Free Cereal Week for Me!

Sorry i'm late in getting this up, but it was a nice day outside, and we roasted hot dogs and smores out on the fire pit this evening!

Albertson's:

This was definately the week to get free cereal if you wanted it! Albertson's was having a special for Post cereals 5/$10 and then $2.00 taken off at the register. That brought it down to 5/$8. Not too bad of a deal, but I had $2.00 off coupons for each of the boxes of cereal, so it brought the total for 10 boxes to -$4.00. That's why I got my gallon of milk free! Which, as you can see, we've already started on. I also got the pack of beef on sale. So, 10 boxes of cereal, 1 gallon of milk and 4 pounds of beef cost me right at $8.00 OOP!

Walgreen's:

This was the week for Olay and Zest. I ended up getting 6 packs of Olay and 2 packs of Zest for $2.00 OOP, but I earned back $16.00 in Register Rewards. So, today I went out and got 1 tube of Colgate, 1 Listerine Smart Sinse, 1 bottle of Vitamin C, 2 Viactiv Calcium, and 2 boxes of butter for $0.00 OOP. I'll also earn back $15.50 in rebates on my Walgreen's gift card.

CVS:

This week was a light week for me at CVS since I was contracting too much for a few days. I had to be a lady of leisure and plant it on the couch. {gasp}

Anyways, my sweet hubby so graciously went and did this one for me. I figured i'd keep it simple since we had a run-in with a coupon nazi employee the time before. So, we just got 2 Mach 3 razors, 1 Venus Embrace, and 1 Fusion razor. I paid with $16.47 in ECB's and $.53 OOP and made back another $22.00 in ECB's. Not a bad run.

So, all of this would have cost over $110.00 for right at $10.00 OOP, but I made back more in rebates, ECB's, and I still have another register reward to spend! So, I guess you could say it's almost like it was free!

A Sample of our $75 Weekly Menu...for a Family of 8

Here we go again. I thought I would post another menu plan for you guys who are wondering how we feed our family for so little. This time I will add breakfast, lunch and snacks for you to see. If I can do it, anyone can! Hope you enjoy!

Breakfast:

Monday: Waffles and fruit
Tuesday: Baked Oatmeal
Wednesday: Pancakes and fruit
Thursday: Muffins and Sausage
Friday: French Toast
Saturday: Eggs, biscuits, and a meat
Sunday: Country ham and gravy over biscuits

Lunch:

Monday: Sandwiches and a side veggie--->either raw or cooked
Tuesday: Ham, mac & cheese, and a veggie
Wednesday: Soup and crackers or 1/2 sandwich--->soup is usually leftover from night before
Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit
Friday: Leftovers or quesidillas if we have no leftovers
Sat and Sun: We either eat leftovers, or a salad, or sandwiches

Snacks:

Monday: Carrots and ranch dressing

Tuesday: Fruit

Wednesday: Banana Bread or homemade bread drizzled with butter and honey

Thursday: Celery and peanut butter or ranch dressing

Friday: Tortilla wraps---> I usually fill them with pizza sauce and cheese or peanut butter and honey

Dinner:

Monday:

Lasagna

Green beans

Pumpkin rolls

Tuesday:

Homemade Tomato soup

Homemade Italian cheese bread

Wednesday:

Taco and Burrito bar

Refried beans

Mexican rice

Thursday:

Chicken and stuffing

Corn

Friday:

Chili cheese enchiladas

Mexican rice----> leftover from Wednesday

Saturday:

Mock shepherd's pie

Steamed broccoli

Sunday:

Crockpot chicken

Rice pilaf

Salad

Pumpkin rolls

How I Feed my Family of 8 for $300 a month - Part 2

Last week I introduced you to some basic concepts that I follow to feed my family for just $300 a month. This week I will start showing you how to apply those concepts to your personal situation. If you missed part 1 of the series, you can read it here.

Step 1.  Make a budget! 
Even if you don't like budgets or they overwhelm you, just smile and get through it. Once it's in place you will be happy you did.

Here's why a budget is important, if you shop without setting up a budget, you will spend more! Setting up a budget is one of the most important things you can do when trying to save money on groceries. No matter how much you may be tempted to skip over this part, it is integral if you want to succeed.

I also advocate paying with cash. It has been proven that using a credit or debit card will cause you to spend more. I promise that you will make wiser shopping choices when you only have cash to spend on all your groceries. Enough on that for now.

Now, there is one thing that you need to do first before setting up your budget. You need to figure out how much you are currently spending every month on groceries. If you find out you are spending $1,000 a month, you wouldn't want to cut your budget to $400 the next month. The best advice I can give is to slowly decrease the amount you spend over a few months.

The first thing I did when trying to find ways to feed my family for less, was to save my receipts for a whole month. I wrote everything down I spent. Before I did this I thought I was spending around $600 a month. When I totaled it up, though, I found out I was spending closer to $750-$900 a month. It was eye opening to say the least.

Another important fact that you can find out by keeping track of those receipts, is exactly what you are buying. You will be able to see what you need, and what you've spent money on that maybe wasn't necessary. This will help you when you actually sit down to plan your budget. Once you know how much money is going out, sit down with your spouse and actually set a goal to decrease what you are currently spending .

The first goal my husband and I set after we saw what was going out, was $500 a month. After a few months I saw that I could spend $500 a month easily. I went back to my husband and we set another goal to drop it down to $400 a month. After another few months we decreased our spending, yet again, to $300 a month. Do you see how I did that? I didn't drop down to $300 from $750-$900 overnight. I gradually made the change, praying that God would show me how to save money along the way.

When setting your budget pray that God will show you how to save and give you the creativity to come up delicious, healthy meals while still saving money. You will be amazed at what you learn, and what you can do with the money you have.

Coming next: I'll start delving into basic menu planning