FREE General Mills Products

Like General Mills? Head over to save.ca to order coupons to receive a free box of Honey Nut Cheerios Hearty Oat or Fibre 1 cereal and a coupon for a box of either Fibre 1 with Protein, Nature Valley Protein or Golden Grahams Treats or Cinnamon Toast Crunch Treats.

Happy saving!

Last thoughts

Since there is not much more I can offer in money saving tips, I'll leave this last little bit.

Sometimes, you have to spend the money for what works for you. With a child with allergies, I buy certain products because I know they are safe for him. I also buy certain things because I know they work well for us.  If buying name brand but you still want to save, look for coupons, but if searching online, be sure that what you're getting can be used. Some coupons are only applicable in the U.S.

When buying meat, can you get the most out of what you are buying?  Can the meat provide leftovers? Are you able to make multiple meals out of it, with some to freeze? The cost of buying meats can be enough to break a budget, so sometimes, you have to buy sale items, value packs or reduced items.

I've also decided to try and include 1 vegetarian meal a week.  There are a lot of great recipes out there and it helps to make sure there is always 1 really healthy meal my family gets. Plus, depending on how good it is, they may not even notice that the meat is missing.

In my own experiment, my goal was to spend $100 a week on groceries, with $100 a month on just meat. I've had to readjust on some weeks, and haven't always met my goal. I've had good weeks, where I've gotten my bill below $100 , but those have been lean weeks where I'm only picking up the absolute essentials, and sometimes you need to stock up or have a bit of wiggle room. I've also started potty training son which should help to get some of my overall costs down in the long run.  Even with me not always able to meet my goals, there has been noticeable improvement.  I tend to spend between $50-$75 less per grocery bill, then I was in the past, and that's still a win in my books.

I'll be posting other topics, but if I find a good deal, I'll be sure to post here.

Happy saving!

Getting the most out of meat

I apologize for being M.I.A, but have been dealing with some personal stuff that has consumed a lot of my time.

A quick update.  I finally did a meat shop, but because of a big bill we had to pay, ended up only being able to spend $60 at that time. Since then, had to include some meat purchases with my regular groceries.  However, when cutting a grocery bill and trying to get the most out of everything, I did pretty good. That $60 bought a good sized roast that provided left-overs, a full chicken, which was pretty much gone after the one meal. A pack of 3 chicken legs (drumstick and thigh), approximately 5lbs of ground beef and approximately 2 1/2lbs of ground pork.

Now, I like ground meats because added to other ingredients, you can make a good size meal that, depending on the size of your family or the amount they eat, could provide leftovers.  Since ground beef by itself can sometimes be a bit dry, we like to mix it with ground pork. Added benefit to this, ground pork is usually cheaper then beef.

The packets of meat I bought were value packs and each contained a little over 2lbs to 2 1/2lbs.  I took 1 packet of ground beef, and the pork packet and divided each into 4. Then I combined 1 section of beef with 1 of pork. Combined, each section was a little over 1lb. I then began cooking. From those 4 sections, I made 2 meatloaves, which I froze for another day, and 2 large lasagnas. And from the large lasagnas, I was able to also create 2 small lasagnas made with a special cheese for son. We ate one that night, and froze the second one.  So out of the 2 value packs of ground meat, I was able to get 4 meals out of it.

The value packs can live up to their name. You get more meat in them, and it's a bit cheaper then buying multiple single serving packs. I also look at how much I can get out of a pack of meat. Will there be leftovers? Can I make more then one meal from this? My meat buying is the same as my regular grocery buying, I prefer sales, or in certain cases, price matching, and sometimes, if I know that I'll be cooking that meat that night, I'll buy items that have been marked down.

When grocery shopping on a budget, you have to look for ways to extend your money as far as possible.

Down for the count

Well, I haven't posted in a couple of weeks after we had a stomach bug in our house, twice. It's been a fun time of cleaning, disinfecting, and just trying to get through the days, and even remember what day of the week it is sometimes, after frequent night wakings.

The problem with having young children sick with a stomach bug is, it's so much harder to keep it contained. 

I hope to get another post up soon. Sorry for the delay, you know, if anyone is even reading this.

How I get down...my grocery bill

Ok, in my quest to lower my grocery bill, I do certain things to try and help save.  I obviously have a bit of an advantage with 2 freezers, but anyone can adjust to what best suits them.

Now, I am by no means an expert, in fact, I'd still consider myself a novice in this.  I had to research what to do as well.  If you are just starting out on saving, you can check out Simply Frugal (http://www.simplyfrugal.ca/).  They have some good tips and also post coupons or links to coupons.

1st off, knowing what you have on hand will actually help you from buying something you don't need, which is why taking an inventory of your freezer and cupboards is beneficial.  Now, I haven't inventoried my cupboards yet, but as you know, I have done it for my freezer.  Updating those lists as things are removed is also helpful.

2nd, menu plan based on what you have at home, and what you'll need for the week, or until your next shopping trip.  In conjunction with this, make sure you write a list of what you need.  I've been making a grocery list for a while now, this helps me remember what I know I've run out of and what's needed at home, but menu planning and writing everything you'll need down, should help you stay on track so you don't end up buying a bunch of things you don't really need, or forgetting something you do.  I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of menu planning since I'm not an avid cook, but I do find it useful, not only for planning on what I'll need when shopping, but also for taking the guess work out of what I'll be making for dinner during the week.  This also helps me plan easier meals on days when we are busy or I don't have as much time to cook things. I write all the meals down on a white board I bought from the dollar store and sectioned off with electrical tape.  If I'm making something out of a cook book, I make sure to mark down which one and the page it's on.

3rd, I don't always buy name brand.  The name brand stuff is always more expensive, and for certain things, there really is no difference.  I, of course, have my exceptions.  Certain OTC meds I always buy name brand since I know it works for us.  I'm also cautious with certain things I buy since I have a child with allergies and for certain products, not all ingredients are actually listed on the package.

4th, I look for sale items, and if it's something we use often, I tend to buy a bit more of it while it's on sale.  Stocking up never hurt anyone, especially if you know it'll be used.  Now, there have been times when I've seen a name brand product on sale and thought it would be a good deal, but when you measure it against the  no name/store product, sometimes there isn't actually much of a saving.  Not sure if you are actually saving on the item? Check the price per unit (PPU) of that item.  Sometimes this is actually listed right on the shelf tag, if not, it's a fairly simple calculation.  I usually either have a calculator on me, or use the one on my cell phone.  To figure out the price per unit, divide the price of the item, by the number of units in the item.  So for example, using an item currently on sale in the No Frills flyer, they have 30 pack Cashmere toilet paper on sale for $8.97, so you divide $8.97 by 30 and that price per roll of paper is 0.299, or, if you want to take into account that this particular type of toilet paper is a double roll, you can divide that $8.97 by 60 leading to a PPU of 0.149.  Then you can compare that to the unit cost of a different brand of paper.

5th, I use coupons.  I mentioned checking Simply Frugal, but there are other coupon sites you can use.  They usually require you to register, but registration is free and it can be worth it.  Some of my most commonly used sites are websaver.ca, save.ca, and P & G Brand Sampler (www.pgbrandsampler.ca), which you can also get free samples from as well.  You can also check the web page for the company, they sometimes offer coupons directly off their web pages.  Now, most of these coupons are printable, but you'll need to check with the store what coupons they accept.  I've been to stores that don't accept certain printable coupons, while others accept all of them.  Also, some of these offer coupons that can only be mailed, so if you see a coupon you'll think you'll use, order it.  It might be a month before you receive it, but it'll be there if you need it.  Also keep an eye on your local paper, SmartSource.ca puts a coupon flyer in the paper at different times of the year and you can clip from there as well.  If you haven't received one yet, or don't get a paper, check out their website.  Now to organize my coupons, I bought a portable file folder from the Dollar Store.  That way I can organize the coupons into different categories to find what I need easier.  Just make sure that when you go to use a coupon, it hasn't expired yet.

Finally, I price match.  Certain stores do NOT price match so make sure you know the store's policy in advance.  I know that Walmart and No Frills do, so those are 2 good places to start.  I'm in a smaller city, so the stores price match flyers from stores located in that city.  If you live in a larger city, double check with the store in advance.  The flyers have to be current or they won't be accepted.  Now, you can price match meats and fruits and veg, but I haven't been brave enough to try those unless it's a pre-packaged meat or fish.  For the price matching, the flyer price has to be cheaper then what that store is selling, and the package size have to match.  So, for example, say you want to price match a box of Cheerios.  The flyer price usually states the sizes the sale applies to, so say for example, the box of Cheerios on sale in the flyer is for the boxes from 330-505g.  Then the box you pick up has to be that exact size.  Since I tend to price match (or try to price match), more then one thing, I circle the item in the flyer and fold down the corner of that page to help find it easier when I need it (especially helpful if I'm price matching more then one thing from that flyer).  To help me find what I need easier, I actually mark on my grocery list what can be price matched.  For example, if I'm buying Cheerios, then beside that written on my list, I mark the initials for that store.  So, M=Metro, NF=No Frills, W=Walmart, ect.  I also put a C for coupon if I have one for an item and I paperclip the coupons to my list.  When I remember, I also like to highlight those initials on my list to see them easier, especially if my kids decide to draw on my grocery list.

Now, like I said, I'm still a novice at this so by all means, check out Simply Frugal and other pages to get a better idea on how to do things like price matching.  Have fun!

Aching

I would normally be posting my next cost saving post, but I'm holding off for a day or two, because tonight my heart aches for those affected by the tragedy in Boston, and out of respect for them, I will not.

As I read the reports, and see the pictures, my mind can't comprehend why someone would do something like this, hurt and kill a bunch of innocent people.  Then hearing that there was an innocent child killed, another injured, why?!

If this was a terrorist attack, then it accomplished part of it's goal, it struck terror into those involved there today, or those who had loved ones there.  But terror only works when we let it continue to take hold of us.

This isn't something I've really ever told anyone, but for years now, I've dreamed of one day competing in the Boston Marathon.  This past month as I started my first step of getting into shape, I've begun thinking about taking up running, and maybe one day, once I'm ready, running at least a half marathon.  But in the back of my mind, the Boston Marathon stands out as a goal post, something I'd like to do at least once, if even to just say I did it.  You see, I've always admired the runners who compete, they are dedicated runners who train for this historic event.  They are strong in so many ways, and I admire them for it.

What happened today will not stop me from wanting to, hopefully, one day reach that goal point.  If anything, it spurs me on more.  Now I want to run for them.  Each step a dedication to those suffering.  Each step knocking down those who placed those bombs, showing them that human nature cannot be held back, but with adversity, we grow stronger.

But for now, I'll pray.  I'll pray that those who did this cowardly act are caught and punished.  I'll pray that one day, we'll stop trying to hurt each other, and learn to accept each other.   I'll pray for those who lost their lives.  I'll pray for all involved.  I'll pray....  

Not doing too well.

Well, this past week was a bust. I was $40 over my goal. Eeep!   I know what took me over, dog treats, shoe spray, birthday gift and an item that requires upfront cost, but should save me money over the long run. 

I had mentioned that I was buying jugs of water for drinking water, but when I first started buying them, I was distracted and didn't properly calculate the costs of other options.  The jugs I buy are 1 time use, then I recycle them. Well, this past week I decided to take a closer look at some other options and decided to (slowly) switch over to refillable jugs. These jugs have a 1 time cost of $13 for the jug, but the refill on the jugs is 1/2 of what I'm currently paying.  Once I've collected all the jugs I need, hopefully this can help to lower my grocery bill, even if it's only by a few dollars, everything adds up.

This week is my meat buying week so I'm really hoping I can keep my other costs down.

2nd Attempt

Ok, so busy weekend with it being Easter weekend.  I ended up working Thursday morning, then did my grocery shopping right after work.  Came home, had to put the groceries away then start cleaning in prep for the company we had coming over the next day.  By the time Saturday (yesterday) hit, I was beat from the past week and a half.

I'm still not meeting my goal, but trying to see where my costs are coming from that are taking me over.  This past week my grocery bill was $115.05 (including taxes).  Lower then the previous week, but still higher then my goal of $100.

With this week's trip, I ended up spending $7 on Easter treats for the kids, obviously not a normal expense, but wanted a little something for the kids to go searching for this morning.  And yes, I went the cheaper route and tried to buy things that literally cost about $1 each, so no bigger items.  I also had to pick up laundry detergent this past week.  Normally I can go a few months without needing to buy detergent since it can last a while, but what I had was getting lower anyways, and with the recent bout of stomach flu we just went through here, I ended up doing a LOT more laundry then I normally do.  Not fun!  Luckily though, the stuff I normally buy was on sale for about $10 so I did save a bit on that.

While I haven't really had the time, or energy, to really study my grocery bill to see where I can cut back more, I did start thinking about what could be causing some extra expense that most people normally wouldn't have.  I live out in the country, which means I'm not on city water or sewer system.  That's great in the sense that I don't worry about a water bill, but since we have well water, I have other things to worry about.  One of those things is, depending on what's going on in nature, my well water, and therefore drinking water, could end up contaminated with bacteria.  Since this house didn't have a UV light or a reverse osmosis system (systems that can help clean up the water to make it safe for drinking), when we moved in last year, we started buying large jugs of water to use as our drinking water.  We could install the systems, but unfortunately, they can be pricey up front and we didn't have that kind of money on hand to do.

This is obviously an expense not everyone has, and if we were fortunate enough to be on city water (or have the proper systems installed in this house), then I'd have a little more luck keeping in my budget.  As it is, I'll do my best to see what I can do to make this work, and try to keep you informed of how I'm doing.

Also, based on freezer levels, I may need to get my meat rations this upcoming week, though I may see if I can hold it off for one more week.

The First Attempt

I apologize for the delay in reporting how my first shopping trip went.  I actually got home from work last Wednesday evening to find out my daughter had come down with the stomach flu.  Since then I've been dealing with that particular joy as it hit first daughter, then son.

So, to catch up since I'm coming up on another shopping trip, I'll fill you in on what happened.

After finding out what I had on hand, my next step was to create a menu plan for the coming week. Since I was running a bit behind this past week, once the menu plan was done, I went through my shopping list and added whatever might be needed to create the meals.

With my shopping list on hand, I then went through store flyer's to start my price matching.  Now, normally I take my time going through the flyer's, but this past week, I was sleep deprived and out of time from having been taking care of daughter.  I did my best though, and I also went through the coupons I had on hand.  I sometimes search online for coupons as well, but again, on a time crunch this week.

Now, when I went grocery shopping, I will admit I broke my own rule and bought a "meat" item during this past trip.  Based on what I had in my freezers, I estimated I wouldn't need to buy any meats for at least 2 weeks, but this upcoming Friday is Good Friday and we normally eat fish on that day.  Since my kids prefer the breaded fish, and I noticed a store had one of the pre-breaded fish on sale for only $4, I decided to take advantage of that.

After all was said and done, I spent $118.99 after taxes, on last week's groceries.  Not what I wanted, but not a bad start, especially since I needed to buy diapers and 2 of the spice mixes I use in my regular cooking had run out and I had to stock up.  I'll also admit that I went outside my list and bought some items that I do normally buy, but weren't necessarily needed last week, because they were on sale.  I'm not one to turn down a sale.

I'm working on my menu plan tonight for the upcoming week, and I hope to price match and coupon search tomorrow.  I'll let you know how I did this week.

Step 1...

Ok, if you've read my last post, you know that I'm trying to cut my grocery bills down to $500 monthly, spending only $100 on groceries a week (not including meat), and once a month, spending $100 specifically on meat.

Since this takes a lot of planning to keep a grocery bill down, I had to start off by organizing and taking an inventory of my freezers (yes, I have 2).  So today, I started in the less full chest freezer and marked down everything I considered raw and everything that is ready to eat.  This is how I prefer to organize my freezers, but someone else might prefer another way.

Ready to eat was anything pre-made, frozen veggies, frozen fruits, breads and such and desserts.  Basically anything you really didn't have to do much to, to prepare. All my "ready to eat" stuff was put into my upright freezer.  And yes, the OCD part of me actually organized all the shelves into certain categories to try and help make things easier to find as well.  We'll see how long that lasts.  My raw foods were anything that takes a bit more work, or were just bigger items.  These were things like stocks for soups, raw, uncooked fish, meats that need seasonings (pork chops, chicken, roasts, ect), you get the idea.  All "raw" went into my chest freezer.

I listed pretty much everything that is in there on a piece of paper and will be transferring all of that info onto dry erase boards.  At this point, I am really grateful to my Realtor who has sent us handy dry erase boards with magnets on the back these past 2 years.  This way I can keep them on the freezers while marking off what I've taken out or added, as we go. 

Now that we have that taken care of, I know I'm ok for meats for a bit and will try to use up what I have before I buy any more. 

My next step is to pull out my Dollar Store dry erase board that I sectioned off for each day of the week and start menu planning based on what I currently have at home.  By the way, when I menu plan, I do tend to leave a day or two open for left-overs, so I really only have to plan for 5-6 days based on when my next expected shopping trip will be.

A New Challenge

Since my last two posts have been about me not posting too often, I'm hoping I can try to change that, and offer something a little more interesting.

Last night I posted on my Facebook wall to my friends that I was up late price matching and coupon searching in prep for my grocery trip today.  I mentioned that while there were other things I'd prefer to do, I had managed to keep my grocery bill below $200 for over a month now and I planned on keeping it that way.  Since it was late and I was already tired, I didn't realize how it came out sounding and a couple of my friends actually asked how I managed to feed a family of 4 on only $200 a month.  I wish, obviously I meant that my bill was less then $200 weekly, but their question got me thinking.  Is it possible to get it even lower?  How would I do that?  Do I accept this challenge I've now presented myself with? In the words of Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris on How I Met Your Mother), "Challenge accepted!".

But lets be realistic here, I've got a family of four, and things aren't exactly cheap.  $50 a week while trying to not only feed my family, plus make sure they are getting healthy meals, while still picking up the extra stuff (shampoo, diapers, soap, OTC meds, ect), is not something I think I'll be able to do, at least not right now.  But can I still cut my bill down even more while still keeping healthy meals on the table.  I think it's possible, but it'll mean a lot more planning.  Oy!

After thinking about it, I decided I need to separate my bill into 2 parts; meats, and everything else.  If you've seen the cost of meat, you know why I decided meat had to be separate.  Buying meat alone drives up my bill, and that includes any fish I purchase.  I don't think I'm going to include the cost of eggs as meat (though some may disagree), and you'll understand why in a moment.

So, here's my plan, once a month, I'll spend $100 on meat alone and stock my freezer, one of the reasons I'm not including eggs in with the meat.  I considered just buying meat as I go and trying to keep track of what is spent, but it's too easy for me to loose track or accidentally go over, so I figured a one-time bill is easier.  This also allows me to start meal planning far in advance based on what I have on hand.

Since we have to obviously have the other food groups in there (not to mention normal other expenses such as TP), to start off, I'm giving myself $100 a week to spend on the rest of my groceries.  I could try for lower, but, well, I'm nervous about even accomplishing this.  I will obviously need to be good and start menu planning again, but even $100 a week for a family of 4 seems a little intimidating.

If I do this I could be lowering my monthly grocery costs from approximately $800 a month, to $500!

I'm not sure if I can do this, I might fail horribly, but I do plan on trying.  I will admit something, I'm at a bit of an advantage here, I obviously have some things already frozen, and while my fridge doesn't have a freezer, I have a chest freezer hubby and I bought shortly after we were married, and during our last move, we inherited an upright freezer from the previous owners of our house.  Both of these will work to my advantage when it comes to space needed to freeze the meat, and also any meals I make and freeze to eat at a later date, like my yummy chicken pot pies!!! Also, for those who follow the show Extreme Couponing, I can't do that.  I live in Canada and our coupon laws are different, so while I do plan on continuing to use coupons to keep me in my limit, I'll be limited in what I can use.

Since I've already done my shopping for the week, I'll have to start my experiment next week.  Looks like I've got some planning to do!

Not gone

I know I've been MIA.  Aside from dealing with the never-ending sicknesses we've had since the beginning of December (oh the joys of daughter starting school), I also went back to work part-time.  Since that part-time work is also shift work, we've all been adjusting to the changes.