Eat From The Pantry Challenge

Are you cabinets and freezer full? Join us in January for the Eat From The Pantry Challenge. I have a stock pile of food in the cabinets and freezer that need to be eaten up, so when I heard LifeAsMom and MoneySavingMom's challenge I was excited to join in. See how much you can eat from your cabinets and freezer for the month of January and stay out of the grocery store. My monthly food budget is $250, it's only my daughter and I. My goal is to only spend $50 in groceries for the month of January. I went to my local produce store and bought 10-lbs of potato's($1.99) 5 lbs of oranges($3.99)and some other fresh produce. I will have to buy milk and maybe cheese, but I get my fresh eggs from my sisters mother-in-law.

Stay tuned for some "thrown together" recipes. Hopefully my picky eater, my daughter, will try some new meals this away. We eat out maybe twice a week. I hope to cut that back to once a week. If there are any good deals at the grocery stores this month I will probably get them but donate to the food bank.

The new year is a time for new adventures and this year I'm trying to cut back on my grocery bill.

My goals:

1) Spend $50 or less in groceries for January.

2) Come up with a new family favorite meal.

3) Donate the great deals to the food bank.

This is just for fun and to see how much you can save and eat at home. Come join us!!

62% savings at CVS

There are some great buys at CVS this week with coupon match ups. My total out of pocket was $38, plus I got back $9 ECB's. Total before coupons and sales $99. I bought 4 boxes of Kleenex tissues-bogo-$2.39. Nature's Bounty vitamins are bogo and get $3 ECB's. Men's old spice deodorant on sale 2/$4-get $1 ECB's, used $1 off coupon. Olay body wash on sale for $5.49, had coupon for free lotion when you buy body wash, the lotion was $8.19. WOW!! Gillette razor $8.99-$4 ECB's-plus used $2.00 coupon from 12/27 Sunday paper. There were more great deals also. Check out Madame Deals for a complete list and a $5 off $30 purchase coupon.

Awesome peppermint cookies

Cookies for Christmas or just cookies anytime. These very merry chocolate peppermint cookies are awesome. I made a batch before Christmas and they went very fast. They are very easy to make and the kids love to sprinkle on the crushed candy canes. Thanks to Mrs. Moneysaver for the recipe.

MoneySavingMom is giving away 5 $100 gift cards

Hurry!!! Head over to MoneySavingMom and enter her giveaway. Ends tonight at 6pm. You have your choice of gift cards. Let me know if your one of the 5 lucky winners. Good Luck!!

WARM CHILI ON A SNOWY DAY

Here is central VA we are getting our first snow of the winter season. What goes great with a snowy day? Chili!! I had recently bought some red chili noodles from Giant off the scratch and dent rack (discounted rack) and thought they would be great in some chili. I opened my cabinets and found some kidney beans, added some hamburger, spices and some Cajun Bayou. Put it all in the crock pot and made a batch of corn muffins. Yum Yum!!! Do you have any favorite snowy day foods? Leave a comment below.

$10 Food Bank Challenge

Moneywise Moms is having a $10 food bank challenge. Get out your coupons and see how much food you can get for $10 to donate to your local food bank. Times have been rough for alot of people. The unemployment rate is at an all time high. More and more people are turning to the food bank to feed their families. Moneywise Moms is giving away 5 prizes to random participant's as an added bonus. Here is what I bought at Wal-mart for $10.96.

Great Steaz Teas giveaway

Organic Deals is giving away a six pack of Steaz teas and a $10.00 Target gift card. She has some great organic deals and coupons on her blog. I am trying to go more organic with my food and day to day living. I recently found her blog and love it.
Thanks, Organic Deals and Steaz

FREE sample of kashi

Go HERE to get your free sample of one of Kashi's granola bars. Kashi has many flavorful healthy snacks. I recently bought a box a cereal and inside was a free sample of their 7 grains cracker, loved them. And on the bottom of the cereal box was two coupons for $1.00 off Kashi products.

$10 IN ORGANIC COUPONS

Organic Valley is giving away $10 in coupons plus a chance to win a years worth of organic valley products FREE.
Thanks, Money Saving Mom

Field trip to Lazy S Ranch

My niece had a field trip today to Lazy S Ranch here in Fluvanna county. She is in the 4 year old program at Camp Friendship. The kids got to go through a corn maze, a hay maze, climb on the hay bails and take their picture with a teddy bear made of hay. We rode a hay ride were we saw longhorn cows, a donkey and a pony. Then off we went to go pick pumpkins. Krista and her little sister, Kilee, had a ruff decision on which pumpkin to pick. After picking the perfect pumpkin it was time for lunch. We sat under the beautiful autumn trees and ate our lunches. All the kids had a blast. Thanks, Miss Pat and all the helpers for a fun day!!

Peach Jam wins 1st place

The fall season is here and so are the great fall festivals. My local area has "Old Farm Day". It is a big event for our small county. I entered my peach jam and spiced apple rings. The jam won 1st place and the apple's won 2nd place. I'm not sure on how many entries there were, but not many. It is still exciting for me to win. I have only been canning and making homemade jams for about 3 years, a long ways from being pro. I enjoy making them. I use alot of my homemade jams for Christmas presents. I have more and more requests for them each year. The date on the camera pic is wrong, haven't figured out how to change that.

OLD FARM DAY IN PALMYRA VIRGINIA

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Old Farm Day is this Saturday October 3 in Fluvanna county VA. If you live near Fluvanna you should stop by and see all the great things. There are apple pie contest, guess the weight of a cow and you could win $150 gift cert. There is an animal calling contest, live music and much, much more. I am thinking of entering some of my strawberry jam. I recently won 1st place at the Albemarle county fair for my strawberry jam. This is a fun day for the whole family. Tickets are $4.00 and children 12 years and under are free. Hopefully my daughter will get some great pictures to enter in the contest. I'll post them here.

COUNTRY COLESLAW

This is a recipe my grandmother gave me for country coleslaw. It is delicious. You will need:

3 cups of shredded cabbage

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 medium apple, any kind, I used ginger gold

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup Marzetti's slaw dressing

Mix together until blended. Store in refrigerator for 2 hours until cold. Serve and enjoy!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH MUFFINS

Here is a great recipe for butternut squash muffins. Thanks to goes to

A Southern Grace for the recipe. My two nieces love to cook with me and I love for them to eat our goodies we make. I knew I had to find a recipe for the butternut squash that was appealing to little ones. The girls stirred and poured until they had their muffins ready for the oven. The results were excellent. Everybody loved them, including my picky 15 year old.

SPICED APPLE RINGS

Summer is coming to an end and the start of apple season is in. There is a local apple orchard near me that has great apples, fruit hill orchard. I picked 20 lbs. last weekend and thought I would make some spiced apple rings. Here is a recipe I got from my Ball recipe book, I tweaked it a little.

5 lbs. apples

3 cups of sugar

5 cups of water

red food coloring(optional)
Wash and core the apples; do not peel. Slices apples crosswise into 1/4 inch rings. Add some lemon juice into a bowl of water to treat the apples from turning brown. Combine sugar and water in large sauce pot. Add a few drops of food coloring. Add 1 tsp. of cloves and 1 tsp. of cinnamon. Bring to a boil; boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Drain apples rings and add to syrup; let stand 10 mins. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat; simmer 30 mins. Remove apple rings from syrup and cool. Return syrup to a boil. Pack apple rings loosely into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Ladle hot syrup over apple rings, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Put on two piece caps. Process pint jar 15 mins. in boiling water. 1" to 2" of water covering capped jars. Remove from water and set on counter to cool 12-24 hours. Lids should pop when sealed.

FREE SAMPLE OF TOTAL CEREAL

Total is giving away FREE samples of their blueberry pomegranate cereal. Total has 100% of the Daily Value of at least 11 vitamins and minerals. Try one FREE.

FREE YO PLUS YOGURT

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Yoplait is giving away a FREE coupon for their new YoPlus yogurt. Just send them a upc of Activia yogurt and fill out this form for your free coupon.

GARDEN FRESH SALSA

If you are like me and you have tomatoes ripening faster than you can eat them here is a recipe for garden fresh salsa. It is very simple to make and you can tweak it as you like.

1 tablespoon mined garlic

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

1/2 cup finely chopped green peppers

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon basil

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

3 cups dices tomatoes

hot sauce to taste

Cut up green peppers and onions. Saute onions, green peppers, and minced garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook until tender. Peel tomatoes and take out the seeds. Chop into small bite size pieces. If you like chunky salsa make the pieces bigger. Pour tomatoes, cook onions and peppers in sauce pan. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook for 15 mins. I add the hot sauce while cooking and sample until I get the right temp. I like. Ladle into pint size jars. You can seal the lids and store for up to one year or refrigerate up to 2 months. This recipe makes two pint jars. Double recipe for more.

FREE SAMPLES OF NUTLAND CRUNCH

Fill out this simple form and receive a FREE sample of Nutland crunch. You should receive it within 2-4 weeks. The cashews look yummy.

HOMEMADE LIMEADE

Limeade is one of my favorite drinks in the summer. Here is a simple recipe on how to make limeade. You will need 6 limes, sugar and water.

Roll the limes on the table pressing down to loosen the juices. Cut in half and squeeze out the juice. These 6 limes should give you 1 cup of juice. Mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water in a pan. Cook on stove top until sugar is dissolved. Mix together your juice and sugar water. Add 3 cups of water, mix and enjoy. I like pulp in my limeade, but if you don't just strain the pulp off before adding to mix.

FREE SAMPLES FROM FIBER ONE

Fiber One is giving away a free sample of Honey Nut clusters cereal and Fiber One oats and chocolate bar. Plus $5.00 in coupons. Offers like these don't last long. Get yours here.

FREE SAMPLE OF FISH OIL

Nature's bounty in giving you a free sample of their fish oil. Plus you'll get $1.00 off coupon for any Nature's bounty vitamins and minerals. You can usually catch these on sale at CVS and Kroger. Go here to request your free sample.

Farmer's Foods Weekly Specials 8/3-8/9

Farmer's Foods is a smaller grocery store chain. They have six in Va and two in NC. There is no saver's card needed. Farmer's Foods doubles manufacturer's coupons every day, up to $1.00. Here is this weeks specials.
5lb. bag russet potatoes .98 cents
Lipton side dishes 10/$10
Kool-Aid envelopes,2qt. each, 10/$10
Chef Boyardee canned pasta 10/$10
Red Baron french bread pizza Buy one get one Free (BOGO)
Aunt Jemima frozen french toast or pancakes BOGO
Lady speed stick or speed stick 5/$5
Cucumbers or Green peppers 2/ .98 cents
Va grown cooking apples .68 cents lb.
Premium Lettuce .98 cents each
Smucker's uncrustables 2/$4
Simply orange or Minute Maid orange juice $2.99 each
Kellogg's cereals,11.2-18oz box 2/$5
White house apple sauce,6 pack 2/$4
StarKist chunk light tuna,5oz. can 4/$3

Free gift from CVS in August

CVS is giving their ExtraCare cardholders a FREE gift in the month of August. The first time you use your CVS ExtraCare card in the month of August check the bottom of your receipt for your free gift. The coupon for the free gift is valid for one week after receiving the print out. Not an ExtraCare card member, sign up now.

FREE sample of honey nut cheerios

Sign up here for you free sample of honey nut cheerios plus $1.00 off coupon. These samples are great for vacations or just a quick breakfast. Thanks goes to FreeStuff4free for this tip.

TWO FREE TACOS FROM JACK IN THE BOX

Tues. August 4 you can get two free tacos from Jack in the box. No purchase necessary. Go here to print your coupon.

Peach picking

Peach season is at it's prime now. My daughter, grandmother and I went to Carter's Mountain Sunday and picked 45lbs of peaches. This is a tradition for my daughter and I. When picking peaches you have to be careful not to get them to ripe, they will get smashed and not be any good. Picking the right peach is pretty easy. They need to be firm, but not hard. They should have a fragrant peach smell. A reddish flesh, for yellow peaches. I usually get the yellow ones, they are cheaper than the white peaches. White peaches are my favorite though. I make homemade peach preserves and "frozen peach delite". This is something my great aunts use to make for me when I was little and I loved them. I also use strawberries in the spring for "frozen strawberry delite". Here is the easy step by step directions on how to make "frozen peach delite"

Wash and peel 7lbs of peach

Slice them up into bite sizes
Add 1 cup of sugar
Add 1 cup of water
Cook for approx. 20 mins until they boil
Let cool for 30 mins then add to cups and freeze

I use butter cups, icing containers, etc. Anything plastic with a lid.
You can use these in smoothies or just eat as a frozen peach delite treat. They are very tasting and good for you, since there is very little sugar. I suggest you taste the mixture before freezing to make sure it is sweet enough for your taste. If not, add more sugar. Enjoy all summer and winter long.

Buy school clothes on a budget

BeCentsAble has a great blog about buying school clothes on a budget. Check it out and see if you can save. Also check out her great giveaway. She is giving away two gift cards for $25 to Marshall's and TJ Maxx. It is easy to enter. I won one of her giveaways recently, the All You magazine 2 year subscription. This is a great blog to follow with many money saving tips.

Farmer's Foods Weekly Specials

Farmer's Foods grocery store is a smaller chain. They only have 7 stores in Va. and 2 in NC. There is no savers card needed to get their special deals. Farmer's Foods double manufacturer's coupons every day, up to $1.00. This weeks specials:
5lb. bag Russet potatoes - .98 cents
32oz. Gatorade- 10/$10
Banquet frozen dinners-10/$10
Pet ice cream,56oz, - buy one get one free
Felt's brand whole country ham(15lb. avg.) $1.38lb. sliced at no extra
charge- limit 2-
Colgate toothpaste $1.00-limit 3-these will go fast, they retail for $3.79-$4.09-no rainchecks
Oscar Mayer 120z. package Bologna - 5/$5
Jamestown mild or hot sausage-1lb.-2/$3
Classic garden salad 1lb. bag- .98 cents
Sweet cantaloupes- $1.78 each
Watermelon- $3.98 each
Yellow peaches- .98 cents lb.
Vine ripe tomatoes- .98 cents lb.
Hunt's ketchup-24oz. bottle- 10/$10
8 pack Hershey mini bars- 4/$5
Kraft 8oz. bars or shredded cheese- 2/$4
Angle soft bath tissue,24 single or 12 double rolls, 2/$10
(angel soft coupon)
General mills chex cereal 2/$5
Fresh mixed Fried chicken-in deli- $5.98- 8 piece

This sale runs from July 27 thru August 2. Please come back every Monday to check out my Farmer's Foods deals for the week.

FREE Mocha mondays at McDonalds

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Every Monday through Aug. 3 from 7am-7pm McDonald's is giving away free samples of their new iced or hot mocha. These are 8oz. mocha or 7oz. iced mocha. Limit one per person. I would suggest you call your local McDonald's to see if they are participating.

Free Samples from Walmart

Walmart has great samples for FREE. They arrive in the mail within 4-6 weeks and usually come with coupons. I love receiving freebies in the mail. It is like a little present everyday. Go here to get your free bodycology sample or here to get free viva paper towels.

FREE SUMMER CORN

Signing up for grocery store emails are rewarding. This week Giant emailed me a special for three free ears of corn. All I had to do was type in the first three letters of my last name and my Giant card account number. The three free ears of corn were loaded onto my card. When I purchased them, they were deducted from my bill. Harris Teeter is another grocery store that is great to sign up for their emails. They email you once a week with their specials. You also receive extra savings for being a "e-vic" customer.

Free pastry from Starbucks July 21

Image via Wikipedia

Starbucks is giving away a FREE pastry when you buy a beverage. From opening until 10:30am. Go here to print out your certificate to redeem your free pastry. One free pastry per customer.

Farmers Foods sales for 7/20 - 7/26

There are some more great buys this week at Farmer's Foods grocery store. This store is fairly new to me, but every week I am more impressed.

Canned Green Giant veggies 4/$3.00
13.5lb bag Kingford Matchlight Charcoal $7.99
Suave Shampoo or conditioner 2/$1.00(limit 4 per customer)
Red or white seedless grapes .98 cents lb.
Jamestown mild or hot sausage 2/$3.00
California celery .98 cents each
VA sweet yellow peaches .98 cents lb.
Premium lettuce .98 cents each
46-48oz. Mott's apple sauce 2/$4.00
Clorox bleach 3/$5.00
Pillsbury rolls or biscuits 4/$5.00
Donald duck orange juice 2/$4.00
Richfood frozen lemonade .88 cents each
Gerber baby food 10/$10.00
Kellogg's cereals 2/$4.00
Tampico drinks, 64oz. 10/$10.00
Assirted Pork chops-10 per package- $1.48lb.
Tyson Chicken breast tenders $1.98lb.
Farmer's Foods doubles maufacturer's coupons everyday, up to $1.00. There is no customer card needed.

Free cereal and bar sample from Fiber One

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Fiber One is giving away a free sample of their cereal and bar, Plus $5.00 in coupons. Go here to sign up for your free sample. Hurry quantities are limited.

My daughter's 15th Birthday!!!!

My gorgeous daughter, Alexis, turned 15 today. How time flies! She has been wanting a Nikon camera. She finally got enough money from her birthday party to buy it. Here is a picture of her cupcakes I made for her party. I found the recipe in a magazine and thought they would be cute to make. I think they turned out great. I mixed approx. 1/4 cup cream cheese icing with blue food coloring, don't mix thoroughly, you want the multi color look. Icing your cup cake with the plain cream cheese icing all over. Spoon brown sugar over half the cupcake, take you blue icing with a butter knife and whip up some waves. I used peppermint candies for the beach balls and little craft umbrellas. It was a little time consuming but they were fun. I would love the hear your cupcake ideas. Leave a comment below.

Free Chocolate

It's Friday again and time for free chocolate. Every Friday until September Mars is giving away FREE chocolate. One per week, four per house hold through entire promotion. Enjoy!!

Do you have an ant problem?

BeCentsAble is giving away a free bottle of EcoSmart ant killer. It is an organic ant killer. Check out her giveaway here. Good luck!

Chex Mix anyone?

FrugalinVa is giving away two boxes of chex mix bars to two people. Be sure to check out her site. You will find some great information on money savings tips and coupon match ups.

I WON A GIVEAWAY

BeCentsAble was holding a giveaway for a two year subscription to All You magazine. I WON!!! I love to enter these giveaways, but never win. I was so shocked when I received her email telling me I won. I went out and bought a lottery ticket for $5.00 and won $15.00 off of that. I guess yesterday was my lucky day. Keep entering those giveaways, one day will be your lucky day.

FREE BAJA FISH TACO AT LONG JOHN SILVER'S

July 14th Long John Silver's is giving away a FREE baja fish taco, one per customer before 2:30pm. It looks yummy!!

Farmer's Food Deals for the week

I see some great buys this week at Farmer's Food
10lb. Idaho russet potatoes $2.98
32 oz. Gatorade 10/$10
64 oz. Minute Maid drinks 10/$10
fresh carrots 2lb. bag $1.48
Va grown green beans .98 cents lb.
Sparkle paper towels 8 roll single or 6 pack big rolls 2/$10
Simply Lemonade 2/$4.00
Country crock tubs or sleeves 15 oz. 3/$5.00
9 Lives cat food 4 pack 2/$3.00
Wisk liquid laundry detergent 2x 50 oz. jug $4.99
Angel Soft toilet tissue 24 single rolls or 12 double rolls 2/$10

Match up your coupons with the specials for extra savings. Don't forget Farmer's food doubles coupons up to $1.00 everyday. This sale is good from July 13- July 19

Free Slurpee at 7'11 today

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7'11 is celebrating their birthday today. They are giving away free Slurpee's. Check here to see if your store is participating.

Free shampoo sample from Dove

Get your free sample of Dove shampoo here. I love these samples. They are great for kids camp, vacations or just trying new product.

FREE CHOCOLATE ON FRIDAY

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Who doesn't love chocolate?
FREE chocolate is even better. Every Friday through September Mars is giving away 250,00 coupons starting at 9:00am est. You can get 4 per household, but only once a week. I have already received two coupons. Yummy!!

Play Food lion's guiding star game and get $1.00 off

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Play Food lions guiding star game and win $1.00 off coupon. You can use it towards any item that earns the guiding star, like milk, produce, where ever you see the stars. It will test your skills on the nutritional value of food. Have fun! Thanks to MoneySavingMom for the tip.

Couponing for beginners

It might seem overwhelming to beginners about couponing. Once you get a system down that works for you it can be fun. Here are some steps to take for beginners.
Finding coupons: Sunday papers have some great coupons. Clip all the coupons you see that you could use. Don't clip coupons that you'll never use, such as dog food if you have no dog. Smart source, Red plum and coupons.com have great coupons. Click what you like, print and cut. All You magazine has great coupons also. You can find it at Walmart. Freebies come with coupons too. Freebies4mom, moneysavingmom, frugalinva and becentsable are some great sites for freebies.
Organizing: There are different ways to organize your coupons. I use a coupon organizer with labeled sections. Example(frozen, snacks, cleaning supplies, candy, bread, pet food, canned food, etc.) You can label them to your shopping needs. Here and here are some other ways to organize your coupons.
Deal Seeking: I recommend signing up for weekly emails from your local grocery stores. They will email you the specials for the week. Harris Teeters e-vic customers get extra savings for the week just for registering you vic card.
My Strategy is: I look through the weekly specials at my local grocery store and match up my coupons with their specials. If their is a buy one get one free item, check the stores policy to see if they give half off one item. This works great for me because it is only my daughter and I. We can't eat two boxes of cereal before they go bad. You can use two coupons for BOGO items if you purchase two. Last month my savings were 48% spending only $24 a week per person in my house.
Stock Pile: Stock piling is a great way to save. Toilet tissue, diapers, shampoos, soaps, femine iems, toothpaste all have a long expiration date. There are alot of coupons for these items also. When they go on sale, match your coupons up and stock pile. I also stock pile on food. Example-carrots were on sale the other week for .79 a bag. I bought a couple of bags, cut them up, cooked them and frozen them. I will use them in soups and stews. I do the same with meats. Alot of grocery stores will have meat on sale in the large quantity packages. I will divide up the meat into quart size freezer bags-enough for a meal for two. You can plan your meals around weekly grocery stores specials. If chicken is on sale one week, make meals with chicken.
Make couponing a family event. Have your children clip coupons and organize them for you. Give them rewards like a box of gummies if they clip X amount of coupons or a nickel for every coupon they clip that gets use during that shopping trip. This will take off some of the pressure that mom and dad might have. You will be amazed at all the savings that are out there. Just a little clipping, cutting and clicking and your on your way to savings. I would love to hear about your savings. Leave comments below:)

Farmer's Food Grocery Store Deals

There are some good deals this week at Farmer's Food. Sales run from Monday July 6 - Sunday July 12 They double coupons up to $1.00 everyday



Duke's Mayonnaise $2.79-use .55 coupon here-pay only $1.69

Turkey Hill ice cream-buy one get one free-$5.39-catch the cow here for a chance to win $50 worth of turkey hill ice cream.

Kellogg's cereals 2 for $6, click on the coupon bar on the right side of the page to print Kellogg's coupons

Hunt's Ketchup-$1.00-use .20 coupon from recent insert- pay $0.60

Cottonelle bath tissue,24 single roll,12 double roll-reg.,ultra or aloe-$5.99-use .50 off coupon here -pay $4.99

Minute maid frozen ades & punch- $1.00 each

Juicy Peaches- .98cents lb.

Scott paper towels-8roll pack $5.49- us .50 coupon from recent insert-pay $4.49

Tropicana fruit drinks-all 64oz. varieties-4 for $5

Turkey Hill iced teas-all varieties 640z.- 2 for $3.00

Green Giant white potatoes-10lbs for $2.98

I haven't been to the store this week, there might be more deals out there. They double coupons up to $1.00, bring your coupon book to see if they have anything on sale that matches your coupons. I got great deals on Tyson chicken last week. Let me know if you find anymore great deals. Have fun shopping!

Total Savings In June

Have you ever added up the total money spent on grocery for a month? Last month I saved all of my grocery receipts and added them up to see what my savings were. My total before coupons and savings cards was $368.97, after coupons and cards $192.46. A savings of $176.51 (48%). Not to bad, but I thought I could have done better. So this month I am giving myself a challenge. I am trying to have at least 50% savings on my grocery bill. Here is a break down of each grocery store I went to and the amount of savings.

Stores: Spent: Saved:

Food lion $39.01 $21.83 (35%)
Kroger $28.11 $15.91 (35%)
Giant $54.65 $42.35 (44%)
Farmer's Food $36.22 $48.96 (57%)
Harris Teeter $34.47 $47.46 (58%)

Total: $192.46 $176.51 (48%)
Do you have any great grocery store savings? I would love to hear about them. Leave me a comment.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Image by K2D2vaca via Flickr

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!! HOPE EVERYONE
HAS A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY.

Harvesting green beans

Yesterday my nieces and I picked some green beans out of the garden for dinner. My 3 1/2 year old niece, Krista, helped me plant the seeds. She had alot of fun picking the beans. "I found one" she would yell and rip it off the vine. I thought for sure she was going to pull the whole bean stalk up. Krista loves to garden with me. Every time she comes over she asks "can we go to the garden?". She likes watching the tomatoes grow. "Amy look at your maters" she says. Next week I think I'll have her help me dig up some potatoes. I cooked the beans for about an hour with some white onions, salt and pepper. I usually through in a slice of bacon, but didn't have any. They were yummy!