We have been doing great living of the land. We started half way through the day Wednesday and it is now Sunday, so we're on day 5 and have not strayed, except for buying 2 cans of chicken noodle soup for my husband who cracked a tooth yesterday and was really unable to eat anything. I didn't have time to defrost chickens and make soup for him, so I broke down and bought him some. I had a couple curve balls thrown at me this weekend, but have held strong, except the soup.
Friday morning my brother showed up, which I knew he was coming, but wasn't expecting until Sunday, but I threw together a fantastic lunch for him. Had panned tacos for dinner so I made them earlier for us, plus some rice and beans. He was happy, he loves Mexican food.
Next surprise came after school, about 3:30 I got a call from my Aunt who really need me to watch her 3 kids overnight so she could go pick up her father 5 hours away and bring him back to a hospital here. So an extra 3 kids for 24 hours. It would have been so easy to just have my husband pick up pizzas, but I stayed strong. We had tacos then headed out with all 9 kids to my older girls spring concert. The next day we had cereal and pancakes for breakfast. Morning snack was fruit. Lunch was pasta, peaches and strawberries. Afternoon snack took place while I was with my husband at the dentist, but they had Popsicles and chips. I made a turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots and gravy for dinner. They were gone shortly after that.
Today my bother is coming back over after spending the weekend with a friend, so another big dinner tonight. He will be here in a few short hours along with a couple other people. I am making another turkey and all the sides from last night along with a fruit salad. That will be dinner/lunch. I'm going to make brownies with strawberries for desert.
Tomorrow will hopefully not hold any surprises for me. The plan at the moment is pancakes for breakfast, lunch will be some sort of pasta dish, dinner will be pot roast. The pot roast should be dinner for 2 days. A roast with potatoes and carrots Monday and shredded into tacos Tuesday. It will really depend on how much is left over.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Grocery shopping week of 5\11
Got my grocery ads today and have put together my lists. Hopefully others have a stockpile of coupons like I do, or at least some coupons.
Fry's:
I will do 2 identical transactions so not to clear any shelves. My stores a fantastic about coupons and are always extremely well stocked.
10 Nivea bodywash 2.99-3.00{coupon}= 0
10 nivea for men 2.99-3.00{coupon}= 0
13 Farmer john bacon 3.00-2.00=1.00=13.00
10 quaker quakes .99-.50=.49=4.90
Total= 17.90
Fr's sale this week Buy 10 items save 5.00$ I'm getting 30 items.
17.90-15.00=2.90+tax
7.00 total oop for 2 transactions
Safeway:
10 lay's kettle chips 1.99-1.00{coupon}=.99=9.90
10 sierra mist {coupon} Free when buying Lay's kettlechips= FREE
20 sobe drinks .79 each- .30 =.49 each= 9.80
Total= 19.70
Catalina's from last week 7.00
13.00 oop with tax
Albertsons:
12 propel .50-.50 coupon= FREE
4 popsicle .99 = 3.96
Total= 3.96
5% off for being an employee
4.00 oop with tax
Total Out Of Pocket {oop} should be $24.00 or so. Just within my budget and lots of good stockpiling.
Fry's:
I will do 2 identical transactions so not to clear any shelves. My stores a fantastic about coupons and are always extremely well stocked.
10 Nivea bodywash 2.99-3.00{coupon}= 0
10 nivea for men 2.99-3.00{coupon}= 0
13 Farmer john bacon 3.00-2.00=1.00=13.00
10 quaker quakes .99-.50=.49=4.90
Total= 17.90
Fr's sale this week Buy 10 items save 5.00$ I'm getting 30 items.
17.90-15.00=2.90+tax
7.00 total oop for 2 transactions
Safeway:
10 lay's kettle chips 1.99-1.00{coupon}=.99=9.90
10 sierra mist {coupon} Free when buying Lay's kettlechips= FREE
20 sobe drinks .79 each- .30 =.49 each= 9.80
Total= 19.70
Catalina's from last week 7.00
13.00 oop with tax
Albertsons:
12 propel .50-.50 coupon= FREE
4 popsicle .99 = 3.96
Total= 3.96
5% off for being an employee
4.00 oop with tax
Total Out Of Pocket {oop} should be $24.00 or so. Just within my budget and lots of good stockpiling.
Refining my inventory list
I have been really good over the last few months at keeping an inventory list. It is extremely helpful to know what you have on hand. So last night I looked over all my lists and have determined we have more than enough to take us through the next month.
Inventory List:
Meat Freezer:
10 bags marinated boneless skinless chicken breast
4 giant roasts
10 lbs ground beef
6 whole chickens
20 turkeys
3 large packages pork chops
2 small packages chicken legs
Other freezer:
20 loaves bread
15 packages twinkie/cupcakes
5-5 lb packages flour
20 bagged veg, mostly broccoli
10 yoplait smoothie makers
5 loaves Cinnamon raisin bread
9 packages english muffins
4 loaves texas toast
5 packages flour tortillas
2 packages taquitos
10 frozen pizzas
15 bags premade meatballs
5 boxes perogies
Small freezer:
6 lb's butter
15 kraft singles
20 philly cooking creme, different flavors
tons of yeast
3 bags fish sticks
So as you can tell I have a lot of food on hand, obviously we won't even be eating all of it over the next month, so I think I will extend my challenge to 6 weeks. I will not use all my turkeys as we like to have them every other week and that will take me to thanksgiving when I can stock up on them again.
I am now challenging myself to 60$ per week grocery budget for the next 6 weeks, this should not only allow us to have the money needed for our extra bill, but also help us put a little back into savings.
The challenge: Live off stockpile, only spending 60$ per week from May 10th through June 22nd.
Now to convince my husband this is a good idea!
Inventory List:
Meat Freezer:
10 bags marinated boneless skinless chicken breast
4 giant roasts
10 lbs ground beef
6 whole chickens
20 turkeys
3 large packages pork chops
2 small packages chicken legs
Other freezer:
20 loaves bread
15 packages twinkie/cupcakes
5-5 lb packages flour
20 bagged veg, mostly broccoli
10 yoplait smoothie makers
5 loaves Cinnamon raisin bread
9 packages english muffins
4 loaves texas toast
5 packages flour tortillas
2 packages taquitos
10 frozen pizzas
15 bags premade meatballs
5 boxes perogies
Small freezer:
6 lb's butter
15 kraft singles
20 philly cooking creme, different flavors
tons of yeast
3 bags fish sticks
So as you can tell I have a lot of food on hand, obviously we won't even be eating all of it over the next month, so I think I will extend my challenge to 6 weeks. I will not use all my turkeys as we like to have them every other week and that will take me to thanksgiving when I can stock up on them again.
I am now challenging myself to 60$ per week grocery budget for the next 6 weeks, this should not only allow us to have the money needed for our extra bill, but also help us put a little back into savings.
The challenge: Live off stockpile, only spending 60$ per week from May 10th through June 22nd.
Now to convince my husband this is a good idea!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Just got my Tuesday ads
There are a few ads I get on Tuesday's and they came just a few minutes ago, so I thought I would post my lists for those places. These are for the places I only get produce.
Pro's ranch market
30 lb's banana's {4 lb/.99} =7.50
18 cucumber {9/.99}=1.98
4 whole seedless watermelon {$.12/b}= approx. 6.00 {these average 12 lbs each at my store}
6 lb's roma tomatoes {3lb/.99}= 1.98
6 mangoes {3/.99}= 1.98
3 iceburg lettuce {3/.99}= .99
Total= 20.43 plus tax
Unless there are other smokin deals there that is it.
Sprout's
18 corn {6/1$}= 3.00
4 green peppers {2/1$}= 2.00
6 1lb strawberries {.88 ea}= 5.28
Total= 10.28
This will be plenty of produce for the week, I will use some frozen veg for dinners. My kids eat 3-4 servings of fruit and 3-4 serving of veg per day. I may be on a super strict budget this month but I have no intention of slacking on their health because of it.
My budget of 60$ for this week is now much smaller, but well worth using a lttle more than half of my budget on this stuff, so good for you and satisfying.
When I do my grocery list later with my remaining 25$ I will post it.
Pro's ranch market
30 lb's banana's {4 lb/.99} =7.50
18 cucumber {9/.99}=1.98
4 whole seedless watermelon {$.12/b}= approx. 6.00 {these average 12 lbs each at my store}
6 lb's roma tomatoes {3lb/.99}= 1.98
6 mangoes {3/.99}= 1.98
3 iceburg lettuce {3/.99}= .99
Total= 20.43 plus tax
Unless there are other smokin deals there that is it.
Sprout's
18 corn {6/1$}= 3.00
4 green peppers {2/1$}= 2.00
6 1lb strawberries {.88 ea}= 5.28
Total= 10.28
This will be plenty of produce for the week, I will use some frozen veg for dinners. My kids eat 3-4 servings of fruit and 3-4 serving of veg per day. I may be on a super strict budget this month but I have no intention of slacking on their health because of it.
My budget of 60$ for this week is now much smaller, but well worth using a lttle more than half of my budget on this stuff, so good for you and satisfying.
When I do my grocery list later with my remaining 25$ I will post it.
Living off the land
This post is inspired by Lessie over at www.mycouponlady.com. She posted today, shortly after I realized my monthly budget was just 240$ for all 8 of us, that she too will need to be living off her stockpile for the month. We had an unexpected 1500$ bill come up, while I'm happy we have the money to pay it going from 600$ for monthly groceries plus the extra money to eat out to just 240$ and no money to eat out at all is a big difference. I am excited and nervous about this challenge.
Tonights dinner is leftover grilled chicken mixed into pasta with some asparagus and the italian philly cooking cream, jello with strawberries and pineapple mixed in.
Wednesday:
Breakfast- cereal and fruit
Lunch- PB&J, chips and watermelon
Dinner- Spaghetti and salad
Hoping others take on this challenge, it's good to start with a fresh stockpile every once in a while.
I will be trying to post my grocery lists this month and keep you updated on how we're doing with this challenge.
Tonights dinner is leftover grilled chicken mixed into pasta with some asparagus and the italian philly cooking cream, jello with strawberries and pineapple mixed in.
Wednesday:
Breakfast- cereal and fruit
Lunch- PB&J, chips and watermelon
Dinner- Spaghetti and salad
Hoping others take on this challenge, it's good to start with a fresh stockpile every once in a while.
I will be trying to post my grocery lists this month and keep you updated on how we're doing with this challenge.
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