Sunday
morning I sneaked out of the house while my girls slept in and went to Fred
Meyer to do my $20 worth of grocery shopping. Other than milk there wasn't anything on my
list so I had a lot to work with this last time. Sirloin steaks were on sale so I decided to
get a package of those as they tend to be one of my keto meal staples. Then I went through the store half a dozen
times to scope out items on sale that would work with what I already have and,
if possible, the coupons I had. I did
really well, if I do say so myself, walking out with three bags of groceries.
I
picked up a large package with six sirloin steaks, 3 bags of markdown produce
($1 each), milk (88¢), cheese, six packages of pasta (on sale for 49¢ each plus
I had a $1 OFF coupon), tea (markdown $1.89), cottage cheese (markdown 89¢
because it was dented), tortilla chips (on sale & 40¢ OFF coupon) and some
bananas. I also got a tube of toothpaste
for 88¢.
Not bad for $20! |
I
used two coupons (75¢ OFF) to get four candy bars (one was free) and picked up
two more tubes of toothpaste (88¢ each) to set aside for my girls Easter
baskets. The candy bars ended up costing
me 37¢ each. I am trying to do both of their
baskets on a $10 budget so I think I am off to a really good start.
After
dropping my daughter off at work I popped into Dollar Tree and spent my last $1
from my January nonfood budget on a box of dryer sheets. Since I had opened our last box a few weeks
ago it seemed like a worthy investment.
I
saved the mesh bags our marked down produce came in to reuse for future produce
purchases so I don't need to use the plastic ones. I cut of the price tag portion on the bottom
so it won't confuse any clerks when they ring up my new purchases. I am actually really excited to have these
bags.
This turned out to be a tasty treat |
Our
week was busy with errands and after school activities. I was able to combine both so I wasn't using
extra fuel and was able to use my time efficiently. Three basketball games a three hour cheer
camp and two practices kept me hopping along with a trip to the bank after work
and a trip to Walgreens after work/cheer practice. Errands were run while I was picking up or
dropping off kiddos so no extra trips or wasting fuel and time.
Great prices on meat last week |
At
Walgreens I used one of my downloaded coupons to pick up another jug of laundry
detergent for $1.49 as well as a large bottle of shampoo and conditioner for $1 each
that were on sale and I had a $2 OFF digital coupon loaded to my rewards
card. I added the $3.49 I spent to my
nonfood budget tracker for the month of February.
Another jug of laundry detergent for $1.49 from Walgreens Two jars of pesto and a roll of waxed paper from the dollar store |
I
printed a few coupons from the Proctor & Gamble website. I downloaded another coupon to my Walgreens
rewards card and a few more digital coupons to my Fred Meyer card. I did the Fred Meyer survey to add 50 bonus
points to my rewards card to go toward lowering the price of fuel at the gas
pump. I also downloaded my Fred Meyer
Friday Freebie for a free protein bar.
Last
month I did my grocery shopping on Sunday mornings. This month I plan to do it on Saturdays and
see which I prefer. I dropped my youngest
off for cheer camp early in the morning and headed to Fred Meyer to pick up
what I needed for the week ahead. I also
popped into Walgreens on the way home and used another coupon I had printed off
the internet to pick up another jug of laundry detergent. I think I now have enough of that stored in
our garage to get us through the year. I
have to say, it feels pretty good knowing that.
Now I will focus on something else we are low on, like toilet paper or dry
cat food.
We
finished up our Month Of Soup by
preparing a couple Progesso canned soups we had in our pantry as well as making
a big pot of Chicken Gnocchi Soup
from an Olive Garden copycat recipe we like. We finished up our leftovers
and the girls polished off a box of crackers we had leftover from the holidays.
I
trimmed my youngest daughter's bangs.
I
washed out and reused a few ziploc bags.
I picked these up at Wal-Mart, so cute! |
The
chickens kept us supplied with eggs last week as they are gaining momentum in
the laying department. I'm hoping to be
able to sell some soon so they become more self sufficient. We gave them our kitchen scraps and some
extra bread we had. I gave some carrot
and celery trimmings to the bunny.
We
composted coffee grounds, tea bags, onion skins, banana peels and egg
shells. We didn't have any trash to put
in our garbage bin last week so nothing was set at the curb for pickup. We did add some items to our big blue recycle
bin as well as some glass jars to our small collection bin in the garage. I dropped off a trunk load of donations at a
nearby thrift store.
Some
of the 15 Minute Chores I accomplished
to keep my home in order:
Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - super
scrubbed toilet & sink, vacuumed floors & rug. Daily swish & swipe. Moved washer & dryer, vacuumed, scrubbed
walls & floor, washed down appliances.
Dining Room - vacuumed floor.
Kitchen - vacuumed floor, cleaned microwave.
Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed
& dusted. My oldest cleaned the
bathroom.
Other - four loads of laundry, dusted &
vacuumed living room, hallway & entry.
How
was your thrifty week?
Sounds like you had another great financial week!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of reusing mesh bags for produce purchases. I am going to use that idea!
I hope it works out well. Those plastic produce bags seem so wasteful.
DeleteAll I can say is "WOW!" I am wondering how you manage not to get any garbage. I always have used kleenex, some packaging, dental floss and used bandages, etc. I cut up my paper towels so I rarely use the entire size, but I do wipe off our dishes and cooking pots and pans with used paper napkins and small pieces of paper towels before they are washed. That way the wash water doesn't get mucked up. I also use cotton pads for cleaning my face. I would be interested in hearing what you use instead of the stuff I am using. You all have a great day.
ReplyDeleteI've always been in the habit of flushing used tissues so whenever someone goes to use the potty it isn't too unusual around here to have a tissue floating in the bowl. In my mind it keeps down the germ factor.
DeleteFlossers and cotton balls don't take up much room in the trash and we use cloth to wash/clean, a rubber spatula to scrape dishes, etc. Most of our refuse is actually recyclable so it ends up there with very little ending up in the trash can.
Thanks for your tips! Now I will do more thinking.
Delete:0)
Delete