I am going to start all over and try and explain things better. I have decided, because my DH is on commission and his paycheck is different each and every week, that I want to have 3 months of food in my freezer, pantry and/or frig at all times. That way if his check is very low etc I will be able to feed my family and not worry about it. I started with a spreadsheet that I found on a website called www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net the link for the spreadsheet I am using is http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/fsme/docs/3monthfoodsupply-new.xls. On the food storage made easy site it will have a video tutorial to explain how to use the spreadsheet. I personally don't have 30 dinners on my list at this time but I have 19 and I'm working on having all the ingredients for those 19 for 3 months. So I would look at that list and see if any of the ingredients that I need are on sale this week. This week at Food 4 Less (http://food4less1.inserts2online.com/customer_Frame.jsp?divID=704&drpStoreID=00516) they have Tilapia (3lb) and Catfish (2.5 lb) bags on sale for $8.98. Which is a great deal! They are individually wrapped and frozen for convenience. I know that we eat fish about once or twice a week and my spreadsheet says that I need 15 fillets of catfish so I am going to pick up 3 bags since it is a great deal. Tilapia says I need 15 as well but I have 9 so I will just pick up 1 bag, to make those two items complete. I am only getting these items right now because they are usually $11-13 a bag so $8.98 is a great savings. While I am at Food4Less I see in the ad that if I purchase $25 (I will with the fish) I can use a coupon for $.39 tuna can limit 4. I don't NEED tuna right now but $.39 is a great deal so I will pick those up too. Same with the Gatorade $.49 and the dozen eggs $.69. I can't really tell you when I am going to eat each item I am purchasing this week but I can tell you that when we are craving fish or eggs etc we will have them in the house. Krogar canned veggies are $.58 that is a great price. That is the price I think we paid during the case lot sale in April. (back then I got 2 cases of Corn and one case of Green Beans. I don't have to worry about whether or not I have those on hand. :D )
Same goes for the other stores..... Albertsons (which I am surprised) made my shopping list this week,(http://albertsons.shoplocal.com/albertsons/default.aspx?action=nuep&CityStateZip=89108) has a 3 day special going on Friday - Sunday.... 6oz blueberries of $.99, Mission chips $.99 and Pepsi 24pk $4.99. My DH likes to have a Pepsi every once in a while so I am just picking them up to be nice. :D The chips can be a nice treat with tacos & nachos. etc. (OK with the Nachos they are a must but you know what I mean) Blueberries are just a nice and refreshing treat so I am picking them up. OHHHH I almost forgot. My family probably goes through about 2-3 boxes of cereal a week. Albertsons also has General Mills cereals: Multi grain and honey nut Cheerios, cinnamon toast crunch, cookie crisp, golden grahams, cocoa puffs, fruit gushers, fruit snacks, fruit roll ups, and fruit by the roll on sale for $1.88 each. If you go on www.coupons.com or www.smartsource.com you can print up coupons for the cereals and fruit snacks etc. Their is no limit to the sale price and you don't have to by a bunch to qualify, but if you buy 4 in one transaction then you will get a coupons/voucher for a free one night RED BOX movie rental. With the coupons I found, $.75 a box for the Cheerios and the $1.00 for 2 fruit snacks I feel that this is a Fantastic deal. I will probably get as many as I have coupons for. The Chicken breasts for $1.89 are a good price too. I already have 20 breasts in my freezer so I am not going to pick anymore up but that is a great price.
Smiths (http://smithsfdsmail.com/15d67c072layfousia6ix52qaaaaabbz5zgcbpzbhmmyaaaaa) seems to always have my staples. Milk $1.89, yogurt $.40, eggs $.99 (but I am getting mine at Food4Less) 16oz cheese they are advertising it in 2 places in this weeks ad, one says 2-$5 and the other says $2.99 I am confused but I WILL be getting mine for the cheaper price. Sour cream and cottage cheese $1, corn dogs (which is an emergency meal for the kids) $3.99. Seems like Smiths is lower in prices everyday then the others, unless they are having a great sale.
Vons (the link is not coming up for me so I can't post it for you) has been doing great lately but maybe the fact that I have alot of "stock" or they just don't have that much on sale this week. The only thing that even caught my attention was the 3 day sale of Cocoa Krispes for $.99 limit 1. I don't know if I am going to go all the way to Vons for that but it is a really good deal.
Again, I plan my meals based on what is on sale this week and getting a little extra for the next time. I didn't start off getting 20 chicken breasts. I just get a little more each time they are on sale and now I have 20. I do have a monthly grocery budget and I am staying within that. I am not going into debt to accomplish this. I am only checking out that ads and working my meals and planning ahead. Last week because I didn't really see anything that I really needed on sale I only spent $5 on our groceries. we still had great meals. and we still had great meals this week.
I have also started to use this same plan with non-food items. If toothpaste is on sale for $1 and I have a coupon to make that half or FREE then I get as many as I can. I personally have 14 tubes of toothpaste in my house right now, because they were free. Same with Shampoo and Conditioner, I found a killer deal and stocked up. I think I have about 14 shampoos and 11 Conditioners and each bottle was only $.46. I could not pass that up.
Hopefully that will help you understand why I shop the way I do. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me.
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