Step two of dessert. Btw, this dessert cost only $1.79!

The first step to our Easter dessert

Executing the Meal Plan

Meal plan this week -- already a fail.
I thought we had a pot roast in the freezer, but it was really pork loin.  So we had frozen pizza for lunch and I'm working on the pork loin for dinner. 
So far, no anticipated problems the rest of the week.

Some Attempt at a Meal Plan

I've done horribly at menu planning, and it's been so obvious around here by how much we've been eating out.  Here's my best attempt at a meal plan for the week (I'm not about to get up and go scour the freezer & pantry; just going from memory here.)

All breakfasts will be oatmeal, cereal, or pop tarts.

Lunches/Dinners:

Sunday:
Lunch: pot roast, rice, corn
Dinner: frozen pizza

Monday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: not-sagna pasta toss

Tuesday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: pork fried rice

Wednesday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: Mrs. Callender's frozen meal

Thursday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: taco rice

Friday:
Lunch: school/work
Dinner: Swedish pancakes and turkey sausage

Saturday:
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: soup or chili

Now, if I can just have the foresight to get the meat out of the freezer each day before work or each night after dinner, I'll be in pretty good shape.

Publix, 4/15 -- 73% savings!

8 cans Dole pineapple -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.65
Used 4 $.50/2 from the 4/10 SS
Paid: $4.36 for all 8, or just $.55 each!

1 Sorrento mozzarella cheese -- $3
Used $1/1 from the 4/10 SS
Paid: $2 (not that great of a deal, but I thought I needed it.  I then got home and finished my pasta salad with shredded mozzarella instead.  oh well.)

6 kellogg's pop tarts -- BOGO -- $2.59 for 2
Used 3 $1/3 from the 3/6 RP
Paid: $5.77 for all 6, or just $.97 each

2 Immaculate Baking refrigerated cookie dough -- 2 for $5

6 Birds Eye Steamfresh veggies -- $.89 each (thanks to 50% off sale)
Used 2 $1/3 from the 3/6 RP
Paid: $3.34 for all 6, or just $.56 each!

2 Kraft shredded mozzarella -- 3 for $5
Used $1/2 from 3/13 SS
Paid:  $2.34 for both, or just $1.17 each!

2 Kraft shredded cheddar -- 3 for $5
Used $1/2 from the 3/13 SS
Paid: $2.34 for both, or just $1.17 each

1 Hormel mini pepperoni -- $3.69

8 Lay's potato chips -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.99
Used 8 $1/1 from the Yellow Advantage Flier (expires today)
Used 8 $.55/1 from the 3/13 SS
Paid: $3.56 for all 8 bags, or just $.45 each!
(This is my favorite deal of the trip!)

Used $5/$50 Apple Market coupon

Paid: $26.56
Saved: 73.87
Percent saved: 73.6%

Getting Caught Up On Publix Trips

I have a couple receipts that I haven't logged yet.  I don't really know the coupon matchups for these, since the receipts were just lying randomly in my purse.  I'll do my best to remember.  I should be mostly okay, since one of the transactions was just yesterday.  Here goes:

From 3/19:

4 Betty Crocker potatoes -- $1 each
Used 2 $.50/2 blinkies
Paid: $3 for all 4, or just $.75 each

2 Sundown Naturals vitamins -- total of $9.58
Used $6/2 Green Advantage flier
Used 2 $1/1 insert coupon
Paid: $1.58 for both, or just an average of $.79 each

2 Mueller's Corkscrews -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.39
Used 2 $1/1
Paid: FREE for both, plus $.61 overage!

4 Colgate toothpaste -- $1 each
Used 4 $.75 insert coupon
Paid: $1 for all 4!
(A great price for a donation to a summer missions trip!)

12 Propel waters -- 2 for $1
Used 6 $1/2 insert coupon
Paid: FREE for all 12!

Total paid: $5.72
Total saved: $40.79
Percent saved: 87.7%

From 3/14:

2 Pedigree Dentastix -- BOGO -- 2 for $3
Used 2 $2/1 insert coupons
Paid: FREE for both, plus $1 overage!

2 Maruchan ramen -- $.34

4 Sundown Vitamins -- total of $21.86
Used 2 $6/2 Green Advantage flier
Used 4 $1/1 insert coupon
Paid: $5.86 for all 4!

Total spent: 5.43
Total saved: $23.10
Percent saved: 80.9%!

Menu Plan -- 3/19-3/25

I varied quite a bit from last week's plan.  We still ate most of the things I planned, but completely out of order.  And we did eat out a little.
I'll hope for the best with this week's plan:

Saturday: breakfast -- pierogies, turkey sausage, and muffins -- yummy!
               lunch -- sauteed beef and basil-pesto pasta
               dinner -- out?

Sunday: breakfast -- egg casserole
             lunch -- ham and rice
            dinner -- frozen pizza

Monday: breakfast -- oatmeal/pop tarts
              dinner -- Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Tuesday: breakfast -- oatmeal/pop tarts
               dinner -- Talani's honey-mustard ham

Wednesday: breakfast -- oatmeal/pop tarts
                    dinner -- beef/bean burritos

Thursday: breakfast -- out
                dinner -- Wanchai Ferry frozen meal

Friday: breakfast -- oatmeal/pop tarts
           dinner -- salsa chicken

We will probably have rice with 5 out of the 7 dinners, cuz that's how we roll.  And with so many frozen veggies in our freezer, we'll have something for every meal with little effort.  I wish I had time to make bread or rolls or biscuits.  And I'm currently obsessed with http://www.ourbestbites.com/ and really want to try some of their recipes, such as the creamy chicken taquitos for Monday night. 

Publix, 3/18 -- 71% Savings!

I got all of my info from http://www.iheartpublix.com/, http://www.mysweetsavings.com/, and http://www.addictedtosaving.com/.  You can see those websites to check out what coupons to print/use to make these deals for yourselves.

Here's what I got:

4 Philadelphia cooking creme -- $2 each

4 Zephyrhills 3-liters -- $.89

2 Mueller's corkscrew pasta -- BOGO -- 2 for $1.39

4 Mrs. T's pierogies -- $2 each

8 Propel waters -- 2 for $1

2 Breyer's 1.5 qt ice cream -- BOGO -- 2 for $5.49

I used coupons for:

Philadelphia cooking creme

Mueller's

Mrs. T's

Propel

Total spent: $14.74

Total saved: $37.12

Percent saved: 71.6%

Publix, 3/15 -- 99.5% savings!

What a fun, spur-of-the-moment trip!  We were on our way home from Krispy Kreme having celebrated Dianna's good report card with some free doughnuts, and I asked if we could pop in so I could check to see if they had a few items.  I left the family in the car for like 20 minutes while I "quickly" checked.  See, they ended up having the items I was checking on, which meant I had to find things to buy to cover the overage that my coupons generated.

Here's what I got:

4 Maruchan ramen (fillers) -- $.67

4 Sundown Naturals vitamin D -- $2.99 each

Used 4 $1 coupons (from a recent insert)

Used 2 $6/2 Green Advantage Flier coupons

Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $4.04 overage!

2 Loving Care Natural Instincts hair color -- clearance priced at 2 for $3.99

Used 4 $1 Publix coupons from the Save $29 one-page flier

Used 4 $2 coupons from a recent insert

Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $4.02 overage!

Thanks, Faith, for the info to make this deal work!

1 pkg. beef chunks (I love these for chili) -- $4.47 (I think they are $3.99/lb. right now.)

1 New York sliced garlic bread -- $2.50

(I think I missed a $.55 coupon that I could have used.  boo.)

Total paid: $.18

Total saved: $35.97

Percent saved: 99.5%!

WOO HOO!!

Weekly Meal Plan, 3/13-3/19

Sunday -- corned beef and rice
-- frozen pizza

Monday -- chicken nuggets and pasta

Tuesday -- Not-sagna pasta toss

Wednesday -- Marie Callender's meal

Thursday -- beef and bean burritos

Friday -- chicken and rice

Publix, 3/12 -- 52.8% total savings!

What a fun trip today!  I was amazed with the deals I was able to find, considering how many I found sold out last night.  Here's how I did:

First of all, the gas cards . . .

I bought 3 $50 gas cards and was able to use 3 $10 off coupons, making my spending on these gas cards $120, a 20% savings.

Plus, all these groceries for just $17.15 more . . .

4 assorted Sundown Naturals vitamins -- $17.96 total

Used 2 $3/2 printable coupons

Used 2 $6/2 Green Advantage flier coupons

Paid: FREE for all 4, plus $.04 overage

3 Excedrin Migraine, 100 ct. -- $5.99 each

3 Excedrin Extra Strength, 100 ct. -- $5.99 each

Used 6 $1.50 insert coupons

Used 6 $3 Target printable coupons
Paid: $8.94 for all 6, or just $1.49 for each bottle!

2 Pompeian olive oil -- BOGO -- 2 for $6.59

Used 2 $1/1 printable coupons

Paid: $4.59 for both, or $2.30 for each 16 oz. bottle

5 Voskos Greek yogurt -- $1 each

Used 2 $1/1 printable coupons

Used 3 $.75 printable coupons

Paid: $.75 for all 5, or just $.15 each!

6 Birds Eye steamfresh veggies -- $.89 each

Used 3 $1/2 Yellow Advantage flier

Used 2 $1/3 printable coupons

Paid: $.34 for all 6, or just $.06 each!

2 Yoplait Yoplus 4-pks -- BOGO -- 2 for $2

Used 2 $1 printable coupons

Paid: FREE for both!

4 Sargento pepper jack shredded cheese -- $2 each

Used 4 $1.50 printable coupons

Paid: $2 for all 4, or just $.50 each!

10 Maruchan ramen (for the fillers) -- $1.67

My total percent of savings, gas cards included, is 52.8%.

My totals apart from the gas cards are as follows:

Amount spent: $17.15

Amount saved: $117.25

Percent savings: 87.2%

Can You Tell Which Pocket Is for Publix Coupons?

Publix, 3/11 -- 38% Savings

Yes, you read the title right -- just 38% savings.  Needless to say, things did not go the way I had hoped, but I forged ahead anyway. 

Transaction 1:

1 brocolli -- $2

Corned beef -- $10.59

1 Voskos yogurt -- $1 each

Used 2 $1 printables

Paid: FREE! for both!

1 Publix hydrogen peroxide -- $1.89

2 Pompeian olive oil -- BOGO -- $6.59 for 2

Used 2 $1 printable coupons

Paid: $4.59 for both!

1 pkg. Publix bandages -- $2.79

$50 Chevron gas card -- $50

Used $10/$50 in-ad coupons

Paid: $40!

Transaction total: $61.86

Transaction savings: $26.92

Percent savings: 30.3%

Transaction 2:

8 Pedigree dentastix -- BOGO -- 2 for $3

Used 8 $2 coupons purchased from mycouponhunters.com

Paid: FREE for all 8! plus $4 overage!

4 Butterball turkey sausage -- BOGO -- 2 for $3.49

Used 4 $.55 coupons

Paid: $4.78 for all 4, or just $1.20 each

1 CLR septic treatment -- $4.19

$50 BP gas card -- $50

Used $10 in-ad coupon

Paid: $40!

1 knee brace -- $12.99

Transaction total: $59.18

Transaction savings: 47.98

Percent savings: 44.8%

Total spent: $121.04

Total saved: $74.90

Percent saved: 38.2%

I know that my percent of savings is terrible, but I'm thrilled with the $100 in gas I purchased for just $80!

Tonight's Frugal Dinner, 3/10

I made pancakes (from a boxed mix) flavored with vanilla, allspice, and cinnamon.  I used the rest of a box that I bought so long that I don't remember buying it!  I served them with strawberries ($.17 at Publix), butter or peanut butter or syrup, and the Butterball turkey sausage patties pictured.  They were bought at Publix this week (sale still on through Tuesday, 3/15).  They were $3.49 for 2, plus I had $.55 coupons on each.  That makes each box just $1.20. 

My best guess about the cost of this meal is $3.00.  I did cook the pancakes with coconut oil, which is a pricier ingredient.

My New "Pantry" in my Garage!