2014 Grocery Challenge

[marvholly]

I am disapointed the the price of clementines is still SOOOO high this year. I LOVE them but will NOT pay $4-5 for a 3 lb bag. I do have coupons but they are dow to 0.50 this year. A couple years ago they were $1.

[marvholly]

Saw Halos brand clementines at Target on Tue. They look VERY small this year & were even MORE $$ there than I have seen at other stores. However, Aldi has them for $2.29/3lb bag. Will check those when I shop Fri or Sat.

[saveinla]

The clementines haven't been that tasty this year - a lot of them seem to be dry. I bought a bag in my local store last week, since 2.50 was the lowest I had seen for the 3lb bag.

[skubikky]

With the clementines, I bought a box at Wegmans.  They were very good.

[FreeSalsa]

I dried the bananas tonight and kept a few in the fridge for oatmeal, toast, and bananas Foster (yum!)  I also am trying drying some yellow squash to see how that turns out.  So far the lettuce I put in water to sprout seems to have some new growth, even from just the other day.  They said it would happen fast.  I'm going to try onions too next time I get an organic one and maybe celery.  Apparently you can do it with lots of veggies. 

I always look at the clementines because it seems to be such a good deal but I also noticed that this year the price stayed the same while the size of the bag got much smaller.  I think it was Suzi Q that used to buy the 5 lb. boxes for about $1.50 and give them as Christmas gifts to co-workers or extended family members.  I thought that was genius.  I don't buy them now though because I get them in the free fruit box sometimes.  I feel very fortunate about that.  

We met one of our neighbors and he said he has an over-zealous grapefruit tree and we should expect to find bags of grapefruit on our doorstep in a few months.  Did I already mention that there are fruiting trees at my new place?  I didn't know it until after we got here and we keep finding out new things all the time.  So far we have two avocado and a tiny jujube tree, as well as either a japanese plum or loquat tree--still waiting for confirmation on that.  We don't get a lot of fruit off any of these because no one's been taking care of the yard for a long time, it seems.  But we will fix that.  I'm starting a compost pile to use as fertilizer and it's about to get a few pounds of banana peels!  

[marvholly]

Dec 4, 2014 7:40:08 GMT -5 saveinla said:

The clementines haven't been that tasty this year - a lot of them seem to be dry. I bought a bag in my local store last week, since 2.50 was the lowest I had seen for the 3lb bag.

That is exactly what I was afraid of when i saw how small they are this year.  Appears they are all skin & no much juice or meat. I will look at the Aldi ones & only buy if they seem & feel decent.

[rubyslippers]

I price matched Aldi's grapes for $.75 lb. and broccoli and cauliflower for $.99 each at Walmart this week. Today at Rite Aid I bought 3 packs Garnier makeup remover wipes @ $4.79 each. I used 3) $3.00 IPQs and $4.99 in UPs. I paid $1.04 OOP and got back $5.00 in UPs. I used $70.00 in catalinas at Meijer and got a lot of coffee, garbage bags for next year and some Christmas gifts.

[marvholly]

I actually bought the clementines at a local independent store on Sat. They were Halos brand on sale for $1.99/3 lb bag & I used the coupon. They ARE small but tasty & juicy. I will ‘feel’ the Aldi ones & may get another bag. Aldi also has eggs on price cut which is the only other thing I need for the potato pancakes.

Local Jewel (Albertson’s) has broccoli on sale for the 2nd week in a row – unadvertised this week but caught on a local blog. I have enough stem pieces to make soup w/my open box of chicken broth. No waste & healthy.

[Deleted]

Good morning everyone!  Remember me?  I had to make a new username because I don't remember the old one, but it's me, oot-n-aboot, Ooty!

I had to break from using coupons, but need to get back in the game. Please don't judge, but I have been paying for toothpaste!  GASP, I know, I am so ashamed!  Anyway, I haven't been in WAGS since 2010 (OMG, has it been that long ago?)

Would you ladies be able to bring me up to speed on the drug stores?  WAGS, CVS and RA?  I will also be going to Giant Eagle and Dollar General.

I agreed to teach a couple of ladies tomorrow how to use coupons, so I need a refresher myself.  I don't plan to jump in until January and still need a source to get coupons from.  I use to buy them, but don't remember who from?

Thanks!


 Ooty

[marvholly]

ooty
the coupon game is NOT what it used to be. Values are down. Prices are up on EVERYTHING. Required units purchased are up (WAG sales may be $4/2 BUT if you only buy 1 it is now $2.49-2.79). I gave up buying the Sun newspaper for coupon inserts. I only would use 1 or 2 and the paper went up 50% to $3.

Now I mostly use internet printables at the couple of places that I shop that do take them (1 grocery, CVs & rarely WAG). The good news is that Dollar tree now takes IPs (limit 2/transaction) if all the info for them to redeem is on the coupon, I do have a couple Dollar Trees reasonably nearby.

I just got a BIG Walmart a few miles away but am NOT impressed. Aldi has better prices on most things and has pretty much become my go to store for a LOT of routine stuff.

[rubyslippers]

Hi Ooty! I still shop at Rite Aid. One change is that you have to ask them to opt out on the rewards or else it gets loaded to your card instead of printing out. Also, you cannot spend any rewards until the next day. They do have video value coupons from the video value site and also Load2Card coupons on that site. The video value coupons can be combined with MQ's but not the L2C coupons. There are weekly specials and monthly specials and sometimes there can be good deals when the two both give rewards. Iheartriteaid site is a good place to get an idea of what works. Rite Aid sometimes has coupons in their flyers for prescription transfers and most will get you a $25.00 UP reward. Toothpaste is one of the items that still can be found for free.

[princessleia]

I bought clementines from ALDI but  I had to bring it back few days later 'cos it was just rotting. But it was a good thing the mgr gave me back more than I paid for (double guarantee??). This time, I tried their Florida tangelos instead. So far so good. They are much bigger than the clementines and got more juice. Only thing it does have a few seeds here and there.

I also finally gave in and bought Halos clementines from another supermarket at $5.99 for 5-lb box only after seeing how big they were. They were at least double the usual size - like the size of the tangelos. 

[princessleia]

Dec 13, 2014 11:06:06 GMT -5 @ooty said:

I agreed to teach a couple of ladies tomorrow how to use coupons, so I need a refresher myself.  I don't plan to jump in until January and still need a source to get coupons from.  I use to buy them, but don't remember who from?

Buy coupons? Oh no....you should just print coupons off the internet (coupons.com, smartsource) or if you need the newpaper ones, call up the newspaper and ask for Sunday delivery only. They usually are able to give you a good rate like deliver the paper at about $1.50 a week. 

The other thing is beside using coupons, you should check out savingstar.com and checkout51.com. I joined them recently a few months ago and to date, I have gotten back $50-ish from them for buying certain grocery items - items that was on sale as well as I had coupons for! Talk about a home run! 

[marvholly]

I have pretty much seen the grocery ads for this week and am VERY disappointed. As a single person household I wanted turkey breast, a ham slice or ribs for Christmas. NONE are on sale in my area. I might switch out my NY menu (red meat-in my freezer) but I am NOT feeling the love.

[hitenney]

Hi Ooty!  How's the new place?  Hi everybody else!  Hope the Holiday shopping is good.  I hardly ever use coupons any more, because usually the store brand is cheaper than the name brand, even with a coupon.  I'm the one who used to have a lot of fun with No-Beer-Purchase-Required rebates, although I wussed out on even those the last few months.  It will be one of my resolutions to get back to those in the New Year.  Other resolutions are pre-prepping food for dinner, as we are falling into our fast food habits again.  Need to figure out some easy and tasty casseroles.  Any ideas?  Seems like I always have to work late these days. 

Anybody have any inexpensive ideas for Christmas gifts?  I'm re-running last year's theme, which was a bunch of very inexpensive items bought on sale from Home D., and then "wrapped" in one of their reusable recycled tote bags.  I give up on the kids in the family - I just give some money or a gift card - seems like they all have so much stuff!  Plus it keeps me out of the stores, which is a good thing.

My husband always wants fresh fruit, which can be pretty expensive, plus it all seems to ripen at the same time, so I was happy to find some frozen packages of mango, blueberries, and a combo of strawberries, mango & pineapple on sale.  Last time I bought anything similar he said it was "tasteless", but this time they were a hit.  Doing the happy dance!

[marvholly]

hiteeny
I am NOT a cassarole lover. I do do things like soup & chili and 1x/year lasagne. Otherwise I cook roasts & chicken for cook once, eat at least twice meals. Tuna salad works too. For a last minute quicky I do pasta or eggs. Quick prep and little clean up.

For gifts, I only do the grands - 9 y/o down to 18 months. Been doing magazine subscriptions for several years.

ETA:  other cook in large batches are meatloaf muffins and salsbury steak.  Nuke/bake potato, add a veg & dinner is done.

[hitenney]

Thanks, Holly - I love the meatloaf muffin idea!  Also reminding me to search "batch cooking". I know it sounds silly, but I was racking my brain for the phrase that would bring up all the internet ideas.  I have CRS in a big way!      2 other things came up that might help me economize in the kitchen:

1) company party was last night and my grab bag present was a 48-piece set of Rubbermaid storage, the kind were the lid sticks to the bottom.
2) there was one of those Groupon-like email savings today for a local produce farm - $30 value for $15.  They have a few different CSA boxes for $30.47 each (regular price). Not really sure if this is a great value for $30.47, but it sounds good for $15.47! Here's a sample:
3 lb Zucchini
2lb Local Oranges
2 lb Sweet potato
2 lb Banana
2 lb Long Eggplant
6 pc Sweet Corn
1 Bundle Curly Kale
1 Bundle Green Onion
1 lb String Bean
2 lb Kai Choy/ Pak Choy/ Won Bok
1 bundle Sweet Basil
1 bundle Thai basil

Free Salsa - what do you think?

[marvholly]

hitenney
I frequently suffer from CRS. Made an appt lqast Mon for Wed and on Tur forgot what time....
That CSA like bundle works IF you would use/eat everything and before it goes bad. I am a single so, although I eat 95% of the stuff in it I would probably not consume it all in time.

I REALLY miss Safeway (Dominicks) because:
I miss the reduced meat a LOT - no other store does that regularly
I have a coupon for a free item they carried - now its off my travel pattern to get to a store that carries it.

[murphath]

Hi Hitenny! Still love your new kitchen

I'm happy I went out to run errands yesterday as we have more rain today. My backyard is like a lake--nowhere for all this water to go. We bought a pump which helps but it can't keep up when it's pouring. We do need the rain here in Calif. but not all at once (and not all in my backyard )

DD1 is getting married in Mexico end of Feb. and we are throwing a party end of March at our house.  That's where she wanted it.  Thus, we will have @ 80 people roaming around.  Cross your fingers for good weather.  I'm looking into renting a tent so I can set up tables on the back patio even if it's a bit chilly.  In any event, I have started buying the soft drinks for the bar area and got 7 free 12 pks of coke yesterday: 3 at CVS using EB's and 1 free 12 pk q from My Coke Rewards.  The remaining 4 I got at Target using 4 of the free 12 pk q's.  I love that Target gives the full value of the q: $4.99.  12 pks were 4/$12 so after tax and CRV, I had $1.09 per 12 pk to use elsewhere.  I bought DH some car seat covers for a Christmas gift ($25), a 5 lb box of Clementines, a jar of Grey Poupon, and a dozen cage free eggs.  I used a Target $5/$50 purchase q, a $1 Grey Poupon q along with the coke q's.  My total OOP was $31.30 using the Target Red card (5% addtl. discount).  I consider this a win because I'll get $4.20 CRV back from the coke cans.  That makes it $27.10 which is close to what the car seat covers would have cost alone.  I also got 3 Dawn dishwashing liquids and cotton rounds at CVS along with the 3 12 pks at CVS.  My total there was .84.  All in all, a good hounding day.

Now if it would just top raining for a few days....

[saveinla]

I received a 10$ ECB from CVS for taking a survey 2 weeks ago and they had also sent me a 5$/15 on the same card. Used both of these along with 3- 1$ MQs to get 6 bags of mars holiday candy for free. Got a 5$ ECB from that deal and rolled that with a 1.50$MQ for the Nescafe coffee that is 6.99 this week and paid 49c. Haven't been in CVS for a while, so this was a great deal for me.

[dancinmama]

Dec 13, 2014 11:06:06 GMT -5 @ooty said:

Good morning everyone!  Remember me?  I had to make a new username because I don't remember the old one, but it's me, oot-n-aboot, Ooty!

I had to break from using coupons, but need to get back in the game. Please don't judge, but I have been paying for toothpaste!  GASP, I know, I am so ashamed!  Anyway, I haven't been in WAGS since 2010 (OMG, has it been that long ago?)

Would you ladies be able to bring me up to speed on the drug stores?  WAGS, CVS and RA?  I will also be going to Giant Eagle and Dollar General.

I agreed to teach a couple of ladies tomorrow how to use coupons, so I need a refresher myself.  I don't plan to jump in until January and still need a source to get coupons from.  I use to buy them, but don't remember who from?

Thanks!


 Ooty

OMG, talk about a blast from the past!!

I have thought about you often and all the silly dog pictures you would post of the hounds on the pound!!

Believe it or not, I rarely use coupons any more these days.  I stockpiled my way out of needing to shop the drug chains in 2012.  Then I spent a year trading coupons for cash or stamps on WUC for almost all of 2013 and about a year ago the liquor store that let me pull the inserts from the unsold papers was sold so my free coupon supply dried up.  I haven't seen a coupon insert in over a year now!!

I'm still a bargain shopper for food items.  The stores where I find the best buys don't accept manufacturers' coupons (The Grocery Outlet and the 99 Cent Store); but with their clearance deals, I can usually buy deli, cheese, etc. with an OOP lower than if I had shopped my national grocery chains using coupons.

In spite of not shopping the drug chains for almost two years now, my stockpiles are still holding up quite well.

Wow, it's great to see you post!! 

[marvholly]

Dancin
I wondered where you have been. Glad to hear from you.

[marvholly]

Hit a hot one on Sat. local market had whole chicken on sale for 0.89/lb. Aldi is 0.95. For ‘fun’ I checked the price at an independent market I was already shopping at (NO shelf sign) – 0.79.lb. WIN!! Making roast chicken & veggies for tonight and another night plus will have at least 2 more servings of chicken on hand (frozen).

[hitenney]

Have had eggs on my mind lately - needed them, and best price I found was at Costco for $4.98/18.  Then went to Sam's w/SIL and kids and found them for $4.99/18, so felt validated.  Went to Target yesterday with my sister who's visiting, and darned if they didn't have them 2 dozen for $3.50!  But it was a madhouse, and I'm not sure they were even on the ad.  Trying to plan best ways to actually live up to my New Year's resolution to save on groceries for 2015.  So far, I feel my plan of attack is to do my staple shopping at Sam's/Costco, study the ads more to take advantage of lowest sales, use my Just4U, and BRING LUNCH to work.  (I waste a lot of money because I don't think too well in the morning, and haven't planned ahead for lunch).  I'd be happy to hear any other ideas.  Obviously I have heard most of the cost-saving measures - but fitting them into available time is always a challenge. 

Just found out my nephew is leaving his fridge at our house, as he got a free spare one delivered from a friend.  So now we have the two in the house and two in the garage, and I need to figure out which one in the garage I could sell for more money, and/or which spare one is cheaper to run. Plus there is a chest freezer outside that mostly has food from when my nephew was living with us (with his family of 6).  My SIL and I really need to sort out that stuff.  More New Year's resolutions...

[dancinmama]

Dec 20, 2014 7:15:29 GMT -5 marvholly said:

Dancin
I wondered where you have been. Glad to hear from you.

My mom is having some health issues.  Hopefully all will be okay.  We'll know more after Christmas.

[marvholly]

Dec 23, 2014 1:42:29 GMT -5 dancinmama said:

Dec 20, 2014 7:15:29 GMT -5 marvholly said:

Dancin
I wondered where you have been. Glad to hear from you.

My mom is having some health issues.  Hopefully all will be okay.  We'll know more after Christmas.

Sorry to hear that. Hope all goes well.

[rubyslippers]

Hitenny, last week I checked Walgreen's ad and they had eggs for $1.29 a dozen. I went to Walmart and price matched the eggs as we don't have a Walgreens close by. I've done that several times the past year as they frequently have eggs on sale. I used to get mine free at Rite Aid with my UP rewards but their prices are too steep for that now, even with my discount.

Dancin, sorry to hear about your mom. I hope you are able to celebrate Christmas with her. This is the first Christmas without our dad and it really seems strange this year.

[FreeSalsa]

Dec 13, 2014 11:06:06 GMT -5 @ooty said:

Good morning everyone!  Remember me?  I had to make a new username because I don't remember the old one, but it's me, oot-n-aboot, Ooty!

I had to break from using coupons, but need to get back in the game. Please don't judge, but I have been paying for toothpaste!  GASP, I know, I am so ashamed!  Anyway, I haven't been in WAGS since 2010 (OMG, has it been that long ago?)

Would you ladies be able to bring me up to speed on the drug stores?  WAGS, CVS and RA?  I will also be going to Giant Eagle and Dollar General.

I agreed to teach a couple of ladies tomorrow how to use coupons, so I need a refresher myself.  I don't plan to jump in until January and still need a source to get coupons from.  I use to buy them, but don't remember who from?

Thanks!


 Ooty

HI Ooty!  I guess I haven't checked in for a few weeks, I've been busy!  I think most of us are getting deals more often at our local stores whenever we can.  I stopped getting the newspaper when my Groupon $20/year subscription ran out.  I print some now through Swagbucks so I get points for that. 

The last few weeks I've done well at Ralphs/Kroger where there have been half-price mark downs on bratwurst, hummus, fresh mozzarella, walnuts, good bread, and more.  Ralphs and Albertsons (CA) have also had good sales for Thanksgiving and Christmas so I got turkey, ham, and boxed and baking goods on sale.  They sometimes have La Brea bakery bread half price and I have some IPs for that.  I also bought 14 packages of Hormel and Armour pepperoni for 0.45c and 0.50 c at Dollar Tree with IPs.  I'll get about 100 pts. on Swagbucks just for those.

I got a lot of stuff for Black Friday at CVS and RA and Wags using ECBS, RRs and gift cards won on Swagbucks.  

I was going to mention to everyone that I noticed a new thing here with the drug store GCs.  I'm not sure if it's just here or everywhere.  I know in my state they made a law a few years back that if you had less than $10 left on a GC you could cash it out.  Now it shows up on the little screen as you are using the card.  One of the CVS checkers accidentally cashed out one of my cards so I used that money at RA to start out rolling my RRs.  So it was like having an RA GC.  So I might cash out a few more so I can use them at Wags or anywhere since they only offer CVS GCs on Swagbucks.

[FreeSalsa]

Dec 18, 2014 17:34:27 GMT -5 hitenney said:

Thanks, Holly - I love the meatloaf muffin idea!  Also reminding me to search "batch cooking". I know it sounds silly, but I was racking my brain for the phrase that would bring up all the internet ideas.  I have CRS in a big way!      2 other things came up that might help me economize in the kitchen:

1) company party was last night and my grab bag present was a 48-piece set of Rubbermaid storage, the kind were the lid sticks to the bottom.
2) there was one of those Groupon-like email savings today for a local produce farm - $30 value for $15.  They have a few different CSA boxes for $30.47 each (regular price). Not really sure if this is a great value for $30.47, but it sounds good for $15.47! Here's a sample:
3 lb Zucchini
2lb Local Oranges
2 lb Sweet potato
2 lb Banana
2 lb Long Eggplant
6 pc Sweet Corn
1 Bundle Curly Kale
1 Bundle Green Onion
1 lb String Bean
2 lb Kai Choy/ Pak Choy/ Won Bok
1 bundle Sweet Basil
1 bundle Thai basil

Free Salsa - what do you think?

That's very good!  Especially for where you live where things are expensive!  Don't forget to freeze or dry the extras so you don' waste any.  Zucchini makes a great soup you can portion out and freeze in individual containers.  Cut up the zucchini (or just about any veg--cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, peas, kohlrabi) and just cover with water and bouillon or with broth, boil until tender, cool, blend, season to taste (I use s/p, marjoram, oregano, basil, or whatever is around) and reheat.

[Deleted]

Wow, the game sure has changed!  I have not had a chance to get together with the ladies at work yet, so I still have time to make a plan.  

After we moved, my wonderful MIL taught me how to make a baby quilt for my niece that was expecting.  Then I found Pinterest....(enough said?)  Well, after that, I was hooked and have been sewing and collecting fabric.  I had never sewn before, but have been in love ever since.  My quilts come out pretty well, so now people are offering to pay me to one for them!  I have 3 orders for next year already.  Just have to get through the holidays and finish one I am making for someone ($$$$)  If you are on FB, I post just about everything as I do them

Merry Christmas everyone!!  I sure have missed you!


, Ooty