Michelle's Family

$5 Dinners

I took a break from the couponing because I got frustrated with not having the coupons...because we kept forgetting to buy the newspaper.  But last week, I got back into the action!  My life sounds ridiculously pathetic when I say this but, I genuinely enjoy couponing!  The challenge of seeing how much I can save is almost like a game.  I'm not to the point where I can save half off my grocery budget, but I can tell you that I can save a LOT with coupons.  I never would have thought this.  I just always assumed that the store brand/generics were cheaper than name brands with a coupon.  Not so. 

This past week I got 4 bottles of McCormick Grill Mates seasonings for free this past week.  They were regularly $1.98.  At publix, they were on sale as a buy 1 get 1 free.  I had coupons for $1 off.  So technically they actually paid me a few cents for "buying" these products. 

I got several bottles of Kraft Ranch Salad Dressing for .50 cents each.  I bought $120 worth of groceries at Publix.  I paid only $46 for them. Of course this wasn't all the groceries I bought.  I went to Kroger, WalMart and Food Lion.  I saved about 50% on my grocery bill from Kroger, paying about $22 for the groceries from there.  I spent quite a bit at Walmart, without nearly the dramatic savings. But I bought a lot that was not groceries at all from there....like new toothbrush heads for my electric toothbrush (3 heads for $22). 

The bottom line is if one sets their mind to it, they can significantly reduce their grocery budget with these methods.  Many of the products are things we will not use this week.  I have enough barbeque sauce to last me almost the whole summer.  But that's okay, and it's still a savings because I won't have to buy this all summer long!  I bought 4 deoderants this week. This will last us for quite some time, and that means when the family runs out, we won't have to add that to the grocery list. 

I really think people on welfare or using EBT's should be taught these skills are required to use them.  In fact, I think it should be a requirement for people of normal intelligence to get foodstamps/EBT benefits.  After they take the couponing class, then they should have 3 months to practice using these skills and after that the benefits are lowered by 25%...because after they use these skills, they won't need as much food stamp benefits.  I really think I've come up with a great idea.  It'll never happen.  But it's still a great idea. 

For the record, I'm not against using food stamps, if one really needs them!  There was a time when my husband and I had them.  They were a great benefit to us and helped us out in a very hard time.  But if I had to go back on them today, I'd use coupons to lower the cost to taxpayers. 

So how's this working for me?  I'm very happy with it.  I can tell that the longer I do this, the more coupons I'll have...and the more coupons I have, the greater the potential for saving money. BUT I think I did a pretty good job with what I had.  Last Saturday, I went to Walmart and bought $22 worth of groceries, and presented the cashier with $10 worth of coupons!  Not bad.  Then I headed over to Kroger and this time I bought about $45 worth of groceries, and presented them with $21 worth of coupons!  I also bought items on sale, so this made for a lot of groceries.  Today I went to Publix and bought $200 worth of groceries, but I only paid $112. That was savings of 46% !  I was able to snatch up Yoplait Kids yogurt (6pk) for .90¢ each (bought 4...remember I have 7 kids.  This would last me only 3 ½ days, if I allow them to have only 1 per day each.). This was a buy 1 get 1 free sell AND I had 2 coupons!   I also walked out with 4 boxes of  Kellogg's Pop Tarts and paid only .70¢ per box...again, buy1 get 1 free plus a $1 coupon! 

I bought a couple of things that in hindsight was not such a great deal.  They had Thomas Bagels for buy 1 get 1 free (no coupon) so I picked 2 of those up.  One bag of them was $3.99, so the cost was about $2 each.  I came home and read that Walmart is selling the same brand for $1.97 each.  So there was no REAL savings here. In fact, I may have actually lost money on this since I think there are cheaper bagels out there that we would like just as well.  Right now, I'm still learning how to do this efficiently, so I guess I'll make a few mistakes.

One website that I LOVE and is a GREAT help to me is Coupon Mom.  They provide pretty much the same service as another site that charges for their services BUT Coupon Mom is FREE!  Yep.  My favorite word.  Why is Coupon Mom free you ask?  I'm glad you asked  :).  This website's sole purpose in being free is to bring awareness of hunger and encourage people to donate to charitable organizations that feed hungry people.  I love it.  I've been told that the other site is easier to use but they also charge for their services.  Coupon Mom is well put together, and if you'll take the time to read and familarize yourself with this site it's pretty easy to understad and work with. 

Need a quick, easy and tasty meal?  Not to mention budget friendly?  How about a soup mix!  I am eating, as I type, Minestrone soup.  I made it from a mix by Bear Creek County Kitchens.  I love this stuff.  One bag makes 1/2 gallon of soup and the soup is less than $4 a bag here in Georgia.  I keep pre-browned ground beef in my freezer so lunch was ready in about 15 minutes and it tastes great.   After the soup is done, we each add what we want to our individual bowls of soup.  My family likes just a little bit of sharp cheddar and a dollop of fat free sourcream.  So good.  The total cost to feed us this meal is approximately $8 (probably more like $7 but I'd rather over estimate than under).  This feeds 7 people!  That's a whole lot cheaper and healthier than "fast food".  And faster!  BTW, I'm not usually a "soup person" so if you are the same, you might want to give this a try at least once.

WalMart (prices are approximate as I can't remember the exact price)

Bear Creek Minestrone Soup Mix - $3.75

Hamburger meat (optional) - depends on how much you use and what fat content you choose.  Previously I used about a half a pound...today, I used a full pound (only because that's how I froze the gr. beef after browning it...half a pound is plenty.  You could go meatless if you wanted).  $2.50 approximately.

Water- negligible

Cheese - $1.25

Sour Cream -  .25¢

This is a FREE weekly menu from Menus4Mom.  It's relatively healthy and it includes the shopping list and recipes!  Not bad for something free (and there are lots of web places that charge for the same service). 

Update:  I went to the grocery store and was dissappointed to find that Wal~Marts grocery prices were not nearly as cheap as the prices on her list.  So much for the South being cheaper.  My budget for the 6 of us is $500 per month. . I think her list cost me around $120 (I'm not sure exactly because I did purchase other stuff not on the list because, well, we eat more than just dinner 5 nights a week.  I'm guessing in that range based on how much more the items cost compared to what she had listed).  That wouldn't be so bad except, like I said, that only covers dinner 5 days per week!  That still leaves me with 16 other meals to cover. I will continue to look for cheaper alternatives though..   

Still if you are not on a budget as tight as mine, this may be very helpful.