The Great Grocery Challenge Week Three

It's time for another grocery challenge update!  This week has been super busy with happy and sad news so my mind has been occupied with things besides blogging. Such is life!

Employee Discount amount= $9.72

Paper Coupons= $18.92

Ibotta Credit: $8.25 plus 1.50 in bonus for a total of $9.75 that I transferred to my PayPal. I'm going to use this towards my Christmas shopping. I just started so I won't accumulate a ton by the end of the year but every little bit helps. So far I have a total of $21.00 and that's just in two weeks!

TOTAL= $38.39  Now that's a nice amount for really very little work. I also stocked up on some items that I won't be needing now for awhile. Sometimes people find it hard to stock up during good deals because they look only at the weekly budget but you really have to take a longer range approach. Now I don't stock up TONS....like you see some people doing where they have to rotate their stock, watch expiration dates etc. However if there's a good deal and it will "keep me" in something for 3-6 months (or even weeks) I go for it,

I'll give you an example. It's not even the most profitable one I've ever done but its one from this week.

Excedrin is a product we use on a fairly regular basis. I know some of you don't and that's fine, I'm simply using it as an example (insert whatever product you use regularly).

This is $ 9.74 at Walmart for the 100 count bottle but they happened to have some bonus bottles where you get 25 extra tablets PLUS I had $2.50 cents off coupons that were good for this week only. Now who really wants to spend $7.24 on a bottle of Excedrin? No one really BUT if you know it is something you are going to use you might as well "fork over" the money when you can get a good deal (25% more in each bottle plus the $2.50 coupon). I had two....I bought two....quite a hefty investment but guess what? I don't have to worry about buying it again for a LONG time.

You have to invest money to make money or in couponing you have to invest money to SAVE money. It's a mind set that I've had to work on. You also have to balance it. I don't need to buy four or six or ten bottles of Excedrin....even if they don't expire....you know WHY? Because by the time I run out of these two bottles there will be another good deal. I don't have to take up valuable shelf space. I just have to be aware of my families needs and buy accordingly.

Here are a couple smaller and more short term items.

Clorox Bleach Spray. I use it a lot in my kitchen/counter tops etc. I had a 75 cents off coupon that was going to expire. That made it a good enough deal to buy even though currently I am not "out" of it.  Same with Resolve stain spray for laundry. I had a dollar off that was going to expire. I still have a half full bottle but I used the coupon and bought another. This isn't a great stock up deal but still worth it.  Let me also say there were coupons getting ready to expire that I decided not to use on some other items. I left them on the shelves for others to snag if they needed them.

Overall I think my grocery challenge is going very well.  I'm saving between $30-40 dollars a week. That adds up!!

The Great Grocery Challenge Week 2

What do you consider a "savings"?  Do you need it to be a dollar or change or at what point do your "saved" amounts to something?  The Great Grocery Challenge is something I've been doing for a few years now. It's my own little "hobby"  Some of my friends think I'm a bit crazy because I get excited about savings and it doesn't have to be a huge amount. Some think that clipping coupons is just too much work for the "savings" that you get. It's a game to me. It's a challenge and I like "beating" the grocery store mega-beast!

This week I added another little weapon to my arsenal. Ibotta. Everyone has been talking about it and I've seen it in ads and on Facebook but I'd never taken the time to investigate it. Well its worth the look.

By the way if you happen to decide to check it out I would love if you would use my referral code when you register for Ibotta. It is lwadxwc  I invite you to join my team and together we can save money. Go to your smart phone apps and type in Ibotta. It's free and if you use my referral code when you register we can be on the same team and as our team saves money we get bonuses and save even more! It's CASH back and you can still use your regular coupons too.

Here's how this weeks savings stacked up:

Justin's employee discount: 11.05
Paper coupons: 19.27
Ibotta rebates: 5.25
Extra Ibotta bonuses: 2.50

Total= 38.07

Now 7.75 of that is actual cash back. After you accumulate 5 dollars on Ibotta you can send it to your Paypal account where it's just like cash! You can also use it to buy gift cards.  When you look at it and there are little "pay offs" like 25 cents or 50 cents you might think why bother but it adds up quickly just like a change jar!

Happy Savings!!

Bon Appetit: Rolls

 

I decided to try a little Bon Appetit project today. As I mentioned earlier exploring cooking and trying to teach myself some new skills and new recipes is one of my goals for retirement. Since Evan has been spending too much time with electronic devices I decided to enlist his help.

 

First order of business homemade rolls (yes with yeast something that I can mess up quite easily.) We decided to measure out all the ingredients while we were waiting for the scalded milk to cool a bit. Then we started the yeast with some warm water and Evan started adding the ingredients. I told Evan a bit of family history from when my mom baked bread and made ham and beans and about the time that the boys broke the widow and ruined all her fresh made delights!

 

He was amazed at how quickly the dough got thick as we added the flour and then I explained the kneading process which he enjoyed.

 

 

After that I explained we needed to return the dough to the bowl and wait for it to rise before making the rolls. He wasn't quite sure how or why that occurred but he was impressed (well just slightly) when I showed him the dough after an hour and a half. We then rolled in into small balls and added it to the muffin tin. Then we waited again. I think he believes all this waiting is a waste of time. Oh the fast pace of today's world just doesn't teach one patience.

 

They were ready so into the oven they go....

 

I can already tell there will be a bit of an issue with them as they are not all the same size so cooking time maybe an issue. It could be that I didn't roll the balls the same size or it could be the ones in front got bigger because they were warmer.

 

It's supposed to make twenty four-thirty rolls but since I only had one muffin tin I rolled the rest and placed them in a pie pan. I had another recipe that said to do that so  decided to give it a try.

 

Hmmm not the most attractive rolls I've ever seen. The recipe said 10-15 minutes. I checked them at ten and they weren't brown. Checked them at 12 and they were. Not sure if too brown or not but definitely not an even browning.

The ones in the pie pan were about the same. Now it's time for a taste test.

Hmmmm....not bad but not quite as light and fluffy as I'd like...maybe we worked the dough too much, maybe its the uneven heating of the oven, maybe its the recipe. They are definitely something we will eat but not quite the texture I was looking for....so I'll search for some other recipes. If you have a suggestion please let me know. I'd say overall my first attempt at rolls from scratch is about a B-

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Grocery Challenge

It's time for an update on the Great Grocery Challenge. This month the goal is to save 20 dollars a week with coupons, with an overall goal of cutting our grocery bill by 15%. When I look at it week to week it is hard to calculate the 15% so I am going to save that calculation for August and do it at the end of the month by totaling all bills and seeing if I met this goal.  The reason for this is some weeks I buy more (if there are good deals) and I really don't see the savings for those until future weeks (when I don't have to buy as much.)

This week I went to both Schnucks and Walmart. The goal is 20 dollars saved with coupons so let's take a look at that first. And remember I can't cheat and just buy something to count the coupon savings!

Schnucks: $5.40
Walmart    $9.50
Justin's Employee Discount: $6.21

Total: $21.11

I know not every one has an employee discount but my son does and so as immediate family we are entitled to use it. He has had it for years and I only started using it in the last 8-9 months. It is not good on food but it is good on pet products, personal hygiene etc. It is good on food from Thanksgiving till New Years Day which was a HUGE savings this past year.

Before we examine the Schnucks receipt let me say that Schnucks can be expensive. Honestly, most things are cheaper at Walmart (and of course you can price match). However the problem I am seeing increasingly at Walmart is they are slowly shifting over to carrying predominately Great Value products. I do use Great Value at times but I'd also like some variety and some choices which Walmart is quickly eliminating. I would roughly estimate that about 75% of what is in our local store is Great Value.  They profit twice (from me shopping their store and by me buying their Great Value brand). I don't want to live in a Walmart Only World and I think we are coming to that if something doesn't halt the corporate giant from gobbling up every other store out there.

Now let's examine that Schnucks' receipt. When going there I try to shop only sales, coupons, and special deals. If you have some self control you can get out of the store with quite a bit of product and at a good price. Here's how it breaks down:

Combo Savings $3.00. This was a cereal deal with THREE big boxes of General Mills cereal for $7.00 (regularly 10 hence the three dollar savings). I also had a dollar off coupon for two boxes so the final price ended up being 3 bucks a box. That's not ultra cheap but they were big boxes and will last us 4-6 weeks.

Meat Deal: 20.67  The deal this week was five dollar packages of selected meat. The savings you see listed is the extra amount it would have cost without the sale. You had to buy at least three for the five dollar a pack deal to kick in. I bought 8. (Two hamburger, One premade fresh hamburger patties, One bag of hamburger patties (frozen), Two bags of boneless skinless chicken breasts and Two boxes of Gorton's fish.)  Although Schnuck's meat can be higher than Walmart, I made sure I checked out prices and am sure the 5.00 a package was a good deal. There were other types of meat too but these are the ones I decided on.

Reduced Price Savings: $34.66  These are items that were on sale or marked down.

Bunny Bread 1.49 plus I had a 25 cents coupon that doubled making it a dollar/ (save 1.50 plus coupon savings)
Three Lean Cuisine Meals marked down to 2.00 a box (save 6.57)
One Stouffers meal marked down to 2.00 (save 1.79)
Red Cherries on sale (saved $2.46)
GoGurt Sale (save 1.96 on two)
Ajax Dish Soap (saved 60 (on two) (also used coupons that doubled so saved another 1.00)
Iced Coffee (saved .49) Used coupon so saved another dollar)
Yoplait Yogurt (on sale 10 for 4.00 saved 3.00) Plus 40 cent coupon that doubled for another .80 in savings)
Totinos pizza rolls 10 for 8.00 (saves 13.40 which I knows a little jacked up because the price was higher than it might have been elsewhere but they still came out to .80 cents a box which is a good price)

The rest of the receipt shows the MFR coupons and the ones they doubled. It wasn't a huge haul but with the meat I already have in the freezer we are set for the next 3-4 weeks. So even though I didn't see substantial savings this week this trip will provide savings over the next 3-4 weeks when I'm not buying meat.

I'm not going to post my grocery deals every week...I mean that might get a bit boring...but I'll provide you with updates every now and then. This week I walked away with 30 dollars of my budget to tuck away for "fun trips".

TV and Me: Extant

 

Another TV and Me post...you are going to think I'm not working my July plan because I'm watching TV but I promise I am making some small headway!

 

Extant is heads above The Strain. At least to me it is. With two episodes under my belt I'm already processing what I've watched thus far, looking forward to future episodes and trying to unravel what will happen next.

There's lots of loose ends dangling right now. That can be good or bad. It depends on how they tie them up and when. Right now I'm still trying to sort out who are the good guys and who the bad guys are. Wondering who knows what, how much they know and who can be trusted.

Molly finds herself pregnant after an 18 month solo stay in space. Add to this a "robot" son, a previous space station inhabitant (who everyone thinks committed suicide) and abnormal brain scans and you have the makings of a lot of good episodes. It can't be "all in her head" though can it? I mean she is with child. (or alien?)

I like that some things fell into place rapidly such as the previous space station inhabitant that experienced something similar. They could have cloak and daggered that to death but the meeting between the two happens in the second episode. There's still plenty of unanswered questions and twists and turns to come.  I'm looking forward to more of this one without the reservations I have about The Strain.

The TV and Me: The Strain

The Strain: It's a new series on FX. I put it on my list to try watching. I was kind of excited about it because it starts with a plane landing in NYC with a plane full of dead people, including the pilot. The strain is let loose and the world will never be the same. It's the latest vampire virus. It airs Sunday nights at nine.



After episode one, I have my doubts. It's not the plane full of dead bodies or even the precious little girl that makes her way home after being in a body bag. And well technically she's dead. It's not even the less than effective CDC emergency planners. No it's the giant, winged, "mother lode" of a vampire that mysteriously turned up in the cargo hole and is somehow linked to "not really alive" characters in New York. That long snake like tongue that slithers into people's aorta and deposits wiggly wormlike virus strands into the hearts and blood streams of it's victims is just a little "too much."  I mean a vampire virus....that I could "get into" but this twisted plot I'm not so sure of.

I'm not giving up on it yet. Combination Dark Shadows, Dracula and Legend it's just not "real" enough to get excited about.  I'll watch a few more episodes and see if it takes the path of redemption. If not, off my TV and Me list it will go.

Washing Machines, Weeds, and Why I Get Sidetracked

It's Monday right? So according to my wise and wonderful July plan I should have moved out two bags of trash/donations, worked on paperwork for fifteen minutes and accomplished at least half a dozen other things.  Well........

 

Sideways days.....that's why I always get sidetracked. First of all the washing machine has not been working and today we finally got around to having it looked at. It's DEAD. They hauled it away so now there is a gaping empty spot in the laundry room that needs cleaned and readied for a new machine. (Which of course we will go get tomorrow....which means Tuesday will be a sideways day too!

 

 

Then while they were hauling the machine out and I was standing in my front yard I couldn't bear the sight of the weeds overtaking my front flower bed so I started pulling those, Hey at least it's something off the July plan (listed under seasonal chores).

 

 

I refuse to let those obstacles (that I call sideways days) prevent me from my goal!  So tomorrow will be a new washing machine, paper sorting, and other manner of productive work!

Planning My Month: July 2014

 

 

Calendar for July:

July 1st: The Birthday Adventure Cake Walk

July 4th: Schenck Fourth of July

July8-10th Bennett Springs Fishing Trip

July 12th Marisa's Graduation party



Move It Out Mondays: I don't know about you but clutter is my enemy. This month I plan to follow Move It Out Monday every Monday of the month. My goal is to get rid of two bags or boxes of clutter every week, whether I'm throwing it in the trash or donating it....Out out out it must go!

Daily Focus:  This month my daily focus is paperwork. I am suffocating in it. So every day I will devote fifteen-thirty minutes to work on paper control.

Room of the Month: The basement. Actually the basement will be the room of the month for both July and August. It's a mess, the washing machine has went out and needs repaired/replaced, I need a new water meter, and it just needs a lot of TLC. I've started this grand adventure in decluttering and organizing already. I've made progress in the laundry area but there's still a need for a lot more. I'm on the lookout for a decent wooden (or fake wood) closet. I'd like to use it for off season clothing. I've talked about this for several years and I bought a cheapy one (with cloth walls etc) at Walmart but it's just not what I want or need so I'm on the lookout to replace it with something a bit sturdier. I will then move it over to the bathroom area for other storage needs. I've also made progress in the family room. It's about 2/3s done. There's still a huge box of books that needs going through. Hoping to get rid of about 85% of them!

Seasonal Chores: Weed the front flower beds. They are looking like a jungle!  This is the story of my life and I simply must invest in rocks for the beds to keep this jungle under control!

Coupon/ Grocery Goal: My goal this month is to save about 20 dollars a week using coupons/sales etc. This can ONLY be met buying things that are on the list, in other words I can't just buy something with a coupon to "count" that for the week. Since we are already well into the month I'll give you an update on this past week's trip. I also have a goal to cut our grocery bill by 15% and I plan to put those savings into a "fun trips" fund each week. This isn't a vacation fund (I already have one of those). This is more like "mad money" for a fund day out or a mini adventure. I love to squirrel away money so if something comes up I don't feel like I am messing up our budget!  Currently the fund is going towards Schenck Girls-Haunted Weekend-coming up the first weekend in October but most of the time it's something simpler!

Grocery Trip on July 11th:

1. Saving using Justin's employee card: $7.84
2. Coupon savings: $13.25
3. TOTAL- $21.09

Bon Appetit: This is my new adventure into cooking. I would like to improve my cooking and while I may not end up with gourmet dishes I'd like to explore new areas. Since I'm retired I want to develop some new interests and devote more time to different areas of my life. I've started a list of things/recipes I'd like to try. However for this month my goal is to use fresh fruits and vegetables at least twice a week. Something that should be easy this time of year. We've already had a lovely pot of fresh green beans and new potatoes, corn on the cob, cucumber salad and yummy tomatoes. One thing though is I have to be very conscious of the fresh things I have as it is easy for them to go to waste before I use them. This goal may require a small mid week trip to the market for fresh items rather than buying them all on my weekly trip. I will need to reserve money for this as it will contribute to my overall budget needs.

Currently Reading: Just got my new Kindle Fire HDX and I'm ashamed to say I'm not reading anything currently. In future months this section will contain my reading list for the month. What I'm currently reading and any other things I have on my "to read" list.

Must See Movies:  We just went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (because Evan wanted to). It actually wasn't a bad movie. I need to do a little research on what's out there this month because I'm not sure what I'd like to see. Each month I'll write my list and hopefully after seeing a movie I'll do a short movie review.

The TV and Me: It's about time for several new series to start on TV. I am not a huge TV viewer but several of them have peaked my interest. I jokingly commented that I needed to make a little list of the ones I want to check out and the days and times they are on....actually its not a joke...I can't eve keep that straight and then I end up missing episodes! :)

My Spiritual Journey:  During this month I am attempting to catch up over at Soul Musings with my posts about my study of the Gospel of John. I would also like to start a weekly bible verse study with the first "theme" being protection.

Creative Endeavors: I have so many projects I'd like to be working on but honestly my first order of business must be to get my creative space cleaned up a bit. I need a comfortable, decluttered area to be able to move ahead. I'd like to complete at least three pages in my art journal this month and put some finishing touches on a few previous pages I created.

July Events, Celebrations and News 2014

Events and Celebrations:

• July 1st Cresia's Birthday Adventure....a Cake Walk Birthday with breakfast at Aimee B's Tea House, lunch at Crown Candy and dinner at Blueberry Hill. With 42 cakes in between!

• We also started out the month with our annual 4th of July celebration over at my in laws. It was a very pleasant day weather wise, neither too hot or too cold.

• We took a short trip to Bennett Springs: Dale, Evan, Cresia and I. Evan caught his limit of fish every day. We went swimming one day also and had dinner with the Spoede's one evening.

• Marisa's graduation party was yesterday July 12th. Christy hosted it at her house and there were lots of yummy food and drink!

 

Evan was not thrilled with another round in the photo booth. LOL

• Unfortunately we have had some sad news also with my oldest brother Jimmy's death. I pray that he is at peace and pain free, living a better life and smiling down on his family.
• Vacation Bible School: July 20th kicks off with a Joel's Safari visit to the church.
• Somewhere along the way, Cresia's daughter Meghan is going to have her baby. Boy or girl? We don't know yet!
• At the end of the month I'll receive my first retirement check! 

I'm not sure how much else we will squeeze in this busy month but I'll update the post at the end of the month.