Tuesday, September 27, 2016

The Great Grocery Project Part 2

So far this month I have spent about $540.00 on groceries.  That is more than I would normally be spending, but remember that we were without an oven for a few weeks.  Some other things that have been going on which increased this month's spending, but I will go over them in more detail when I do my end of the month analysis next week.  All things considered, I am comfortable (but not thrilled) with how the spending was going.

I am just going to share a few money saving things that I have done since my last post in this series.

Money Saving Tips:
Right around Thanksgiving (the Canadian Thanksgiving is coming, as well as Rosh Hashanah this coming weekend) means lots of great deals are to be head on baking and various "Thanksgiving related" food items.  I carefully read the flyers all year, but during September and October I pay very close attention and there are a few sales I always watch for:

1.  Frozen Turkeys - Many times, I have written of my love for frozen turkeys.  This is still one of the best deals for a great protein out there.  They used to always go on sale this time of year for around 0.88 a pound.  Lately, the price seems to have bumped up to 0.97 a pound, but that is still incredible value for money.  No Frills had them on sale for this price last week, Food Basics has them on sale this week, and I would not be surprised if this week's flyers show that Walmart will have them on sale next week.  I have been picking up 2 turkeys a week and popping them in our deep freeze.  I try to get 6-8 turkeys a year at this price.  Not only is the price right, but roasting a turkey is super easy.  You really can't go wrong...

2.  Pantry Items Sale - This is the time of year to be buying things like canned pineapple (for cooking and baking), StoveTop stuffing (I love it), cranberries, cake mixes, icing, baking supplies, etc.  This week, Food Basics had some great pantry items on sale - mostly for $0.99 each or less.  I stocked up on the above mentioned items which will result in some significant savings long term.  I am looking forward to reading this week's flyers to see what other deals I can find.

3.  Reduced for Quick Sale Items - One of my favourite grocery stores is a high-end privately owned store located near my work.  This store has a one page sale list every week.  This is part of their marketing strategy - they have very few items on sale, but what is on sale is at an excellent price.  I went to the store last week to pick up some fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts which were on sale at a great price.  While I was there, I quickly checked their Reduced for Quick Sale Items.  There were some beautiful Filet Mignon medallions 2 days before their "Use By" date and reduced by 50%.  I love filet mignon, but we never buy it because of the price.  I snapped up two medallions and we thoroughly enjoyed eating them that evening.  The other reduced item I picked up was bananas.  The great thing about this store is that because it is a very high-end retailer, they often put things on the reduced racks before other stores would.  I was able to pick up a package of 14 large bananas for $0.99.  We ate some of them fresh, but most of them were used for some make ahead and freeze baking.
What did we make with all these bananas?

Southern Living's Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread.  I love this recipe - and it makes two loaves.  

Ricardo's Double Chocolate Banana Bread.  Seriously, this recipe will change your life. - amazing and incredibly moist.
Image from www.ricardocuisine.com


Paula Deen's Not Yo Mamma's Banana Pudding - An incredibly rich (pudding, cream cheese, cool whip, butter cookies...) and delicious banana pudding.  I did find it a bit runny - I think that if I made it again I would actually make the pudding according to the package directions and then mix it in as the recipe instructs.  The recipe says this dish will make 12 servings, but it is such a rich dessert you could likely get about 20 servings out of the 9x13 pan.

4.  Clearance and Reduced Items - This one is not a grocery savings but it was a money savings for this week.  Almost all of my adults Christmas gifts this year are going to be DIY, actually some of them will be DIH (Do It Husband) because I cannot handle certain materials while pregnant.  Anyway, I needed to pick up some Kyrlon spraypaint for my projects.  I went to Michael's Craft Supplies where I had a coupon for 40% off one item.  While there, I noticed that some Hunter Green Krylon spraypaint was on clearance for $3.49 a can (regularly $10.99).  This was not the colour I had planned on using, but I realized it would be great for Christmas gifts and would pair really well with a gold glitter.  The savings allowed me to purchase the Hunter Green on clearance, a small can of gold glitter spray, and this freed up my 40% off coupon for a can of textured white spray paint (40% off $16.99).  Hurray savings! I am looking forward to sharing some of these DIY projects and gift ideas once they are complete.

That is it for now.  Next week I will post the full monthly analysis of the grocery totals.


No comments:

Post a Comment