DH and I spent a few hours today grocery shopping and meal planning for the next month. 3 stores and we're totally stocked up. Well, except for milk, which I've been drinking a lot of lately, and bags of salad (For those items, a quick trip to 99 Cents only and $2-3/week is all we need!)
First we hit up 99 cents only. $36.00 for 6 bags of groceries, which included the following items. I've included the retail value at Ralph's for comparison. 99 Cents Only doesn't accept coupons, but if you are a savvy shopper and keep a price book, you can shop at stores like 99 Cents Only and save.
2 lbs organic celery ($4.99 at Ralphs)
4 Supreme pizza Lean Cuisines (2/$5 at Ralphs- current sale)
3 boxes of Pillsbury Pie Crust ($3.00/box at Ralph's)
3 cans of Rotel Tomatoes ($1.69/can at Ralph's)- There is a coupon right now out for buy 2, get 1 free. At Ralph's.. that makes each can $1.12/each after the coupon, so 99 Cents Only was still cheaper!
2 bags of Dole Salad ( an outstanding $4.29/bag at Ralphs!!)
We also bought some baking mixes, bread, spices and other noms. If I would have bought the same stuff at Ralph's, it would have cost... $125.00!
Next we hit up Target (for something else), but they had Chicken Breasts for a pretty good price, so I bought a bag. They also had cheap olive oil (score!) and cheap spray release.
Finally, Ralph's! With only a few items to pick up, DH and I hit the aisles. I had a few coupons that expired today, so we made the most of hte trip and picked up some free stuff. Food Should Taste Good chips, free juice, and some darned cheap sour cream. I also picked up discounted ground beef, steak and pot roast.
We've got enough food for the next 3-4 weeks. Our menu will consist of stuff like:
Bangers and mash with steamed veggies ($6.00 meal)
Chili and cornbread muffins ($5.00 meal plus leftovers for 2-3 additional meals)
Steak, baked Potatoes, steamed veggies and salad (this meal will cost us less than $10.00 and will include wine and dessert! Who needs Outback!!)
Chili Mac and steamed veggies (Gotta use up those leftovers!) ($3.00 meal)
Pot Roast, baked potatoes, steamed veggies ($8.00 meal)
Chicken Terrazinni, steamed veggies ($6.00 meal)
Taco Salad (includes seasoned ground beef, beans, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes on a bed of greens sprinkled with crushed tortilla chips) ($7.00 meal)
Veggie Enchiladas ( usually I'll add veggies to the enchiladas too) with refried beans ($4.00 meal)
Meatloaf, baked potatoes, steamed veggies ($5.00 meal)
Quiche with salad ($5.00 meal)
Salad with grilled chicken breasts and cheddar garlic biscuits ($5.00 meal)
Spaghetti with home made marinara and meatballs ($5.00 meal)
sausage gravy, biscuits, scrambled eggs and fruit ($4.00 meal)
cereal and fruit ($2.00 meal)
coffee cake and fruit ($2.00 meal)
Fritatta ($4.00 meal)
Sticky buns and fruit ($4.00 meal)
All of the prices include a beverage (coffee, milk, water, juice) and for lunch and dinner also include some kind of dessert. Most of the time I'll make cookies or we'll have ice cream treats. I try to have much home made food as possible, I dislike relying on frozen entrees for our dinners. I do take Lean Cuisines to work along with water, a few pieces of fruit and a piece of cheese. They are quick and easy on those mornings when leftovers just don't appeal and I'm packing our lunches.
90% of the meals that we'll cook with yield 2-3 extra servings, which I package up individually and we each take them for lunch some day that week. That helps us save more money by keeping us out of local food courts and fast food joints.
Tomorrow, I'll update the pantry and freezer inventories and I'll probably spend part of the day cooking up a few meals to freeze for those days when a casserole is in order. By thinking ahead and putting together a few quick meals that can just be popped into the oven, we save about $100 a month by avoiding the drive thru line or the pizza delivery man.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Zuppa Toscana recipe- Olive Garden copy cat recipe
I love to cook. Really. Yesterday Mr. Cacoupondiva and I spent the day cooking. He made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and scrambled eggs, and we made a cherry pie together to take to my parents house for dessert and in the middle of the day we whipped up a big batch of Zuppa Toscana.
I freaking love this stuff, however "all you can eat" for me is about 3 bowls. And my pregnant palate doesn't really like salad, so the all you can eat soup, salad and bread sticks is really not worth it. (it's $7.95 here- I checked the other day, when I was really jonesing for some)
So, the other day I turned to google for a recipe. I made it yesterday and we had it yesterday for lunch, tonight for dinner and I just popped the last 8 cups into the freezer for dinner next week.
I used the recipe here: Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana: Tuscan Soup Recipe made at the restaurant
But I made several changes to make it healthier/more pregnancy palate friendly.
However:
I used Spicy Turkey sausage (italian), garlic powder instead of fresh garlic.
Re-hydrated dehyrdated onion (just pour them into a bowl and pour boiling water over them, when they "puff" up, use them like regular chopped onions).
I used a can of evaporated milk instead of cream- it's better for you and it's what we had.
I just used the potatoes we had in the house, I don't know if they are Russets or not.
Spinach instead of Kale- Kale has a weird texture that ooks me out.
Swanson's low sodium broth instead of buillion cubes and water (it's what we had) + 2 extra cans of water.
I used 2 pepper flake packets left over from when we had ordered pizza last month (those little condiment packages DO come in handy).
It's pretty spicy, especially when it sits overnight, so if you like it less spicy, skip the peppers and use regular Italian Sausage.
I calculated costs and the whole pot of soup (about 12 servings- I used extra sausage and potatoes and a little extra liquid than what the original recipe calls for) and it was approx. $8.00 for the whole pot. Not bad for 3-4 meals.
I freaking love this stuff, however "all you can eat" for me is about 3 bowls. And my pregnant palate doesn't really like salad, so the all you can eat soup, salad and bread sticks is really not worth it. (it's $7.95 here- I checked the other day, when I was really jonesing for some)
So, the other day I turned to google for a recipe. I made it yesterday and we had it yesterday for lunch, tonight for dinner and I just popped the last 8 cups into the freezer for dinner next week.
I used the recipe here: Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana: Tuscan Soup Recipe made at the restaurant
But I made several changes to make it healthier/more pregnancy palate friendly.
However:
I used Spicy Turkey sausage (italian), garlic powder instead of fresh garlic.
Re-hydrated dehyrdated onion (just pour them into a bowl and pour boiling water over them, when they "puff" up, use them like regular chopped onions).
I used a can of evaporated milk instead of cream- it's better for you and it's what we had.
I just used the potatoes we had in the house, I don't know if they are Russets or not.
Spinach instead of Kale- Kale has a weird texture that ooks me out.
Swanson's low sodium broth instead of buillion cubes and water (it's what we had) + 2 extra cans of water.
I used 2 pepper flake packets left over from when we had ordered pizza last month (those little condiment packages DO come in handy).
It's pretty spicy, especially when it sits overnight, so if you like it less spicy, skip the peppers and use regular Italian Sausage.
I calculated costs and the whole pot of soup (about 12 servings- I used extra sausage and potatoes and a little extra liquid than what the original recipe calls for) and it was approx. $8.00 for the whole pot. Not bad for 3-4 meals.
End of year tallies and savings calculations
With only a week left in the year, I am entering the last few lines of my 2010 spreadsheet. Unlike some frugal livers, I do not track my grocery savings (I'll go into that in a minute), however, I do track the rewards that I receive through out the year. Examples of these rewards are:
Register Rewards, Extra Care bucks, Pinecone Survey payments, Global Opinions panel (synovate) payments, Mypoints Gift cards, SBKC giftcards, misc. survey payments/rewards, rebates, and gift cards that I receive as comps (as a result of a letter to a company or from vendors that I work with). I have also included this year the magazine.com gift certificates that you can cash out (check out this article for more info).
With one more week, and not too much time on my hands to do surveys or anything else that is an income generator, I have totalled up our 2010 spreadsheet and our YTD rewards total is: $1746.20.
It seems incredible, but I take advantage of a lot of quick, easy survey program and rewards program I can. I also do not purchase items that generate an Extra care buck or a Register reward just to obtain free stuff. If it is an item my family doesn't use, even if it's free, it stays at the store. We only bring home what we can use.
The reason that I do not track my grocery savings is that I only buy items that are on sale and/or meet my target price for an item.
Example: my target price for cereal is less than $1.00 per box. Meaning if I cannot find cereal that fits my target price, I do not buy it, even if it's on my grocery list. We will eat something else for breakfast that fits in my target price (eggs, protein bars, etc.). For us cereal is a real treat. I only buy specific kinds of cereal (low sugar, high fiber). Thanks to recyclebank.com kashi coupons, I have been able to get kashi cereal for .26/box at target recently. And the boxes of cereal have more recyclebank.com codes in them!
By using a target price system, it's not fair for me to say, "I saved $150 on groceries this month!" because if it weren't for the target price I was searching for, I wouldn't have purchased the items at all. That's the reason we don't eat a lot of meat- it's really hard to hit the target price on meat when there are no coupons (90% of the time) and meat sales are few and far between. We don't have a large freezer or room in our home for a chest freezer, so I cannot take advantage of "buy a whole cow" sales.
We do stock up on seasonal meats- Prime rib near Christmas, corned beef at Saint Patrick's Day. I also shop almost exclusively in the discounted meat section.
We only buy food that we will eat- if an item is free, but we won't eat it, or if it is not healthy, we won't bring it home. Boxed meal kits, Fruit by the foot type snacks, most lunch meats, most frozen already made meals, most ready to drink juices are all types of food that we don't eat. If a product is new and there is a rebate, I will try it. I would rather leave the coupon on the shelf and share the coupon with someone who will eat the product and enjoy it than cart it home and have it sit in my kitchen, waiting to expire.
My goal is to save money and live better.
Register Rewards, Extra Care bucks, Pinecone Survey payments, Global Opinions panel (synovate) payments, Mypoints Gift cards, SBKC giftcards, misc. survey payments/rewards, rebates, and gift cards that I receive as comps (as a result of a letter to a company or from vendors that I work with). I have also included this year the magazine.com gift certificates that you can cash out (check out this article for more info).
With one more week, and not too much time on my hands to do surveys or anything else that is an income generator, I have totalled up our 2010 spreadsheet and our YTD rewards total is: $1746.20.
It seems incredible, but I take advantage of a lot of quick, easy survey program and rewards program I can. I also do not purchase items that generate an Extra care buck or a Register reward just to obtain free stuff. If it is an item my family doesn't use, even if it's free, it stays at the store. We only bring home what we can use.
The reason that I do not track my grocery savings is that I only buy items that are on sale and/or meet my target price for an item.
Example: my target price for cereal is less than $1.00 per box. Meaning if I cannot find cereal that fits my target price, I do not buy it, even if it's on my grocery list. We will eat something else for breakfast that fits in my target price (eggs, protein bars, etc.). For us cereal is a real treat. I only buy specific kinds of cereal (low sugar, high fiber). Thanks to recyclebank.com kashi coupons, I have been able to get kashi cereal for .26/box at target recently. And the boxes of cereal have more recyclebank.com codes in them!
By using a target price system, it's not fair for me to say, "I saved $150 on groceries this month!" because if it weren't for the target price I was searching for, I wouldn't have purchased the items at all. That's the reason we don't eat a lot of meat- it's really hard to hit the target price on meat when there are no coupons (90% of the time) and meat sales are few and far between. We don't have a large freezer or room in our home for a chest freezer, so I cannot take advantage of "buy a whole cow" sales.
We do stock up on seasonal meats- Prime rib near Christmas, corned beef at Saint Patrick's Day. I also shop almost exclusively in the discounted meat section.
We only buy food that we will eat- if an item is free, but we won't eat it, or if it is not healthy, we won't bring it home. Boxed meal kits, Fruit by the foot type snacks, most lunch meats, most frozen already made meals, most ready to drink juices are all types of food that we don't eat. If a product is new and there is a rebate, I will try it. I would rather leave the coupon on the shelf and share the coupon with someone who will eat the product and enjoy it than cart it home and have it sit in my kitchen, waiting to expire.
My goal is to save money and live better.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Another opportunity...
Ok, so I love to join panels, do surveys, test products, etc. One company that I am a panel member of is L'oreal. They have surveys you can take, and every five surveys, they send you a L'oreal product. L'oreal also owns Keihl's, Lancome, Gorgio Armani makeup, and tons of other brands. Recently I completed an eleven week lip balm study, which was pretty great because I got to try out and keep eleven differeent lip balms. Anyway, after the testing period was over, L'oreal sent me an email telling me that they were going to send me a thank you gift.
They sent me a great package yesterday, check out the photo below. I estimated that the retail value of my thank you gift is over $250.00. That is some thank you gift. If you would like to join the L'oreal's consumer panel, check out their website:
https://consumertesting.lorealusa.com/survey88.asp
They sent me a great package yesterday, check out the photo below. I estimated that the retail value of my thank you gift is over $250.00. That is some thank you gift. If you would like to join the L'oreal's consumer panel, check out their website:
https://consumertesting.lorealusa.com/survey88.asp
Monday, December 20, 2010
new holiday posts in the works!
I'm working on a couple posts and should have a few new entries later this week, including a post about our 2011 family binder and how you can put one together too, and a few more really great deal posts.
In the mean time, there is a lot of really great stuff (deals, contests, coupon links) going on our Twitter feed! Check it out!
In the mean time, there is a lot of really great stuff (deals, contests, coupon links) going on our Twitter feed! Check it out!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Is is really called shopping if the stuff is free?
Yesterday DH and I did the last bit of our in store holiday shopping.
I had been saving a bunch of high value coupons and free samples offers and finally I had enough courage to hit the mall.
We went our separate ways and the shopping began.
First Stop for me was JCP. I picked up a present for DH that was originally $40.00. It was 60% off, because of a super crazy sale, however, I also combined the store sale with a 15% off coupon that I received by doing a survey on the back of a receipt from another recent purchase and a $10 off of $10 purchase coupon that a friend had given me. Final result: DH's present was $5.55. Total savings $34.91!!
Second stop: Origins. Somehow I ended up on their mailing list and they had sent out $10 /$10 coupons a few weeks ago. The coupon had tons of restrictions, but I managed to find something in-store that was $10.00 (Peace of mind sensory therapy). So after the coupon- FREE! And as an FYI- you can take your empty cosmetic jar, bottle or tube to any Origins store for them to recycle. They'll give you a free sample for your trouble! $0.00
Third Stop: Aveda. I love Aveda, but can't afford it. Thankfully, they give out some of the best samples. When you sign up for their Birthday Program, you'll get a coupon for a free 3-pack of hair goodies (that you can redeem right away) and near your b-day they send you a Q for a free product. They will also email you occasionally and their emails almost always have a sweet coupon! They had recently emailed out a coupon for a free sample sized tube of Hand Repair, which I LOVE!! So I received my hair care three pack sample and my purse sized tube of Hand Repair. $0.00
Next stop: Hallmark! I had 2 $5.00/$5.00 purchase coupons from recent magazines. DH and I met up for this part of the trip. I gave him one and I took the other. He bought 2 birthday cards b=for upcoming family b-days. His after Q total OOP:$1.08. I bought 2 large rolls of wrapping paper (which we needed). They were buy one at $4.99, get the second for $.99. My total after q OOP: $1.85. Total: $2.93
We quickly departed the mall and headed to Fry's Electronics where we spent $14.00 on a secret Santa gift (savings $4.00).
At this point my energy was waning, but we needed to power through to get all of the errands done!!
Next stop: Office depot. I had a $10/$25 Q and DH's last present was in sight. I picked up a 3 inch binder (Why didn't anyone tell me how expensive binders are!!) and DH"s gift, and used my Q. Total after Q OOP $23.98. I basically used the coupon to get my binder for free (which I'm OK with, cause ain't no way I'm paying $11.00 for a binder!).
Only 1 more stop to go. At this point, I felt dead on my poor, swollen, pregnant feet.
BORDERS!!! DH had to pick up a gift for his sisters BF. We had a random Borders GC hanging around the house with $15.30 left on it. DH picked up the gift and the total OOP after the gift card was... $1.00.
Most of the other gifts that we have picked up for family have been pretty close to free too. I used the lulu.com sign up bonus promo (now dead) for 2 gifts (one for DH and the other for a friend) total OOP (including shipping with was $9.45 of the total) $11.75. I used the Gilt.com sign up bonus promo (also dead) for a gift for my niece (total OOP .95), and I used Mypoints points for several gift cards that will be used in gift baskets for a couple friends/relatives.
We've managed to stay under our budget for the holidays, and everyone is getting some super cool stuff.
I had been saving a bunch of high value coupons and free samples offers and finally I had enough courage to hit the mall.
We went our separate ways and the shopping began.
First Stop for me was JCP. I picked up a present for DH that was originally $40.00. It was 60% off, because of a super crazy sale, however, I also combined the store sale with a 15% off coupon that I received by doing a survey on the back of a receipt from another recent purchase and a $10 off of $10 purchase coupon that a friend had given me. Final result: DH's present was $5.55. Total savings $34.91!!
Second stop: Origins. Somehow I ended up on their mailing list and they had sent out $10 /$10 coupons a few weeks ago. The coupon had tons of restrictions, but I managed to find something in-store that was $10.00 (Peace of mind sensory therapy). So after the coupon- FREE! And as an FYI- you can take your empty cosmetic jar, bottle or tube to any Origins store for them to recycle. They'll give you a free sample for your trouble! $0.00
Third Stop: Aveda. I love Aveda, but can't afford it. Thankfully, they give out some of the best samples. When you sign up for their Birthday Program, you'll get a coupon for a free 3-pack of hair goodies (that you can redeem right away) and near your b-day they send you a Q for a free product. They will also email you occasionally and their emails almost always have a sweet coupon! They had recently emailed out a coupon for a free sample sized tube of Hand Repair, which I LOVE!! So I received my hair care three pack sample and my purse sized tube of Hand Repair. $0.00
Next stop: Hallmark! I had 2 $5.00/$5.00 purchase coupons from recent magazines. DH and I met up for this part of the trip. I gave him one and I took the other. He bought 2 birthday cards b=for upcoming family b-days. His after Q total OOP:$1.08. I bought 2 large rolls of wrapping paper (which we needed). They were buy one at $4.99, get the second for $.99. My total after q OOP: $1.85. Total: $2.93
We quickly departed the mall and headed to Fry's Electronics where we spent $14.00 on a secret Santa gift (savings $4.00).
At this point my energy was waning, but we needed to power through to get all of the errands done!!
Next stop: Office depot. I had a $10/$25 Q and DH's last present was in sight. I picked up a 3 inch binder (Why didn't anyone tell me how expensive binders are!!) and DH"s gift, and used my Q. Total after Q OOP $23.98. I basically used the coupon to get my binder for free (which I'm OK with, cause ain't no way I'm paying $11.00 for a binder!).
Only 1 more stop to go. At this point, I felt dead on my poor, swollen, pregnant feet.
BORDERS!!! DH had to pick up a gift for his sisters BF. We had a random Borders GC hanging around the house with $15.30 left on it. DH picked up the gift and the total OOP after the gift card was... $1.00.
Most of the other gifts that we have picked up for family have been pretty close to free too. I used the lulu.com sign up bonus promo (now dead) for 2 gifts (one for DH and the other for a friend) total OOP (including shipping with was $9.45 of the total) $11.75. I used the Gilt.com sign up bonus promo (also dead) for a gift for my niece (total OOP .95), and I used Mypoints points for several gift cards that will be used in gift baskets for a couple friends/relatives.
We've managed to stay under our budget for the holidays, and everyone is getting some super cool stuff.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Free $10 gas card
I'm not going to argue or allow a debate to start in the comments about BP and the oil spill in the gulf. If you post a comment in that vain, it will be deleted. My blog, my rules. :P
Thanks to My Good Cents dot net and One Money saving Momma dot blogspot dot com (due to word press TOS, I cannot post their links- sorry) for the deets on this deal.
Get a FREE $10 BP reward card with every 5th fill up. A fill up is defined as eight or more gallons.
To receive your card(s) purchase eight gallons or more of fuel and present your receipt to the on-site cashier to get a Loyalty Card. Scratch the card to reveal a unique code, enter the code on this website. Once you have entered five codes you will be mailed your $10 BP Reward Card.
Offer expires March 1st, 2011 or until Loyalty card supplies are exhausted. Promotion not valid in New Jersey. Find a station near you here.
For my San Diego Peeps, Most Arco stations are BP's and some AMPM stations are as well.
Thanks to My Good Cents dot net and One Money saving Momma dot blogspot dot com (due to word press TOS, I cannot post their links- sorry) for the deets on this deal.
Get a FREE $10 BP reward card with every 5th fill up. A fill up is defined as eight or more gallons.
To receive your card(s) purchase eight gallons or more of fuel and present your receipt to the on-site cashier to get a Loyalty Card. Scratch the card to reveal a unique code, enter the code on this website. Once you have entered five codes you will be mailed your $10 BP Reward Card.
Offer expires March 1st, 2011 or until Loyalty card supplies are exhausted. Promotion not valid in New Jersey. Find a station near you here.
For my San Diego Peeps, Most Arco stations are BP's and some AMPM stations are as well.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
ahh, witness my thrift...
So, DH has a blue Oxford shirt that he loves. It is called "blue shirt". Well, blue shirt had seen way better days. It was frayed at the neck and it made Mr. CACoupondiva look like a hobo.
Looking through the JCP website, I found that the Stafford Oxford's were on sale for $14.99 last week, with an additional 20% off when you used your JCP card. I paired it up with the $10/$10 (it came with my re-issued JCP card), and Dh's shirt was... (drumroll)... $2.00 plus tax!
We turned around and took the survey on the back of the receipt for 15% off the next purchase, which happened to be a watch for DH. His parents sent him $$ for a new watch. The watch was $108.75 (on sale). He paired it with the $10/$10 that came in the mail, and the 15% off survey Q. He added the service plan (16.99) and the grand total was $84.00.
I just got another $10/$10 last night from a friend and I'll be using it for DH's X-mas gift along with another 15% off survey q (from his watch purchase!).
Looking through the JCP website, I found that the Stafford Oxford's were on sale for $14.99 last week, with an additional 20% off when you used your JCP card. I paired it up with the $10/$10 (it came with my re-issued JCP card), and Dh's shirt was... (drumroll)... $2.00 plus tax!
We turned around and took the survey on the back of the receipt for 15% off the next purchase, which happened to be a watch for DH. His parents sent him $$ for a new watch. The watch was $108.75 (on sale). He paired it with the $10/$10 that came in the mail, and the 15% off survey Q. He added the service plan (16.99) and the grand total was $84.00.
I just got another $10/$10 last night from a friend and I'll be using it for DH's X-mas gift along with another 15% off survey q (from his watch purchase!).
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A couple holiday deals...
We are hitting the final stretch of online shopping before the holidays. Here are a couple deals that will provide almost instant gratification!!
Restaurant.com is offering $25.00 gift certificates for only $2.00 when you use the coupon code JOY at check out.
Michael's has a 40% off coupon available valid until 12/18/10 (Thanks to Coupon Dad!)
Remember to check out our twitter feed daily for tons of great coupon codes, deals and offers!
Restaurant.com is offering $25.00 gift certificates for only $2.00 when you use the coupon code JOY at check out.
Michael's has a 40% off coupon available valid until 12/18/10 (Thanks to Coupon Dad!)
Remember to check out our twitter feed daily for tons of great coupon codes, deals and offers!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Free gift cards- hells yes!!
This is probably one of the sweetest deals I've seen in a while!
Learn more about ithoughtful here: http://www.itsthoughtful.com/lm.php It's free to sign up, and really, who couldn't use $25.00 in free Amazon gift certificates?
Just in time for the holidays- Ithoughtful.com is giving away $25.00 Amazon gift cards when you sign up and refer 15 friends.
Learn more about ithoughtful here: http://www.itsthoughtful.com/lm.php It's free to sign up, and really, who couldn't use $25.00 in free Amazon gift certificates?
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Live near a Ruby's Diner?
That's right! A burger and fries for only $2.80! I know where DH and I are going for dinner on Monday!
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