Using Time Wisely

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Rock Bottom Pricing: Free Pricing List

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In concluding this series of posts on rock bottom pricing, I am thrilled to embed a link to Money Saving Mom’s free Customizable Stock up Price List. The owner of Money Saving Mom, Crystal Paine, posted her rock bottom prices. Taking Crystal’s list, Joy (from Fivejs.com) designed a spreadsheet for Money Saving Mom readers. Instead of starting your pricing book from scratch, you can print Crystal’s list and tweak it to fit your grocery needs. Why be concerned with a pricing list?

  • This pricing guide can save you money. If you wait for a sale on an item at the price listed on your pricing list, then you can stock up on that product. I get so excited when I find deals at my rock bottom price since I know I am saving money by not purchasing when the product is at full price.
  • This pricing list can save you energy. You will not need to create your own list with your store receipts. Updating this pricing guide takes less energy than creating a new list. Save your energy for playtime or another project.
  • Using this pricing list will save you time. You do not need to pull out all your grocery store receipts, type in or write out the products, and create categories. All the work is done for you, freeing up time for the things you enjoy.

Are you still skeptical? You have nothing to lose. Just click on this link, follow the directions, and print your free pricing list. Thanks, Crystal and Joy, for helping us save money, energy, and time.

Hamburger Helper: Asian Beef Fried Rice

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Delicious new variety

Do you enjoy the boxed Hamburger Helper mixes from Betty Crocker? I have purchased some of the varieties in the past, fixed them for quick dinners, and decided not to purchase those again. I like the convenience of the boxed meals, but the taste of the ingredients, especially the cheese, leaves an aftertaste. Not caring for the lingering sensations, I have opted to bypass sales on Hamburger Helper. Until . . .  last week when I had a $5 off any purchase of $25 or more at a local grocery store. Knowing I needed to refill one of our propane tanks with the sale of $15.99, I began scouring the Bi-Lo weekly advertisement for other great sales. I again found Hamburger Helper on sale for $.99 which I could pair with a coupon for $.75 off any 3 boxes resulting in $.74 per box.

Putting Hamburger Helper on my list means – check it out at the store. I don’t always purchase everything on my grocery list. Sometimes I am just looking and considering purchasing that item. I will indicate the deal on my grocery list, and then check out the deal with the available varieties while shopping.

At the store I browsed the Hamburger Helper section to find a new boxed item: Asian Beef Fried Rice. Since we love Japanese food, I decided to try this variety. I purchased 2 boxes of the Asian Beef Rice and another variety for the third box. On Wednesday night, I made the meal using ½ pound of hamburger rather than the suggested 1 pound. (Our family prefers a small amount of hamburger.) The entire family enjoyed the meal. I’m thankful we tried this variety, I found it tasty and filling. I will definitely purchase it again.

Having found a variety of Hamburger Helper that I like, I am ready to try other foods and varieties which is a big step for me. I get in my comfortable zone and continue to prepare and serve foods I enjoy. Breaking out to try something new keeps my family on their toes. I’m glad to find another quick option for those crazy weeks when every meal needs to be made in 5 minutes.

What about you? What new variety or new recipe have you tried recently? Please leave your answers in the comments.

Pork Chops: Slicing a Boneless Pork Loin

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Planning for Success

Photograph Credit: Fotolia

When Paul and I were first married, we enjoyed cooking together a new recipe each week. We had received some cookbooks for our wedding, and we would browse and choose one recipe to make. Besides giving us time with each other, these sessions also helped us find meals we both liked. I tended to cook foods that were coterminous with my mom’s style which was vastly different from Paul’s mom’s style. As a couple, we worked to find meals that were our style.

During these experiments, we tried different cuts of meat, including pork. We found that we liked the taste once we overcame the chewy consistency. As we added children to our family, the consistency of the pork I cooked, baked, or roasted was not tender enough for our little ones to chew. To spend my time wisely, I chose not to make pork until . . . I came across this great post from centsiblesavings.com.

After reading her post, I waited for boneless pork loins to go on sale for $1.99 per pound. At the sale, I purchased a small pork loin and tried her Chicken Fried Chops recipe in the crock pot. (Her recipe is included in her post here.) The result of trying this new recipe was . . . a family favorite! The pork was so tender after cooking in the crock pot for 6-8 hours. The realization that this was a “keeper” meal came when my children asked for more.

We love this recipe, and I have made some minor adjustments to stretch the pork more which saves me time, energy, and money. These are Tracy’s tips for this recipe:

  1. Purchase the boneless pork loin when it is on sale for $1.99 per pound or less. My rock bottom price for this cut is $1.99 per pound. In April, I purchased 5.17 lbs. of a “pork loin, loin half boneless” at $1.99 per lb. for a total of $10.29.
  2. At your time of purchase, ask the butcher to cut the pork loin into chops. Our butcher at Publix used a sharp knife to cut our pork loin into 11 pork chops. My kids loved watching this process. I am thankful for all the wonderful employees at Publix who willingly demonstrate and teach my kids as they help me save time, energy, and money.
  3. Consider using 3-4 pork chops for each meal instead of 6 or 7. To feed my family of 5, I use 3 pork chops.
  4. Add more ingredients. About an hour before serving the meal, I remove the fat from the edges of the chops, shred the chops using a fork, and stir in another mixture of ½ cup of milk and 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup.
  5. Allow the chops to complete the meal. Instead of serving a side of meat per person, I make open-faced sandwiches using toasted hamburger buns. The leftovers make great lunches. By using my time making this meal, I can serve one dinner and at least one lunch. Yeah, saving money, energy, and time while feeding my family makes me happy.

This meal is such a hit in our house that my son requested pork chops for his birthday dinner. I highly recommend this delicious recipe. You, too, can save time preparing dinner by allowing the crock pot to cook all day for you. Stay tuned next week for more on pork loins.

Grocery Store Bound

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After avoiding the grocery stores for a month (due to a busy schedule), I have exhausted my staples. My pantry is still relatively full, but I have pieced together as many meals as my creativity can muster. Upon realizing that dinner was not to be had from my kitchen tonight, I requested dinner out.

Considering our choices, we decided to visit Firehouse Subs where kids eat free on Sundays and Wednesdays. With the allowance of 2 free kids’ meals for each paying adult, our family of 5 enjoyed 2 adult combo meals and 3 kids’ meals to the tune of $16.

Though I could have created a meal for far less, the night off was so nice. After watching another hail storm while at dinner and attending church, I came home ready to cut my coupons, organize my binders, and create a grocery list from the grocery store sales this week. With the help of Jenny Martin at southernsavers.com, I matched my coupons with the sales, printed my lists, and prepared myself for shopping tomorrow.

Although the sales were not outstanding this week, my family will enjoy having some of our normal meals again. I am pretty sure I have missed a ton of great deals and opportunities to buy ahead, but I chose to use my time wisely and hang out with my kids. Hope you are using your time wisely and able to snag some great savings while you feed your family.

June 16: Bi-Lo and Publix Shopping Trip Results

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After the break from shopping, I am back into the savings groove. Knowing I missed lots of sales that may not be repeated for the next 6 weeks, I am not sweating it. The sales will come back around, and my family will survive on what sales I can match with coupons.

Though the deals were not fantastic last week at my Bi-Lo and Publix, I did snag these good deals:

BI-LO

1. Dozen large eggs for $.99 each

2. Baby-cut carrots for $.99 each and paired with competitor (Publix) coupon for $2 off product item. Using the coupon with this purchase resulted in free carrots and $1.01 in overage. This overage was applied to another product, like the eggs. Since I had 2 coupons and each stated “one coupon per purchase,” I divided my purchases up into two transactions and used one Publix coupon per sale.

TIP: If you will have overage, like the $1.01 for the carrots, then purchase another item to absorb the savings in your transaction. For example, purchase the carrots and another item $1.02 or more (after coupons) in the same transaction. Most stores will not give you money back.

3. Bone-in split chicken breasts with rib meat at $.89 per pound. This price was lower than my rock bottom price of $.99 per pound. I purchased 3 packages which after cut up netted 15 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, 15 tenderloins, and 6 cups of chicken broth. Here is the tutorial for cutting up the chicken.

With my 2 transactions at Bi-Lo, I purchased $100.38 worth of product for $36.68 which was a savings of $63.70 or 63%. I was pleased with this trip with the limited number of deals this week.

PUBLIX

1. Tombstone Pizzas for $3.15 each

2. Package of smoked white turkey deli meat for $2.09

3. EGGO waffles for $1.29 each

4. Oscar Meyer Lunchables for $1 each

5. Yoplait Fiber One yogurt for $1 paired with $.50 coupon that doubled making the yogurt free.

My total at Publix resulted in $135.66 in merchandise for $60.06 which was a savings of $75.60 or 56%.

Both of my shopping trips resulted in over 50% savings which is my goal. Now that I am back to saving and restocking my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer, I am ready to shop again this week. How are your savings panning out? Please leave a comment indicating your savings from feeding your family.