Weekly Groceries

It's been quite awhile since I've posted my weekly grocery run, though I assure you I have still been shopping! Some of you have mentioned that you miss seeing my pictures. Usually it's all I can do to get the groceries put away before I have to feed the baby, but since I got my shopping done in record time yesterday, and since she was still sleeping when I got home, and since you asked. . . I spent $53.68 and saved $57.58, or 52%. Not the best savings ever, but I also got 100 bonus box tops for our homeschool group, which is a value of $10! That's why I bought ALL those cookie and cake mixes! Ted and the kids were excited, too!

These items were free: Chi-Chi's meals x2

These items were $1 or less: bananas, bread x5, string cheese x7, YoPlus and FiberOne Yogurt x4, cake mix x5, cookie mix x9, frosting, and pudding x4 (remember how my hubby feels about pudding. . .!)

I also bought grapes, apples, 10 lbs of potatoes, milk x4, dish detergent, Wisk, and a DiGiorno pizza.

Don't worry, this isn't all we will eat for the next week! In fact most of these items will last us for several weeks or even months. When things are on sale, I buy enough of that item to last me until the next sale, so we have plenty of chicken, hamburger, tuna, pasta, fruit, veggies, cheese, cereal, and more in the freezer and pantry. Expiration dates are far enough out that stockpiling isn't only possible, it's smart!

Since I wasn't posting about my grocery runs, was I blowing the budget? Some weeks were lower, some were higher, but for the past 2 months I've averaged $250 a month on groceries, or about $60 a week.

Cindy emailed me and let me know that she bought 6 Hamburger Helpers for $2 (after coupons) and got a catalina for $3 off her next meat purchase. The deal is buy 3, get $1.50, buy 4 get $2, buy 5 or more get $3 off your next meat purchase. This catalina deal runs through 10/3. Thanks Cindy! Great shopping!

Pasta Sweeps--Win $100!

Enter the It Pays to Eat Pasta Sweepstakes every day for a chance to win free grocery money! It only takes a minute to enter. 450 people will win $100 and 1 person will win the grand prize of free groceries for a year ($5200)! For us frugal shoppers, that prize could buy groceries for 2 years! :-)

Roundy's Coupon Matches (Pick 'n Save, Rainbow, Copps)

Roundy's stores (Copps, Pick 'n Save, and Rainbow) double 5 coupons up to $1 per $25 order every Wednesday and Saturday. There are several deals this week, so here are some printable coupon matches to help you make your list. Check your coupon stash to see if you can find more matches. For printing tips, click here. Questions? Feel free to email me!

$3.00/ea: Oscar Mayer Beef Franks
$1.00/2 any OSCAR MAYER Hot Dogs
$2.00 each ADC
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$3.50/ea: Bob Evans Fresh Breakfast Links, Patties or Roll Sausage
$0.35/1 any variety of Bob Evans Sausage
$2.80 ADC
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$2.00/ea: Yoplait Yogurt, 32 oz. Varieties
$0.50/1 32 OZ. Yoplait Yogurt
$1.00 ADC
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BOGO free: Yoplait Fiber One or Yo + Plus Yogurt
$0.50/1 YoPlus Yogurt 4-pack
$0.50/1 Yoplait Fiber One Yogurt Multipacks
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$2.00/ea: Hormel Compleats
$0.55/2 HORMEL COMPLEATS microwave meals
$1.45 each ADC
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$4.99/ea: Wisk 2X Laundry Deteregent
$1.00/1 Wisk laundry detergent
$2.99 ADC
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$1.00/ea: Progresso Classics Soup
$1.00/4 any flavor Progresso Soups
$2.00/4 or $0.50 each ADC
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$1.00/ea: Betty Crocker Hamburger, Tuna or Chicken Helper
$0.75/3 Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper OR Chicken Helper
$1.50/3 ADC or $0.50 each
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$1.00/ea: Betty Crocker Specialty or Mashed Potatoes
$0.50/2 Betty Crocker boxed Potatoes
$0.50/2 Betty Crocker boxed Potatoes
$0.50 each ADC
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$1.66/ea: Betty Crocker Pouch Cookies
$0.40/1 Pouch Betty Crocker Cookie Mix
$0.40/1 Pouch Betty Crocker Cookie Mix
$0.86 ADC
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$1.66/ea: Pillsbury Rolls, Breadsticks or Pizza Crust
$0.50/2 Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls
$0.50/2 Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls
$0.40/2 Pillsbury Italian Meal Breads (Loaves, Breadsticks, Dinner Rolls, and Pizza Crust)
$0.40/2 Pillsbury Italian Meal Breads (Loaves, Breadsticks, Dinner Rolls, and Pizza Crust)
$1.16 each ADC
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$2.50/ea: Pillsbury Ready to Bake Cookies, Pie Crusts or Sweet Moments
$1.00/1 Pillsbury Sweet Moments Refrigerated Desserts
$1.00/2 Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookie Dough
$1.00/2 Pillsbury Refrigerated Holiday Cookies
$0.50/2 Pillsbury Rolled Refrigerated Pie Crusts
$0.50/2 Pillsbury Rolled Refrigerated Pie Crusts
As low as $0.50 each ADC
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$1.25/ea: Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers
$0.50/2 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers frozen vegetables
$0.75 each ADC
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$2.00/ea: Pillsbury Pancakes, Scrambles or Toaster Strudel
$0.50/2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel Pastries
$0.50/2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel
$1.50 each ADC
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$1.99/ea: Chex Mix, Bugles, Gardettos or Cheerios Snack Mix
$0.50/1 Caramel OR Chocolate Peanut Butter Bugles
$0.50/1 Caramel OR Chocolate Peanut Butter Bugles
$0.50/1 Chex Mix OR Chex 100 Calorie Snack
$0.50/1 Chipotle Cheddar, Sour Cream & Onion or Barbecue Chex Mix
$0.50/1 Chocolate Chex Mix OR Caramel OR Chocolate Peanut Butter Bugles
$0.50/1 Chex Mix OR Chex 100 Calorie Snack
$0.99 ADC
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$2.50/ea: Green Giant Stir Fry Vegetables
$1.00/1 Green Giant Create a Meal! Stir Fry Frozen Meal Starter (if included)
$0.50 ADC
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$2.00/ea: Yoplait Go-Gurt,
$0.75/2 Yoplait Go-GURT Yogurt
$1.25 each ADC
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Mailbox Monday--New Freebies!

Happy Labor Day!
Celebrate with some Freebies!

• Download free Homeschooling Planner Pages here.
• Facebook users can get a free sample of Nescafe Taster’s Choice Coffee.
• Get 2 free Quest protein bars. Scroll down on each page to the red "get my 2 free bars" until you get to the page to fill out.
• If you’re a member of a mom’s group in your local community or online, you can apply to become a Mom Ambassador and get free products for yourself and each mom in your group. They are currently recruiting for Boiron natural flu remedies, as well as others.
• Receive a free sample of Garnier’s Moisture Rescue Gel-Cream.
• Get a free sample of 2 Garnier wrinkle test strips.
• If you have a Costco membership, request a free sample of BioTrue Multi-Purpose Solution.
• If you have a Costco membership, request a free sample of Dove Damage Therapy Daily Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner.
• Get a free download of J. Oswald Sander’s audiobook Spiritual Leadership during September from Christian Audio. Use coupon code SEP2010 at checkout to get it free.
• Get a free Kashi sample here.
• Request a free 2011 Planning Calendar.
• Get a free sample of the new Shout Color Catcher.
  

Locks of Love Take 3

We've started what seems to be an end of summer ritual here, donating ponytails to Locks of Love! H donated her hair for the first time two years ago and G donated her long hair last summer. This summer we had TWO girls who were able to donate their hair, M for the first time and H for the second time! You can take one last look at their long hair in their "birthday" pictures here.

This was M's VERY first haircut! I've never taken a scissors to her beautiful long hair. She had just a little bit of delicate wavy curls at the bottom, and I was so afraid that if I trimmed it, they'd be gone forever, leaving her with stick-straight hair like her mama. She was very excited to get her hair cut, though, since she had seen both H and G donate their long ponytails in previous years. They gave her some layers, and it's a really cute bob cut. She likes it, can you tell?!? :-)

H has been patiently growing her hair out for 2 years, and it was finally long enough to donate for a second time! This was her first professional haircut, since the last time she donated her ponytail, I just cut it at home. I found out right after I did it myself that Great Clips will cut your hair for FREE if you are donating it to Locks of Love, and they'll even mail in your ponytail for you! H didn't want layers, she said she likes it all one length (not that she knows any different), so I didn't push her on it. She likes having it shorter again, and it looks really cute on her!

Now they both have fresh looks for fall!

Crayola Winner

The winner of my Crayola giveaway was Adina, who offered the tip of using recycled materials for crafts. Congratulations! You will receive a back to school gift pack from Crayola and MyBlogSpark. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Oh, and by the way, remember how I mentioned that Ted said I should "just write an app" to count comments? Well, he whipped one right up. We tried it out on this giveaway and it worked! Thanks, dear! ;-)

Meet Audrey!

No, we didn't suddenly have another girl! Audrey is the name of our new pet. She is easy to care for and doesn't make a mess. She doesn't need to be trained. But she does need to be fed, and that's the fun part! Click through to my blog to see this cool video:


Yes, Audrey is a Venus Flytrap! I saw them at the grocery store last week on sale for $4.99 and I HAD to get one. Of course she is named after her much bigger namesake from "Little Shop of Horrors". We've been having fun catching bugs to feed to "her".

This post could also be called, "How NOT to feed your Venus Flytrap", as we've learned a few things along the way. A Venus Flytrap doesn't seem to like dead bugs, even if they are only mostly dead. The "mouth" will still close if a few of the sensitive hairs inside are triggered, but unless the bug fights back and struggles quite a bit inside, the Venus Fly Trap will not close all the way. Here is a picture so you can see what I mean:

The trap in the top left of the picture has an earwig in it that was dead when we fed it to Audrey. You can see that the trap partially closed, but not all the way. The trap in the top center of the picture is hermetically sealed because we fed it a live bug that wiggled around enough to cause it to first close, then seal up to the point that the "hairs" on the outside of the leaf now point outwards instead of inwards. Let the digestion begin! Apparently digestion takes about 10 days, at which point the trap will reopen and be ready for new prey!

This has been a very cool science lesson for our whole family. It's been interesting to see the traps close and open, both with dead and live prey in them. Watching a live ant struggle to get out, only to be sealed in tighter, was fascinating but kinda creepy, too! It's been $5 well-spent!