More Bargain Shopping Tips

In the past I've posted about bargain shopping but I realized today that one of the things I didn't talk about is a method that I've been using for a while now for planning my meals and purchasing my meat.  Although I've been slacking lately, I usually have my meals planned out for 2-3 weeks at a time.  I even have a calendar file on our home server that's titled "dinner" that Tim can access from work (or anywhere) and see what we're having for dinner that night!  Creating a schedule of meals has really helped me to reduce our family's food waste, eat healthier and save money.  To start, I use the calendar of planned meals to determine how much chicken/ground beef/pork/etc. that I will need for that time frame.  I rarely purchase my meat from the local grocery stores unless I see a REALLY good deal advertised.  The reason for this?  Because I've found that most often, even the major grocery stores' best price is STILL not nearly as inexpensive as the local deli/meat stores.  When we lived on Plank Rd., I traveled to Halfmoon/Clifton Park weekly and did the majority of my grocery shopping at the Walmart SuperCenter for my non-perishables, and then I would head to Sorrentino's Delicatessan for my deli/meat purchases.  On average, their boneless/skinless chicken breasts are $1.99/lb and on sale as cheap as $1.69/lb.  Fred the Butcher is currently running their chicken at $1.69/lb. if you purchase their 10 lbs. bag.  Since Clifton Park is a haul for me now, I'd decided to have a little chat with Jeff Kissinger, the owner of Route 66 Meats & Smokehouse.  He told me that he'd match his competitor's prices if I purchased a high quantity from him.  Today, he sold me 10 lbs. of chicken for $1.79/lb and I was happy with that since I didn't have to drive up to Clifton Park.  So the bottom line is, do your homework, call for prices and talk to the owners of the local owned places.  I find that their meats are often fresher, better tasting and I feel good knowing that I'm giving the local guy my business.

So the next step... once I've got this meat in large quantity sitting in my fridge, what do I do with it?  Usually if you buy in bulk, each type of meat comes in one big bag/package.  So I have my trusty Ziploc Freezer bags and sharpie at my side and I start trimming the fat and dividing the meat.  

If my calendar says I'm going to cook Stir-Fry Chicken & Veggies one night, I'll cut up the meat in little pieces and label the bag "stir fry" so all I have to do when it's time to cook is thaw the chicken and dump the bag in the wok!  Sometimes I'll package one single breast in a bag for that occasional time when we'll have an unexpected guest for dinner.  This way, I don't have to worry about thawing an entire bag of 4-5 breasts for the one person!  

In the summer time, when purchasing ground beef, I often divide 3-4 pounds into two 1.5 lb packages to make meatloaf and then make hamburger patties out of the rest.  Everything goes into my freezer and I've found that the freezer bags generally do a great job of keeping the meat from getting freezer burn for a good 2-3 weeks.  

I try to use what I have within 3 weeks, although I'm sure it will keep longer than that!  It's a lot of work initially to tenderize & divide the messy chicken, package & label it all, but it's totally worth the 30-60 minutes of my time on one single day to be able to avoid the meat prep part of cooking every day.

More Free stuff

I recently stopped by the Freegrabber website and found some other offers for "FREE" stuff. Check out the links below:

Sample of Sundance Organic Superfruit Tea Blend.

Welcome Home Pack from SC Johnson Companies. The first 10,000* registrants only will receive a free 10-count pack of medium Ziploc® Brand Zip 'n Steam™ Microwave Steam Cooking Bags and one Glade® Air Infusions® in Clean Linen™ fragrance as well as $7.60 in coupons to enjoy.

Free bag of Iams Premium Protection dog or cat food.  Coupon sent via email. http://www.startsampling.com/sm/100323

Free Pampers Potty Training Kit.

Free Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn Cakes sample.

Smart Shopping

I've posted on our 4livingstons.com site in the past about this, but I was so proud of myself yesterday for the great bargains I got, I decided to write about it again today.  I've been so frustrated with the rising cost of living lately that I've really been thrifty about my spending habits, particularly when it comes to groceries and household items.  Since March, I've been clipping coupons weekly, scouring the Sunday paper's ads for deals & looking for ways to cut back on expenses in general.  So let's get down to the nitty gritty of my shopping trip yesterday.

Can you believe I got all of this stuff for $14.74?!?!?!  

Here's what I bought:

Price Chopper

$5 (2) boxes Raisin Bran

$4 (2) boxes Froot Loops

$4 (2) boxes Apple Jacks

$4 (2) 2 packages Keebler cookies

$4 (2) packages Keebler cheese/crackers

$2 (1) box Crest toothpaste

$4.99 (3) boxes Puffs Tissues

$3.99 (1) Lysol spray + wipes

Rite Aid (all FREE after rebate)

1 Gillette Fusion Razor

1 package Old Spice Disposable razors

1 bottle Gillette shampoo

1 Revlon Nail polish

So here's the catch, my out of pocket expense was $40.21 but I will be getting back $25.47 in rebates in the next few weeks, which is how I arrived at the total final cost of $14.74.  The first 10 items on the list are part of a promotion through Kellogg's.  If you purchase 10 Kellogg's/Eggo/Keebler products on one receipt, you get $10 back by mail in rebate.  I had coupons from this week's paper which brought my initial cost for each of these items down from $21 to $17.  Then, Price Chopper is running an additional program where if you purchase those 10 items, they also give you a coupon good toward $10 off your next purchase at Price Chopper.  So I turned right around and bought the 1/2 gal milk, 3 Oikos yogurt & 2 frozen lemonades..... basically, all for FREE!!!   The Crest ended up being FREE as well after I doubled my $1 off coupon, the Puffs 3 pack was $2.99 after I doubled my $1 off coupon and finally, the Lysol spray + wipes was $1.99 by using a $2 off coupon.  Most of the coupons I used I found in this past Sunday's paper.