Weekend Shopping - Check Your Receipt!

I had fun shopping this weekend. I haven't had a big shopping trip at Fred Meyer in a long time, and I enjoyed walking the familiar aisles of my favorite grocery store again! I spent $25.11.

Coffeemate - $2.00 sale (1.00 MC) = $1.00
FM preserves - coupon for $1.00 each
Formula - $3.99 sale ($5.00 MC check) = FREE + $1.01 Overage
Tea - $1.19 regular price
Darigold flavored milk - $1.00 sale ($1.00/2 MC) = $.50 each
Yogurt cups - $.30/ ea sale
String cheese - $2.50 sale ($1.00 MC) = $1.50
2# White cheddar cheese - $3.99 coupon
Campbell's healthy soup - $1.00 sale ($1.00/3 MC) = $.66 each
Yogurt Danimals - $1.29 clearance ($1.00/2MC) = $.79/4 pack
Tomato - $.98/lb sale
Organic Apples/Pears - $.78/lb sale
Tortellini - $1.99 clearance



I went to QFC specifically to buy formula they had on clearance and ended up with a bunch of other stuff. I spent $20.05.


Powder Formula - $13.29 clearance ($5.00 MC check) = $8.29
Liquid Formula - $4.49 clearance ($5.00 MC check) = FREE + $.51 overage
Oatmeal - $1.50 sale
Food Should Tast Good chips - $2.00 sale ($1.00 MC) = $1.00
Organic NF milk - $2.89 clearance
Oscar Meyer turkey breast - $1.99 clearance ($1.00 MC) = $.99
Snickers - $.50 sale (B1G1 MC) = $.25/ea

I generally review my receipt before I leave the store but have gotten a little lazy about it recently. I had picked up a sugar-free jam at Fred Meyer that I wasn't sure would qualify for the $1.00 coupon, and sure enough, when I checked the receipt, the discount hadn't been taken off. So I waited in line at customer service hoping for the discount, but alas, the sugar free jam wasn't included on the coupon even though it didn't say 'selected varieties' or anything like that. Oh well. So I returned it.

At QFC I also checked my receipt and I'm glad I did because I was charged for 4 gallons of milk instead of 3. Again, I waited in line at customer service to get refunded.

Because both of my shopping trips had errors in the checking process, I'm recommitted to reveiwing my reciept before leaving. It won't work for me to check it when I get home or even when I'm in the car because there's no way I'm getting four kids out of the car for my $2.00 or whatever. So my new plan, and I encourage you to do this to, is to just leave the chekcout line and step to the side to look your recipt over before heading to the car. You might be surprised at what you find.

Katie

Monday Menu Plan & Weekend Shopping

Major Shopping to do and only $45 left in the budget. Did I manage?

For the Meal Swap tonight I decided to make sweet & sour chicken. I had a huge jug of sweet & sour sauce and chicken was on sale so I found a recipe. I had some of the ingredients, but I had to buy the chicken, bell peppers, pineapple, onions, and soy sauce. Check out tomorrow's post for the recipe and the meal preparation.

I also am trying to plan for camping the first week of August where I have to provide dinner for 10 adults and 5 kids on two nights. I am making a taco bar one night and beef stew the other night. So I also was watching for ingredients for those meals.

Dinners this week:
Monday - Sweet & sour chicken
Tuesday - Potato Soup (need to use that milk in my freezer)
Wednesday - baked pasta (with white cheddar - a big hit last week!)
Thursday - beef stroganoff (using more milk)
Friday - BBQ
Saturday - leftovers before we leave for camping

Lunches this week:
Monday - Quesadillas
Tuesday - grilled cheese
Wednesday - Mac & Cheese
Thursday - pb & j
Friday - chicken nuggets
Saturday - leftovers before we leave for camping

Here's my haul for the weekend shopping. Altogether I spent $50.51 so I didn't quite make it with my $45 left for the month. Close enough! I actually returned a clothing purchase before my Fred Meyer shopping, as well, so I could use a store credit toward the groceries.



Here's what I bought:
2 english cucumbers - $.50 each on sale
8 bell peppers - $.50 each on sale (for meal swap)
green onions - $.50
red & green grapes - $.99/lb
bananas - $.59.lb
5# bag of onions - $4.79! (Seriously irritated at this price! Ridiculous!)
pint whipping cream - $2.29 (50% off clearance) = $1.15
YoPlus yogurt - $2.29 sale ($.50 store coupon) ($1.00 MC) = $.79
Yoplain Delights yogurt - $2.29 sale ($.50 store coupon) ($1.00 MC) = $.79
Yoplait Fiber One yogurt - $2.29 sale ($.50 store coupon) ($1.00 MC) = $.79
Toradoes - $2.99 (50% off clearance)($1.00 MC) = $.50
2 packages 3+# Chicken Breast - $3.49/lb BOGO
Angel Food cake mix - $2.19
2 - 2# bricks cheddar - $3.49 each
BallPark Jumbo Franks - $1.29 clearance ($.75 MC) = $.54
English muffins - $.49 clearance
2 Sour Cream - $1.50 (BOGO MC) = $.75 each
Sour Cream - $1.50 ($.40 MC) = $1.10
Gallon Fat Free Milk - $1.99 sale ($1.00 markdown) = $.99
Gallon Whole Milk - $1.99 sale ($1.00 markdown) = $.99
3-20oz cans pineapple - $1.00 each
2-GoGurt - $2.00 sale ($1.00 markdown)($.75/2 MC) = $.63 each
Darigold creamer - $1.99 sale ($.50 MC) = $1.50
Jug Soy Sauce - $5.79 (25% off sale) = $4.34

In retrospect I should have bought a much smaller amount of soy sauce and skipped the angel food cake mix and whipping cream. Then I'd have stayed within my $45.

Heading into August I still need to buy a few things for the camping trip like tortillas, olives, & salsa, but overall I feel like I'm in pretty good shape for what's coming up!

Katie

Hanging a Clothesline

I thought I'd post about how to hang a clothesline since it has been such a great change for our family. Not only have we saved some cash on the utility bills, but it gets me outside in the yard with the girls much more often than would have happened otherwise. I love getting that Vitamin D!

I hung our clothesline about a year ago and wasn't sure, at first, where to put it. I watched how the sun moved over our house and figured out where the sun was during the hottest part of the day. This was so clothes would dry quickly and also happens to coincide pretty well with naptime, when I'd be able to work most efficiently.

Here's what our clothesline lookes like. It's in a "W" shape. Our fence is the top of the "W" and the posts of a small deck are the bottom points of the "W." This is not a symmetrical "W" at all - it's in the back yard and who really cares? I just looked at the sunniest spot of the yard and thought, "where I can screw in anchors for a clothesline?" and "how can I maximize hanging space?" If you can't stretch across your yard without putting a hole in your siding some other options are: Trees, a corner of the fence (use line to make a triangle), outbuildings, swingset, or just dig a hole to sink a post into.

I bought these hooks at Home Depot last summer. I don't remember what they cost, but I'm sure it was less than $1 each. I drilled holes and screwed these sturdy hooks in. Big nails would have worked, but I didn't want to mess with rope staying put behind small nail heads or tension causing the nail to come loose. If you go with nails, use a washer to make the head bigger.


I didn't have any appropriate rope for a clothesline when I made this. I had some twine, but it was really too thin and I thought maybe a bit dirty. I looked at Home Depot and was surprised how much rope cost! In my neighborhood HD and Fred Meyer share a parking lot so I decided to check out Fred Meyer's prices. Jackpot! In the sporting goods deparment I found this white rope that was thick without being too heavy and looked like it wouldn't collect dirt. It was less than $3! I think it was called crab line?

I tied a loop at one end of the rope, hooked it at the tip of the "W" and then ran the line through all the hooks. At the other end of the "W" I tied a knot around the hook. A few times when the line has seemed to sag it's very easy to tighten the whole setup by pulling the line and making another loop around that last hook. By avoiding knots at every juncture I can just tighten things up without having to untie, pull, and retie. The rope slides through the hooks.

I had a friend ask me about clothespins recently and I had no good advice! All of my clothespins are from yard sales. I looked once at the Dollar Store and didn't see any, but I have, oddly, seen them at grocery stores in that tiny housewares section. I also prefer the spring clips, not the push on, though I don't have a good reason. And I like the wooden as opposed to plastic - again I don't know why. The plastic ones would certainly be easier to spot when I drop them.

Please comment if you have good clothespin advice or if you found a great place to string a clothesline in your yard!

Katie

How I Grocery Shop - Store Clearance With Pictures!

Another favorite grocery shopping trick is to check out the store clearance items. These "finds" are often my favorite part of shopping because it's such a delight to come home with an uexpected sweet deal.

Some stores have a clearance section, just mark items where they are on the shelf, or a combination of both.

At my QFC there are several markdown sections. One is in the refrigerated lunchmeat & cheese area. Another is at one end of the meat department. There is also a bakery markdown shelf a few aisles down from the bread and a general merchandise markdown shelf near the pharmacy. All of these are in the back of the store.

At Fred Meyer, it's a similar situation. The meat department has a little corner clearance area and there are general merchandise and bakery markdown racks, too. At Fred Meyer the deli cheese & meat doesn't have a designated spot, but the clearance items are tagged and left in their regular display spots. The markdown salad, refrigerated 'produce' items and organic items are also left in their displays. Freezer markdowns are usually on the top shelf of the endcap freezer case nearest the meat deparment.

Clearance tags at Fred Meyer & QFC have the same orange & yellow Kroger markdown tags and look like this:

Fred Meyer has additional "50% off original price" tags that are big orange circles:



At Target the clearance sections for every non-clothing department are usually on endcaps. These are on the end of an aisle pointing away from the front of the store. In the refrigerated cases there is usually a clearance shelf in the last cold case toward the back of the store. The Target clearance stickers look like this:

Albertson's has a big variety of stickers depending on where the item is. Also Albertson's stores vary pretty widely about where they locate their clearance items. This sticker is pretty standard. It'll be on pre-packaged meats & cheese - pretty much anything in that vicinity - and it's really easy to spot.

These red mark-down stickers are on the "fancier" deli items like refrigerated pasta & soft cheese. I think the general meat markdowns also have these. Sorry for the poor picture quality - I used my cell phone at the store.

Next, these "Clearance Item" tags are on non-perishable food items. Some Albertson's have big clearance racks that are filled with these tags and related items and you won't find too many of these tags in the aisles (Redmond). Some Albertson's have a tiny clearance shelf and more of these tags will be in the aisles (Bellevue). The Woodinville store has a good mix. My preference is the Redmond store so I can see all the clearance stuff in one place and do my "perimeter" shopping quickly. If I decide to walk through the aisles loooking for the tags the shopping takes much longer. Again, this is cell phone photo.

Safeway's clearance section is usually in the back near the doors to the stockroom for non-perishable items and a small section of the deli case (knee height) for meat & cheese. There is often an additional freezer markdown area on the bottom shelf of a freezer case near the meat deparment. They have bright orange tags that clearly mark the original price. Safeway also has white "% Off" tags for markdown meat, too - sorry no photo of the white tags.

Lastly, this is a Walgreen's markdown sticker. I happened to have this so I thought I'd include it. (P.S. This was only $0.09 because I had a $1.00 off manufacturer's coupon!)

Grocery shopping on clearance is just like any other clearance shopping. Some items are great deals and some are on clearance for a reason. Just use your discretion, know what a good price really is, and have fun hunting!

Tomorrow I'll put all the grocery shopping together and show you a whole week's worth of shopping.

Katie

How I Grocery Shop - Put it all Together

Now that the "How I Grocery Shop" series is concluded I wanted to show you an example of all the pieces together including my random, organization thoughts.

I usually grocery shop in the wee hours on Saturday morning, but I was hosting a baby shower this particular Saturday and knew the shopping would be delayed until Sunday sometime. I did, however, need to pick up some balloons for the shower so I dashed down to Fred Meyer and of course, did quick run by the clearance bins. Here's what I found:


Nice 'n Soft TP - clearance $2.49
MD TP - clearance $2.49
Hamburger buns - clearance $.79 (note to self - eat pulled pork from freezer)
Bread - clearance $.79

On Saturday my priority was eating stuff out of the freezer (as ever) so I'd have room to freeze berries before I made jam mid-July. My aunt found me a used canner at a garage sale but I won't see her until the weekend of July 10th so I planned to save berries until then.
So Saturday night DH and I watched a movie and I made my menu plan and grocery list.

Menu Plan Dinners:
Sunday -Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Monday - Beef Fajitas (need to use an old bell pepper)
Tuesday - Ham/Potato soup (freezer meal) & garden salad
Wednesday - Spanish Rice w/Ground Beef (freezer meal) & garden salad
Thursday - Garlic Chicken in White Wine Sauce (freezer meal), macaronda, & salad
Friday - Pork Chops, Cheesy Broccoli Rice, Salad
Saturday - Beefy Enchilada Casserole, spanish rice (leftover?), & salad
Sunday - July 4th BBQ
Monday - Russian Chicken, rice, salad
Tuesday - Beef Stir Fry

Grocery List

Must Buy: Whipping Cream for promised Strawberry Shortcake

Should Buy/Getting Low:
Cooking spray
Vegetable oil
Potatoes
Milk - both whole & nonfat
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Bananas
Other fruit -whatever's on sale
Cream cheese
Toilet paper - Got this one!!!
AA Batteries
Olives - both green and black
Pork loin

It's always nice when there is so little on the "must buy" list as I'm planning so many freezer meals and we have been getting such great lettuce from the garden. Basically I get to just shop the good deals! So I made a list for each of the ads (including Fred Meyer's new ad) and had short lists (4-7 items each) for Fred Meyer, QFC, Top, and Safeway. I prioritized like this: QFC (whipping cream on sale), Safeway (waiting for cream cheese at $1 for 3 weeks!), Top (great 77Cent sale this week), and Fred Meyer. Albertson's just wasn't anything spectacular and unless they had double coupons I didn't plan to go.
Sunday I had sick kiddo and didn't make it to church. DH picked up some bread for us. Usually we select one or two items. I don't know how DH ended up with all this, but here's a picture and the list: A double pack of ciabatta long loaves, 2 loaves of wheat bread, a package of bagels, a dozen croissants and 36, yes 36, white dinner rolls. Hmm.



I saw all of this bread in the car as I was getting ready to leave for grocery shopping. I did a quick evaluation and figured we'd be eating bagels, croissants, and french toast for breakfast. Thank goodness cream cheese was on sale! We'd also have lots of sandwiches for lunch on the rolls. Again, yay for lunch meat in the freezer! The loaves of bread would keep in the freezer - good bye berry freezing plans.
Now it was time to shop! I decided to go to Albertson's after all when I saw their double coupon in the Sunday paper. I can always a good deal with those. I also went to Safeway, QFC, and even stopped at Walgreen's for a couple items. I was exhausted by the time I got home and didn't even want to think about Top or Fred Meyer. That's what usually happens and why I prioritize where I need to go. Overall I shopped about 2 hours and spent $42.52. $21.33 of that was on gift cards so I only spent $21.19 out of pocket. And I also have a mail-in rebate to send for $3 and a $3 Walgreen's Reward to spend in the next couple of weeks.


Here are the details - grocery sales are still on through Tuesday night.

Albertson's:
2 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch -sale $2.49 ($4.00/4 store deal)($1.00/2 MC doubled) = $.49 each
2 boxes of Cheerios - sale $2.49 ($4.00/4 store deal)($1.00/2 MC doubled) = $.49 each
S'Mores Deal - Hershey's, marshmallows & graham crackers on sale totalling $6.49 ($2.00/all store deal) ($1.00/all 3 MC in-store) = $3.49 for all 3
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce - sale $1.00 ($1.00/2 MC doubled) = FREE
Vegetable Oil 1 gallon - sale $6.79 (much cheaper than the $10 at cash'n'carry!)
Turkey & Ham lunchmeat - clearance $0.99 each
Bananas $.59/lb
Gillette Hairspray - clearance $1.00 ($1.00 MC) = FREE
I have a gift card for Albertson's so I decided to get the bananas here as well as go ahead and splurge on the bulk purchase of vegetable oil. I bought the last gallon sometime last summer so I figure this jug will last another year or so. Also the clearance lunch meat and free hairspray made me really glad I came.

Safeway:
Caesar dressing - sale price $1.49 (1.00 MC) = $.49
Cream Cheese - sale price $.99
Grapes - $.99/lb
Cucumbers - $0.50 each
Coffeemate powder tubes - $1.29 (50% off clearance)($.50 MC) = $.14
Walgreens:
Finesse conditioner - $3.99 (BOGO Sale)($1.00 MC)($3.00 MIR) = Both for price of stamp $.44
Blistex 3 pack - $2.99 ($3.00 coupon for next Walgreen's trip) = FREE
2 pears - $.50 each (weird to find pears at Walgreens, but pears haven't been on sale for awhile and I thought $.50 would be close to $1/lb.)

QFC:
Cottage Cheese - sale price $1.00
Whipping Cream - sale price $1.00
Dozen Eggs - sale price $1.00
Fresh Mozarella - clearance price $2.69 ($1.00 MC) = $1.69 (this is a total yummy treat for me)
Tomatoes - sale price $1.00/lb (cheaper at Top, but I wanted a couple to go with the mozzarella)

Top:
Top is really having an excellent sale this week, especially with the $1.00 off deparment coupons inside the ad. I will probably try to make it over there still for the $.77/lb tomatoes and 3/$1 kiwi with the $1 produce coupon. I will also try to use the $1 grocery coupon with the $3.77 block of cheese and possibly Zararin's rice.

Fred Meyer:
I will probably skip FM entirely. They have a great deal on Ben & Jerry's and I have an MC, but it's an extra and pregnancy + ice cream is not good for me. I seriously ate two whole 1.5 quart cartons by myself in about 5 days last week. So we can skip the Ben & Jerry's. I got BBQ sauce at Albertson's and enough other fruit that I don't need the $.88 peaches.

So that's about it - my week in shopping. Oh - it turns out DD's won't eat mini-sandwiches on the white dinner rolls so I'm thinking I'll give them a try as french toast next (thanks for the idea, Ruth!).

Katie

Fred Meyer Shopping $24.51

I was at Fred Meyer (FM) yesterday to pick up bananas & strawberries. Of course I ended up finding many more deals.




Here's what I got:

Post Cereal - sale price $1.50 each ($1.00/2 MC) = $1.00 each
2# strawberries - sale price $2.50
bananas - regular price $.59/lb = 1.38
sour cream - sale price $1.00
2# Bandon Cheese - store coupon $3.99 (I grew up 20 minutes from Bandon - it's owned by Tillamook and is virtually the same cheese - Yum!)
3# butter - store coupon 3/$5
Nalley pickles - $2.50 sale price ($.75 MC) = $1.75 (cheaper than the FM brand on sale for $2)
Duncan Hines Frosting - store clearance $.89

In total I spent $24.51. It's not my best shopping trip, but considering cheese, butter, & cereal I thought $24 was pretty good.

Katie

P.S. FM also has Breyer's ice cream and Klondike bars for $2 with a store coupon. I am so going back this week for Breyer's with a $.75/1 coupon to get it for $1.25.

Fred Meyer Shopping

We were out of town for a weekend wedding, but I didn't want to miss the Fred Meyer sale on chicken breast that ended while we were gone. So I took all 3 girls shopping the day we left when I should have been home packing. Worse, I ended up spending $31 instead of the $13 or so I would have spent if I'd only purchased chicken. Somehow I feel like if I make the effort to shop with all 3 kids I should make it a 'worthwhile' shopping trip whereas when I'm all alone I can zip from store to store buying a few things and it's totally fine for me. Hm.

Here's what I bought for $31.47:

2 packages of Foster Farms chicken breasts - $.99/lb = $13.13 (If I have the budget I try to buy the biggest package so I get the sale price on more meat)
Red Baron Pizzas - $4.85, on sale 30% off is $3.39, MC ($1.50) = $1.89 each

Red Baron Slices - $3.99, on sale 30% off is $2.79, MC ($1.00) = $1.79

Lunchmeat 1 lb. - on sale for $3.50, SC ($.50), MC ($.55) = $2.45

2# cheese - $4.49 regular price (we were out)

3 gallons of organic milk - markdown to $1.00 each!

Hot Dog buns - $.50 regular price (kids asked for hot dogs for lunch)

Can of peanuts - $1.00 markdown (snacks for airplane)

2 oranges - $1.34

The big find was the organic milk for $1.00, of course. The dates on these milk were "sell by 6/7" and "use by 6/11." I put one in the fridge that we are already using and I put two in the freezer for later use. I don't like how the milk unfreezes for regular drinking, but it works great for cooking. I'll have to incorporate lots of milk in my menu plan the next few weeks - a treat since I often avoid recipes that use a lot of milk. Organic is so expensive.

I'm making a three week menu plan this time - I hope I can post that later today.

Katie

Weekly Grocery Shopping

I visited 3 stores this week: Safeway, QFC, and Costco. I did not make it to Albertson's to use the double coupons because they were CLOSED when I arrived Tuesday night. Grr. I was pretty ticked. Next time I'll head to Woodinville instead of Redmond if I need to shop after 11PM.

Safeway Spent $8.02 & Saved $16.91:

Best Foods Mayo - sale price $3.79, store coupon (SC) reduced to $1.99, & Manufacturer's Coupon (MC) for $.40/2 = $1.79 each (needed these for meal swap)

Oscar Meyer hot dogs - sale price $1.98 each, SC to $.99, MC $1.00/2 = $.49 each

Lucerne Yogurt - clearance to $.30 each

Cinnamon Toast Crunch - clearance to $.174 each, MC $1.00/2 = $1.24 each

Wishbone Dressing - sale price $1.29, MC ($.75) = $.54

QFC Spent $4.03 & Saved $8.03

I was at QFC to have a prescription filled for my kiddo. I used a $20 prescription coupon to get grocery credit. While the 3 girls and I waited for the prescription we checked out the deals.
QFC Yogurt $.60 B1G1 sale = $.30 each (also printed a coupon for buy 7, get 3 free for next time)
Hummus - Clearance to $1.29

KFC Masterpiece BBQ sauce - Clearance to $.79, MC ($1.00) = FREE + $.21 overage

My Costco trip was $82.49 and included whole milk, nonfat milk, popcorn, romaine lettuce, canned applesauce, canned pears, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, brown gravy mix, chili powder, bananas, tortillas, chicken nuggets, and a jar of marinated artichoke hearts.

I needed some of the parmesan and all the artichoke hearts for the meal swap this month. The reaminder are things I consistently try to get at Costco because they are usually less expensive than the grocery store sale prices. I was disappointed I couldn't find the tub of whole garlic or the brick feta. I have gotten spoiled not having to peel fresh garlic and feta lasts much longer when it's in brick form, uncrumbled. Like I said, I'm disappointed.

I'll probably drop in to Fred Meyer today, too. They have bone-in chicken breast for $.99/lb. I prefer to buy boneless, skinless, but at $.99/lb the rib-in is actually a great price. It requires a small amount of work to skin & pull the bones, but you can't beat $.99/lb. I'm out of chicken so I'll likely stock up at get at least 10 pounds.

Katie

Fred Meyer Founder's Day Sale

I've had two people remind me about the Seventh Generation products on Sale at Fred Meyer this week, so I'll go ahead and post about the good deals this week.



The Founder's Day Sale is sort of a summer kick-off every year with major sales in almost every department. This year is no exception. I usually check out the Fabulessly Frugal blog for the Fred Meyer deals, and these are my favorites this week including some from that site:

Sale Prices

Mangos & Medium Avocados $.50 each

Whole Pineapple $2.00 each

Pink Lady Apples $.98/lb.

Refrigerated Dressing BOGO Free
$1.00/1 Marie's Coupon if you sign up for the mailing list here
$1.00/2 Lighthouse Coupon if you sign up for the mailing list here

Sirloin Steak, 93% Extra Lean Ground Beef & Boneless, Skinless Fryer Breasts $1.99/lb.
*Safeway has frozen bags of boneless, skinless chicken breast this weekend for $1.69/lb.

Kellogg's Cereal $1.67
$1.50/2 coupon here

Seventh Generation products 50% off
$1.00-$2.00 off coupons here


Coupons in the ad:

Barilla Pasta & Hunt's Pasta Sauce $.75 each

Tree Top Juice $1.50 each
$1/1 Tree Top coupon from 4/18 SS
or $1/2 Tree Top printable


Other Deals:

Vegetable Plants in 4" Pots $1.25 (My cucumbers didn't take, so I'll try again)

Coupon: Free Cover Girl Mascara with purchase of another Cover Girl product (I need eyeliner, so this a good time to buy & pair with a manufacturer's coupon)

All Barbie Dolls BOGO Free



Happy Shopping!

Katie

Earth Day Deals

Normally I see lots of great deals around Earth Day for free reusable bags or great prices on a variety of all natural products. I haven't seen too much this year in the way of free bags, but lots of stores including Fred Meyer, Target, and Walgreens have natural cleaning & food products on sale. Also many plants and garden starts are on sale this week if you plan to garden this year.



Here are some specific deals:

• Fred Meyer has reusable shopping bags this week for $0.50 each with in-ad coupon, limit 2
• Safeway has a free reusable shopping bag with a purchase of $40 & in-ad coupon
• Walgreens has reusable shopping bags for 3/$1.00 with in-ad coupon, limit 6

I highly recommend reusable shopping bags. Obviously it is better for the environment, but it also gets you a discount at many stores from $.03 to $.10 per bag used. An added bonus in my home is that we no longer have a multiplying supply of those plastic bags that get shoved in the cupboard causing clutter and an eventual errand to recycle them at the grocery store.

Some other deals I liked:

• Walgreens is refilling ink cartridges for $1 with in-ad coupon on Thursday only.
• Walgreens online is reducing prices an additional 22% on some of their organic products through April 30. Product lines include Method, Yes to Carrots, Alba, Better Life, Renpure Organics, GreenWorks, and Eco Tools. Shipping is free when your purchase is $25. If you start your $25 Walgreens online shopping here you'll also get a $10 credit good for a future purchase.
• Target has Seventh Generation dish soap & Green Works all-purpose cleaner or wipes on sale for $2.49. You can print coupons for those products here and here, respectively.

Have you heard of any other good deals for Earth Day, this week? I'd love to hear about them.

Katie

Weekend Shopping

Here is a picture of my weekend shopping - I also bought garlic, tuna, cheese, and two cans of tomatoes at Fred Meyer that aren't pictured.

I found some unexpected great deals at TOP this week. I stopped in just for:

• oranges at $0.38/lb
• 5# bag of carrots for $2
• cucumbers were $0.69
• 3# bag of clementines for $3 since Joanna loves them

I normally don't find any markdowns at top, but decided to check for meat markdowns and found bone-in chicken breast on sale for only $0.99/lb. I decided to buy the smallest package I could find (over 3#) and use the chicken in a couple of meals. Then I noticed the organic milk (near the meat) was on sale for only $4.11/gallon. How did I miss this? Top's Full Circle organic line is all on sale for 25% off this week.

Additionally I saw many markdown stickers on products nearing their pull date. I have seen this very rarely at Top, so I was surprised and delighted. Normally Top will put up a shelf tag with a slightly lower price to clear out products close to their date, but not often with the neon stickers. And they were all over the place at the Redmond Top, including my organic milk. It had a $1 off sticker with a 'sell by' date 4 days out. Usually milk is good for about a week past the pulled date so I was really excited to get a gallon of organic milk for only $3.11. Markdown deals included:

• Gallon organic milk on sale for $4.11 (1.00 sticker markdown) = $3.11
• 1 lb lunchmeat ham usually 4.99, but shelf markdown to 2.49 (.55) = $1.96
• 2 Go-gurt usually $2.99, but shelf markdown to $1.99 (1.00 sticker markdown) ($.75/2) = $.62 each
• Oscar Meyer Chicken/Mozzarella Lunchable Sandwich sale price $1.25 ($.50 sticker markdown) ($1.00/1) = FREE + $.25 overage

There were also sticker markdowns on orange juice, biscuits, yoplait delights, Fiber One yogurt and other items, too. I am hoping this trend continues and I'll be sure to check out Top on a Saturday morning again to see if that's the best time to go. Fred Meyer does a ton of sticker markdowns on Saturday morning - I usually go around 9 so the bread guy has time to finish.

Speaking of Fred Meyer, the Seventh Generation and Mrs. Meyers cleaning products are still 30% and 40% off, respecively for another week. I bought a 32 oz bottle of Mrs. Meyers all purpose concentrated cleaner in lemon scent for $5.39. The directions indicate 1/4 cup to a gallon of water which works out to only 1 Tablespoon per quart/32 oz. I think this concentrated cleaner will last a long time and be well worth the $5.

Katie

Natural Cleaners & Sale at Fred Meyer

A couple of months ago at MOPS our 'craft activity' was to put together a bottle of natural household cleaner. Our speaker topic that day was about being more green so it was a perfect complementary project.

I've been using my bottle of cleaner to wipe down the high chair and barstools in the kitchen and have loved using it!

There's a great list of 25 Safe, Non-toxic, Homemade Cleaning Solutions here.

Fred Meyer is having a great sale this week on earth-friendly cleaning supplies.

Seventh Generation products are 30% off. If you pair that sale with coupons from the Seventh Generation website you should get some excellent prices.

Also, Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products are 40% off. I plan to buy a bottle of this soap so I can use it as I continue to make my own cleaning solutions. I looked into making natural soap and really, frugal as I am, I'd rather buy a bottle of concentrate that will last me several years.

Katie

Shopping Trip

I made a small shopping trip at Fred Meyer before I left town & of course, found a bunch of bargains. I did stay under my $25 for groceries for the week though!

Here's what I bought:
2 gallons organic milk on clearance for $2.79 each
1 1/2 gallon Minute Maid OJ on clearance for $1.89 (nasty cold, thought oj might help)
2 bottles of imitation vanilla extract on clearance for $.49 each (I am on my last bottle and we bake a lot)
whole chicken for $2.98
3-1# butter for $1.67 each
2-5# bags of flour for $.99 each
romaine lettuce $1.00
1# strawberries $1.67 (a total splurge)
hand of bananas at $.59/lb.

While not technically part of the grocery budget, I also found a package of newborn Pampers for $4.49 on clearance and I used a $1.50 off coupon to get them for $2.99! I'll set those aside for #4 since we don't usually get the cloth diapers rolling for the first couple of weeks.

Katie

Weekend Groceries

QFC is having a sale this week on tomatoes & bagged lettuce so I headed over and discovered there was another deal I hadn't seen that was Buy 8/Get $4 off (or $.50 off each item). The items included in that promotion are things we normally buy and I happened to have related coupons so the prices were low enough to justify buying and I spent $25.00.

Here's what I got as part of the Buy 8/Get $4 deal:

2 Yoplus yogurt 4-packs. Sale price $1.99 ($.50 deal)($1.00/2)= $.99 each
Fiber One Yogurt 4-pack. Sale price $1.99 ($.50 deal) ($.50) = $.99
Yoplait Delights yogurt 4-pack. Sale price $1.99 ($.50 deal) ($1.00) = $.49
2 Itnat'l Delight Coffee Creamers. Sale price $2.99 ($.50 deal) ($1.00/2) = $1.99 each
2 boxes of Go-Gurt yogurt. Sale price $1.99 ($.50 deal) ($1.00/2) = $.99 each

I also found markdown organic yogurt tubes for $1.50 each, cottage cheese for $1.00, the lettuce, tomatoes, bananas, & finally, a sale priced wedge of parmesan. I went for the parmesan for the freezer meals I am making today. I don't want to be the meal swap slacker, so I thought adding parmesan to the homemade mac'n'cheese pie would help. Also, I have gotten better prices on coffee creamer but $2.00 is my max for quart size and we were almost out. DH needs this stuff to make his coffee drinkable and he definitely needs his coffee!


This was a quick trip to Fred Meyer to pick up cheddar and onions for the meal swap. I obviously found a few more things.

Here's what I got for $11.96 without any coupons:

2# cheddar $4.49
10# potatoes $1.50
3# onion $1.99
Fred Meyer slow-churned vanilla ice cream $1.25 markdown
Fred Meyer caramel sweet surprise ice cream $1.25 markdown
organic stir fry veggies (pre-cut) $.99 markdown
package of 6 english muffine $.49 markdown

We were having company for dinner and having a Razzleberry pie out of the freezer for dessert so I was very excited to find ice cream on markdown! I also bought the potatoes so we'd have real and not instant out of my pantry for company. I was reminded this week that DH loves english muffins when we received some as a gift, so I was also delighted to find the markdown package. There were also lots of markdown bread & buns, but I was able to resist by reminding myself that I want to empty my freezer and I already have several loaves of bread. Yay for resisting!

OK - back to those 10 macaroni & cheese pies.

Katie

Vita Bee Bread

I am not able to eat all-organic, nor do I make it a priority to find out the very healthiest options for my family. I do, however, attempt to put together reasonably balanced meals, give the kids lot of dairy, fruit & veggies, and watch all of our sugar intake.

One of my favorite products in Vita Bee bread made by Fred Meyer. It is the only reasonably priced, whole wheat bread I can find that isn't loaded with sugar. It doesn't have sugar or corn syrup in it; it's sweetened with honey which works for me. I can get it regularly for $1.66 because FM puts it on sale at that price often, but once every three months or so it's on sale for $1.25 and if I'm really lucky I can catch it in the markdown day for $.79.

I've been buying this stuff for several years, but I finally read a story on the package. Apparently FG Meyer (the founder of FM) was dissatisfied with the bread available so set about creating this one. Above all he wanted to be able to make excellent toast so if you love toast this is another good reason to try it out!

Katie

Weekend Shopping

This weekend I just needed a break from the kids and the house so I had some leisurely shopping and hit several stores. I ended up finding some awesome deals - mostly in the markdown bins. You can probably see the brightly colored stickers on many of the items.

Here's what I bought:

5 bags of lettuce for $.99 each
lunchmeat chicken markdown 2 at $.99
lunchmeat ham markdown $.99
boneless pork roast markdown to $1.15/pound
10 yogurt cups for $.30/each
cottage cheese markdown $.99
deli steak chimichanga markdown $.99
pillsbury pie crust markdown $.99
pint organic 1/2 & 1/2 markdown $.99
4 pounds bananas

I went to Fred Meyer to pick up sugar. A 5# bag was on sale for $2.50 which isn't even a good sale, but I was completely out and since I was killing time I stopped there for it. I ended up finding some awesome deals.


10# bag of sugar markdown to $2.69 (deal!)
12 pack of kids yogurt drinks markdown to $2.59 (1.00) = %1.59
2 - 4 packs of Activia yogurt markdown to $1.29 (1.00) = $.29
ham lunchmeat markdown to $.79 ($.35) = $.44
Sourdough loaf markdown to $.79
Vitabee bread markdown to $.79
Darigold natural sour cream markdown to $.99 ($.40) = $.59
Fred Meyer toilet paper 12 double rolls markdown to $2.49.

In total I spent $10.20 at Fred Meyer for all this stuff.

Fred Meyer Organic Deals

I was pleased to see some good prices on organic items this week at Fred Meyer & wanted to pass the along. I generally won't pay more than $1/lb for fruit, so I was especially pleased with the fruit sales.

Organic Minneolas $0.99/lb - These are a cross between tangerine & grapfruit. They look like oranges with outie belly buttons.

Organic Fuji or Gala Apples $0.99/lb - yum! I love both of these varieties.

Pirate Booty or Smart Puffs are $2.00. Not the lowest price I've seen, but pretty good.

Also - in the new monthly coupon book (dated 2/3 - 3/2/10) there is a coupon for Earth's Best baby food for $0.68. Again, not the lowest price I've seen, but I thought I'd mention it.

Happy Shopping!

Katie

Seventh Generation on Sale at Fred Meyers

Fred Meyer has Seventh Generation products on sale this week for 25% off. This sale runs through Saturday, January 16th.

If you pair the sale with the $1.00/1 coupon from last week's mail insert you could get a sweet deal.

You can also print coupons on the Seventh Generation website here. You have to sign up for an account, but it is worth it to print $10 worth of coupons (print each twice)!

Katie