Beginning Couponing/Stockpiling

I was recently asked “How do you start couponing?” I realize when you watch things like “Extreme Couponing” and read articles about people getting all of their food for free, it can seem overwhelming. But in my book if you are spending more than an hour a week on clipping coupons something is wrong. Coupons are meant to save you money and time has to also be counted as money, because your time is worth something. Here are a few pointers in getting started.

Make a grocery budget. Here is a link to the USDA Food Plans: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodJan2012.pdf

It gives you a starting point which I think is a little bit high. It lists the “Thrifty Plan” for a family of 4 at $145.20/week. I try to keep my budget for food, toiletries, pet food and paper goods at $100 week for 2 people. Their list is for food only.

1. Stick to you budget.

2. Start out small, even if you only use 5 $1.00 coupons per week that adds up to $260/year.

2. Buy 2 newspapers for the first few times. I still only buy two newspapers. Very seldom do I need more than 2 coupons on an item before the coupon comes out again. Coupons and sales usually are on a 12 week cycle. In other words the coupon in this Sunday’s paper will probably be out again in 12 weeks.

3. Buy your needs first.

4. There may be a store that you want to use for your needs, which has lower everyday prices and a different store for you coupon purchases, which has better sales or offers.

5. Make a menu and a shopping list. When you make your menu, go through your food items that you have on hand and make a list of the items that you do not have. Add anything else you need to the list.

6. Go through you coupons and see if you match any to the items on your shopping list. On your first trip, try to match at least 5 $1.00 coupons to your list. This will give you $5 left over from your budget to start stocking up on something.

7. Look through the ads for the week and see what is on sale. The best way to save money is to use coupons on top of sale prices.

8. Don’t be brand loyal (unless you can afford it) and don’t be afraid to try new things. There are only a few items that I prefer a name brand and I try really hard to only buy those items when they are on sale. If an item that I really like is on sale I will buy it whether or not I have a coupon. For instance Kraft Mayo (the only kind I use) was on sale last week for $2.49. That is a really good deal since mayo is nearing $5 a jar. I happened to have a store coupon for $1.00 off 2 so I bought 2. I would have bought them even without the coupon. I have worked my budget so that I can allow myself to be brand loyal on Mayo. But truly that is about the only thing I am brand loyal to.

9. Don’t be afraid to buy meat that has been marked down, i.e. manager’s specials. They are usually getting close to the sale by date, but have not passed that date. These items are perfectly fine to take home and freeze.

10. Don’t buy something just because you have a coupon for it. If you aren’t going to use it it’s wasting money, not saving.

11. Most items have an expiration date so don't have so many of something that there is no way you can use it before it expires.

12. You can freeze almost anything so don't be afraid to buy things that are on sale if you have freezer space for them. I know people who even freeze canned biscuits. If you aren't sure if it can be frozen, search the web to find out.

So after you have done all these things take your coupons to the grocery store. You may have to go through the store twice your first couple of trips. On your first trip to through the store get your needs. Remember to use those 5 $1.00 coupons. Now that you have gotten your needs out of the way, go back through the store to see if there is something that you can use that $5 to stock up on. For instance you see some meat in the manger’s special case that you can stock up on, but $5 worth. It may not be a lot but next week you have some extra meat and you can use the money that you saved from buying that extra meat plus your $5 coupon savings. This should give you around $10 the next week to stock up on something else. And it should build each week.

Keep setting goals on the amount of money you want to save by using coupons each week. You may not always reach that goal but remember it’s better to aim at something and miss than to not aim at all. You will gradually get the hang of couponing & stockpiling.

Hope this helps.

Mae

Tornadoes

Friday night was an interesting night to say the least. Northern Kentucky was struck by severe weather and tornados. This is the closest I guess I’ve ever been to tornado destruction. It is simply amazing. One house is totally destroyed and the next isn’t even touched. I know people who lost their homes and livestock and people who lost grandparents. My heart goes out to the people who have lost so much.

The pictures have been shocking. I have always felt that we should be prepared for disasters but I really don’t think there is a whole lot you can do to be prepared for such as this. But I have thought of a few things:

1.. We need to get a fireproof, waterproof safe and put all of important paperwork in it. Insurance policies, wills, etc.

2 Store a copy of those same important papers somewhere else. It is not recommended to keep wills and papers you may need on short notice in a safe deposit box. So if you have a relative that lives a little ways from you keep it there. The chances of both of you being hit are not as high.

3. Do not keep cash in your mattress.

4. If you are hit by a tornado, get what you can as soon as you can. I have heard that once the FEMA comes you are not allowed back on your property until they have bulldozed everything. I could not get a clear answer about this online.

5. Make a list of all accounts and phone numbers for those accounts. They found tax records for one of the homes here that was destroyed in Columbus OH. These people are having to close all credit cards and get new Social Security numbers in case they have fallen into the wrong hands.

6. Stay put. These storms came through between 3-5:30 p.m. Lots of people left work when they heard about tornados touching down. Being in your car is not the safest place to be. I know of 2 deaths that occurred because cars were swept off the road and one lady was not found until the next day. If you can stay in a building or get to shelter ASAP.

7. If you have a basement, keep plenty of water, and food there in case you get trapped in it.

We do not have a basement, but I am considering what else we could do to store a few things that might come in handy in a situation like this .

I know some farmers actually had to shoot livestock that was hurt so having some bullets and a gun in a safe place might be prudent. But without a basement, I don’t really know where to store such things as guns, bullets, and the fireproof safe. But you bet I will be looking for options.

Maybe it’s a good time to build a root cellar.

Mae

Turkey Breakdown

Sounds like some sort of dance or something, but really it's a breakdown of expenses for the turkey dinner I prepared this weekend.

Turkey $10.00 (for this first meal we ate less than 25% so I rounded up to $2.50

Dressing
Leftover cornbread (I consider this free because it would have been counted in the meal we actually ate cornbread.) So $0
Onion - $.10
Cream of Chicken soup - $.80
Poultry Seasoning - $.10
Eggs - (from the chickens, not really free but we don't pay for them)
Butter - $.20
Total $1.10 - We only ate about a third so $.36

Giblet gravy
Flour - $.20
Oil - $.10
giblets (included in price of turkey) - $0
2 Eggs - $0
Broth/water (cooked giblets in water, used that water/broth and extra water) - .$25
Total $.55 used half so $.28

Peas - we grew in our garden - $0
Total for this meal $3.35

Then we took leftovers to our daughters for sandwiches, that meal for 4 of us cost about $4.00. This includes a small fresh loaf of bread that cost $2.25 from the Amish store, chips, and mayo.

Today we are having leftover turkey sandwiches for our lunch and including chips, snacks, fruit and drinks the cost is approximately $2.16

Tonight we will have the leftover turkey, dressing, gravy and green beans. This meal will be about $4.50 because I paid for the green beans.

Hopefully we will have enough turkey leftover to make a turkey pot pie later in the week. I am estimating this meal to cost about $3.00 and that includes some leftover mashed potatoes hanging out in the fridge.

A grand total for this small turkey I made - we have 4 meals for $14.01 and a possible 5th meal making it $17.01. When you average this out it comes in at $3.40 per meal. That's pretty good in my book. Not to mention all the cheap broth from boiling the carcass and maybe even a pot of soup.

It really does pay to buy those turkeys when they go on sale at Thanksgiving. I will bake a turkey at least 3 more times this year.

P.S. This was a Butterball turkey. I have bought Butterballs in the past but usually opt for the cheaper birds. This one had a rebate this year, making it about the same as the store brand birds. I usually always make a good turkey, but with Butterball, you don't have to make a good bird, it's already good. It takes very little in the way of improvements.

Enjoy,
Mae

Sloppy Chicken

The real recipe is called Elegant and Easy chicken. But my family likes to call it sloppy chicken. I found this recipe a long time ago and I really don't remember where I found it. But it quickly became one of my daughter's favorite. I am sure I have made alterations to the original recipe, but here is my version.

Chicken (1 whole, cut into pieces or 6 small boneless, skinless chicken breast)
1 can sloppy Joe sauce
1 can mushrooms
1 medium onion
1 sloppy Joe sauce can of water
2 tbs. oil (your choice)

Brown chicken in skillet using 2 tbs oil. Remove chicken from pan and pour off oil. Place chicken back in pan, add onions and allow to wilt. Pour sloppy Joe sauce and 1 can of water on top. Top with mushrooms and simmer until chicken is done. Time will vary if you use bone-in chicken vs. boneless, skinless.

I usually serve with rice pilaf, and a green vegetable.

Even though it has sloppy Joe sauce, it only taste a little like sloppy Joe's.

Enjoy,
Mae

Crock Pot Roast Beast

We have always been big fans of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I always like to think that the Grinch found the true meaning of Christmas. Christ changed his heart as He does for all who accept Him. So in honor of the movie we have always called it roast beast in our house. This recipe is not healthy or low fat. It's just a very good, easy roast beef.

For this recipe you need to buy the cheapest beef roast that you can find, which these days isn't very cheap.
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 packet Au Jus seasoning
Salt
Garlic Pepper
Onions (I use dried onions)
1 can beef broth

Season your roast with salt & garlic pepper. Place in crock pot. Place remaining ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Add 2 soup cans of water and mix well. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Server with mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. You want believe how good this smells when you walk in the house after a long day, nor how good it taste.

Enjoy,
Mae

Christmas Prepping

The last few weeks have been focused on getting ready for Christmas. Shopping, decorating, and cleaning. This weekend April is coming over for a baking session. Hopefully, we will get most of it done. We will be baking:

1. Icebox cookies
2. Rolo Turtles
3. Fudge
4. Peanut Brittle
5. Santa hats

6. S'mores on a stick
7. Sugar cookies
8. Chocolate covered cherries (maybe)

I don't think we will get all of that done, but we will give it a good try. The rest I will bake as time permits.