I stopped by Albertsons twice this week to grab some deals. I’ll admit it, one of the things I miss about Extreme Couponing and Albertsons Double Coupons {do you think they’ll ever come back?} is being able to stock up on boatloads of stuff in one shopping trip.

Even though it was a lot of work to gather all the coupons, calculate the deals and wait in line, it was kind of fun to come home with a car load of food for under $5. But them again, we are eating a lot healthier now and growing more of our own fruits and vegetables so there is really a lot less to buy.

I only had 2 shopping trips this week:

Albertsons – $2.39

English muffins were only $0.50 a bag so I grabbed two of them plus some sour cream for the Asparagus Salad I made the other day.

Albertsons – $13.77

I can explain. Ha!

I picked up 30 {yes 30!} boxes of cake mix and 9 boxes of brownie mix for a committee event. I have a $100 budget to provide dessert for 600 people and Albertsons had a deal that if you bought particular items in sets of 10, you could get them for only $.49 a box.

Now, you and I both know cupcakes and brownies taste better from scratch, but if you had to provide dessert for 600 people would you make them from scratch, or go the boxed route. Hmmm. It’s a tough one, I know.

Because I am being reimbursed for the items I buy for the dessert I am not including them in my total.

I paid $13.77 for 2 gallons of milk, 20 boxes of pasta {I think I’ve got enough now to last me the rest of the year} mustard for $0.19 and a free jar of pickles {Vlasic coupon NLA}.

Mr. Produce Guy – Free

Last week I hit the jackpot. There was a little of everything. Bananas for power smoothies, broccoli for stir-fry and broccoli salad, plenty of fruit for breakfast, corn for the grill lot’s of other goodness. Between the garden, Mr. Produce Guy and my bulk purchases, I rarely have to buy anything these days.

Total Spent This Week $16.16

Total Spent This Year $962.06

Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $893.99 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 16 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes. Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil. I also picked up a boatload of heirloom tomato plants at the Seattle Tilth sale.

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

Oroweat Bakery Outlet – $8

With 5 weeks of school left I’m hoping this will be enough bread and bagels to get us through to the end of the school year. If you have never shopped at a bakery outlet before, check around in your area, it’s a great way to save. Anytime I can get good bread and bagels for $1 a bag I like to stock up. Find out how I keep our bread fresh.

 Target – $5.28

I’m not sure what else we purchased at Target last week but while we were there we grabbed 2 gallons of milk.

Amazon – FREE

My hottie of a UPS man delivered some peanut butter crackers for Monkey Boy and a jar of Nutella for The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird after I cashed in some of my Swagbucks for a free Amazon.com gift card.

Local Produce Stand – $6.22

Our local produce stand had broccoli on sale last week for $.99 a pound, Fuji apples for $0.69 a pound and cucumbers for $0.50 each. Each week they have 2 or 3 really good deals so I always try and stop in and pick them up when I’m nearby. 

We also harvested salad greens, basil, spinach, radishes, and sprouts this week.

How did YOU do with your grocery budget over the past 7 days?

Do you have a garden? Are you looking forward to “grocery shopping” from your garden pretty soon? I know I am.

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $19.50

Total Spent This Year $945.90

Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $862.57 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 16 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes. Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil. I also picked up a boatload of heirloom tomato plants at the Seattle Tilth sale.

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

Well, it was another major snoozefest in the grocery department this week. All I purchased was 2 gallons of milk, some bananas for some Spinach Power Smoothies and 2 containers of organic baby spinach and baby kale that was on sale for $1 each at my local produce market.

Thanks to a major stock up trip I made at Winco, Costco and the Oroweat Bakery Outlet  2 weeks ago and some freebie snacks last week, I didn’t have to buy much.

I’ve been photographing the meals I’ve been feeding my family over the past week and and will be showing you those soon.

Do you do a super stock up trip on every few months too? I’m beginning to think it might be the way to go.

How did you do this past week? Did you come across any rockin’ grocery deals?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $8.35
Total Spent This Year $926.4
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $862.57 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 16 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes. Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil. I also picked up a boatload of heirloom tomato plants at the Seattle Tilth sale.

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

Hello Monday!

If you are still in your pajamas, it’s OKAY. So am I!

Laurie sent in some gnome pajamas for me to wear for the Send in the Gnomes fundraiser, how cool was that? How did she even know I like pajamas? I’ll have to break them in before I pack up the pj’s for the road trip to St. Jude this summer.

As far as grocery shopping went, it was a pretty slow week around here due to my splurge and Costco and Winco last week.

Some weeks you buy a ton of food and others you get by with just milk.

Here is what I purchased:

Target $7.18

All I really needed this past week was milk. I was walking by an end cap and spotted Alfredo sauce for a $1 a jar so I grabbed two of them. Has anyone tried this brand? Is it any good?

I have a recipe I’ve been wanting to try and it calls for Alfredo sauce, which is not something I normally buy so hopefully the Market Pantry brand will taste okay.

Vitacost – FREE

I had some Vitacost credit and then shopped through ebates to score a 6% rebate on my purchase.

If you’ve never made a purchase from Vitacost before you can get a $10 credit just for signing up, plus earn a $10 credit each time you refer a friend and they make a purchase. Plus, right now Ebates is offering a 6% rebate on any Vitacost purchase so it’s like double dipping. Pretty cool if you ask me. Also if you are new to Ebates, you can score a $10 gift card for signing up to their website as well.

Mr. Produce Guy – FREE

Thanks to Mr. Produce Guy we had free watermelon coming out of our ears last week.  The best part about the reclaimed produce we pick up every week is we never know what is going to be in those boxes. It’s kind of like a treasure hunt.

Only having to go the grocery store for milk this past week was pretty rad. Let’s hope I can have a few more weeks like that to keep my budget in check.

How did YOU do this past week? Did you score any super awesome deals?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $7.18
Total Spent This Year $918.05
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $805.57 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 16 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes. Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil.

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

You know what’s really weird? After looking at this weeks pictures I tried to remember what I fed my family this past week. I remember serving pasta, salmon, buffalo, smoothies, oatmeal, sandwiches, soup, and lot’s and lot’s of eggs.

When you think about it, it’s pretty amazing what little a family needs to purchase each week if you do a lot of cooking from scratch.

But sometimes the pictures of what I purchased, still don’t come across as enough food to feed a family of four for one week. Probably  because I’m not reminding people of the food we have in or freezer, pantry or the food we purchased in bulk.  So you know what I’m going to do? This week I think I’ll photograph all the meals I prepare for my family and then show you the pictures next monday.

What do you think? Is that weird? Or would it be helpful? Let me know in the comments below and I will follow your lead.

Alright, here is what I purchased this past week:

QFC & Fred Meyer- $6.08

As you can see, the debate about local milk is still a hot one in our house. The Girl and I can not convince the boys that the stuff in the glass bottles is fresher and better for them.

Vitacost – $2.41

I had some Vitacost credit and then shopped through ebates to score a 6% rebate on my purchase.

If you’ve never made a purchase from Vitacost before you can get a $10 credit just for signing up, and right now Ebates is offering a 6% rebate on any Vitacost purchase. Pretty cool if you ask me. Plus, if you are new to Ebates, you can also score a $10 gift card for signing up to their website as well.

Harbor Greens Produce Market – $7.88

Every time I buy a sack of potatoes I tell myself it will be the last time. But we keep eating them so I have to buy more!

Swagbucks – FREE

I traded in some Swagbucks for an Amazon gift card and used it for a 4 pound box of the best dried cranberries on the planet!

Mr. Produce Guy – FREE

Thanks to Mr. Produce Guy, last week we ate big salads and had plenty of apples to pack in the kids lunches this past week. There is no doubt about it, free produce rocks!

The Bellingham Farmers Market $10

$10. Shut.The.Front.Door.

It was the biggest loaf of artisan bread we have ever purchased and and boy was it good! Sometimes you just have to be frivolous and buy the good stuff. Even if it’s expensive.

How did you do this past week? Did you hear the rumor that Albertsons Double Coupons might be going away? What do think about it? Will your grocery budget survive without them?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $26.37
Total Spent This Year $596.33
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $781.98 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 15 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes.

Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil.

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

Happy Monday!

Well, the map is up {it took 3 tries and a lot of tape and tacks!} and I can’t even tell you how excited I am to get mail today. It’s all I’ve been able to think about this weekend.

Will anyone send in gnomes? Where will they come from? We will get a gnome from Yap? The Girl and I stared at the map for a good hour last night dreaming of all the places we’d like to see. We found the Colorado River in Argentina, decided we’d like to go to St. Petersburg,Russia someday and talked about what it would be like to walk through a spice market in Morocco.

Maps are so cool! Everyone should have one hanging up in their home. It’s a big world out there people. A big, big world.

Alright, here is what I purchased this week to feed my family of four:

Costco – $13.99

Quick question. How many people do you know serve BBQ for Easter dinner? Do you think that is totally weird? I was going to get a ham at Costco, but when I called the HH to ask if he thought that would be a good choice, he said since the weather was so nice he’d rather fire up the BBQ and then he added that he’d stop by Costco on his way home from work and pick up some meat.

Well, I know my husband, and I know it’s impossible for him to leave that store with one item, so I sprung into action and zipped on over to Costco.

All the packages of steaks were like $30 and up. $30 for 4 steaks?

So for Easter we ended up having some yummy chicken & apple sausages {with plenty left over}, grilled salmon {from the freezer}  mashed potatoes and broccoli. I also made a pumpkin pie but we kind of forgot about it so we’ll have that tonight for dessert.

I’ll admit, weenies and salmon for Easter dinner doesn’t seem that traditional, but it was good.

Oroweat Bread Outlet – $8.00

Please tell me you shop at the bread outlet because I think it is da’ bomb! I don’t know anywhere else you can get good, quality whole wheat bread and bagels for $1 a bag or loaf. Plus, it freezes well too.

 

Evaporated Milk - Bartered with Girly Girl for Eggs

Well, technically I bartered with Chino the Handyman. Girly Girl was getting her nails done.

I also received a nice stash of chocolate Easter candy from Francisco {the vegan} in exchange for some eggs. He needed a few eggs so he could dye them with his son. What an outrage!  Maybe he’s not so vegan after all. Hmmm.

Mr. Produce Guy – FREE

To say we were busy eating free vegetables last week would be putting it mildly. We made so many smoothies that I didn’t even end up buying milk. How cool is that?

All in all it was a rather slow week in the grocery shopping department, but that was fine with me. How did you do this past week? Did you splurge or save?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $21.99
Total Spent This Year $569.96
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $778.29 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 15 yards of soil} and 90 pounds of seed potatoes.

Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil.

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

I went way over budget this week but I was also able to stock up on quite a few family favorites as well. I keep telling myself I need to stop spending so much to get my grocery budget in check but it’s been hard lately.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait until the garden starts producing and I can do all my shopping from the garden. It can’t be too much longer, right?

Here is what I purchased this week:

QFC $9.58

I grabbed some local milk and cream cheese.

Fred Meyer – $6.99

I couldn’t resist. These Red Vines are such a hot comity in our house, I have them hidden to make them last a bit longer. Do you ever do that with the really, really good stuff?

Harbor Greens Market – $6.64

Red & green peppers were 3 for $1, mandarin oranges $0.99 a pound, and Fuji apples were $0.69 a pound.

Vitacost $1.83

I had some Vitacost credit and then shopped through ebates to score a 12% rebate on my purchase {I think the rebate is now 6%}.

Mr. Produce Guy – FREE

Last week we had grapes practically coming out of our ears! One of these weeks I’ll have to weigh all the produce we reclaim and compare what it would have cost us had we paid for it. What do you think? Would you be interested?

Albertsons Double Coupons – $6.90

I stocked up on peanut butter, juice, sour cream, yogurt and gum using some Albertsons double coupons. I love it when they have deals on stuff my family actually eats.

Goodwill – The Best Dress Ever!

I scored the best dress ever and a pair of garden boots for a steal at the Goodwill. The thing I love best about thrift stores is that you never know what you are going to come home with.

The Girl loved the dress too so it was a total double bonus if she decides to wear it to an event. Gotta love that!

How did YOU do this week? Did you find any rockin’ deals?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $31.94
Total Spent This Year $547.97
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $778.29 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 15 yards of soil} and 90 pounds of seed potatoes.

Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil.

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

Last week I was pretty busy working in the garden and ended up doing all my grocery shopping in one day while I was out running errands. I LOVE it when that happens.

Here is what I purchased last week:

Harbor Greens Market – $5.28

Hopefully this is the last bag of potatoes I will have to buy for a long, long time. 10 pounds of potatoes $1.99, Green peppers 3 for $1, avocados 2 for $1, and our favorite Fuji apples $0.69 a pound! I love Harbor Greens Market for the weekly produce deals.

Fred Meyer – $13.67

I had this great idea that I would make apple turn overs with some of the free granny smith apples I scored last week from Mr. Produce Guy, but they totally bombed. Although they tasted good, they looked awful. Luckily I only used 1 of the 2 packages so I have to attempt making turnovers again. Oh well.

We are also totally out of chicken. I placed my Zaycon order so we will have more in a few weeks, but this bag will have to last us until then.

QFC – $8.95

I scored some spinach wraps on clearance, fresh asparagus for $1.69 a pound, local milk and a gallon of the regular stuff for Monkey Boy.

Barter with Mrs. Hillbilly – FREE

I traded eggs for butter last night at Mrs. HB’s house. I think the best kind of deals are when you both walk away with what you need. Since we are swimming in eggs {and will be for the rest of the year} I think it will be fun to see what I can trade the neighbors for with my extras.

Mr. Produce Guy – FREE

It was another stellar week in the reclaimed food department. It’s amazing how many meals and snacks you can make from a little bit for fresh fruits and veggies and some staple items. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s kind of cool.

How did you do this week? Did you buy anything exciting? Did you order any meat from Zaycon?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $27.90
Total Spent This Year $516.03
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $744.79 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 15 yards of soil} and 90 pounds of seed potatoes.

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.