Fru-Gal Friends

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Sun 27 Jan 2008, 9:44 am

Wow M, my mouth's watering at the mention of all those meals! Very creative Wink

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~ By sowing frugality we reap liberty, a golden harvest. --Agesilaus ~

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Wed 30 Jan 2008, 8:18 pm

On my last shopping trip to the grocery store I was reminded to not get hung up looking for bargains on only food items...I found a pack of 3 kitchen towels reduced to $2.00 and "No nonsense" socks for 75-99 cents a pair for myself and my daughter Cool

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Love is a fruit, in season at all times and within the reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set. ~ Mother Teresa

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Wed 30 Jan 2008, 9:50 pm

great deals Spirit
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Vicki

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Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Thu 31 Jan 2008, 8:19 am

Well..in the last few weeks,,both sons have moved out and the house is all hubby and me,,,,things are different!Food last longer for one thing!LOL I mentioned awhile back of shopping monthly and hubby is so wanting to do it too,,so I am in the makings of doing that.As of the last shopping trip I planned it out for 2 weeks and have alotted 10.00 a week for milk,,fruit etc.Just mainly anything we are out of or a goood sale going on ,,things like that.

I have mainly plan on shoppping at SAL,,,hubby and I like them better than Aldis,but we do shop at krogers or Walgreens for sales too.I read in a magazine that when people shop twice a month or monthly,,they do spend less somehow,,I think its because you can buy a pack of hamburger at bulk then divide it out into several different meals for the month.
We had sloppy joes and tater tots last night for dinner,,just hubby and I,,do I emptied 1/2 the can in the hamburger and froze the other 1/2 for next time we do sloppy joes.This is all new to us since we have always prepared meals for 4 instead of two!

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Thu 31 Jan 2008, 9:29 am

I went shopping this morning at Walgreens with some coupons and sales. I saved $23 total, and spent $20.

I still dont know how I feel about the coupon thing.
I got Kleenex today for $0.40/box, and frozen pizza for $2.25/each. Those are good prices.
But, is it worth it?

I am still torn about the whole coupon thing.
I got 2 bottles of air freshener for $0.80 each because of a BOGO coupon I had. Is that a good price? I should have waited until the product went on sale for $1.00/each. I have no idea what the cost is at WalMart.
But I always jump the gun affraid if I dont use the coupon, it'd go to waste.

I really want to do the once a month thing, but that wouldnt be possible with the coupons combined with sale items I'm doing.

Ugh.
I dont quite know what to do.

Todd and I are doing our main shopping spree on Sunday. I havent taken him grocery shopping with me yet...so this should be interesting. I told him we have to stick to the list. We'll see how it works out.

~M
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"It is not how much money you make - it is how you spend it."

Group Weight Loss Goal for June (updated as of Wednesdayd, July 2nd):

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Thu 31 Jan 2008, 10:00 am

I only use my coupons when I do my shopping. I plan my shopping around the sales ads and my coupons and only what we need. I usually don't use too many coupons though.

Good luck M- I found I always spend more when DH goes with me so now he stays home!!
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Vicki

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Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Thu 31 Jan 2008, 10:06 am

M,,I think the coupons are only good as you need the item,,such as the air freshner,,,thats a great deal with the coupon,,its a item thats not going to go to waste,,its something you will use.For example,,I only cut coupons on items Im gonna use now or in the near future and it is something I cant get at a discount at SAL.Things like name brand items we use that SAL dosent carry,,like we only feed the dog Pedigree dog food,,or Coke Zero,Downy,so coupons would be very helpful and frugal..hope I made sense..LOL

Moderator Age : 27 Joined : 12 Oct 2006 Posts : 1790

I don't & won't do coupons. I hardly ever NEED the items coupons are for. We don't NEED air freshener...so any $ is too much...things like that. I get more into buying b/c of the good deal when I use coupons.. and we use only store brands...well, for most things...so it's not worth it to me. Also....I ALWAYS forget to give them to the lady as this is when the kids have me done in...lol...

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Thu 31 Jan 2008, 2:33 pm

I am shop very careful and if a coupon works and I can save money I do .
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Gayla

"They take great pride in making their dinner cost much; I take my pride in making my dinner cost so little."

---Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Sun 03 Feb 2008, 1:31 pm

Todd and I went shopping today for our once a month spree. Oh my goodness, am I pooped!

We got some great deals with coupons (Green Giant Frozen Veggies for $0.50/lb), but our cabinets and both freezers are PACKED with food. We spent quite a bit of money. I think it was around $160, which is our month's budget for groceries.

We got alot of meat on sale. We also got 15 lbs of chicken wings because they were on sale. I was orignally only going to get 1 or 2- 3 lb. bags because of the sale, but they threw in another bag for free. I couldnt pass it up. We will have chicken wings today for the superbowl with the pizza I got for $2.25, and we will most likely have them later on this month when it's Todd's day to cook dinner. But then we still have 3 more bags to use over the next couple of months.

I did learn something though: it seems like the Aldi's here is much better priced than SAL. So... we (meaning me) are going to start shopping there instead of SAL. Produce is cheaper, cereals are ALOT cheaper, bread is cheaper. most everything is cheaper. I was so upset when we went today and they raised the price of Squiggy's plain cheerio's (no-name brand) from $1.49 to $1.99! We ended up getting them at Aldi's for $1.39.

~M
_________________
"It is not how much money you make - it is how you spend it."

Group Weight Loss Goal for June (updated as of Wednesdayd, July 2nd):

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Sun 03 Feb 2008, 1:49 pm

here a link that might help

http://www.aldimeals.com/

its a pretty good site
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Gayla

"They take great pride in making their dinner cost much; I take my pride in making my dinner cost so little."

---Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Sun 03 Feb 2008, 2:29 pm

I agree with all of yas! lol..I use coupons,,but we also use alot of store brand name items.But theres a few thing I do buy that we like that are name brand or if we just dont like the off brand.Example would be peanut butter,,,hubby dosent care for SAL kind,,so we buy name brand,,and if I have a coupon then I pretty mush come out ahead of it all!

I am still sold on SAL,,even though Aldis is closer, but welike SAL more and dont even use a price book there,,we pretty much know the basics of the store.

M..160 a month for groceries is awesome,,is that food only,,or is it paper goods,,soaps etc.also?Thats like 40 a week.Since it has become just hubby and I ,,we are both surprised on how much longer food is in the freezer!LOL

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Sun 03 Feb 2008, 4:02 pm

$40/wk includes everything.
We have enough toilet paper to last us for several months because of sales and coupons. Plus, it's just two of us. I dont think we even use a whole roll in 2 weeks time. We are stocked up on soap, cleaning supplies, etc. And you are correct, it is $40. That's been our budget for the new year, and so far, we have done pretty good.

I actually budgeted $40/wk and $20/wk for sale meat items, but havent needed to use that portion of the budget yet. We have been doing everything based on the $40/wk.

Last month, I spent $95 during the spree, but ended up buying items with coupons and on sale. We were below the $160/month.

Of course, we have to buy milk every 2 weeks.

~M
_________________
"It is not how much money you make - it is how you spend it."

Group Weight Loss Goal for June (updated as of Wednesdayd, July 2nd):

Moderator Age : 27 Joined : 12 Oct 2006 Posts : 1790

M...sounds like you are doing a great job!

Subject: Re: Grocery Shopping Sun 03 Feb 2008, 6:15 pm

M,,I was reading your posting out loud to my hubby,,and he said the same as I have,,your doing what we are striving for,,the monthly shopping etc.Although he drinks alot more milk than the average man,,lol,,so I do have 10 a week planned to hit sales and things we need.I am hoping also to plan meals for 6 evenings a week,,as we like to eat out or order out once a week.Plus in March..we have plans to go to Michigan for a weekend to visit his sister ,,so thats 4 meals away from home,I guess its a month to month process.