Deals Around this week

Here are a few deals this week around local Maryland grocery stores. I will add as I see new deals

Giant

Breakstones Sour Cream
BOGO minus .55 coupon Go here to print coupon http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=15085&zid=nv39&nid=20 (will be doubled to $1.10 use two coupons and get $2.20 - I am not sure on the price but you should be able to get free or cheap sour cream)

Kraft Shredded Cheese 2/$4 - $1.00 off two http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=15085&zid=nv39&nid=20

Chex Mix 3/$5.00 - use .50 off on coupons.com double to 1.00 to make it 3/$2.00

Safeway -
Don't forget to check thier website under coupons to add coupons to your card

Inside the safeway ad you will find a breakfast on us if you spend $50.00 coupons. This is for 3 days only Sunday, Monday Tuesday
Free Safeway Butter Top Bread 22 0z White or Wheat

Free Lucerne Large Eggs 12 ct Grade AA

Free Safeway Bacon 12 to 16 oz Selected Varieties

Free Safeway 100% Orange Juice 64 oz chilled

Other deals

Split Chicken Breast .99lb

Chex Mills Cereal 1.99 each when you buy three - 1.00 of two (coupons.com)

Weekly Menu

Here is the menu for the week.

Monday
Taco Salad with black beans and corn

Tuesday
Ham and Cheese Frittata
This is a great $5 dollar dinner recipe. Here is a link http://www.5dollardinners.com/2009/12/ham-and-cheese-frittata.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+5Dinners+(%245+Dinners)

Wednesday
Stuffed Shells

Thursday
Twice Baked Potatoes and Salad

Friday
Black eye peas and ham

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Crock pot Lasagna

I will add a picture of the meal as the week goes along. Hope you have a blessed week

$100 Boarders Gift Card Giveaway

Hey what a great giveaway for this time of year. Go over to Common Sense with money and sign up to join the giveaway. Hey also keep a close on her website for great deals and more giveaways coming. http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/2009/11/fun-giveaway-100-borders-gift-card-winners/

What's for Dinner

Well with it being Wednesday it is a very day around here. Most days like today we will have leftovers, but I have no leftovers, so I am doing a quick meal.

Safeway Chicken Strips - $3.99
French Fries - $1.00
Apple Sauce - FREE - Made with apples from the neighbors

Total Meal. 4.99

Not bad, but I would rather not use quick meals. But you can still use quick meals and stay under $5.00

Walgreen's $5.00 off a $25.00 Purchase

Walgreen's has another great coupon for us to use now though Saturday. You do have to spend 25.00 before coupons and Walgreen's coupon. But on the other side you can get Register Rewards to use on your next purchase.

Free Fall Baltimore

Have you ever heard of Free Fall Baltimore? Well if you have not here is your chance to have a wonderful FREE time in Baltimore for the whole month of October. That is right I said FREE. Prepare to enjoy more than 300 diverse, free performances in music, dance and theater, hands-on creative experiences and museum exhibitions in venues throughout Baltimore city. All events take place from October 1 - 31, 2009. Just go to Freefallbaltimore.com for more details. My favorite is the science center FREE on Fridays after 5:00. I will post this again, but you can start planning now.

Happy Birthday Kim

Yesterday my oldest turned 9. They grow up so fast. I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I pray that the Lord will bless you this year. I know the Lord has big plans for you. You are a wonderful young lady and big help to me

Cheap Dinner

Well, tonight I think I made the cheapest meal I have ever made.

Baked Chicken
one whole chicken - FREE
spices - FREE - thanks to some double and triple coupon sales
Salad - Lettuce - .69
Tomato - FREE garden
Cucumber - FREE garden
Potatoes - 1.29 for 5lbs used half - .65
Tea - 1.00
Klondike ice cream bars - 1.99

Total meal $4.62 for eight people including dessert.

Sorry no picture I forgot before I put it on the table and it was gone when I remembered to grab the camera

Pantry Makeover 2

This is my stockpile room. Well we would like to take that room and build a half bath in there. Well that would be a dream. Just imagine 6 kids ages 9 to 1 and 2 adults and one bathroom. Many times I have been waiting outside the bathroom dancing around. So I would like to build that pantry to move things there so we can get that bathroom built.

Pantry Makeover

Well, thanks to Erin over at 5dollardinners.com I am now inspired to work on my kitchen. Well mainly my pantry area. So I am sharing some pictures of my pantry. Caution the pictures you are about to see are not for the faint of heart. ( Ok they are not that bad, but I am ashamed of myself for letting my kitchen pantry get in this shape




This is my area next to my stove I would like to put my pots and pans here and move my large counter top things to the area where the pots and pans are



Pot and Pan area



This is my breakfast area. I like having my breakfast items in one area. But I would really like containers for the cereal instead of the boxes.



This is the area I would like to put a small pantry stockpile large cabinet. My husband can build it for me so that would help in cost. It is just the time he needs more of to get it done.

Want $250.00 in free groceries?

Everybody needs to head over to 5dollardinners.com for a chance at a $250.00 grocery giftcard. She gives you 10 chances to win. Also enjoy pictures of her own pantry organization.

Fun Giveaway: Complete the Cycle

Go to Common Sense with Money and add a comment to win a great prize. Just follow the link below
http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/2009/08/fun-giveaway-complete-cycle/#comment-22313

FREE BACON AT SAFEWAY

Do you want some free bacon? My family loves bacon, but it is a monthly treat around here. Well you can go to http://smithfield.com/ and sign up for their website. (Look in the left hand upper corner for sign up) After you sign up you can print two coupons (use the back button after the first one prints) for $3.00 of one Smithfield bacon. Use this coupon at Safeway and get FREE Bacon. Some areas the bacon is $3.19 but .19 is cheap for bacon. I have not checked prices at other stores but let me know if you have.

FREE CHICKEN

I know its been awhile since I wrote on the blog but it has been busy around here. We started school and we are now on our third week of school. We have had storms that took out the electricity for over 24 hours, and my fridge went out. So that all being said I lost everything I had in my fridge twice. I always have at least two weeks worth of groceries in the fridge so I lost a lot. Well one day last week I get a call from a friend at church and she asked if I would like some chicken. Who can say no to FREE CHICKEN. She gave me three boxes of chicken. Two boxes contained whole chickens cut in half, the other box had different pieces. I had so much chicken (at least 32 whole chickens) I was able to share with friends and family. The Lord is so good to give us our needs and bless us even more with extra to go on top.

Friday Menu Plan

Breakfast
Cereal - .88 box sale and coupon at Target
Milk - 1.50
Homemade Bread - 1.00

Lunch
Leftovers - FREE

Dinner
Grilled Chicken Salad
When I grilled the burgers I also grilled some chicken for tonight
Chicken - 1.69lb sale at Safeway 3.38
Salad - 3.00 from local produce stand
Fresh Berries - from garden
Cream Cheese Dip - 1.00 sale and coupon at Superfresh

Total for Day $10.76

Staples School Sale - FREE BACKPACK

Staples always have the best back to school sales. They have a new sale starting Sunday here are the details.

FREE BACKPACK - You must be a Staples Rewards member, and the cost of the back pack will be sent to you in your rewards check mailed in October

FREE AFTER REBATE
Zebra Cadoozles mechanical pencils 10 pack
Zebra Sarasa gel pens black 5 pack
Pentel Handy Lines highlighters

On sale for a $1.00
Staples Photo Paper 81/2 x 11 50 pack 12.98 - 11.98 easy rebate = 1.00
Pental RSVP pens 5 pack - 1.00
Staples Mini legal pads 3 pack - 1.00
Accel Little Notebook College Ruled - 1.00
Expo Fine Markers 4 pack - 1.00
Staples Hole Punch - 1.00

On sale for $2.00
Pilot Erasable gel pens - 2.00
Staples Mechanical Pencils - 2.00
Staples Stickies Adhesive notes - 2.00
Staples eraser grip combo pack - 2.00
Dry Erase Board - 2.00

All items excluding the backpack have a limit of 2. Also don't forget to be on the look out for Staples or Office Depot coupons to use. They usually come out with one every week, if I find one I will post it here.

Thursday Menu Plan

Today we will be having a family birthday party for my son. Here is today's meal totals

Breakfast
Cereal - .88 box Target sale and 1.00 coupon - my family loves cereal
Milk - 1.50 1/2 gallon
Chocolate milk - 1.74

Total $4.12

Lunch
Leftovers - Free

Dinner
Hot Dogs and Hamburgers
Fresh Veggies
Birthday Cake
Punch
French Fries

Total 15.00

Total Day 19.12 not bad for a special day. More details and pictures later.

Happy Birthday Davon

Today my youngest son turns 3. He is a very active, very strong, tall, and very lovable. This week we took him with us to pass out tracks with our church and he was so excited. I enjoyed watching him as he tried so hard to tell people what he was doing, but all he could say was Jesus loves you. I pray that he keeps that excitement for the Lord and that the Lord will use him in a mighty way. Happy Birthday Davon

Wednesday Break Down for All You Challenge

So how are you doing for the All You Challenge? What has been the greatest challenge so far?

Breakfast
Blueberry muffins - Homemade with berries from the garden, 1.00
Orange juice - 2.00
Eggs - 1.00 - Safeway special
Cheese - .50

Total $4.50

Lunch
P&J - (my sons favorite)
Bread homemade - 1.00
Jelly - homemade from berries from garden - FREE
Peanut Butter - Trader Joe's Organic Peanut butter - .50
Carrot sticks - .50

Total 2.00

Dinner
Well since it is a church night we will have the big birthday party Thursday
Mac and Cheese with Ham -
Ronzoni Smart pasta - .50 - on sale 2/$3.00 with 1.00/2 coupon
Cheese - Free from Safeway sale - This will be the last of the free cheese
Ham - 1.00 bought this on sale about 2 months ago its been in the freezer
Cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes and dip - 3.00

Total $4.50

Total day 13.00 including cake

I plan on baking a cake and taking it to church tonight for all. I bought a bunch of cake mixes about 6 months ago and they have been sitting in the storage room waiting for birthday days. I think I spent about .30 a box and got the frosting for free. He wants a blueberry cake, so I plan on making a 2 white cakes with Free blueberries from the garden and using a buttercream frosting with blueberries on top. So total cost for two cakes will be less than 2.00. We have a small church about 40 people on Wednesdays so I think two cakes will be fine. I will take a picture and post later.

Here is Tuesday's menu plan.

Breakfast
Cereal - .88 a box Target sale and coupon
Milk - 1.25 half a gallon
Berry Salad - Free berries from our garden
Total - $2.13

Lunch
Grilled Cheese
Homemade bread - 1.00
Cheese - Free thanks to safeway sale and coupon a few weeks ago
carrot sticks - .50
Total $1.50

Snack
Cereal straws - 1.50 - triple coupon sale at Superfresh
Milk - 1.25

Total 2.75


Dinner

Pork Bar B Que Sandwiches - Using leftover pork from Sunday - Free
Bar B Que sauce - .50 - Kraft coupon and sale
Buns - Homemade - 1.00
Corn and Peas - 1.00
Salad - 2.00 - Mark down specials at Mars
Tea for drink - .50
Total $4.50

Total for the day $10.88 for a family of 8.

Just a tip on how we keep our cost so low. We drink water most of the time, I buy meat on the mark down, I use coupons and shop the sale papers. I will post pictures this evening

Weekly how to save money tip

What is your best tip on how to save money? Well here is one for you to think about. I check our insurance rates and compare them at least twice a year. If I find a price that is lower I just call my insurance company and tell them that I found a lower price and see if they will match it. My agent is the greatest and she will match the price or sometimes find a lower price for me. Most of the time the savings is around 5.00 to 10.00 dollars a month but things like this do add up. Last year I saved 75.00 dollars a month between the car, health and life insurance companies. $900.00 a year.

Week one of the All You challenge

Wow it is time to start the All you challenge. If you don't know about it well, they have challenged people to spend $25.00 per person per week just on groceries. Well for me that means I have $200.00 per week to spend. They are looking for creative ways to stretch the buck. I plan to break every day down to see what I spent and also I plan on weekly menus. Here is Monday's breakdown

Monday
Breakfast - Cereal, Milk, Toast, Grapes
Special K blueberry - .99 a box after sale and coupon
Milk - 1/2 gallon - 1.25 we use about a half a gallon for breakfast
Toast - Homemade bread - 1.00
Grapes - Sale for .99 Lb bought 2 lb and used a 1.00 coupon .99
Total - $4.23

Lunch - Went to Six Flags today so packed a lunch
P&J - Organic Peanut butter 1.79 a jar used 1/3 .60
Made my own jelly from garden
Turkey and Cheese
Turkey on sale for 4.99 lb used 1.00 coupon used 1/3 1.60
Cheese Free after sale and coupon
Homemade Bread - 1.00
Brought water bottles from home - Free
Planters Peanut bars .89 after triple coupon and sale
Cheerios snack mix - 1.00 after coupon
Cookies Oatmeal used Betty Crocker mix 1.00 (including butter and egg)
Apples - .69 a lb 1.29
Total - $7.38
We made trips back to the car for lunch, snacks and drinks. We were able to park really close to the gate so it really was easy to do this.

Dinner - Well we ate out at Wendy's just ordered Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers since we had snacks and things in the car. Total for that was 15.68

Total for the Day - $27.29 that makes it $3.41 per person for the day staying under the daily allowance for the challenge. Not bad since we went to six flags and ate out.

Women's Day Magazine FREE

Go here to claim a free subscription to Women's Day magazine. You do have to qualify. I have qualified in the past. I am not sure how they decide, but it is worth a try. Go here http://www.freebizmag.com/emailwomday01welcome.htm

Time for school sales

I know it feels like you just finished school, but it is time to get ready again. Staples will be having a Dollar sale and a One Cent sale starting Sunday. Here are the details

Copy Paper 500 sheets limit 2 - $0.01
#2 yellow pencils 8 pack limit 2 - $0.01
2 pack Acme Junior 5" scissors limit 2 - $1.00
Staples Translucent pencil box limit 2 - $1.00
2 pack Bic white-out limit 2 - $1.00
3 pack Staples pink edge erasers limit 2 - $1.00
6 pack Sharpie accent highlighters limit 2 - $1.00
5 pack Bic velocity stick fashion pens limit 2 - $1.00
Scotch magic tape limit 2 - $1.00
Staples mini magnetic stapler limit 2 - $1.00
60 count Staples photo plus 4 x 6 paper limit 2 - 9.99 minus 8.99 Easy Rebate = $1.00

Of course this is while supplies last, but you can go everyday and get your limit, but the photo paper is limit 2 per household since it is a rebate. If you buy your limit on everything your total will be 36.02 plus tax, with 17.98 back in rebates, if you spend 50.00 total you can use a $10.00 off $50.00 purchase coupons that come in the email or mail. Staples will take Office Depot coupons. In the past Staples will put all the sale items in the middle or back of the store, but you can still find some of the items on the shelf.

How to keep grocery budget low

My best tip on how to help you keep the grocery budget low would be have a meatless night once a week. My Family's favorite meatless dinner would be bean burrito night. Here is a break down of cost.

2lb. bag of beans 1.00
Can of Tomato puree Free - with coupon Muir Glen coupon
Homemade flour tortillas 1.00 - easy to make just a lot of time
There is 1.00 off Mission tortillas coupon
making these cheap and worth buying
Cheese 1.00
Sour cream 0.50 - usually I find great coupons for Daisy
sour cream making free to very cheap
Lettuce and Tomatoes 0.50
Baked apples and blueberries 1.00 - Blueberries free since we have bushes

Total 5.00 for a family of eight

With summer here sometimes my family enjoys having a lot of fresh veggies for dinner. This helps with keeping the heat out of the house by not cooking. Make a big salad, fresh fruits, and a cold drink. Enjoy

Rite Aid Huggies Diaper Deal

Thanks to Moneysavingmom.com she has posted a wonderful diaper deal. You can go here: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/06/rite-aid-corrected-huggies-scenarios.html I will learn how to post links soon so just copy and paste.

Welcome to Maryland Savings. This will be a almost daily blog about the deals you can find in Maryland, mainly around the Baltimore area. Not only will it have the latest deals, but also fun family ideas.