Day 1

Tonights dinner meal cost us close to nothing. We did a little pantry/freezer raiding.

Smoked BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Au Gratin Potatoes

Green Beans

Bread & Butter

The Ribs were given to us, as well as the bread. The Green Beans came in a box that I got of food off of freecycle. The Au Gratin potatoes were a Betty Crocker box mix that I had bought on sale, with a coupon. We will probably have ice cream here in a bit for dessert, I got those on sale with a coupon too. Got 6 bricks of Hiland ice cream a few weeks back for $0.99 each!!!! :)

For an evening snack, while we watched movies, we had yummy popcorn, popped on the stove, in a pot, with butter :) Yummy!

The ribs were done smoked on the charcoal barbecue grill. Hubby made them up, putting them on the grill over a pan of water, with the charcoal over to one side, to smoke them. They were so good they didn't even need any bbq sauce!!! They were yummy.

Tomorrow we have planned

Leftover ribs with a baked potato and maybe a rice a roni or something for lunch

and for supper, turkey slices (from a turkey, we got for $.49 a lb) we cooked before Christmas and froze the pieces of), mashed potatoes & corn & bread and butter.

I'm also going to work on trying out my garage sale bread maker tomorrow as well! :)

$30 a week Challenge

So, we sat down the other night to figure out our budget. DH asked me, how much would I need on an average week for my household budget (personal care items, cleaning, food, etc.), and I said, well, on average here lately, I've been spending between $30 and $40 a week. So we decided that for a while at least that my weekly budget is $30. I'm going to keep track of my progress on here. I'll post my shopping trips, menus, recipes, and everything else I do to stay within that budget. We also bought me a book tonight, that I'm going to post things that I learn from. We bought The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half by Stephanie Nelson (The Coupon Mom). We also ordered my very own shopping cart so that I can start taking public transportation more for my shopping trips, and I can walk to the stores within walking distance (within a mile from the house). I can't wait to see where this takes us!

Dawn

Shopping Trip 1-22-10

Target:



(1) Tide Sample Size - $1.12 Coupon: $1 Final: $.12

(4) Healthy Harvest Ronzoni Pasta - Sale $1.22 Coupon: $1/2 Final: 2.88/4

(1) Honey Nut Cheerios 25.25 oz - Sale: $3.50 Coupon: $1 Final: 2.50

(2) Lean Cuisine Meals - Sale: $2 Coupon: $1 Final: $1

(3) Lean Pockets - Sale $1.79 Coupon:$1/3 Final: 4.37/3

(1) Cosmetic Bag (for use as a coin purse) - $.97

Target Discount for bringing my own bag $.05

Final Spent: 14.49

Savings: 11.05





Aldi's (went yesterday but was still this weeks budget)



Neufchatel Cheese - $.99

2 lbs Carrots - $.99

Total: $2.08





Dillons:



(2) Cheerios 14 oz. - $2.77 Coupon: $1 Final: $1.77

Total: $3.66

Savings: 2.84





Walgreens:



(2) Wet Wipes - $2 Coupon: $1.50/1 RR: $1/2 Final: FREE

(1) Dozen Eggs - $.79

(3) Chunky Soup - $3.19 Coupon: $1.50/3 Wags: $1.50 ea. Final: $1 ea.

(1) Dawn Ultra - $ 1.39 Coupon: $.25 Wags: $.99 ea. Final: $.75

(4) Lindsay Olives - $2.19 Coupon: $1/2 Wags: $.99 ea. Final: BOGO Free

Total: $7.91

Savings: $16

RR Recieved: $1

Cool contest I found to win free groceries for a year

"Even if you don't want to enter, please click so I get an extra entry!!!"

Hey, I just entered this contest on Cozi.com to win free groceries for a year. All you have to do is put in your email address.

Even if you don’t enter, please click the link to help me win. (I get an extra entry for telling you.) Thanks!

View >>

Wags & Dillons Trip

Total for Trip: Spent $30.48

Saved $41.38 (from coupons and some discounts)

-DILLONS-
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese - Sale $.85 Coupon Buy 3 get 1 free

Nissan Chow Mein Dinner - Sale $1.00 Coupon $.50 Doubled FREE

Yakisoba Cheddar Cheese Dinner - Sale $1.00 Coupon $.50 Doubled FREE

Nissan Bowl of Noodles - Sale $.89 Coupon $.50/2 Doubled

Fleschmann's Yeast - Sale $5.99 Coupon $.50 Doubled

Airwick Warmer - Clearance $.59 Coupon (Free with purchase of 2 refills) FREE

Airwick Refills - Clearance $1.99 Coupon $1/2

Glade Oil Candle Holders - Sale $1.74 Coupons $2/1, $1.50/1, $2/2

Frozen Wild Blueberries - Sale $3.99 Coupon $.65 Doubled

-WAGS-

Mother Earth News Magazine - $5.99

Post Grape Nuts - Sale $1.75

Nivea Body Wash - Sale $4.99 RR $2 Coupon $1

Herbal Essences - $3.99 Coupon FREE

Biotene Gum - $2.19 Coupon $2

Burt's Bees Hand Soap - Clearance $3.59 Coupon $1

LySyl Lip Balm - $2.99 Coupon $1 Mail in Rebate $2 MONEY MAKER!!!

AT WAGS I ALSO HAD A $3 OFF PURCHASE OF $10 OR MORE, AND A $5 GIFT CHECK TAKEN OFF!!!

Seventh Generation Sample & Coupon!

This arrived in my mail today! It's a sample of the Seventh Generation Dish Soap & Fabric Softener sheets! There's enough soap to do one sink load of dishes and 2 softener sheets! And, a $1 off any Seventh Generation product coupons that doesn't expire till March! I have found these products at Target, and many of the products are very inexpensive, as Natural/Earth-Friendly products go.

Yahoo Groups

I have started a Yahoo Group for couponers in the Joplin area to be able to swap coupons, discuss good deals they've found and let people know about freebies they've found. Come check it out! When asking to join, just tell me in the comment box where you live, and how you got into couponing.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jomocouponswappers/join