Saving Money

  On Friday. Amazon delivered a package that will save us money. Good deal. We use Reynold's Cooking bags, the large size for 8 lbs. Bought at the store in a five-pack, we pay 88 cents each bag. Bought from Amazon and in twelve five-packs, we paid 46 cents each. This is a savings of 48%. It would be great if we could save this much on everything we buy. 

I suppose it is wasteful to buy these, but it would be equally wasteful to spend time, energy, water, Dawn and vinegar scrubbing the pan. My friend who is 92 no longer cooks, goes out for meals, or someone in the family brings food. So, maybe we are doing okay by spending a little bit.

This is a small economy, granted, but eating out or buying ready-made meals would be more. I am lucky Tommy will scrub the dishes he does. He very much approves of and pays for these items to stop burned on or sticky messes. 

Tommy mightily objected to my using olive oil in brownie mix. He informed me it would not taste right. He is so funny. When I told him I used olive oil in other things, he still was not convinced. Now, he brings it to me without objecting. 

Yes, I made brownies from a Betty Crocker pouch. It doesn't make many brownies, so it limits us.  When olive oil I want to buy is bogo at Publix, I buy it and store it in the freezer. 

In the floor is a red bin, with two cardboard boxes on top of it. Beside those boxes are two other smaller boxes and a box of Christmas cards. Tommy moves the whole stack around anywhere from four to ten times a day, depending on if he wants to go outside or to his chair. He still has not handed me the two small deer and Santa that I cannot reach...sigh...I have not mentioned it today. 

Dinner was all leftovers. I had chicken breast with bbq sauce on it, large helping of slaw, one piece of carrot, and one small piece of baked potato. Tommy had chicken breast with bbq sauce, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. 

Cleaner has not returned call, so on to the next one. This is depressing. 

Do you ever use Reynold's Cooking Bags? 

Have you found any deals this week? 

Small economies? 

Two Great Grocery Deals

Thursday night, when I was in a grocery store and looking for the Kraft Chunk Medium Cheese, I could not find it. I asked four employees over a period of 30 minutes.

Responses were all mumbled--I don't even know where the cheese in kept in the back. We don't carry it since there is no label on the shelf. I went back there and did not see any cheese at all. Maybe we keep it with the cottage cheese. Maybe it is over in the shelf with cream cheese.

Of course, I had to respond to all these foot-shuffling answers/suggestions which wore me out. Finally, I saw a manager and asked him. He came back with the 16 ounce KRAFT Chunk Medium Cheddar Cheese and told me I could have this for the same price as the 8 ounce. !!!

16 ounces of cheddar cheese for $2.38. I can live with that.

Friday night, after watching all the crockpots being opened at Walmart, I wandered down an aisle at WM where they have picnic supplies instead of Easter goodies. The 38 ounce Heinz catsup was $2.98. There was a hang tag that offered a free any Heinz Mayonnaise with the purchase of the catsup. I had to go across the store to the grocery section to find the mayo. At first, I could not see the quarts, but I was going to get the pint. Finally, I found it pushed back of the shelf or all the ones on front bought.

A quart (32 ounces) of Mayo for $3.98 was free. Catsup and mayo were $2.38 total.

Total Savings--40%
Savings on catsup/mayo deal--55%


Now, if I could just save that much each time I had to purchase anything! One good deal at each store would be worth walking in.

Oh, the third deal was pouches of cake/cupcake mixes for $0.50 each. I got these about two weeks ago. The catch: some were the brightest yellow ever. And, the others were green. Easter colors?

Your turn
Have you found the Heinz mayo/catsup deals? I imagine they are at other stores than Walmart.

No Breakfast and About Blackberries

While I was initially hopeful, I finally decided there was no way I was getting up at 5:30 am or 6am, depending on how I wanted to look at the free breakfast. Actually, I needed information and wanted that more than a free meal or socializing. I have a telephone!

I have since lined up a few more free meals!

A vendor gave me a tomato that had been punctured and was on its way to the trash. I cut off the part around the puncture and gave it to Dominique. A large portion of a head of lettuce that cost me $0.69 for the head and some Miracle Whip was a refreshing taste from my youth. A reduced ham steak added made my dinner last night cost less than $1.

Since on Saturday I bought three pints of grape tomatoes for $1/pint, another really nutritious meal is planned tonight with more of the ham. If I can find cheese in the refrigerator, I will add that and eat an apple after the meal.

The only deals I have found in today's paper with ads are Kraft Cheese products and blueberries at Sprouts. I will stock up on the blueberries and buy a bit of cheese, not as much as usual.

My plan was to buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts this week, but there is no good sale. I think I will use ground pork to make this dish that is called taco casserole. Since I make it in the crock pot, I suppose it will be more like taco soup. Since it will barely be in the 50s here on Friday, the taco soup will be welcome!

About blackberries~~I have eaten blackberries all my life, but not like the ones I bought. These blackberries had a center that was just too tough/hard. Usually, blackberries are not tough in the center.

Your turn
Do vendors at markets ever give you produce that is fresh and had an accident? What is it with these blackberries? I did buy them at the store, so shipped in. So, what is going on with blackberries that cannot be mashed or chewed?

Tuesday Lunch--Free of Course Grocery Deals

This church has a sort of religious "lesson"--short and sweet. Then, there was a lively couple. He played the guitar and she sang. Then a guy spoke and showed us his old and invaluable Bibles, giving us a history of Bibles--Wycliffe, Gutenberg, Martin Luther, Tyndale. He had priceless copies of the Bible. Interesting. We were allowed to take pictures, so I did.

Lunch was hearty. Two pieces of buttered and toasted BBQ bread, a slab of meat loaf an inch thick and larger than the BBQ bread on which they piled caramelized onions; slaw; and the most decadent dessert ever. I ate all the slaw and meat loaf and a bit of one piece of bread, and all the onions (Mine and J's).

Dessert had a chocolate cookie crust, some sort of cold/frozen filling, whipped cream on top of sliced bananas, strawberries in syrup, and chocolate syrup over all! With some pineapple the dessert would have been like a sundae. This chunk of dessert was also huge. Tea, coffee, soft drinks from a fountain set-up were available. Everyone said the food is always great with generous servings. You know where I will be on first Tuesday.

Because it is not just listening to preaching to be fed, I will definitely go back to this. J enjoyed it, but read her phone during the Bible History presentation. Mostly, it was elderly women in attendance, but that's fine.

Of course, I collected scraps from J, and three friends at the next table who go to another of the lunches.  These people are not needy or hungry people, just retired and with active minds. Dominique ate well. J ate no meatloaf because she saw onions in the meatloaf...sigh.

Afterward, J and I came back here. She was organizing canned goods and I lay down because my back hurt. Plus, I awoke two hours before the alarm this morning. I lay down about 2 pm. At 5 pm, I awoke refreshed...lol.

Oh, I ate the meatloaf and felt like I had swallowed a watermelon whole. So, a little bathroom time was in order. I will go for weeks resisting beef and then give in and regret it. When will I learn? (rhetorical)

Tomorrow, there is a new ad, so I purchased what I wanted from the sale papers. Well, it will be tomorrow/Wednesday when I post this.

This was less than $10 in groceries:

Ronco 1 lb. pasta $.99 regular price was $1.48 each. bought two.

bananas $.29/lb. Regular price $.59/lb. Do not know pounds, but it was 7 bananas.

Pineapple for $.99 each. Regular price was $2.48

cucumber $.25 each. Bought one for J. I think they were regularly $0.75 each.

Cabbage $.25/lb. Bought two heads.

Red grapes $.99/lb. Regularly $2.98/lb.

Avocado 3/$1. I bought only one because they were not good enough to purchase more and have them go bad.

Bell peppers were 3/$1 but for some reason, I bought only two. I am going to make stuffed peppers for exbf and me.

Pict Sweet frozen field peas and snaps for $.99/1 lb. package. I bought two packages. Regularly $1.38/1 lb. package. This will definitely be part of the Easter meal.

Dominique gave me another egg today. This makes four days in a row,  her record.

Good food. Good program. Good deals. Good sorting. Good nap. Good hen. Good day!

Your turn
Are you finding good deals this week? Does anyone love field peas and snaps or without snaps as much as exbf and I love them?

Bargains

I can only remember some of the great deals I have gotten on groceries.  Most were purchased at Walmart with the price-match. Bold price is price at WM.

Starkist tuna $.50/ 5 oz can $.99
black beans, $.50 can          $1
green grapes $.99/lb            $2.98
Milk $.99/gal.                     $3.90
apples $.49/lb.                     $1.49
carrots $.49/2 lb bag           $1.49

Milk has been $.99/gallon since Christmas, it seems. One week, though, I had to pay $3.90. This week, for the first time, it is $1.99 at Kroger's. I certainly hope to see more of the $.99 gallons  of milk in the future!

I am really enjoying the grapes by the pound. When grapes are expensive and I want them, I usually pull off a little stem to purchase with maybe a dozen grapes. At this low price some of the grapes are frozen on a plate and then transferred to a freezer bag for future sweet, frozen goodness!

I bought ten cans of tuna and 8 cans of black beans. I have developed an affinity for black beans, especially in Mavis taco casserole.

Shopping at Publix is great if you mostly stick to their reduced section. Placemats made from the stuff people use to line drawers were $4 at Publix, reduced to $1. Well, it has the same look. I bought one yellow placemat and cut out four squares to use for jar openers. My rubbery ones for getting a grip on jars have all become hard and slick--no grip. However, the new ones in the store are expensive, so I refused to buy those and just made my own. Since I bought a yellow placemat, I already know I will never find the yellow squares if I place it on my yellow counter! Good deal, Linda, plan better.

Another bargain was getting my hair color with $2 coupons from the paper inserts. For a while there were hair color coupons every week. I am well-stocked! If I could have found it on sale, the savings would have been better.

For help with sleep, I take Melatonin, Natrol brand. I found it at a drugstore I have never been in before for less than I pay at CVS. Plus, they had Hefty cups in my favorite color--pink--and cheaper than I usually pay at WM.  Now, there are two bottles of Melatonin waiting for me when I run out of what I have open. The ad in our shopper's guide, a free paper that only carries ads and "for sale" items alerted me to that deal.

At the food handout that is not dependent on your income, I got lots of vegetables--potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, apples, bananas. Some days, there is a jar of peanut butter or cans of food. Maybe there was more but I cannot remember. What is available each time is different except for the bag of beans and bag of rice. At this place, there is no sign-in. At the church during lunch, lots of people who have plenty talked about how they come by and get their bag of beans and rice and other foods.

Since J helped me clean out the freezer, it is reorganized, revealing meat I can eat--meat I need to eat. It has been hard, but I have not purchased meat, no matter the deal. As for cleaning out the freezer, it takes two people since one person needs to hold back the avalanche of frozen chunks of meat. They really hurt when they fall on my feet and toes. At this point, I can shuffle things about in the freezer without fear! So, no meat deals except for the deals I got in the past.

So....that is how food purchases have gone down here.

Your turn
Has anyone found fantastic milk prices? What kinds of great deals have you found lately? Do you find the items I listed and purchase them more cheaply, getting a better deal?

Deals This Week and Brown Gunk

Since I love cheese and had run out of some bought on sale several weeks ago, I was happy to see that I could buy Kraft for $1.69. Four 8 oz. chunks of Medium Cheddar and four 8 oz.bags of Five Blend Italian. Price matched at WM.

Milk was $1.99/gallon. Price-matched from Aldi.

Cascadian Farms Granola, a cereal, was marked down from $3.69 to $2. I bought four and should not have. This is good eaten as cereal or out of hands three or five times a day. This was marked down at Publix.

Cantaloupe for exbf was $1. Price-matched at WM.

Kraft Parmesan Cheese in the green shaker canister was $2.79 instead of $3.89. Price-matched at WM. Since I don't have freezer room, I only bought one. There is still one on the shelf and two opened ones in the refrigerator. When I was too ill to find the open one in the refrigerator, one from the cupboard was started. I will eat it before long, especially if I eat spaghetti.

Pet milk, one can for $0.88 instead of $1.28. Price-matched at WM. I bought four at the same price last week or the week before, so I have enough for my projected needs for the year.
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Today is Wednesday, so another ad is out. Well, it is early in the AM, but when the mail runs, I will have ads for about 6 more grocery stores.  Red, green, and purple grapes are all $1.88/lb. I won't buy many but this is a better price than $3.98/lb., as they will be later on.

There are 18 varieties of apples for $0.88/lb. at Sprouts. I need to get many apples price-matched once again at WM.

The blasted turkey from last spring is in the freezer, hogging room. It needs to come out so I can cook it. I fear there will be an avalanche. In the past exbf has held back the rockslide while I pulled things out. A pound of frozen sausage really hurts my toes! Since I am not as agile as I once was, it is hard to jump out of the way. It depends on when he comes next week as to whether he will participate. I could put several boneless turkey breasts in the space the turkey occupies.

Since I have over-frozen several cans of Cokes, the inside of the freezer looks filthy. It grosses me out, and I know what the brown stuff is! It continually falls onto the floor when I remove food and then I must get the brown ice from the floor. If it escapes me, then I have a brown puddle or dried stain, depending on when I find it.

This evening I am feeling a bit better. Of course, I am fighting the lung/throat/head/ears thing. The uti may have subsided, but I still have meds to take for that to knock it out completely. brown Gunk

Your turn
What deals are at your grocery or market? Have you ever had a Coke spew all over the freezer and then frozen back all over everything as brown gunk?