we only ate out once! And that was to celebrate the fact that Dad and Mom closed on their house here in Pensacola, and when your meal out is for a really good reason, it doesn't count against you, right?

Here's my plan for the coming week:

Saturday -- breakfast -- may eat out before our shopping trip
lunch -- hotdogs and chips
dinner -- hamburger helper

Sunday -- breakfast -- oatmeal or poptarts
lunch -- crockpot roast and rice
dinner -- frozen pizza

Monday -- breakfast -- oatmeal or poptarts
lunch -- at school/work
dinner -- chicken and stuffing

Tuesday -- breakfast -- oatmeal or poptarts
lunch -- at school/work
dinner -- pork chops and rice

Wednesday -- breakfast -- oatmeal or poptarts
lunch -- at school/work
dinner -- hamburger helper

Thursday -- breakfast -- oatmeal or poptarts
lunch -- at school/work
dinner -- taco rice

Friday -- breakfast -- oatmeal or poptarts
lunch -- at school/lunch
dinner -- chicken nuggets, rice-a-roni

To successfully pull off this meal plan, we need to buy sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, and hotdog buns. I'm pretty sure that's it! Oh, and maybe onions, too.

My Publix Shopping List for 2/2

2011-01-31T21:57:00.002-06:00

Here are the things I think are worth your time and money at Publix for the sale that starts this Wednesday, 2/2. I got all my info from http://www.iheartpublix.com/, and you can get all the links to the coupons from that site. Save me some!

Honest Kids thirst quenchers, BOGO, $3.49

Used 2 $.75/1 printables

Pay: $1 each

Lloyd's Meats, BOGO, $5.49

Use $1/1 from 1/30 SS

Pay: $1.75 each

Pompeian olive oil, BOGO, $5.99

Use 2 $1/1 printables

Pay: $2 each

Rotel tomatoes, BOGO, $1.39

Buy 6

Use 2 $1/3 printables

Use 2 $.75/3 from Yellow Advantage Flier

Pay: $.12 each

Kraft shredded or block cheese, $4/2

Use 2 $.75/1 Target printable
Use $1/2 from 1/23 SS

Pay: $1.50 for 2, or just $.75 each.

(Not the cheapest I've ever found it, but the cheapest in a long time!)

Well, there's my list. Seems little this week, doesn't it? Well, I could use a smaller spending week. I'm hoping to keep my spending at around $40 this week instead of $60. Details this weekend!

Tonight's Frugal Dinner, 1/31

2011-01-31T21:55:00.003-06:00

PTM tonight made it necessary to do a super simple dinner. (Seems like something's always happening to require simplicity.) We had frozen pizza. We used one Tombstone and one Totinos. I think we spent $4 for pizza for 2 adults and 2 kids.

Today's Frugal Dinner, 1/30

2011-01-30T12:22:00.003-06:00

This meal can be a long time in the making. In fact, from start to finish for us, it was almost 24 hours! It is really very NON-labor intensive, though, doesn't have a lot of ingredients, and doesn't HAVE to sit in the crockpot as long as I did.

I forgot to take pictures of it as we got started, though, because I was so excited about the meal.

Go here to get the recipe I used for beef and bean burrito mix. I followed the recipe to a large extent, but I did change some things.

1. Instead of using chopped onion, I used onion powder. I just don't like eating chunks of onion.
2. I used 2 cans of Bush's Grillin' Beans instead of 2 cans of refried beans.

I served the beef and bean mixture with a boxed taco dinner meal kit, which contained flour tortillas, crunchy corn taco shells, taco seasoning (plus an extra packet of taco seasoning mix, as called for in the recipe), and salsa. I added cheese and boil-in-bag rice.

Here goes the cost breakdown:

4+ lb. chuck roast -- $8.70
2 small cans Muir Glen tomato sauce -- FREE! (actually $.72 overage! See the post about the purchase here.)
Onion powder -- $.03 -- seriously, this might be an over-estimate. I bought the giant container at Sam's Club for $4 or so and used less than half a teaspoon.
1 packet Taco Bell taco seasoning -- $.66
1 box Taco Bell taco diner -- $.66
2 packets boil-in-bag Uncle Ben's rice -- $.15
shredded cheddar cheese -- $.40
2 cans Bush's grillin' beans -- $1.35 (I don't really remember what I paid for these, and I can't find the blog post where I might have revealed it.)

Total: $11.95

AAANNNDDD . . . there is enough meat for 2 more meals! If we do the other two meals like this one, we'll need to use 2 more of the taco dinner boxes, more rice, and more cheese. After adding all that to the total and dividing by 3, I get a total per meal of $4.79. Today's meal served 2 adults and 3 kids.

Don't forget to check out afewshortcuts and her other freezer meals. (We've had the mini meatloaves, too, and loved them!)

Someday's Frugal Dinner

2011-01-29T21:27:00.003-06:00

I put together some cheesy chicken packets tonight. I made 4 and put them in the freezer to bake sometime in the near future.

I am using an idea from Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals. She used steak, bleu cheese, and arugula in the puff pastry pockets. I used chicken and brie, no greens.

After cooking the chicken in the oven for 30 minutes, I let them cool for a while. I cut the chicken pieces in half. Rolling out the puff pastry dough a little makes the size a little easier to work with but also causes it to be misshapen -- at least for me. I used a tablespoon of creamy brie cheese in each pocket. The four little packets are in the freezer right now. In the morning, I'll bag them up and stick them back in the freezer.

When I'm ready to use them, I'll just thaw them, brush them with a little egg wash, and bake them at 350 for about 30 minutes. The chicken is cooked through so, along with heating everything through, only the puff pastry needs to be cooked.

Future yum!

Tonight's Frugal Dinner, 1/29

2011-01-29T21:04:00.005-06:00

I put together a barbecue pizza tonight. I think it needed something. More flavor in the crust. Maybe some green onions. It wasn't horrible; we all ate it. But I do think it was lacking. Nobody's going to be asking me to make barbecue pizza anytime soon.

The cheese-less part is for my baby girl who doesn't like cheese. I used to think it was a phase she was going through. Maybe it really is, but she's been in the phase for at least 2 years now!

Publix pizza dough -- $1.99

Curly's barbecue pork -- $2.30
Kraft shredded cheddar -- $.40
Total for dinner: $4.69
The pizza fed 2 adults and 3 kids.

Publix Savings January 2011

2011-01-29T18:50:00.002-06:00

Here's how the month of January turned out:

Total Spent: $287.90

Total Saved: $494.37

Percent Saved: 63.2%

Looking forward to improving that mediocre percent of savings!

Menu Plan, Week of 1/29

2011-01-29T13:29:00.003-06:00

Last week was a fail. We ate out twice. Here's still hoping for continued improvement. (Honestly, two years ago -- even one year ago -- we were eating out more than in. So our kids saying, "We're eating in a restaurant for the second day in a row?" is progress.)

Saturday, 1/29 -- homemade chicken pockets and butter-basted potatoes
-- barbeque pork pizza

Sunday, 1/30 -- Crockpot bean and beef burritos, rice
-- frozen pizza

Monday, 1/31 -- (PTM) -- mini meatloaves and rice

Tuesday, 2/1 -- Mrs. Paul's frozen fish and mac and cheese

Wednesday, 2/2 -- out to celebrate a family event

Thursday, 2/3 -- beef and bean burritos, rice

Friday, 2/4 -- jumbalaya

We will need to buy a few things: flour tortillas for burritos, lettuce, tomatoes, maybe smoked sausage. Or we could just get by without those things. There are a lot of convenience meals here, but it's going to be a busy week, so I don't mind.

My Publix Trip, 1/29 -- saved 50%

2011-01-29T13:14:00.004-06:00

Over budget again today. Only $.52 this time, and I'm still under budget for the month of January as a whole. I didn't add any unexpected items today, but I did make a coupon mistake: I had planned to use 2 $2 coupons but hadn't read the coupon or the coupon link enough to realize that it was $2/2, rather than the $2/1 that I thought. If only that coupon had been $2/1 I would be under budget! Oh, well.

I'm pleased over-all with the deals we got today. Here's how we did:

2 Quaker Life bars -- 2 for $3.29 (raincheck)

Used 2 $1 printables

Paid: $1.29 for both, or just $.65 each!

2 New York frozen bread products -- 50% off -- $1.07 and $1.64

Used 2 $.50 coupons from February All You

Paid: $1.71 for both!

1 Publix pizza dough -- $1.99

2 Tombstone frozen pizzas -- $2.99 each

Paid: $5.98 for both!

4+ lb. 7-bone chuck roast -- $2.99/lb.

Paid: $8.70

4 Publix butter -- 2 for $5

Paid: $10 for 4!

4 Kraft barbeque sauce -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.65

Used 2 $1/2 Walgreens coupons

Paid: $1.30 for all 4, or just $.43 each!

4 Zatarain's dinner mixes -- $1 each

Paid: $4 for all 4

2 Near East couscous -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.19

Paid: $2.19 for both, or just $1.10 each!

2 Glad trashbags --$3.99 each

Used $1 target printable, and $1 Walgreens coupon

Paid: $5.98 for both, or $2.99 each!

2 French's mustard -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.89

Used $.50/1 printable coupon

Paid: $1.39 for both, or just $.70 each!

2 Special K shake, 4 pk -- $4.79 each

Used $2/2 printable coupon

Paid: $7.58 for both, or just $3.79 each!

8 Juicy Juice 8-pk -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.99

Used 2 $2/4 printable coupons

Paid: $7.96 for all 8, or just $1 each!

Total spent: $60.52

Total saved: $59.82

Percent savings: 49.7%

Tonight's Frugal Dinner, 1/26

2011-01-26T17:25:00.002-06:00

So, a super easy meal is in the works right now. I know it's not fancy, and I don't pretend to think that eating like this all the time is healthy. But once a week isn't going to hurt anyone, and I need an easy meal tonight!
We're having hamburger helper lasagna and garlic bread. Yep, that's it.
I used 2 boxes of hamburger helper to feed the 6 of us. The cost of both boxes is $1.50.
I used just one pound of ground beef instead of two. This cost us $2.
I heated some frozen garlic bread to go with it. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was probably $1 or $1.50. Not more than $1.50, I'm sure.
I know this meal didn't run us more than $5. It's plentiful; it's filling, and it's quick. Fits the bill for tonight. Gotta go! Time to eat!

Menu Plan for the week of 1/24

2011-01-24T19:45:00.002-06:00

So, I'm behind on menu planning. I guess the only time to be unplanned in this area is when you have a stocked freezer and pantry. I KNOW I can put something together, even if I didn't plan it in advance. Here's how I hope this week will go:

Monday -- Talani's brown sugar mustard ham, garlic butter noodles, corn
(I love the way Lan makes the leftover ham. I can't duplicate it! So yummy!)

Tuesday -- frozen pizza or chicken nuggets (I'm going out to dinner with a friend, so Talani and the kids are fending for themselves.)

Wednesday -- hamburger helper, garlic bread, corn

Thursday -- salsa chicken or some of our pre-marinated chicken in the crockpot, rice, mixed veggies

Friday -- grilled pork chops, stove top stuffing, veggies

Saturday -- chili, maybe? something in the crockpot, so I can relax. :)

Sunday -- pot roast, rice.

There you have it. The very non-inventive plan for the week.

What's Worth Buying at Publix This Week

2011-01-24T19:23:00.004-06:00

Here are the things I think are most worth the price at Publix this week. These are the things I'll be adding to my list, so make sure you leave some for me! Be sure to go to www.iheartpublix.com to see the complete sneak peek and to get links for all the printable coupons I'll mention.
(The prices are based on what iheartpublix reported; since she is in the Atlanta area, prices may differ where we are. I usually find things to be a little more here, although I do rarely find something to be cheaper than she posts.)

Doritos chips -- 2 for $3.99

Use the $1/2 from the Walgreens coupon booklet

Pay: $2.99 for both, or just $1.50 per bag of Doritos!

Kraft barbeque sauce -- 2 for $1.4eight

Use the $1/2 from the Walgreens coupon booklet or from target.com

Pay: $.4eight for 2 bottles! That's just $.24 each!

Near East rice pilaf or couscous -- 2 for $2.19

no coupon out there that I know of, but we surely do like the couscous!

Pay: $2.19 for both, or just $1.10 each!

Campbell's chunky soup -- 2 for $2.39

Use $1/2 target.com coupon

Use $1/2 or $2/4 printable coupon

Pay: $.39 for 2, or just $.20 per can of soup!

Juicy Juice juice box packs -- 2 for $2.99

Use $1/2 or $2/4 printable coupon

Pay: $1.99 for each pair, or just $1 each!

Great for school snack!

Marie Callender's frozen meals -- 2 for $3.59

Use one of various coupons

Some coupons out there are $1/1, but I'm not sure that they will work for this deal. The $1/2 in the January All You sems a more sure bet.

Pay: $2.59 for both, or just $1.30 for a frozen meal for the family!

If these are individual-sized entrees, I won't bother with them.

Purina Beggin Strips dog snacks -- 2 for $5.29

Use 2 $1/1 from the 12/12 SS

Use 2 $1/1 Publix printable coupons

Pay: $1.29 for both, or just $.65 each!

Lucky Cisco!

Publix butter -- 2 for $5

I'm so glad this is going on sale! We are almost out!

Pay: $2.50 each

Special K protein shake, 4-pk -- $4.79 each

Use $2 printable

Pay: $2.79 each -- A great price for these!

Glad trash bags -- $3.99 each

Use $1/1 Walgreens or Target coupon

Use FREE Glad storage bags wyb Glad trash bags from the Yellow Advantage Flier

Pay: $2.99 for trash bags and storage bags

London Broil -- $3.99/lb.

7-Bone chuck roast --$2.99/lb.

Grape tomatoes -- $2 for a pt.

Publix,1/22 -- 73% savings!

2011-01-22T21:39:00.005-06:00

Bad news first: I went over my Publix budget today. I have set a budget of $60 per week at Publix for the week's needs plus stockpiling. I spent $65.44 today at Publix. I am currently justifying by remembering that I was well under budget the first 2 weeks of the year and barely under budget last week. And did you see all I got? Nope, no guilty feelings and no regret for going over. I did two transactions today. Here's how they went:

Transaction #1:

9+ lb. spiral cut Publix ham -- $18.83

sheesh. Why'd I get a ham with so many eights in the price?

Paid: $18.83

1 pkg. whole portabella mushrooms -- $1.69

3.44 lb. Braeburn apples -- $.99/lb.

Paid: $3.41

5 lb. Idaho potatoes -- $2.69

2 Quaker granola bars -- BOGO -- $3.19

6 Taco Bell boxed dinners -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.69

6 Taco Bell taco seasoning packets -- $.97

Used 6 $1/2 coupons from the February All You

Paid: $7.89 for all 12 items!

4 Hunt's diced tomatoes -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.39

Used $1/3 from the January All You

Paid: $1.78 for all 4, or just $.45 each!

1 Morton's sea salt -- $.99

Used $.55 coupon from the Yellow Advantage flier

Paid: $.44

1 2-liter Diet Coke -- $1.79

Used $2 hangtag

Paid: FREE! plus $.21 overage!

2 Yoplait YoPlus yogurt, 4-pks -- BOGO -- $2 for 2

Used 2 $1 printable coupons

Paid: FREE! for both!

2 Jimmy Dean D-lights breakfast sandwiches -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.87

(I used a raincheck for these.)

Used 2 $2.50 printable coupons

Paid: $.87 for both, or just $.44 each!

Used $5/$50 Apple Market coupon

Paid: $36.72

Saved: $61.95

Percent savings: 62.7%

Transaction #2:

8 Kraft homestyle mac and cheese -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.59

Used 8 $1 coupons from 1/16 SS

Used 4 $1/2 Walgreens coupons

Paid: FREE for all 8, plus $1.64 overage!

5 boxes PopTarts, 8 ct. -- 50% off --$1.22 each

5 boxes PopTarts, 12 ct. -- 50% off -- $1.62 each

1 box mini PopTarts, 6 pouches -- 50% off -- $1.57

Paid: $15.77 for all 11 boxes!

2 Ritz pretzel crisps -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.69

Used $1/2 Walgreens coupon

Paid: $2.69 for both, or just $1.35 each!

6 Quaker instant oatmeal -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.99

Used 6 $1/1 coupons from February All You

Paid: $5.97 for all 6, or just $1 each!

4 Hall's cough drops -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.69

Used 4 $.55 blinkie coupons found right in front of the item

Used 4 $.50 Target printable coupons

Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $.82 overage!

4 Mrs. Paul's frozen fish --BOGO -- 2 for $4.49

Paid: $8.98 for both

4 Bird's Eye steamfresh veggies -- $1.79 each

Used 4 FREE wyb Mrs. Paul's coupons from the February All You

Paid: FREE for all 4!

1 Glad trash bags -- $6.85

Used $1 Walgreens coupon

Paid: $5.85

1 Glad freezer bags -- $2.50

Used FREE wyb Glad trash bags coupon from the Yellow Advantage flier

Paid: FREE!

6 Kraft salad dressing -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.27

Used 2 B2G1 Target printable coupons

Used 2 $1/2 Walgreens coupons

Paid: $1.27 for all 6, or just $.21 each!

Used $10/$75 Apple Market coupon

Paid: $28.78

Saved: $116.36

Percent saved: 80.2%

Total Paid: $65.50

Total Saved: $178.31

Percent saved: 73%

Publix, 1/15, 55% savings

2011-01-16T13:54:00.003-06:00

Not a good percentage of savings at all, I know. Two mistakes I made: 1 -- I bought a package of meat that I thought I needed to make a coupon work (will explain later) - $4.81. 2 -- I didn't buy a local newspaper on Wednesday, so I missed out on having the $5/$50 coupon - $4 (value of the coupon after cost of newspaper). That more-than-eight-bucks is really going to bother me. Anyway, here's how I did:

1 pk. pork sirloin cutlets -- $2.99/lb

Paid: $4.81

1 Publix semi-boneless ham -- $1.69/lb

Paid: $9.85

2 Tyson country fried steak -- BOGO -- 2 for $6.59

Paid: $6.59

2 Coffee-Mate creamers -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.59

Paid: $2.59

2 Red Baron frozen pizza -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.97

Paid: $5.97

4 Publix drink mixes -- 2 for $4

Paid: $8

2 Power of Fruit bars -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.39

Used 2 $1 printable coupons

Paid: $1.39 for both, or just $.70 each!

1 Slim-Fast snack bars -- $2.29

Used $1.50 Target coupons

Paid: $.79!

4 Progresso broth -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.59

Used 4 $.40 coupons purchased from mycouponhunters

Paid: $3.58 for all 4, or just $.90 each!

6 Hamburger Helper -- $1 each

Used 2 $.75/3 printable coupons

Paid: $4.50 for all 6, or just $.75 each!

4+ lb. apples -- $1/lb

Paid: $5.54

3 2-liters Diet Coke -- B2G1 -- $3.70 for 3

Used 3 $2 hangtag coupons found right on the product

Paid: FREE for all 3, plus $2.30 overage!

4 Welch's grape juice -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.25

Used 4 $1 coupons purchased from mycouponhunters

Paid: $2.50 for all 4, or just $.63 each!

4 Lenders bagels -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.05

Paid: $4.10

Total paid: $59.53

Total saved: $73.74
Percent saved: 55.3%

CVS, 1/15

2011-01-16T13:51:00.003-06:00

Used my husband's card to get the following (the sale has ended):

1 Reese's mini peanut butter cup king size pkg -- $1.59
1 Dove chocolate bar -- $.eighty9
Used $.50 coupon from the coupon kiosk for Dove

Paid: $2.17
Received: $2.4eight ECB

Walgreens, 1/15

2011-01-16T13:44:00.003-06:00

Found a good deal on Metamucil at Walgreens last week. (Sale ended)

3 Metamucil products, $9.99 each
Paid: $29.97 (because I couldn't seem to get any coupons!)
Received: $10 RR

Not bad! I could have used the $5 RR I already had, but didn't take it with me. Oh, well, now I have $15 RR to use this week on www.addictedtosaving.com 's GREAT scenarios.

I know this puts me WAY over my $10 limit for the week at Walgreens, but this is for a box we're sending far far away. I'm allowed to go over the limit for someone else's benefit!

Today's frugal meal, 1/16

2011-01-16T13:40:00.002-06:00

We totally just ate leftovers for lunch! The only thing I made was some whole grain pasta to eat with the chili. Probably a cost of $.20 or less.

We have ribs cooking away in the crockpot for dinner . . . we have company coming! Will serve mashed potatoes, I think, and veggies of some kind.

Meal Plan, 1/15-1/21

2011-01-15T14:59:00.002-06:00

I just got back from a fun trip to Walgreens, CVS, and (of course) Publix. I'll get my stash posted later, but I wanted to get my meal plan for the week set before I forgot. This past week went pretty well. We ate one dinner at Sam's Club, a VERY cheap, abundant (if a little short on quality) meal. I think we spent around $10. Then last night we went to Sonny's. I regret it. Don't get me wrong; the food was as good as always. Our server was very nice, even though I think she brought me regular Coke instead of Diet. But it cost $40. $40!!! That's enough to feed the family for two weeks if I'm really careful. Anyway, we like to eat out and are not likely to stop completely. But if we do it more often than we are now, we're toast! So, here's how I HOPE this week plays out:

Saturday, 1/15 -- Crockpot chili and rice (cheese and sour cream)
(already in the crockpot getting yummy)

Sunday, 1/16 -- lunch: frozen pizza; dinner: pot roast, mashed potatoes, veggies

Monday, 1/17 -- lunch: soup/canned ravioli; dinner: country fried steak, rice or potatoes, veggies

Tuesday, 1/eighteen -- hamburger helper

Wednesday, 1/19 -- stirfry steak and rice

Thursday, 1/20 -- taco rice

Friday, 1/21 -- salsa chicken, rice

These meals average at around $5 for the family.

Today's Frugal Dinner - 1/10 and 1/11

2011-01-11T20:45:00.004-06:00

Two delicious and frugal meals in a row!

Here's what we had:

Monday, 1/10 -- Pork fried rice

I used leftover pork from Sunday's pork roast. In addition to the pork and rice, our fried rice has tamari, eggs, sesame seeds, and (in this batch, anyway) thick-cut pepper bacon. We did buy a package of bacon just for this dish. We spent $5 on that bacon, but used just less than half. Our delicious pork fried cost us about $3.25!

Tuesday, 1/11 -- Creamy white cheddar shells with grilled garlic-herb pork

I used 2 boxes of Pasta-roni that I've had in my pantry for ever. I don't know how much it cost. I'd have to guess it cost less than $1 a box. Surely it did, or I wouldn't have bought it, right? (I really hope I wouldn't have spent more than that on a boxed pasta mix.) I grilled a package of pork chops from our most recent Publix trip, costing about $3.34. I served it with homemade biscuits, which probably cost $1 for the whole batch of 30. We also had tangerines, for a total cost of $.30. This meal cost just about $6.

Okay, here's a disclosure that I'm ashamed to make as a Wannabe Cheapskate -- we usually eat out more than we eat in. By the time we get out of work, I usually just want to go sit somewhere, have someone bring me a diet coke then keep the refills coming, and to not have to clean up after our meal. So, after all my hard work getting all these groceries for so little, they tend to sit in the pantry night after night while we go to Sonny's or Whataburger or Logan's or Chick-fil-a or whatever. I'm very proud of our family -- yet still ashamed that I am saying this -- we have eaten in for 3 straight days. No breakfast out, no dinner out. And it's been hard! Each day feels a little like a victory, though. Three straight days. (I see a breakfast out sometime in the next two days.) Having a plan for dinners make it so much easier to come home instead of going out. And having a clean sink (www.flylady.net) makes it quick to get dinner together and easy to clean up afterward. Our plan is to have either Kuresa's Wicked-Awesome pork in the crockpot or grilled chicken and rice or potatoes. Here's hoping for a great second half of this week!

CVS and Walgreens, 1/9 -- eighty3% savings!

2011-01-09T21:17:00.002-06:00

Transaction 1, CVS:

1 Dove milk chocolate - $.eighty9

Used $.50 coupon that printed from the in-store kiosk

Paid: $.39

1 Reese's minis - $1.59

2 Gas-X Prevention - $6.29 each

Used 2 $4 printable coupons

Paid: $4.5eight

Used $5 ECB

Paid: $1.75

Received: $.eighty9 ECB for Dove and $1.59 for Reese's

Transaction 2, CVS:

2 Gas-X Prevention - $6.29 each

Used 2 $4 printable coupons

Paid: $4.5eight

Used $.eighty9 and $1.59 ECB

Paid: $2.10

Recieved: $10 ECB for Gas-X

Transaction 3, Walgreens:

2 Newspapers - $1.50 each

Go! Kids' gummy vitamins -- $5

Used $1, $1.50, and $3 RR

Paid: $2.73

Received: $5 RR for vitamins

Total OOP today for drugstores: $6.5eight

Total received: $5 RR from Walgreens and $10 ECB from CVS

Publix Trip - 1/eight -- 69.6% savings!

2011-01-09T20:39:00.002-06:00

Look at all I got for $51.03!

5 Totinos pizzas -- $1.25 each

Used $1/5 printable coupon

Paid: $5.25 for all 5, or just $1.05 each!

eight Special K cereals -- BOGO -- 2 for $4.09

Used 4 BOGO printable coupons

Used 2 $1/3 Target coupons

Used 1 $1/2 Target coupons

Paid: FREE for all eight, plus $3 overage!

2 pkgs. pork chops -- $6.67

3 + lbs. pork roast -- $11.56

eight boxes Rotini pasta -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.79

Used eight $1/2 printable coupons

Paid: $3.16 for all eight, or just $.40 each!

eight Peter Pan peanut butter -- BOGO -- 2 for $2.67

Used eight $1 Publix coupons

Used eight $.50 coupons from 1/2 SS

Paid: FREE for all eight, plus $1.32 overage!

6 Maruchan noodles -- 6 for $1

Paid: $1 for all 6

3 Diet Coke 2-liters -- B2G1 -- $1.eighty5

Used 3 $2 wyb Diet Coke and $4 of meat hangtag coupons found on the bottles

Paid: FREE for all 3, plus $2.30 overage!

2 Curly's barbeque meat -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.69

5 lb. Idaho potatoes -- $2.69

3 pkgs. boneless skinless chicken breasts -- $10.54

5 tangerines -- $.50

2 pkgs. Hebrew National hotdogs -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.49

2 12-pks Diet Mt Dew -- $3.67 each

Used $1/2 Target printable coupon

1 pkg. crab meat -- $2.99

Used $5/$50 Apple Market coupon

Total spent: $51.03

Total saved: $116.eighty2

Percent Savings: 69.6%

Meal Plan -- week of 1/9

2011-01-09T20:19:00.002-06:00

Thanks to a great shopping trip this weekend, we'll be eating WELL this week! (Posts about my shopping coming soon.)

Here's the dinner menu:

Sunday -- Pork roast, stuffing ($6)
Monday -- fried rice with leftover pork roast ($2)
Tuesday -- Grilled garlic-herb chicken and garlic-butter pasta ($4)
Wednesday -- Slowcooker chili and pasta or rice ($4 ish)
Thursday -- Kuresa's Wicked-Awesome Pork and rice ($9)
Friday -- Steak with horseradish sauce and baked potatoes ($9)
Saturday -- Grilled garlic-herb pork chops and potato salad ($4)

We had pork roast and stuffing for dinner today. It was really good, and the gravy was super easy to make. Wish I'd taken a picture before we ate. It didn't match the delicious pork roast my mom made the other day.

I got a jump start on several of the recipes yesterday after we got home from shopping. I grilled the chicken and pork for Tuesday's and Saturday's dinners. Of course, today's pork roast prepared tomorrow's pork for fried rice. The pork for Thursday's dinner is cubed, thanks to my wonderful husband. Basically, the only dinners NOT begun are Wednesday's and Friday's. Looking forward to a great week!

Walgreens and CVS, 1/2

2011-01-02T15:14:00.001-06:00

I took a picture of my little stash, but my jump drive literally fell apart in my hand as I plugged into the laptop. Seriously, it's in 3 pieces. I don't know if the little guy will recover. So, without a picture, here's how I did today:

Walgreens transaction #1:

1 Oscillo children's flu medicine -- $eight.99

Used $2 printable

Paid: $6.99

Received: $10 RR

Walgreens transaction #2:

1 Celcius green tea, 4 pk. - $3.99

1 Milkbone dog treats - $3.99

1 Crest toothpaste - $2

Used $.75 from the 12/26 P&G

Paid: $1.25

Received: $1 RR

1 Jet Dry - $3.49

Used $.75 printable coupon

Paid: $3.74

Received $1.50 RR

Used $10 RR

Total paid: $3.69

Walgreens total: $10.6eight ($.6eight over budget. :( )

Walgreens savings: $23.99

Percent Saved at Walgrens today: 69.1%

RR remaining: $5.50, plus a catalina coupon for free Breathe Right strips

CVS:

2 Listerine (1 ltr. each) -- $5 each

Used 2 $1.50 hangtags! (an unexpected surprise!)

Paid: $7.75

ECB Received: $5

CVS total: $7.75

CVS savings: $6.5eight

Percent Saved at CVS today: 45.9%

ECB remaining: $5

$10 Scenario for Walgreens, 1/2-1/eight

2011-01-02T08:01:00.003-06:00

Transaction 1:

1 Oscillococcinum 6 pk -- $eight.99
Use $2 printable coupon
Pay $6.99
Receive $eight.99 RR

Transaction 2:

1 Celsius Green Tea 4 pk -- $3.99
1 Jet Dry -- $3.49
1 Crest toothpaste -- $2
1 Nivea Men Arctic Freeze -- $3.99
Use $.75/1 printable coupon for Jet Dry
Use $.75/1 from 12/26 P&G for Crest toothpaste
Use $1 printable for Nivea Men
Use $eight.99 RR
Pay: $1.9eight
Receive $eight RR ($3 for Celsius; $3 for Nivea; $1 for Crest; $1 for Jet Dry)

Total Spent: $eight.97
Total RR Remainin: $eight

$10 Scenario for CVS, 1/2-1/eight

2011-01-02T07:10:00.002-06:00

I saved almost $900 at CVS last year! That's significant for someone who practically refused to shop there.

I checked my quarterly ECB's on the CVS website today and found that I had $0 coming to me. That's because I have shopped at CVS twice since October. In fact, most of that $900 savings came between January and April.

So, it's time for me to get back to it.

I have had a horrible time coming up with my $10 scenario! I have decided to get the things we need. So, here it is; this is how I will spend $10 at CVS this week:

2 Listerine mouthwash -- $5 each

CanNOT find a coupon anywhere!

Pay: $10

Receive $5 ECB

I think that's all!

It's a TERRIBLE scenario, I know, but it is what it is.