The Farmer's Market

There's a local Flea Market that has become mostly a farmer's market. My mom goes every Wed and some Saturdays. It has become a big way to save money on produce for my family! On weeks when everyone is healthy, I go with Mom. It's our standing date. On weeks like this one, I send one of my older kids and they go out to lunch afterwards.

Today Jon went and returned with this...


1 box of Navel oranges (84) $10.00
1 flat of strawberries $15.00
1 watermelon $4.00
4 broccoli
1 bag of carrots $1.00
3 gallon bags of greenbeans
8 yellow squash
5 greenpeppers
1 red pepper
4 bunches bananas

Total $44.00

The oranges last us two weeks and everything else is for a week. The strawberries we'll freeze if they start to get soft before we finish them.

Blessings,

The How Low Can You Go Challenge

Well, it's hard work but I've found that I can really lower my grocery bill if I'm diligent. Today I went to FoodLion and spent $86.57 and saved $76.56 in coupons and MVP sales. That's almost a 50% savings! Pretty cool!

I've got two more stores to hit this week. There are some great deals going on and I want to stock up. WinnDixie is having their 10 for $10 sales on frozen veggies and a few other items. I'm also going to hit Publix for my fruits and veggies. I'm going to try to stay until $200 for everything, even my stock up stuff. I bought 5 whole chickens at FoodLion for 67 cents a pound. It's so nice to see my freezer full again! It was getting quite empty, especially since I didn't do a big shopping trip this past week.

I guess you can say that the money saving bug has gotten to me.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

ETA: I just got back from WinnDixie. I spent $33.61 and saved $21.38! Another almost 50% savings. One more store to go. The kids are clamoring for fresh fruit.LOL

Right now, I'm making Baked Tilapia with rice and steamed broccoli for dinner. I got the tilapia bogo, had the rice and bought the frozen broccoli on sale bogo.

The How Low Can You Go Challenge

I know that the challenge is over but I wanted to share a blog with you all that was shared with me this past week. I have been learning a lot and was able to save $44.00 at Walgreens today. Pretty neat!

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

Blessings,

Lisa

The How Low Can You Go Challenge!

This is my last week of posting on this challenge. I plan on keeping up with this in hopes that I can continue to find ways to lower my bill. Some things, I think were a success and some bombed. Here are some things I've discovered...

1. Watching the sales and using coupons works in some cases. I found CVS to be a blessing and will continue to get things from there each week. I was able to save on cold medicines, toiletries, and some grocery items by watching the sales, using ECB's and also keeping an eye out for things on clearance.

2. Going to more than one grocery store costs me money. I definitely spent more, the more stores I went to. From now on, I'll stick to one store a week although I will still try to make it to Food Lion for their meat sales every so often.

3. I really can spend less. I was under the impression that I was doing the best that I could by making a list and sticking to it. I've now found that by checking the sales, using generics when possible, and coupons when not that I can save us a lot more. I need to be a careful shopper.

4. Making from scratch saves money! I don't buy much from boxes and mixes but there were a few items that I still used that were costing me money. I've purged them from my pantry and am making them from scratch. They taste better, and cost less. Some things on that list are; tortillas, french fries, and mac and cheese. I'm still working on making enough bread each week for my family, the supplies cost about the same as bakery bread, so I usually expend my energy making the extra things like rolls, biscuits, muffins, bread sticks and such. That saves us by not buying them premade but I'd like to have all our bread homemade. It's hard without the right mixer, I use my hands right now and it's not that cheap buying the flour in 5lb bags. I may look into buying this in bulk although I'm always afraid of bugs here in the south.LOL And I'll enlist the troops for more mixing help. I'm just not willing to buy a new mixer when hands can do just as well.

So now on to my last grocery week....

I was rushed today and needed to drop three of the kids off at Grandma G's house before shopping and I forgot my list!!!! How in the world could this happen?! Well, since I had poured over that list so many times yesterday and today, I was able to remember everything but one item. I also didn't buy extra things either. I was pretty happy. Sophia, Allison, and I were able to get the shopping done and we ended up spending $210. Not too bad.

For the month I averaged $173.95 a week on groceries! Considering the month before when I averaged $275 a week, I've done well. That's a savings of $101.05 for this month. Almost enough to pay for Sophia's medicines.LOL

As I said, I'm going to keep this up. It's been great to see how I can save us money and I really think it's worth it.

Blessings,

Lisa

The How Low Can You Go Challenge!

So I went shopping and did much better this week! I didn't need as much since I had stocked up and was able to get out of the store spending only $127.00. I stuck to my list and bought mainly fruit, veggies, milk, and eggs.

I also went to CVS and used my Extra Care Bucks for medicine, paper towels, and toilet paper. They were also having a clearance on their back to school stuff and I picked up a few items. I got 2yr planners for .25 a piece! Pretty cool.

Blessings,

Lisa

The How Low Can You Go Challenge!

I downloaded a course on saving money at the grocery store from Crystal Paine about a week or two ago. I've been slowly working my way through the course and it's pretty good. I have to admit that I've already been doing many of the tips that she shares in the course but if you are new to saving money, this course would definitely help you. You can look it up at SupermarketSavings101 . The biggest thing that she talks about, that I've never been good at, is coupons and going to different stores. I've been trying to incorporate this into my shopping, but I have to say that I keep overspending. Another thing that is different than what I've always done is stocking up on things when they are on sale. I know that should be something that I do but to tell the truth, I've always just stuck to a menu, shopped for that menu, and kept myself from deviating from the menu.lol If I do this, then I know how much I'll spend. When I try to stock a pantry, I seem to overspend.

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That said, I overspent this week. I REALLY need to get a handle on this!lol

Here's what I did this week....

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First, we went to Foodlion on Saturday night. We only needed milk, diapers, and Cheerios but I brought my coupons just in case. They had Cheerios on sale 3 for $5.00 and I had a coupon for $1.50 off 3. I also had diaper coupons which I used and got free wipes. They had 3 cans of baby formula on clearance for $3.50 a can and I decided to pick it up in hopes of giving it to someone who can use it because it's never that cheap for name brand formula! Anyway after all was said and done, I spent $82.97 and saved $31.39 in coupons and $15.90 in MVP savings. Yes, I was able to stock up on things that will last us over a month and it was cheaper than if I only bought it as needed but I still needed to do a grocery run for everything else on my list for the week.

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Next, I went to Publix. They were having sales on Pasta, trash bags, sauce and I bought our fruit from here too. Last week I bought our fruit from Food Lion and we had a massive Fruit Fly invasion. Jon made a better fly trap and was able to reduce our fly population down to only a few per room but still, I can't do that every week. YUCK. All said, I spent $86.33 and saved $33.95.

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After that, I should have stopped but I wanted to take advantage of the sales at CVS so last night at 9:30pm Eric and I had a date.LOL Now here's the neat thing. Whatever I bought earned me more money in extra care bucks and I only bought things we needed although I bought more than I would normally in hopes that I won't be going back for a while. I'm going to use the ECB's for milk or diapers for the next week or so and that will help our budget.

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I bought:

Shampoo and got $10 back

Aquafresh toothpaste with two coupons and earned $2.00

Lever with coupon

3 tylenol products with coupons and earned $2.00

Easy up diapers were on sale $8.99 and I had a $3.00 off coupon

Burt Bees shampoo samples were on clearance and I got them for .25 a piece

Sunlight dishsoap on clearance .70

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Once I was done, I spent $81.65 and saved $76.60 and earned $17.00 for my next purchases and got a coupon for $3 off a $15 purchase.

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Basically, I went overbudget. I ended up spending $250.95 for the week total. That's what I normally spend for a week but was really hoping to lower my weekly bill instead of keeping it the same. I know that I have a lot of food stocked up now, but I wonder if I'll ever not have something that I'll need to stock up on? Will it ever really lower my bill or will I always need to buy a month's worth of something in order to get the better deal? I'm on the fence. I'm also having a hard time finding places to keep everything.LOL

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So far this is how things are turning out;

Week 1: $147.00 (just buying sales, generic, and sticking to my menu)

Week 2: $212.51 (buying sales in bulk for a month, couponing)

$49.29 (shopping at CVS and earning ECB's)

Total= $261.80

Week 3: $82.97 (Food Lion)

$86.33 (Publix)

$81.65 (CVS)

Total for week 3: $250.95

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I'm already seeing that I was saving more by buying just what I needed for the week based on the sale ads. Maybe I won't finish out the month with this trial. I don't think we can afford it right now.

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For me, going to just one store, making a grocery list and menu based off the sale ads, buying generic when I can, and sticking to my list saves me the most money. Yes, I've gotten things much cheaper the past two weeks and they will last me for over a month but I've not saved money for THIS month and that's what I've needed to do. I've lost sight of that and will go back to my goal this next week.

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Blessings,

Lisa

The How Low Can You Go Challenge!

So this week I decided to do my shopping at Food Lion. They were having a promotion where if you spent $50 you got a $5 coupon to use next week. I also had some coupons from FL that I needed to use up and I also found that you can download coupons off their website. So armed with my coupons and my grocery list, off I went. I decided to try going on Sunday night as opposed to Monday morning because then I could leave everyone at home and it would give me less to do during the school day. It ended up being the best time to go to this particular store! Everything was marked down. Huge Manager's Specials were everywhere! When all was said and done, I ended up spending $212.51 but I won't need to buy any meat for the rest of the month, including lunch meat. They had chicken reduced for quick sale, pork roasts 1/2 off, turkey lunch meat for 1.53 a package, and tuna 5 for $5.00. I was also able to purchase 3 blocks of cheddar for $4.00 since I had a coupon and it was on sale. Fruit was on clearance and I was able to buy quite a few for .29 a lb. Anyway, I think I did pretty good. My next grocery bill should be very low. I'm making banana bread for breakfast tomorrow and I froze the other ripe bananas for smoothies.

I'm trying to reduce my bill by half and maybe the next two weeks will be low enough for me to meet my goal for this month. So far, I've already been lower for each week. What's so neat is that I've been making this a challenge instead of a burden and it's really made a difference in my attitude. I've been researching and trying to use my money the best I can and I can see a difference. I think this will be something that I can only get better at the longer I do it.

Blessings,

Lisa

The How Low Can You Go Challenge!

O.k. so this was my first foray into the CVS Extra Care Bucks program. I looked online to see if there was anything at the store that I needed that was on sale or that I could earn money by buying. Right now, this is what I came up with...

I bought...

2 Colgate Toothpastes that cost 2.99 each but earned me 2.99 in extra care bucks. I think this was the very best deal and I may go back and buy more. Basically, they are paying me to buy the toothpaste.

CVS brand Batteries were buy one, get one free. I bought quite a few since Sophia's swing runs on batteries and so does a few of the kids toys.

2 Crest kids toothbrushes earned me $2 in extra care bucks. I spent 2.69 a piece which means I ended up getting two for 3.38. Not that great a deal but with as much illness in this house, I felt I needed to replace their brushes.

2 Mennen 24/7 deodorants, they were 3.99 a piece but earned me $6.00 total in extra care bucks, so basically I got them for .99 a piece.

2 Nexuss Hair products. We use this normally and they had a deal where if you bought $15 worth you got $5 in ECB, so I bought it.

I also had a spend $15 and get $3.00 off coupon which I used.

So I spent 49.29-$3.00 on these items and earned 18.98 in ECB and got two 2.50 coupons for CVS brand items in the future. I also signed up for their emails and got a free spend $20 and get $4 off my next purchase. I think I did o.k. but can see room for improvement next week. I did spend more than I wanted, but these were things that were on my grocery list and I probably would have spent more at the grocery store and I wouldn't have earned money on my purchases.

Now to work on my grocery list.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

The How Low Can You Go Challenge!

O.k. so this week I went grocery shopping with saving money forefront in my mind. I tried to buy generic, buy produce that was on sale, no impulse buys, no little people with me, a menu on hand with all meals and snacks listed, and I checked out all coupons before leaving.LOLOL I also kept an eye out for things that we eat all the time to see if any were on sale, like chicken, and bought extra for next week. Whew! I ended up spending $147.00 for the week. That was for everything we needed. Toiletries, cleaners, diapers, and food. I also bought extra chicken for next week. Now I know that I can do better, but for my first week, it wasn't too bad. I usually spend around $250 on a good week and $300 on a bad week. I know, that's a lot.

Things I'm looking into for more savings....

Would I save more by planning my meals around the sale ads?
Does buying in bulk save me money or just make me buy more?(lol)
Would a warehouse club give me better prices or would I just find more things that I need?
Coupons, good or bad?


Well, those are some of the things buzzing around my head right now.LOL I'm hoping to find some answers over the next few weeks.

Blessings,

Lisa

The How Low Can You Go Challenge!

This month's challenge is different. I'll try to get a graphic up later today but since the month's already begun, I figured I'd better get this running and fill in all the details later.LOL

Because of some extra bills that have come in this past month and will come in this month, I'd like to post a challenge for me and anyone else who may like to join in, to lower my monthly grocery bill by half. Now maybe you are in the same pickle. Perhaps not, but you would still like to see that grocery bill lower, since Christmas is around the corner. Whatever your reason, I'd like for us to join together for support and ideas to lower this bill. I will call it...

The How Low Can You Go Challenge!

LOL! Now, I know that many have already bought their groceries for this first week of Sept, so I will extend it to the first week of Oct. If you're game to the challenge, these are the rules...

1. post to this comment so I know that you are joining in

2. write a blog stating YOUR goal for this month (you don't have to use my goal)

3. each week post an update on how you're doing (after your shopping trip)

4. each week post a recipe or idea or something that is helping you to achieve your goal

5. list these rules under your first post, with the cool graphic that should be coming forthwith

6. link back to this post so anyone else who may want to join, can

I hope that many will join in this challenge! I really want to get this bill under control and I know that support is key to changing things.

Blessings,

Lisa