Meal Plan Monday.....January 11th Edition....Using my Food Budget to Stock-Up A Bit

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...

We had about half of the meals as I had planned them.  Some nights we just didn't feel like what was slated and I have so much in my freezer and stockpile that we just substituted something else I already have on hand or we worked on some leftovers.
One dinner that was a last minute substitution was GREAT!  I had a roll of Italian Sausage....not links but a loose sausage meat roll.  This had been hanging out in the freezer door too long so it had to get used.  What I did was brown and crumble the meat, then I boiled a box of Whole Wheat Penne Pasta and made a pot of Spaghetti Sauce from scratch and added the sausage meat to that.  Dump the Penne and the Sauce into a casserole and top with Shredded Mozzarella.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Add a salad and you've got a tasty, hearty, cold weather beater dinner!  And better still, no money was spent this week on it.

I've moved a few of the meals to this week, and adjusted my plan to accomodate the relative that is visiting us this week.

Here's what I will be serving our family of 6 this Week.....

MONDAY--Fried Calamari(freezer), Garlic Shells in Butter Sauce(stockpile), Carrots(freezer)
TUESDAY--Taking the Relative out for Dinner
WEDNESDAY--Boston Baked Beans(stockpile),Cornbread(stockpile)
THURSDAY--Pork Ragu(stockpile/freezer) Garlic Bread, Creamed Spinach(freezer)
FRIDAY--Chicken Alfredo with Vegetables(freezer/leftover/stockpile)
SATURDAY--Leftovers-only 2 family members home for dinner
SUNDAY--Roast Chicken, Roast Veggies, Mashed Potatoes(freezer/stockpile)
SNACKS/DESSERTS--Pineapple(stockpile), Applesauce(stockpile), Brownies(stockpile), Birthday Cake(stockpile)

Last week I spent $88.44 on food/toiletries....$73.05 at Weis, $7.26 at Rite-Aid, $7.13 at Carone's and $1.00 at CVS.
$32.88 that was spent, was for food/toiletry needs that were used in that week.  $55.56 was in future needs/wants.  About half of that $55.56 was on meat which I got very inexpensively.

After assorted rebates on the goods purchased(naked juice, kraft/planters nuts, full price rebate on shampoo, various items for Rite-Aid Single Check Rebate)amounting to $37.99, my OOP spending for the week is $50.45.

Food Waste Report....1 small cube of cheese(about 1"x 1"x1/2" thick)that wasn't worth scraping the mold off of and 1 slice of bread(a heel)that went moldy too.

Since I bought Molasses last week, this week's menu only requires milk, sliced cheese(for #2 son's back up meal of choice-grilled cheese)and bread stock-up. I do want to stock-up on more Progresso Soup on sale this week at Weis as well as more Naked Juice to do the rebate for BIL.
$25 should do it for weekly needs so I'll reserve the other $37.50 of the food budget for stock-ups if I find something worth getting at a good price.

I think that next week, after #1 son goes back to college and the relative leaves, I'm going to have a NO Grocery Store Shopping Week.  I hope Weis doesn't decide to do a rare good Catalina Deal next week!lolol

Check out ORGANIZING JUNKIE to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week.

Sluggy

Did Someone Say More Cowbell? The Week I Contracted Rite-Aid FEVER!

I am a BIG FAN of Christopher Walken.
Have been for years!

As Christopher might say....
"I got a fever, and the only prescription is more Rite-Aid!"

After having made TEN TRIPS to Rite-Aid in 1 week, it's true....I'm a bonafide nut case!

Or.....
Maybe with the sales, the Manu. Qs, the weekly flyer Qs, the IPQs, the AdPerk IPQs, the Wellness Qs & the Game Of Life Qs, it was just the alignment of the planets,er....the Qs, to make this past week the Couponers Dream shopping opportunity at Rite-Aid.

So by Friday, I had already made 5 trips to Rite-Aid and finished my Kraft/Planters Nut Rebate Mission.
But I still had good Qs to use and things on sale that I wanted to buy. Plus some items the teens had requested. ;-)
I had some $3 off $15 purchase Wellness Qs and some $5 off $20 purchase AdPerks Qs left so I was off to do more transactions.

1 x Roll of Xmas Paper 75% off=$1.24
  -$1 any Seasonal Item over $1 Wellness CRT Q=$.24

1 x 2 Pack Roll of Xmas Paper 75% off=$1.49  *not pictured, already given away

   -$1 any Seasonal Item over $1 Wellness CRT Q=$.49

2 x Got2B Hair Gel Stuff BOGO=$6.49   
   -2 x $3=$6 Got2B Hair Product AdPerks IPQs=$.49

1 x OralB ToothBrush Refills on sale=$5.99 
  -$3/1 Oral B ManuQ + $1 any Oral Care Wellness IPQ($4 total)=$1.99

1 x Maybelline Mascara 40% off=$3.11 
  -$2 any Beauty Product over $2 Wellness IPQ=$1.11

1 x NYC Lip Gloss=$2.99   
   -$2 any Beauty Product over $2 Wellness IPQ=$.99


Total Before Coupons....$21.31
Total of Coupons...$16.00+$5 off $25 Purchase AdPerks Q=$21.00
 *I had a $1 Maybelline AdPerks Q but it would have put me over my preQ total si I didn't use it. I miscalculated and flaked out at the register. ugh  If I had figured correctly I could have gotten something small(at least 69¢ worth)and paid even less than 33¢.  But all in all, paying 33¢ isn't so bad.lolol


$21.31-$21.00=$.31+$.02tax=$.33 OOP
Rebates qualified for.....$2 Maybelline Mascara, $1 NYC Cosmetic=$3.00


$.33-$3.00=$2.67 Moneymaker!

Transaction #2


1 x Riceworks Chips on sale=$1.99 
   -$.50 any Snack Item over $.50 Wellness IPQ=$1.49

1 x Dove Xmas Candy 75% off=$1.24
   -$1 off any Seasonal Item over $1 Wellness CRT Q=$.24

2 x Nature's Bounty Vitamin C Bogo=$9.99

   -2 x $2 Any Vitamin over $2 Wellness IPQ+2 x $1/1 AdPerks Nature's Bounty IPQ+2 x $1/1     Nature's Bounty ManuQ($8 total)=$1.99

1 x Maybelline Mascara 40% off=$3.11 
   -$2 off Any Beauty Product over $2 Wellness IPQ+$1 Maybelline AdPerks IPQ($3 total)=$.11


Total Before Coupons....$16.33
Total of Coupons....$12.50+$3 off $15 Purchase Wellness IPQ=$15.50

$16.33-$15.50=$.83 OOP
Rebates qualified for.....$2 Maybelline Mascara=$2.00


$.83-$2.00=$1.17 Moneymaker!
 

Transaction #3


1 x Tostitos Chips on sale=$3.00
   -$.50 any Snack Item over $.50 Wellness IPQ+$1 Tostitos AdPerks IPQ($1.50 total)=$1.50

1 x Rite-Aid Lotion=$2.00
   -$2 off any Skin Care Item over $2 Wellness Q+$.25 off Rite-Aid Lotion GOL Q= -$.25

2 x Rolaids=$9.98

   -2 x $2 Rolaid In-Ad Q+$4/2 Rolaids ManuQ($8 total)=$1.98

1 x OralB Toothbrush Refills on sale=$5.99

   -$3/1 OralB Refills ManuQ+$1 off any Oral Care Wellness Q($4 total)=$1.99


Total Before Coupons....$20.97
Total of Coupons....$15.75+$5 off $20 Purchase Wellness IPQ=$20.75


$20.97-$20.75=$.22 OOP

No Rebates qualified for in this transaction.

Transaction #4


2 x Chex Mix BOGO sale=$2.99

   -$1/2 Chex Mix Manu Q+$1/2 AdPerks Chex Mix IPQ($2.00 total)=$1.00

1 x Rite-Aid Lotion=$2.00

   -$2 off any Skin Care Item over $2+$.25 Rite-Aid Lotion GOL Q($2.25)= -$.25

2 x Natrol Acai BOGO sale=$13.99
   -2 x $2 Any Vitamin over $2 Wellness IPQ+2 x $3/1 Natrol Item IPQ($10 total)=$3.99
1 x 3Musketeers Bar on sale=$.50

2 x Nivea Lip Care BOGO Sale=$3.99

   -BOGO ManuQ($3.99)=$.00


Total Before Coupons....$23.47
Total of Coupons....$18.24+$5 off $20 Purchase Wellness IPQ=$23.24


$23.47-$23.24=$.23 OOP

Rebates qualified for.....the Natrol Acai put me over $30 in purchases this month for the WELLNESS Rebate, which is a $5 Rite-Aid Gift Card.



$.23 OOP & get a $5 Gift Card

Transaction #5


2 x Stay Free Pads BOGO Sale=$3.99
   -Stay Free Bogo ManuQ=$.00

2 x GE Reveal Lightbulbs on sale $2=$4.00

   -$1.50/1 ManuQ +1 x $1/1 ManuQ($2.50 total)=$1.50

2 x Planters Cashews BOGO Sale=$5.99

   -2 x $.50 Any Snack Item over $.50+$1/2 Planters Nuts ManuQ($2 total)=$3.99

1 x NYC Lip Gloss=$2.99

   -$2 off Any Beauty Product over $2 Wellness IPQ=$.99


Total Before Coupons....$16.97
Total of Coupons....$10.49+$3 off $15 Purchase Wellness IPQ=$13.49


$16.97-$13.49=$3.48 OOP

Rebates qualified for.....$2 GE +$1 NYC Cosmetic=$3.00



$3.48-$3.00 Rebates=$.48 OOP




1/9/10  Totals
OOP....$5.09
Rebates...$8.00+$5 Gift Card

Today was a $2.91 Moneymaker.
Value of Items Bought...$178.97 
Savings of 100%+



JANUARY TOTALS
OOP (before Rebates)....$20.14
Value of Items Bought....$543.15
Savings of.....96.29%


SCR qualified for.....$50.00

Kraft Rebate qualified for at Rite-Aid...$10.00
Game of Life game Winnings....$2.00
Gift Cards.....$5

Total Gains for January...$62.00+$5 GC



$20.14-$62.00=$41.86 MONEYMAKER for the Month!

OOOh baby...I'm burning up in here!!

Sluggy 

Almost Free NAKED JUICE at WEIS MARKETS this Week!

Get your hiney over to Weis Markets this week(before the sale week ends on Wednesday night).
The 15.2 oz. NAKED JUICE bottles are on sale BOGO, so you get 2 for $2.99.
Go print this $1/1 Coupon HERE.  You can print it twice by hitting your back button.  If you can use a second computer, go print out 4 of the coupons.

Now go to Weis and buy 10 bottles, any flavor you like.
10 bottle with the BOGO sale will cost you $14.95.
Use 4 of the $1/1 Coupons and pay $10.95 OOP.

Now save your receipt and go HERE and download a copy of a Naked Juice Rebate Form.
Send in the information they need and the form and you will get back $10 on your purchase of 10 bottles.

$10.95 you spent - $10 Rebate=$.95 OOP for 10 Juices!

That's what I did today! ;-)
Of course, since my Weis won't take IPQs, I had to go to a different Weis outside of Teeny Tiny Town to get in on this deal.

Sluggy

Weis Deals this Week...1/7-1/13 What is Worth Buying?

Here are the Best Deals using coupons at Weis this week.  Their Sales ad runs until Wednesday night(will change over to Sunday to Saturday ad in a week or so).

Frankly, not as much of a snoozfest this week as last....MHO folks.lol

BEST DEALS(=Free or almost Free)

Tony's Single Serve Pizzas $1.00
--use the $.50/1 ManuQ(12/13SS insert)and if your Weis doubles pay ZERO...if you can find them.  My store is always wiped out when this is free after Q.

Yo-Plait or Yo-Plus Yogurt $1.50 each
--use the $1/1 ManuQ(1/3GM insert)and pay $.50 a pack(works out to .125¢ a cup)

Healthy Choice Soups $1.00
--use the $.75/2 ManuQ(1/3 SS2 insert)and if your Weis doubles pay $.50 a can or less if the store doubles fully

Purina Whisker Lickin's $1.00
--use the $1/2 ManuQ(11/15 SS insert)and pay $.50 a bag

Chapstick Lip Balm $1.00
--use the $.50/2 ManuQ(12/13 SS insert)and if your Weis doubles and they have the MEDICATED type, pay $.50 each when you buy 2

GOOD DEALS(=Cheap)

Green Giant boxed Veggies  $1.00
--use the $.60/3 ManuQ(11/15 GM insert-hurry it expires on Sat!)and pay $.67 a box if your store doubles up to $1(or less if they double fully)

Progresso Soup Classic varieties  $1.00
--use the $1/4 ManuQ(various ones out there) and pay $.75 a can

Post Cereals(selected varieties) 2 for $3 MUST BUY TWO
--use the $1/2 ManuQ(12/6 SS insert)if your store has the varieties listed on the Q in this sale  and pay $1 per box

Eggs $1.19 per dozen
--use the Egg Council BOGO IPQ(if you printed back when it was available) and pay .595¢ per dozen

Healthy Choice Frozen Dinners  $2.50 each
--use the IPQ for $5/5 if still available HERE and pay $1.50 per Dinner  You do need to buy 5 however to use this Q.


PRODUCE DEALS

Romaine is $.99lb.  That's $1.50 off!  Good Deal.

Apples are $.69lb.  That's a Decent Deal.


MEAT DEALS

Perdue  40% OFF
--there is a $.75/1 Q on Perdue Shortcuts  due out this Sunday 1/10.  I'd hold off buying the Perdue until after Sunday.  Price...??

OTHER MEAT
Since meat coupons are so hard to come by, I recommend shopping the meat dept. on the night before or the morning after the Ad changeover.  This is when you are more likely to find discounted meat packs, either marked down or with store $x off stickers on them or if you hit it lucky with BOTH discounts!  I went to Weis on Wed. evening to use my Smart Taste Ronzoni Qs this week and found in the meat dept. a Pork Loin Roast marked about 50% off after store coupon, 80% Ground Beef for $1.72lb. after discount store coupon and 2 HUGE Roaster Chickens that had been BOGO that week, each with a $3Off Store Coupon on them.  And someone had NOT removed the BOGO stickers so I got 1 FREE and basically $6 off the other one.  Almost 14lbs. of Roasters for just over $5...that's $.39 a lb.!


CATALINA DEAL
Nothing.

Just.

Plain.

Sad.

 

OTHER DEALS

I do want to mention that Weis has NAKED JUICE on BOGO this week.  The regular price there is $2.99 a bottle.
Naked Juice has a $10 MIR available until 2/1/10.  Get the form Here.  Buy 10 bottles, Get $10 back.  If you were to buy them at Weis this week, you would pay $14.95 and after the rebate be OOP $4.95 on 10 bottles.
I think you might be able to do better elsewhere, but maybe not before 2/1.  I am conflicted on paying $4.95 for these.
Anybody out there ever try this stuff?  Let me know if it's worth drinking, ok?


So what are you or did you get this week at Weis?  Any deals there you couldn't pass up?
Leave a comment and let us know what ya found!

Sluggy

My 2010 Savings Goals

Ok, so it's a new year and I need a new set of Savings Goals for it.
But which goals.....and how much?

First, where we stand financially.

We have no mortgage, so no mortgage to pay toward or pay off.  We did that in March of 2006. 8-))
We have no car loans, so nothing to pay toward or pay off there either. 8-)
We have a credit card but it's paid off every month.  Nothing is put on it unless it can be paid that billing cycle.  We don't fritter the money away on making banks richer.  ;-)
We have a fully funded 6 month Emergency Fund(the reason we don't have to put emergency purchases on the credit card), so we don't need to throw money into that fund.  We could put some extra into that though and make it a 9 month or 1 year EF I suppose.

There are 3 Savings Goals I do see we should fund.

First is throwing additional money into the Kid's College Fund.  We have a plan that will allow us to Cash Flow each child's undergraduate college career(4 years to complete the degree). We have told each of them how much they are getting from us and they need to find a school that can be paid for with it or if they want to go somewhere more expensive, they need to come up with the money for the difference through either grants, scholarships, work study, loans or working while attending school.
Graduate school?....that's on their dime, not ours.
We had ESAs for each child but when the stock market fell, those took a hit.  I am hopeful they will recover enough in time before we need the cash so that I can take the money out without a net loss.
We had a cash flow plan with this College Fund but we may come up a bit short between how we are funding it and the exploding costs of schooling.  At any rate, this Fund could use a bit more moolah.

Second we are going to have to replace a car very soon.  Not a new car but a 'new to us' car.  And we will pay cash of course.

Third is paying for a new heating system for our house.  This house was built in the late 1980's.  At the time, the builder got a tax incentive to put a thermal storage heating unit in his homes here.  The electric company had a special lower off-peak/on-peak rate for these systems that helped homeowners have a lower electric bill than the regular electric customers.
This year, the electric company is phasing out this special rate(thank you cap and trade) and in 2011, they are doing away with it completely.  Also, these thermal storage systems were only expected to last 20-30 yrs.  2 of our heating receptables have already died, one at the beginning of last winter and the other at the end of it.  Replacing 1 electric thermal unit was in the ballpark of 5 Thousand Dollars!  There are 5 in the house, along with regular baseboard electrical units in the smaller rooms.   It makes no sense to replace the dead units since the special rate is going away and we'll be a totally electric home with incredibly high electric rates after this year.
So we need a new heating system before next fall when the heat gets turned on again!
Replacing your heating system is NOT cheap....especially if you aren't set up for gas and you have no ductwork in your house already.
Ugh.

I had wanted to put solar panels on the house but that will have to wait as the heating system is more critical.  And heating with solar just wouldn't be realistic at this location or within our financial scope.
At this point I am leaning toward a GeoThermal Heating System.  We may have a problem however, since you need to excavate and lay underground piping next to your house for this type of system and we have buried/underground utility lines here on the property.  We may not have the room for the pipes.

Since I was able to sock away $23K+ last year, I don't feel I should settle for less than that this year.
Tentatively, I am going to set a $30K Savings Goal for 2010.
That's $2500 a month.
I still need to go through the bills for last year and get some final numbers together so I can set a realistic Budget.
Then I need to research more on the heating system options and get some estimates.  How much this bill will cost may help determine what the Savings Goal will be for this year.....or then again, it might not.lol

More later on the Savings Goals after I get a final Budget together.
Have you set your family Budget for the year yet?
Do you have any savings goals for 2010?
Do you have a plan to reach those goals?
Please leave a comment and tell us!
 
Sluggy