September Once a Month Cooking

I haven't done any OAMC (once a month cooking) since June where I did very little cooking...but a little bit is better than nothing!

I have family coming here over the Labor Day weekend so I'd like to get my plan started now. I was planning a trip to get more pork today and some things I needed, but unfortunately I needed a new fuel pump in my Tahoe. You have no idea how grateful I am that I wasn't on the road by myself or with my kids when it went out. We weren't pulling the camper through the hills...we weren't on our trip to Montana....so yeah, it's $712 that we didn't plan on, but I'm grateful. How can that be? Probably because we have money in the bank. We own vehicles - two of them...both have over 100,000 miles on them. How can it be a surprise that they need to have work done on them. I must admit that it was a surprise only because that's our "new" vehicle. Our other vehicle needs some major work too. But I tell you...money in the bank has a way of changing your stinkin' thinkin'!

Wow - that was off topic, anyway....

I made something yesterday that was a huge hit for breakfast today. I made taco omelet muffins:

1. Scramble 3 eggs...add 2 T. water (if your kid isn't allergic to milk that would be good too - cream even better!)
2. Fry hamburger and add taco seasoning
3. Mix the two together
4. Add whatever else sounds good, cheese, onions, tomatoes, etc.
5. Spray oil in a muffin tin
6. Add mixture until muffin tin is about 2/3 full
7. Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes
8. Serve with salsa

They don't look pretty, but they were a huge hit! This made 6 muffins. I think it'd be easier to put this in a 9X13 pan, cut into squares and freeze the squares so you can pull out as many as you need.

Not sure what else I need to whip up and freeze, but it makes your life so much easier. I'll have to look back at what I've done previously and see what fits in with my new cooking plans. If nothing else, having cooked meats on hand will simplify my life! Actually chili and soups that I can send in a thermos would be good as well.

I don't do a true OAMC cooking session where I don't have to cook dinner for the entire month - that's way over my head and too complicated for me. What I have found though is that one day of dedicated cooking a month makes my life so much easier. It's an extremely tiring day, but when I'm playing mom taxi or watching a cross country meet and a volleyball match in the afternoon, I can enjoy those instead of thinking about what I'll serve for dinner.

Azure Standard Order

Let me just tell you that Julie's brand of ice cream is AMAZING! It's quite pricey, organic and I can read every word on the label. I will not order this every time, well maybe I will. Yummy! The hemp milk....EWWWWWW. Almond milk - ummmm not so good, but maybe we can figure out something to do with it. We're learning that my son doesn't do well eating a lot of dairy so we're trying to figure out what amounts he can tolerate.

Anyway, here's what I got:

• 10 pounds organic carrots (remember when I said I'd never buy organic - never say never). Last time we ate 5 pounds within 10 days!
• 10 pounds of frozen blueberries. Eaten plain and used in our healthy ice cream. Shared with a friend
• 3 pounds organic onions $3.40
• 1 coconut...this should be an interesting experiment!
• Dehydrated pears...these are delicious! You can only eat one though because they are so sweet. What a wonderful treat! I don't care for the pineapple, way too sweet!
• Almond meal flour to try out some baked goodies.
• The Rumiano sweet cream butter is so good you can eat it plain. Oh yeah, sometimes I do.
• some mustard, cashews, and spices
• Total with shipping $109.00
• I budget $50 per month for my Azure Standard order. I had to "find" $59 from my cash envies: $20 came from entertainment/kid stuff for the ice cream and the hemp/almond milk. $20 came from my change. $10 I pulled from my "weekly grocery shopping envelopes" and $9 I pulled from my misc. envelope.

I NEVER thought they'd deliver to my neck of the woods so call them today to find out if they deliver in your area!

This is not a paid advertisement for Azure Standard, I just like what I buy from them!

This post is linked to:
Money Saving Mom
Grocery Cart Challenge

Grocery Shopping

Here's the link for grocery items that I purchased on Thursday. You can see what we bought at the end of this post, but the formatting doesn't copy over!

I've tried every way of grocery shopping...often, weekly, semi monthly, monthly. Weekly trips to the local grocery stores, monthly order to Azure and monthly trip to Sam's Club seems to work best for my family.

I realized that while I love to have a set schedule, it is best to be F-L-E-X-I-B-L-E. Seriously? Flexible? Okay, I can't figure out how to spell that word so help me out! If I can't spell it, how in the world am I going to do it? I don't want to be flexible! Whew - deep breath in, deep breath out. Okay...

I can choose to shop whatever day works for my schedule that week and do all of my shopping in one day. This week Thursday was the best day. Next week I'm going to try not to shop if at all possible because we're leaving on Friday to go on vacation. Or is it to go on holiday? My friend from Canada always said holiday instead of vacation. She's so cute. That had absolutely NOTHING to do with my grocery purchase...just thought I'd share.

You'll see many many stops on my trip. It was SO.NOT.FUN. I do not recommend it. There's another stop that I made that's not on there. It's a store called the Farmer's Market that had just opened for the season. They aren't quite ready yet. Maybe next time I go there I'll be able to eliminate some of my other stops.

This post is linked to:
Money Saving Mom
Grocery Cart Challenge
29-Jun Breadroot Food Co-Op


Sucanat $0.24

1 vanilla bean $1.50

Tax $0.10



29-Jun Sam's Club

6 Peppers $6.98

Tomatoes $5.98

Frozen Green Beans $5.48

Frozen Green Peas $4.88

Frozen Broccoli $4.98

Peanuts $5.76

Fish Oil Pills $12.87

Tax $2.82





1-Jul Walmart

Bananas $0.70

Avocado $0.78

Hot Dog Buns for Brats $1.00

Miracle Whip $1.97

Mayo $1.97

Whipping Cream $2.13

1% gallon milk $2.48



1-Jul Butcher Shop

1 dozen eggs - YIKES! $3.90

** my egg source for $2.00 won't have eggs for two months UGGGG!



1-Jul Lueders

**I realized (again) today just how much I love love love shopping here!!!

** They sell SD items too!



4 corn on the cob - yes, it's a grain $1.60

watermelon - YUMMY for the 4th $3.84

Bing Cherries from Washington $3.26

Asparagus $1.20

** enough for myself and DH - kids don't care for it

1 onion $0.92

Raisin Bran $2.99

Parmesean Cheese $1.89

**for my daughter who wants to make alfredo tonight

** this has gone up in price a LOT! Rock bottom price used to be $1.00 now it's $1.50



BBQ Sauce $0.99

** sometimes I'm lazy :-)

Smart Chicken breasts $5.44

** Still undecided about this. Better than regular chicken breasts, but not as good as pastured chickens

** Question: Can I afford to buy pastured chickens? Can I afford the time to prepare all of the time?

Tax $1.33





1-Jul Valley Corner Gas Station

1 package brat $4.74

** My friend sells/creates labels for a local SD person who sells brats & sausages at this little gas station





Total for week of June 28, 2010



$94.72

Azure Standard

My Azure Standard order came yesterday. I cannot believe how much I enjoy getting my order. It's almost like opening Christmas presents! Oh the things I get excited about nowadays! Check out my spread sheet in google docs to see what I bought.

Check out Grocery Cart Challenge for more money saving inspiration!

Grocery Shopping

My Trip to WalMart and Leuders:

You can read what I spent $40 on when you click over to my google spreadsheet. We had a huge salad last night using the leftover steak we had from Father's Day. I am LOVING the 1/4 of a beef in my freezer!

In order to get more vegetables and fruits into our diet, I am trying to get everything washed  right when I get home from the store. I pour a blob of vinegar in a bowl, fill it with water and then add the veggie/fruit. After they have soaked for a bit, I scrub them and then rinse a few times. Here's the mess I made yesterday...which sat out all day long until we got home at 8:00 last night from the baseball game. Making the salad was easy though!

Frugal Tip: Don't buy veggies already cut up for you...save yourself the money and do it yourself. 

Find more frugal tips over at Life as Mom!

Check out Money Saving Mom for grocery deals.

Grocery Shopping

Look at those imperfect eggs! I love knowing they came from a chicken that eats what they should be eating, raised the way they should be raised. I love knowing who I am supporting. For a low low price of $2.00 per dozen. The only problem is, they are "molting" right now...I have no idea if that is how you spell it, but it's eye opening for me. They aren't laying as many eggs right now. So why is it that I never have any problems buying eggs at the store whenever I want? Don't their chickens ever molt?

17-Jun Lueders - Small Hometown Store

• Plain Yogurt for starting my own yogurt $0.34
• Butter $2.49
• Avocado $1.50
• 1 Roma Tomato $0.36  ** bought to see how much they each cost/how good they are

Other thing on receipt:
Frozen- Ice cream sandwiches - kids pay $.35 every time they eat one $3.49 total

You can see this in my google doc. I am realizing that I much prefer to shop once a week and only once a week. I used to shop on the same day every week and it worked out well. Something I need to think about....

Grocery Shopping 6/16/10

If my google spreadsheet doesn't work please let me know...I copied it over here, but lost the format.

What in the world are we eating? Well, it's easy when you have a 1/2 of a pig and a 1/4 of a cow in the freezer as well as many other goodies in the "pantry" (including fridge, freezer and cupboards)!

1. Monday I can't remember, but I did make homemade sausage with ground pork. Oh MY was it good! I know we nibbled on that and something else - Oh yeah, leftovers! We had leftover soup and hamburgers.
2. Tues - I put a frozen pork roast in the crock pot on high about noon, turned it down to low then we ate it after the baseball game. I also put frozen peas in a pan so all we had to do was heat them up when we got home.
3. Wed - I put the chicken legs in the crock pot and made a salad. We had pineapple as well.
4. Thursday - I'm going to brown hamburger, add taco seasonings, sauteed leeks, kale and garlic and then throw some scrambled eggs in it for a Mexican omelet thingie. Wonder how that is going to go over? Maybe I'll actually attempt an omelet. Hmmm....I'm making homemade salsa as well.
5. I bought a whole chicken from the Butcher Shop earlier and I will ATTEMPT to cut it up and make buffalo chicken. Say a prayer for me...that I keep all of my fingers. We will have celery and carrots to go with it.
6. We're going camping on Saturday and we'll be having traveling tacos. I swear health goes out the window when we camp. I love that we don't have dishes to do though because we put the taco stuff in the Doritos bag.
7. Steaks for Father's Day. Probably with green beans sauteed in bacon grease. YUMMY! Kids are making scotcharoos at their Dad's request.

We have stuff for smoothies (frozen bananas, homemade yogurt and blueberries), cereal, eggs, bacon, homemade granola, cheese, milk, and apples on hand for breakfast and lunch.

For more inspiration check out Grocery Cart Challenge and Money Saving Mom




Here's my spreadsheet copied over:
Priorities in order:


1 - Stay within $400 budget

2 - Buy Meat/Protein Locally

3 - Buy a LOT of veggies (if budget allows, Locally)

4 - Fats - buy good fats that will help with hypoglycemic issues

5 - Read Labels - buy items without a bunch of junk (sour cream, whipping cream)



Meat/Protein Vegetables Dairy/Fats Fruits Cereal Bread



6/16/2010 Walmart

4 lbs Chicken Drumsticks ($1.32/lb) $5.28

Spur of the moment - said it didn't have hormones

** want to buy local chickens $1.65 at Butcher Shop



1 lb Frozen Cauliflower $1.38

14 oz Broccoli Florets $0.98

1 pkg Celery $1.32

** not much nutrition, but we like it with Buffalo Chicken

Leeks $2.24

*** too much waste - buy onions/garlic next time

1 lb Baby Carrots $1.48

1 tomato on the vine $0.96

** DUMB! Almost $1.00 for a yucky tomato

1 pkg Green leaf Lettuce $1.88

Fresh Broccoli (small bit of it) $0.36

Zucchini (1 small) $0.89

** Not a great idea. Soon I'll be getting these free or very cheap!



Bananas $1.52

** these will be used for smoothies as well

1 Pineapple $2.88

** Another dumb purchase. Spur of the moment/not on the list

** I was planning on buying cherries with that money!



Raisins $1.58

** To mix with peanuts for trail mix



Whipping Cream $2.13

** Only place I can find cream that is not Ultra Pasteurized with a bunch of extra junk in it

Hot Dog buns

Cereal $4.32

** we don't eat cereal often, but my husband loves it

Other things on receipt:

face cream bought with "house money"

J bought nail file

Tracking Expenses

One of the questions I am often asked is "how do you keep your grocery bill so low?"

The biggest way to save money is to buy items for their nutrients, not because you want it. I think I could eat fruit all day long, but there would be big consequences for that!

We've made some big changes during the last six weeks. We've bumped up our food budget to $400, I started serving more meat and veggies, bought a 1/4 of a beef and a 1/2 of a pig, cut out almost all grains, and I'm trying to buy local items as often as possible. With a $400 food budget, I need to be very careful in how I spend our money.

Previously, I mentioned that I was able to cut our food bill down to $260 per month because I tracked all of our spending by category (protein, veggies, dairy, fruit, bread, junk, etc.). I decided that I needed to do this again.

I tracked all of the groceries that I purchased from the 1st-15th.

• I found that I spent $17.00 on almonds. ALMONDS, PEOPLE. With everything that I'm trying to do that was a  DUMB purchase! Plus, I don't have any control when it comes to almonds so I don't really want too many of them around.
• I spent $5.00 on tinned fish... healthy, but we have cheaper alternatives!
• I picked up a package of hot dogs - spur of the moment (Yuck - why hot dogs?)
• Asparagus spent $2.50 per pound while green beans are only $1.00 per pound (while this is a nice change, it shouldn't be something I get into the habit of picking up every week)
• Spent $2.58 on canned chicken broth. When I make my own, I get twice as much broth for about $1.00.
• Local raw honey - love this honey, it's amazing! I know now that I can get it at our "market in the park" for a couple dollars cheaper. I didn't know this until Saturday though.

Now, am I beating myself up? Yeah, just a tiny bit. Enough to make some changes. It doesn't do any good if I record all of my spending if I don't make changes.

Frugal Tip: Taking the time to record and review your purchases will definitely open your eyes!

Check out WFMW at We are THAT Family for more tips!

Grocery Shopping

Spent $10.84 at Walmart and $2.00 for farm fresh eggs (not pictured). Fairly unexciting, but you can see my partial menu plan from yesterday to see what's cooking!

• Cereal (that my kids don't like) $2.00
• 2 bananas $.33
• Kipper Snacks $2.52 (don't judge a book by it's cover - these are delicious and I don't usually like canned meat!)
• Sardines in olive oil $2.44 (same thing!)
• 1 avocado $.78
• 1/2 and 1/2 $1.18
• 1 bag of broccoli for Broccoli Beeef recipe

Riding our bikes to the store together - scary and priceless. I swear it's uphill both ways!!!

This post is linked to Grocery Cart Challenge.

The $400 Grocery Store Plan

$400 budget for food, $50 for supplies, and $50 misc. money.

Keeping CASH in separate envelopes definitely helps so I can see how much money I have left for the next few weeks.

• $100 goes to my "meat savings account" held at our local Credit Union. I *think* my meat is costing about $100 per month. I truly have NO idea, I'm just guessing! This will go towards beef and pork. We haven't gotten our pork yet, I'm hoping to pick that up next week.
• $100 Azure Standard and Sam's Club (includes frozen blueberries, real farm fresh butter, apples, fish oil pills, frozen veggies, almonds, canned tomatoes and peanuts)
• $100 1st-15th
• $100 16th- 30th

Is this new budget going to work? I have absolutely no idea. I'm going to make it work though! Is it going to be easy? Probably not.

As long as the majority of the food we're eating is from a local source and we're eating mostly protein, vegetables and fruits (instead of grains), then I'll be a happy camper.

I'm still wasting/throwing out food and that drives me crazy!

I will keep updating this post as I figure out how we need to spend our grocery cash. Start making a plan...it will save you money!

This post is linked to Money Saving Mom.

Grocery Shopping

My second Azure Standard order (total spent $63.28):

10 pounds of frozen blueberries $13
20 pounds of organic apples $20
Yummy chocolate bar $2.40
1 quarter organic raw apple cider vinegar $2.65 (now if only I can remember why I bought this!)
Paprika $3.90 (that was a silly purchase! we don't go through that much paprika!)
2 1/2 pounds raw almonds $12

Sweet Cream Butter $2.95

By far the best purchase was the butter. It is sooooo sooooo soooo much better than the store brand that I've been buying. I don't usually like butter on veggies, but this stuff I can eat plain! They didn't have the organic shredded coconut or the peanuts. I'm bummed about the coconut! Hopefully next time they'll have some. I'll have to reserve more money to spend at Azure - I really like everything that I've bought so far!



Here's what I bought at Lueders/Safeway:


Total spent: $24.00

I have a little bit of cash left, but I don't really know how much I've spent for the month. Probably $350??? Next month I'll keep track of things a little bit better.




Check out Grocery Cart Challenge and Money Saving Mom to see how everyone else did!

Grocery Shopping 4/26/10

I had an awesome morning grocery shopping. I didn't think that was even possible! I feel really good about the following:

• where I purchased my food
• the food I bought
• the amount of money I spent.

Sometimes, the more information I gather the harder it is to understand what I really should be eating and where I should be buying it. I will be shopping at the "meat" truck on Wednesday to try to buy some local cheese and chicken. Also, I want to find out if they are going to have local pasteurized milk available soon.

Read more about my Azure Standard order: $55.41

Farm Fresh Eggs $2.00/dozen: $8.00 (Spent $6.00 of May's grocery money because it was convenient to pick them up today).

Safeway - organic carrots - $1.79/2lbs and they are GOOD! I don't usually like regular carrots and I really liked these! Total: $12

Wild Fish 50% off $3.00 for one pound of fish! Total: $12.00 (spent some of my May $ because it was a convenient day to shop and I'm gearing up for a OAMC session!)

I have absolutely NOTHING left in my April grocery money envelope. Total spent for the month of April was $268.00 (I had $10 left from last month). I have spent some money from my "household envelope" on food. I bought some meat locally that I was testing out to see if it tasted okay. I lost track of that, but I'm pretty sure it was around $30-$40. We'll use most of that in the month of May.

Tomorow I am going to my daughter's track meet in Rapid City which is 40 miles away. While I'm there I'll go to Sam's Club. I'm limiting myself to buying the following items: 1 block of cheddar cheese, cream, milk, sour cream, bacon and possibly some veggies. My goal is to spend no more than $50.00, unless there are some amazing organic items that I want to try out (spinach!). We'll see what happens. I'm using my May grocery money in April which always makes me panic a bit. I usually hide the food from myself though so I can't use it until the next month. Did I just say that outloud? What a geek!

Stay tuned for my OAMC plan for May!

This post is linked to the following:

Grocery Cart Challenge

Money Saving Mom

Frugal Grocery Shopping

Forgetting to buy items you needed at the store = frugal???

Okay, not really, but I didn't spend as much money as I should have because I forgot a couple of things on my list. That's because I have been too busy. Whine whine whine...

I seriously do NOT understand how work outside the home moms manage. I feel completely flustered! I guess I used to be a work outside the home mom and managed, but I was spending $600-$1000 on food too (food and going out to eat).

 Yes, I'm going to break my rule of not running back to the store if you forgot something. The spinach and tomatoes that I bought specifically for my recipe will go bad if I wait until next week. I am going to pick up an onion too - onion I would normally live without but since I have to go back anyway I'll grab one. It makes a huge difference in my sticky chicken.

Today I spent $18.38. I have spent $199 for the month so far. My Azure Standard order will be about $50 when it comes in on Monday. That leaves $20 in my cash envelope ($10 extra from last month) for milk and veggies (apples, cabbage, onions, pears and frozen blueberries should arrive with my order) for next week. Whew - this is a little close for comfort for me! Thankfully I have a freezer full of OAMC dinners!

This post is linked to Grocery Cart Challenge and Money Saving Mom!

Grocery Shopping

A new grocery store! Well, grocery truck. A local farmer comes to our town once a week with locally produced food. I am excited to support local businesses. I hadn't realized how important it was until walking with my friend one day. Her husband's job depends on having local businesses in our town. If there are no local businesses, then he has no job. I didn't realize the importance of it until talking with her.

Yes, it may seem more expensive upfront, but in the long run it'll be well worth it for all those involved.

Can I afford this?

More importantly, can I afford not to?

Sam's Club and Food Co-op

1. 3 gallons of milk ($2.26 each)
2. 2 pounds of strawberries ($3.00!)
3. 2 - 18 count eggs ($4.36)
4. peanuts ($5.96)
5. green beans (yippee! I love these beans!) ($5.48)
6. bag of apples ($4.42)
7. 6 bell peppers ($6.98)
8. bag of tortilla chips ($3.78)
9. 2 pounds sharp cheddar cheese ($5.12)
10. peas ($4.88)
11. zip lock baggies for OAMC
12. dog food
13. a million bars of soap

I spent $38.80 of my food money and $25.29 of my supply money.  I was planning on buying mixed fresh veggies, but it didn't look so hot. I may end up going to my little grocery store for cauliflower!

I love flax seed - it's cheap and it's good for you. I like to eat it plain, but apparently there are a lot more health benefits if you grind it first. I have a coffee grinder so I'll try doing that and adding it to my granola when I make it again.

Raw almonds and flax seed: I spent $13.92






I have $104 left for the month of April. After reviewing my OAMC session, I'll be just fine for money! I was concerned for a bit. I'm saving about $50 so I can put in an order at Azure Standard. I've never ordered through them so it'll be interesting!

This post is linked to Money Saving Mom and Grocery Cart Challenge.

OAMC shopping

I went shopping last week for some things I needed for April's OAMC session. Today I finished up buying some fresh fruits and veggies as well as a few other things.

I almost bought a cauliflower. I'm working on buying more fruits and veggies - it sounded good so I threw it in the cart (well....placed it nicely). After I found out it was going to be $4.00 I asked the lady to take it off of my order. I believe (believe being the key word - I still need to look further...) that cabbage has the same nutrients for about half the price. I bought bagged spinach because it looked a lot better than the bunch you could buy, but the bunch of romaine looked good so I saved a bit of money there.

Another positive step for me was buying the kiwi fruit. In the past when I buy a "treat" for my kids it wasn't always good for them. Today I bought them kiwi as a treat. Hopefully I will keep this mind set! I bought more pineapple today too. That stuff is delicious!

I spent $24 at Safeway today. I have $153 left in my envelope for the month.

Grocery Shopping 3/31/10

Today I spent $51.00 of my April food and supply money in March. Is that illegal?

It was convenient for me to shop today so I spent about 30 minutes at Walmart. I only go to Walmart once a month now and it works out really well for me. Prices seem to be on the rise again!

I stopped in at Safeway while my daughter was at her orthodontist appointment. How on Earth did this little bit of food cost $40.39? I usually write down all of my prices as I go so I was completely shocked. I keep looking at my receipt to see where the mistake is.

Ahhhh no mess up - cheese was $5, 2 pineapples $4, chocolate chips $6 (shhhh...I hid these from my husband so I can actually make him cookies), pineapple slicer $9 (doesn't come out of grocery $ thankfully! Hopefully it works!) Had I been writing the prices down as I went along through the store I would have been much better off! In this case I wouldn't have put anything back, but some times I have put items back if I felt like I was spending too much money. At Safeway I actually spent $30.00 from my food money.

The best deal of the day? Fish! On the clearance shelf - $2.00/lb!

I have $209 left from my April food money and $14 left from my "stock the freezer fund." Considering that it's March 31st, I better hope that my OAMC plan works out!

Check out the Grocery Cart Challenge for more shopping trips!

Grocery Shopping 3/23/10

After creating and posting my menu plan for the week I promptly changed my mind. That is why I stopped menu planning for a bit....I got tired of it not being perfect. Then someone mentioned that it's a tool to use to HELP you! It's okay if you don't use it. So last night we had chili and peas. What a strange combo, but I really wanted to make homemade salsa and guacamole for our burritos and I knew I needed things from the store to make that happen. I'm so glad I waited!

My budget for this month was $100 higher than my usual amount ($260) so I could get some meat in my freezer. I've spent $322 total for the month so far. I have $8 left for groceries and $10 left from my "stock the freezer" fund. If there are any sales in the Safeway ad, I may pick up some more loss leaders. We aren't going to be here for Easter, but I would love to pick up some hams if they are on sale. I take more grocery money on April 1st so I might wait to shop until then.

I needed a LOT of fruits and veggies this time. I bought bagged spinach and romaine because it looked so much better than the other stuff. I'm hoping to get to Sam's and check out their produce when we get back. The grapefruit I bought from there was a little bit more money that I usually spend, but it was worth it! It was AMAZING!

You can't see everything I bought in the picture, but here are a few of the items I bought today:

• 10 pounds hamburger. I can't wait for 90% lean to go on sale!
• 2 big roasts
• 1 big pack of chicken
• 5 packs cream cheese
• 5 bags frozen veggies
• lots and lots of fresh veggies and fruit ($30 worth)
• for a grand total of $86.00

This post is linked to Grocery Cart Challenge and Money Saving Mom.

Frugal Tip - Check Your Receipt!

This seems so obvious to me now, but years ago, I couldn't be bothered to spend a couple of minutes checking my receipt. Actually, that's not true. It wouldn't have done any good because I didn't know any of my prices. I used to walk up and down every aisle putting stuff in my cart that looked good. No wonder I was spending $600-$800 on food a month! That was 10 years ago so imagine what those same groceries would cost me today!

This morning I had to take my son to school a little early so my daughter and I had some time together. We had our special time at McDonald's, got gas for my bug and still had some time to kill. We decided to go to Safeway to grab another bag of lettuce for our salad tonight. This bag of lettuce was supposed to be $1.00. It was in the sales ad and it was in the section of salads marked $1.00.

When we went up to pay, it rang up at $3.49. The cashier fixed the "problem" for us. As we were walking off she was trying to get the price fixed. She found out that this salad wasn't on sale for $1.00; rather that bag of lettuce had been placed in the wrong spot. I don't know what the difference was between this bag of lettuce and the other bags that were out. Maybe because it said "New"?

Had I bought this with a bunch of other items it might not have been so noticeable. I had my $1.06 out so it was very obvious!

Your frugal tip of the day - Know your prices and watch your receipt!

This post is linked to:
 We Are THAT Family - WFMW
Life as Mom

Pantry Principle

My order from Alice came today!

It was almost like Christmas. Almost.

I didn't NEED NEED NEED any of these items. When you run out of items, you run to the store and waste time, money and energy. Plan ahead using the pantry principle to make your life much easier.

Does anyone else shop like this? I'd love to hear your input.