More tips on saving on the grocery budget...

I wrote my last entry so quickly that I forgot to include some other thoughts...Here are some more tips on how I was able to slash my grocery budget nearly in half!

--Try to stock up on freezer and pantry staples when they are on sale and you can combine the sale with coupons. i.e. Green Giant frozen veggies are only $1.00 this week at Acme and there is a Catalina deal, get $5 on your next order when you spend $15 and there are tons of coupons either online or from the paper.

--Always check the weekly circulars and look for coupon match-ups.

--When I say I shop at Rite Aid, I mean I shop there when I can get stuff for free or even make money on various items. Check my other posts to learn about shopping at Rite Aid. I have learned there are many toiletries you can get for free through their SCR program.

--Try cloth diapering...I use G-diapers with Bum Genius inserts. Good results!

--Look for great diaper deals at Rite Aid or Walgreens when you have coupons too.

--I have also tried doing some make-ahead-freezer meals.

Ok, that's enough for now...back to my boys.....Happy Saving and of course Merry Christmas! What a wonderful time of year to meditate on our Savior's birth!

$200 Grocery Budget for Family of 5!

Well, I have been meaning to post this for a few days now, but only getting to it today. Remember back in March I had the March Challenge to see if could keep my monthly grocery budget at around $400? Here were the results of that. Well, I have been reading so many frugal blogs over the past few months and thought it was time for a new challenge. I guess there are a lot of families out there who try to keep there grocery budget to $30/week. Well, I thought I would try for $200/month for the month of November. I had gotten away from really tracking how much I spent on groceries, so this challenge help me track all my purchases, coupon like crazy, eat out a whole lot less (haven't eaten out but 2 times since number 3 came along), and be more creative with food we had on hand. So for the month of November I actually only spent $220!!!! I was so pleased. And we still ate pretty well and have a fairly stocked-up freezer and pantry. The only that was really missing by the end of the month was the perishables. I actually tracked the purchases from Nov. 10-Dec. 10. This week I did go to Costco and Acme to stock up again and already spent about $200, but I'm hoping to not spend more that $50 until early January. We'll see how I do. I was quite please with November's results given I had a birthday party for my son, celebrated two Thanksgivings, and a few other hospitality events. Some of ways I have been able to cut our grocery budget nearly in half since last spring would be due to cloth diapering 2 children about 80% of the time, coupons, shopping at Rite Aid, and checking frugal blogs like Money Saving Mom and Deal Seeking Mom....they do a lot of the homework for you. How do you save on your grocery budget? Any tips? What do you spend each month? How do you incorporate bulk purchases into your budget?

Great Stocking Stuffer idea for toddlers!

UPDATE (12/16): Well, just checked Walmart and the DVD is $13. Sorry. Just checked the blog I got the info. from and everyone else is saying its $13 too. If I see it on sale any where else I'll let you know.

I just read on the Deal Seeking Mom blog about a new $3 off coupon for the new Curious George movie- A Very Monkey Christmas. We just watched this movie last week as a family on PBS and it is super cute. This week the movie is on sale at Walmart for just 5 bucks. So with the coupon you can get it for $2! Yeah! I just printed it from Red Plum here. This will make for a great stocking stuffer for my boys. I'm going to go out tonight to snag it before they are sold out.

Great Deal on Dunkin' Donuts Coffee

I absolutely LOVE coffee. I would even go so far to call myself a bit of a coffee snob. One of my favorites is good ol' Dunkin Donuts regular coffee. For nearly 3 years at Costco, I had been buying it for $16.99 for the 2 1/5 pound bag. In an effort to cut back on our grocery bill as of late, I started drinking Eight O'Clock coffee...quite surprised how yummy it is too. Actually, the Columbian is rated #1 on Consumer Reports. Well, today I needed an afternoon pick-me-up while I was out with the kids, so I stopped by D and D for a splurge cup of joe. To my surprise, they are running a sale all month long...buy 4 1 pound bags of any flavor of coffee for $19.99! That's $5 a bag...one pound bags that is. You can't touch that kind of price at the grocery stores or even Walmart. Those places only sell 12 ounce bags and the best price I usually see is $5.99. And this price is a little better than the price of Eight O'Clock too. So I was quite excited! I bought 4 bags for now and will probably hit up the sale again. By the way, these make great gifts for the coffee lovers out there on your list or for grab bags.