On the cheap

Get out a bowl and a spoon! Jewel (and I'm assuming other Albertson's stores) has Malt-O-Meal cereal on sale 4/$5 this week and four 1-dollar coupons can be obtained here and here, making the cereal only $.25 per bag. Yowzers!


I found other links for Malt-O-Meal Cereals at pinching your pennies if you want to try this deal multiple times.

And if you're heading over there between Thursday and Saturday, pick up eggs for $.99 (limit 4) and Grands! Biscuits on sale for $.88 (limit 4). There were coupons for $.30/2 in a recent newspaper insert, making them $.73 each. Not bad for canned biscuits.

Buddy, can you spare four dimes?

While we don't "go" to school, we do eat breakfast, and it's the meal I have the hardest time getting on the table. I never feel like eating until about 10am but my hungry hoard is ready at 7:30. Meijer has helped me out with this deal--

Meijer is running a 5 for $9 sale on Kellogg's cereal products and has Eggo products on sale for $1.15. There are quite a few $1/2 coupons available from recent newspaper inserts, as well as a $10 Kellogg's Fuel for School rebate. Here's how I did it:

2 Eggo Waffles $1.15 each (-$1/2 coupon)

2 Eggo French Toast Sticks $1.15 each (-$1/2 coupon)

2 boxes Frosted Mini Wheats $1.80 each (-$1/2 coupon)

4 boxes Nutri-Grain Bars $1.80 each (- two $1/2 coupons)

________

cash out of pocket= $10.40

after $10 rebate = $ .40

If you plan to try this deal yourself, be sure to take the rebate with you; it specifies certain box sizes. All purchases must be on the same receipt. No problem this week!

In Udder News...

Has anyone else noticed that Aldi is now carrying organic milk? I saw it yesterday. It's $2.99 a half gallon. That's still more expensive than a whole gallon of regular milk at their store but less than the price of organic at other stores. According to their website they're stocking other organic items in their Australia stores. Maybe we'll be next. Organic Aldi; who knew?

Trimming the Fat

With the continuing increase in the price of groceries and gasoline, I'm getting rather concerned that our income isn't going to sustain our current budget's outflow. I don't think that we need to increase our standard of living--we've intentionally chosen our frugal lifestyle so that I can stay home with the kids and my husband can serve the Lord full-time with a nonprofit para-church organization--but I do think we're going to have to re-evaluate our current spending.

For the past seven or eight months I've been getting two Sunday newspapers for the coupons, scouring the ads, and utilizing helpful websites like Money Saving Mom to find the best deals. While I've saved quite a bit on groceries and gotten many of our toiletries for free, I've traveled thither and yon to collect it all. Now that gas is hovering at $4 per gallon, I'm starting to wonder if I'd do better to do most of my shopping at Aldi and limit myself to the closest drugstore.

I am humbly reminded with every paycheck that God sustains us through the generosity of His people, and that He is truly good to us. Now I want to make sure that I am honoring Him with my spending in the leaner times, using what we have to do my best for my family to be generous with others, and not grumbling and complaining about it.

So how do you do it?

Oh, Happy Day!

This just in...

I received the following email in response to a question I asked about growth hormones in Prairie Farms milk:

Effective February 1, 2008 Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. only purchases milk from dairy farms where the farmer has signed an affidavit stating that he/she does not use rBST on their farm.

Gary D. Lee
V.P. Procurement
Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc
217-854-2547

Go here to get Prairie Farms coupons.

Riding the Green Machine

After yesterday's mishap, the kids and I decided to take a day off of school and examine the status of organic food in our area. We hit six--yes six--grocery stores: Sam's Club; Trader Joe's; Meijer; an employee owned, cash-only store; and two local independent grocers. Our prognosis should not surprise anyone: organic is expensive. But how expensive was a shock to my system, along with the fact that there was very little difference in price from store to store. There just aren't many deals on organic food.

We found that organic milk, butter and eggs were consistently twice the price of their store counterparts. But now that Meijer and Dean's brand (non-organic) milk are rBHT-free, I feel less pressure to buy organic milk, anyway.

Meat was another kicker: double the price for non-hormone, non-antibiotic beef or chicken; I did find some chicken thighs marked down 40% for quick sale at Meijer.

Organic canned and bottled items such as tomatoes, beans, and salad dressings were a bit more reasonable especially when purchased under the store's private label at Meijer or Trader Joe's, with prices 25% to 50% above the regular brands.

Veggies were scary bad. Meijer had run-of-the-mill pesticide laden strawberries for $.99 per pound. The organic ones were $3.75. Ouch! The local grocer had romaine on sale for $.39 per pound while the organic was on sale at Meijer for $2.00 per 14 oz. package. I didn't even glance in the produce direction at Trader Joe's. Makes that garden all the more necessary!

The reality check has been deposited and it will not cover organics! No matter how I figure it, my $50 per week grocery budget is not going to stretch to include all these wonderfully healthy products. I'll look for the mark-downs, shop the pathetically slim sales, and weigh my options carefully, but for the present time, this home economist is going to have to mean that "Lord, bless this food to our bodies" in a "don't let us get poisoned" kind of way.

Now about those chickens...

Spiritual Gifts

CHARITY--noun (dictionary.com)

1. generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless.
2. something given to a person or persons in need; alms.

I've never thought of my family as poor, ill, or helpless, nor in need of alms, and yet today I found myself granted a rather unusual gift.

Let me start by saying that I love my neighborhood market. Its shelves are brimming with imported food with exotic names and the produce, meat, and deli items are always wonderful and affordable. And yet it is the one place that my frugality is always under suspicion. I feel more like a criminal than a home economist as every week the cashiers, huddled in little groups, scrutinize my coupons while speaking about them in a low foreign tongue. Then the cashier whose lane I happen to be in comes back to her booth and grills me about the product or the coupon or has some reason why she will not accept my carefully clipped manufacturer's coupon.

I've been hanging on to three $1-off bagged salad coupons that I found on health and wellness site a month or so ago, and when I saw a stack of these bags on the reduced produce cart marked down to a dollar, I grabbed three. Free salad! Yippee! Then after picking up some other produce and a couple bags of tortillas, I headed off to the milk cooler and saw, to my amazement, a sign in front of the gallons of 2% that said $1.29. Wow! My lucky day! While grabbing a couple gallons I noticed that the sign was advertising 1% milk. No problem. Put back the 2%, pick up the 1%.

I got to the check out, concerned that the milk wouldn't really ring up at $1.29. It didn't. A kind customer in the next check out line informed me that the sign was actually for the 1% half-gallons. At precisely the same time, the cashier informed me that she wouldn't take my salad coupons. So I asked her to take off the milk (I'd go back and get the half-gallons because 2 were cheaper than 1 gallon) and told her that I didn't want the salads. "But they're on clearance," she said. "I know," I said. I then paid my $19 grocery bill and headed back to pick up the milk.

Four half-gallons of 1% milk later, I was back at the check out line when the cashier handed me a bag containing the three salads in question, saying, "the lady behind you told me to give these to you." Attached was a paid receipt. Huh?

Sadly, my first reaction was one of prideful horror. I thought, "we're not rich, but my husband has a good job!" "We choose frugality!" "I didn't want those soon-to-expire salad if I couldn't use my coupons!" But by the time I had sheepishly paid for my milk and slunk toward the door, I realized that sometimes God gives us good gifts even when we don't need or ask for them. And sometimes He uses the charity of strangers to humble us.

CHARITY-- noun (Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language)

1. In a general sense, love, benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men.

2. In a more particular sense, love, kindness, affection, tenderness, springing from natural relations.

So, blond lady, whoever you are, thanks. Thanks for the salads, but more so for the disposition of your heart that inclined you to do me good. May God bless you bountifully, and may I learn from you.

"The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself." Proverbs 11:25

Cerealpaloza

If you need cereal, this is the week to get it.

Safeway (Vons, Dominicks, Tom Thumb, Pavilions, Carrs, or whatever they call it in your neighborhood) is running a three day sale starting today on Kellogg's cereal. You need the 4 boxes for $6 coupon from their circular, and then use four $1 coupons from recent inserts to get them for $0.50 a box. Be sure to ask the folks at the service desk which varieties qualify before you hit the cereal aisle. I lucked out when my cashier finally gave up trying to figure it out and simply gave me the deal on the boxes in my cart.

Albertsons ( Jewel, Acme Markets, etc.) has two grand sales going. If you buy 4 General Mills cereals that are currently on sale for $2.50 per box, the are instantly reduced to $1.50 each. Use 2 of the $1 off 2 boxes coupons from recent inserts and get them for $1 a box. This is another one to check your receipt on. One of the boxes I picked up didn't ring up on sale and it ruined the whole deal. If I hadn't caught it, it would have cost me over $5. There are some specific General Mills coupons on coupons.com , and there were blinkies for $0.75 off 2 boxes of Cheerios in the aisle at my store.

Albertsons also has a deal on Chex. If you buy 3 boxes, you get them for $5. I bought 6 boxes, used 2 internet coupons from here for $1.10 off 2 boxes and another $1 off 2 boxes from a recent insert to get them for $1.13 each. Pretty good for Chex!

Strange Fun

I went on the hunt yesterday and bagged some serious game! It worked out that between the visiting we're doing and what I already have stashed in the freezer, I don't have to cook but 2 meals this week. So I used most of the grocery money on extras we like but don't need--known to some as "junk." (My husband claims it's the preservatives in such "junk" that keep us so healthy. He also admits it's just a theory.)

Here's how it worked out:

CVS--These bargains were found with some great coaching from Crystal the Money Saving Mom. Total spent out of pocket was $14.48. I received $14 worth of ecbs for my next trip and the Tums had a rebate for $4.79. I made a $4.31 profit on this trip!

Target--thanks to some info from Angie at Thrifty Florida Mama I picked up some pantry essentials and some of our favorite "junk" for a whopping $4.71.

Meijer--Between the loss leaders and the manufacturer's coupons, I got the peanut butter for $.50 a jar, the pies for $1.48 a piece, the crescent rolls for $.85 a tube, The Spray n' Wash for $1.42 a bottle, and the cheese for $1.50. The oranges were from the reduced produce cart for $.90. Grand total--$10.68.

And last but not least is the Mom's Best Naturals Cereal from our local market. Mom's Best is a Malt O Meal company in disguise that makes great tasting, low priced cereal. You can find a dollar-off coupon here . We got all four big boxes (each being between 18 and 23 oz) plus the bananas from the reduced produce cart for $5.54.

I think this is pretty good for $16.62 (and I'll break my arm if I pat myself on the back any harder)!