Smith's Shopping Trip 5/4/11

How Many times have you come home from the store mad because you just spent $50.00 on 2 bags of groceries? I used to do that all the time! but not anymore...

This is a lot more than 2 bags...

10 bags of groceries!

$124.02 worth of groceries. that equals almost $12.40 per bag!

Shopping List:
2 Sour Creams
4 Chick Quattro Razors for Women
16 boxes of Pasta
6 Kraft BBQ Sauce
2 Old Spice Body Wash
2 Philadelphia Cream Cheese
8 Bottles Propel Water
2 Jars Ragu Sauce
20 Michelina's Entrees

These are my lazy day meals!!!

$124.02 before sale and coupons (what the average shopper would pay)
$35.73 is what I paid!
That's a 72% savings!

Yay, I got my coupon high for a little while! To see how you can get the same great deal, and to see what coupons to use to do it (as well as see the whole list for Smith's this week) Go here to GrocerySmarts.com. This sale is valid through May 10th.

If you need help with, or are new to GrocerySmarts, it can be overwhelming. But have no fear, I am here! (hehehehe) I can teach a Free Coupon Class for you, your family and friends and show you all exactly how to get the most out of your money.

Menu Plannin - Continued

I've had people asking to see an example of my menu list, so here it is! When I use something up, I cross it off the list. If I make something, but still have enough to last for another meal, I wont cross it off yet. That way I know I still have it available to use next time. This will happen a lot with things like apple sauce, eggs, and your fruits and veggies.

Also, I might want to choose one or two sides to go with a main dish. Sometimes I'll be lazy and not pick any at all, but it is all written down so I can see what my options are easily without having to dig through my cupboards to see what I have.

Note in the Dinner section, for a "main dish" I have listed Baked Potatoes but I've also listed Mashed Potatoes in the dinner section under "sides". I've done this because I have some instant potatoes to use up, but I don't want it for a main dish, or I just don't have enough of them to make a main dish out of. So for the night I want Mashed Potatoes, I'll make the main dish either Meat Loaf or Chicken.

Also, I only have listed four different desserts. In my family, we try to limit sweets to a minimum, especially since my husband is diabetic. So we will only have dessert once a week, sometimes not even that often. But I've listed the different options we have in the house so I can easily let Justin pick what dessert he wants the day we do have it.

Main Dish	Side(s)	Dessert
BREAKFAST
French Toast Breakfast Danish Pancakes Cold Cereal Oatmeal Toast Pop Tarts Omelets	Scrambled Eggs Sausage Bacon Bananas Apple Sauce Toast Fruit Cups
LUNCH
PB&J Sandwich Tuna Sandwich Mac & Cheese Banana Bread Bagel Pizzas Burritos Quesadillas	Raisins Cheese Sticks Salad Grapes Apple Slices Fruit Cups Carrots
DINNER
Lasagna Spaghetti & Tuna Chicken Baked Potatoes Meat Loaf Rice Casserole TV Dinners Frozen Pizza	Home-Made Rolls Crescent Rolls Salad Canned Corn Fresh Broccoli Steamed Carrots Garlic Toast Mixed Veggies Mashed Potatoes Green Beans	Mini Cakes Ice Cream Brownies Pie
SNACKS
Yogurt Apple Sauce Crackers Cheese Sticks Pepperoni Raisins Grapes Nuts Carrots Cucumbers Jerky

Also check out: Menu Planning & Planning "Alternative"

Discovering Self Reliance - Part 2: Living on Welfare

It's Tuesday again, and that means another installment in my Self Reliance series. This week, I want to talk a bit about welfare. Let me preface this topic with the fact that I am not hear to tell you not to use it nor chastise you for using it at all. I am merely going to state my side of the issue and give you some ideas and theories, you then can take it for what it is worth and please know that either way I intend no offense on either side of the issue. I understand that welfare can be and often is a very touchy and controversial subject, so I will do my very best to approach it with the utmost delicacy. That said, let's dive in, shall we?

I have heard people look down on welfare with disdain and disgust as something that should be avoided as a plague. They see welfare as the thing that will destroy this nation and as such should be completely done away with. On the other hand there are others who take total advantage of welfare programs and use them as a way to live their lifestyles they want without having to work for it. The latter group are the ones who make the prior group absolutely right! When someone takes advantage of any system, that system then becomes less useful for those that can actually benefit from it. When more people start to take advantage of that system the system that started out as a very good thing then comes in serious danger of being stopped all together.

When it comes to welfare programs; WIC, food stamps, low income housing and the list goes on and on... it is me personal belief that each and every single program was an inspired thing. Someone was inspired to start each and every welfare program because they wanted to help people. Someone saw a need and wanted to make a difference. So I think that welfare programs are a great blessing, and a wonderful tool when it is used correctly.

I truly believe that welfare programs are there to be used and that we should use them when we need them. The key word; need.
Welfare programs should be used only as a last resort. When we have exhausted all other efforts and ideas. When we cannot help ourselves and when the help of family and friends is not enough. When relying on friends and family becomes a bigger burden for our loved ones than is more burden for them than an opportunity to serve.
I also believe that welfare is a tool we have all been blessed with. a valuable tool we can use in our journey to self reliance and self sufficiency. As a tool, and not a means.

We can use welfare programs to help us become self reliant. Here is an example:
One family I know (we will avoid names for the sake of anonymity) who were living on very little each month. Even with two incomes they were barely making ends meet. They became pregnant and figured an even tighter budget to allow for them to have the baby within their means. When the baby was born, the mother had a rare case where her milk didn't contain any fat. As a result she was unable to breastfeed her newborn and the small family had to turn to using formula.
Anyone who has ever bottle fed a baby knows how much formula costs. Well, formula just wasn't an option financially, but the baby obviously had to be fed. So this small family turned to WIC to be able to feed their child.
Now, in this families situation, they easily would have qualified for food stamps as well as WIC, but they were able to still make ends meet, albeit just barely, with their meager income and WIC. They asked for just enough help to get them through. Once they no longer needed formula for the baby, they stopped using WIC and continued to be self reliant on what they had by pinching pennies where they needed to and doing the most they could while still living within their means.
In this case, WIC was a tool they used when they needed it, but it was also their goal to not need it for very long. As soon as they were able to stand on their own feet, they did!

There will always be those who go to the emergency room using medicaid to pay for their treatments while sitting in the waiting room texting on their iPhone holding their Prada bag. There will always be people who abuse the system and there will never be much we can do about that. But we can strive to be the best and most honest person we can be as an individual.
We should all strive to be self sufficient and do everything we possibly can for ourselves. But, on the other hand, we can't be the one who will look down on those that use welfare for any reason. We never know where they are coming from or what their story is, and we may never find out. Nor do we have any idea what their goals for the future are. All we can do is worry about ourselves and reach out to those who may need our help.

Discovering Self Reliance - Part 1
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 2: Living on Welfare
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 3: Realizing Your Talents
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 4: Emergencies & Really Being Ready For Them
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 5: Learning New Skills - Maintaining Your Vehicle

Menu Planning & Planning "Alternative"

I grew up the oldest of 9 children. My mom and dad got a divorce during my early teen years, and we all lived with my mother after the separation. As a result we really learned the value and importance of menu planning. We were always on a tight budget when it came to food and we learned early on how to make a dollar stretch when it came to food. We never went hungry, and with 5 brothers we still had more than enough to eat. A big part of that was how mu mother planned our meals and how she prepared them consistently. Keep in mind that we always had to make each meal fresh; freezer cooking just wasn't an option with our large family. So, we relied a lot on what we had on hand and what was on sale.

Te best way to save money on your groceries when you are using coupons or even when you aren't is to plan your menus for all three meals of the day as well as any snacks you might have. This planning helps you to have a little more self control when it comes to eating out because you never have to really think about "what's for dinner?" You have the meals planned and you know what you are going to make because you thought about it and planned for it ahead of time.
I think the most popular way to menu plan is to plan the entire meals for the week, write down a calendar schedule for that week, and then do the shopping for those menus each week. That is a great way to plan ahead and stick to a menu. Another thing you might do in addition to just planning is to plan those meals around what is on sale that week, by looking at the ads that week or by going to GrocerySmarts.com to see the sales and coupons to use.
I've never been able to stick to a menu plan like that, I'm too spontaneous in my nature to stick to a schedule so closely.
A lot of other people are too, so another way to plan your weekly meals is to make a list of 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 7 dinners. You then shop each week for those meals. When you've made one of the meals you cross it off your list so you know you've already used the ingredients to make that meal. This is a great way to plan but still have flexibility in your cooking schedule.

What my family and I do is a bit different still. Since we are using coupons to get the very best prices on food items and also stocking up our food storage as well, menu "planning" doesn't really work for our family very well. We still have a menu plan of sorts but it is a bit different. First of all, when we plan out meals we plan them anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks at a time. We make a list that consists of breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees, then sides for each meal as well a list of snacks and desserts. We look at our storage room (that is growing all the time) and first write down all the ingredients that we have that really need to just be used, say for example we have pasta and potatoes that are a little older that need to be used so we can either consume it before it goes bad or use it to rotate out the old to make room for new. We then write down other ingredients that we have a lot of, maybe tuna and peas. Once we have a nice list of things that need using, it may look something like this:

Pasta
Potatoes
Corn Chips
Tuna
Peas
Canned Corn

We look at that list and (this is my favorite part) I get creative. I see if there is anything I can make out of all of those ingredients. Combining as many ingredients as I can into one dish. In the example list above, I have pasta, tuna and peas. I can make a yummy tuna salad out of those three ingredients; so I'll put tuna salad down on my menu list. I'll make as many different dishes out of those that I can while also using other things I have in my storage room to complete a meal or dish. I can make baked potatoes for one meal, and I know I have chili on hand as well, so those corn chips will be great for hay stacks.

I keep my shopping list for menu planning as small as possible. Buying only the absolute needs to finish the menu I have in order use the things I already have in my house. By doing the planning around my storage I save a lot more money and also don't have to plan my shopping around what we will eat. I plan the eating around the shopping. (hopefully that makes a bit of sense)

Then when it comes time to make a meal, I simply look at my list. It's dinner time so I look at the dinner entrees, the potatoes need used sooner than the pasta, so I'll make baked potatoes. Then I look at the sides on the list and see what I feel like making with the potatoes, we'll have canned corn for the side and some rolls I'll make from scratch. I then I cross those off of my list so I know I've used it.


In addition to making these lists of dishes and meals, This works great for us because if there is a week I just don't have time to plan, I can always just go to my storage room, look at what I have, let my creative juices flow and whip up something very different, unique and tasty for dinner without having to stress about what we are going to do for dinner.

For me, this is by far the best way to plan and cook meals. We will also have one or two meals throughout the week that are designated "left-over" meals where we eat whatever leftovers are in the fridge. My mom still has a lot of people living under her roof and they get a lot of leftovers. They keep the leftovers in their fridge for one week, from Sunday till Saturday night and then eat the leftovers for dinner. Whatever isn't eaten at that point is then thrown away before it has a chance to go bad in the fridge. (with that many people in one house though, there is not ever very much to throw away afterwards) I like this system and have adopted it into our house as well.

Hopefully my ramblings made some sense and you can either take it and use it yourself or you got an idea while reading this and came up with your own system that will work for your family! I'd love to hear how you plan for your family meals. Feel free to share!

Also look at: Menu Planning - Continued

Additional Coupon Book Today!

Also, the salt lake papers had this coupon booklet in them! I'm wicked happy anytime I find extra coupo s I wasn't expecting.

Garden of Eatin' coupon

This coupon I'm xcited about, but it was only in the Salt Lake City papers today (the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News), just a heads up. If you get one of the local papers in Utah, you aren't going to have this one.

Rite Aid Video Values Explained

Rite Aid is one of my favorite places to use coupons and save money. The draw back is this; if you thought Walgreens was complicated, you could easily freak our over Rite Aid!

Rite Aid has always been more coupon friendly and has given me much better customer service than Walgreens, so first thing you need to know is that the cashiers are always so willing to answer your questions. Remember that if you are confused or frustrated about something always keep a cheery disposition and you'll get much better results.
Rite Aid had a lot more going on than Walgreens does and a lot more benefits to help you save money. First they have Up Rewards, they work a lot like Register Rewards so we won't go into that now. Their coupon policy is SUPER awesome and I personally need to take advantage of that more. They also offer Gift Card promotions throughout the year, and have a wellness Program. I'll go into detail about their coupon policy, up rewards, and the wellness program at a later date.
One of the big differences that can make Rite Aid so much more confusing that Walgreens is their Video Values.

Video Values are on-line store coupons that you can print from your computer only after you've watched a video about the featured product. First, you'll need to go to RiteAid.Com.
Helpful Hint: Rite Aid Video Values don't work properly on Firefox web browser, you will be better off opening Internet Explorer to make sure you don't waste your time.
Once you are at their website, you'll need to register. Once you are logged into your account, you will scroll down to the bottom of the page:

On the bottom left hand side you'll see the "Save Now" box.

The very last option in the "Save Now" box is the link to your video values. Once you click on it, your page will look something like this:

Click on the category your coupon will be in. You'll need to scroll through the different videos to find the product you want. You have to watch the entire video without looking at other pages (clicking away from the video will pause it). Don't worry, the videos aren't too long. Most are between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. Once the video is done you will be prompted to enter a validation code:

Enter this code to earn credit for watching the video, or you'll have to watch it again. You only have 30 seconds to enter it, so make sure you're paying attention while watching.

After you watch all the videos you want to, and when you are ready to print the coupons out, you can find a link at the top of the page that says "All Rewards" (you must be signed in to your account to see this button). Once you've clicked the link to your rewards, you will be taken to a page that looks like this:

1. all rewards link
2. your name (you'll know you are logged in)
3. select the coupons you want to print
4. print your selected coupons

After you've printed these coupons off, you can then stack that coupon with a manufacturer's coupon and save even more money!

I hope this helps explain the video values a bit. Keep watching for the rest of the Rite Aid Explained posts later on.

Happy Savings!