Various and sundry shopping

I ran to three different stores earlier this week to pick up a few things here, a few things there.

I needed bread and cereal - we were out of sale-priced cereal from Publix - so I went to ALDI to get it.  But ALDI isn't carrying certain baking supplies at this time of year, so I went to Walmart to get those items.  And I went to the kosher meat market to buy some ground beef and chicken legs.  Next week, I'll have a great recipe using those chicken legs on Frugal Food Thursday!

Here's the rundown on this shopping:

ALDI:
1 6-ct cinnamon bagels @ $1.69
1 apple juice concentrate @ 99¢
1 cream cheese @ $1.29
1 Crispy Oats cereal @ $1.69
2 instant oatmeal @ $1.49 = $2.98
1 whole wheat bread @ $1.29

Total spent: $9.93

Walmart:
1 molasses @ $2.78
1 Nestle cocoa @ $2.44
1 baking powder @ $1.24

Total spent: $6.46

Kosher Supermarket:
1 family pack chicken drumsticks @ $12.14
1 family pack ground beef @ $18.51

Total spent: $30.65

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Read more...

Saving on Passover food

Passover food is really expensive. But there are ways to save on it!

• Look for price and buy one, get one free sales on Passover items.  Publix in my area is particularly good about having some of the typical Passover foods on sale each year.
• Don't buy too much!  Plan all of your meals for the eight-day holiday and figure out exactly how much matzah, matzah meal, cake meal, and other ingredients that you'll need.  Then only buy that amount.
• Eat more meals depending on potatoes and vegetables, and less on matzah and expensive cuts of meat.
• Bake from scratch instead of using expensive mixes for Passover cakes and muffins.  There are tons of recipes on the Internet - just do some searching and you'll find lots of possibilities.  Here are some budget Passover recipes of mine.
• If during the year you receive some grocery gift cards, don't spend them right away - instead, leave them for Passover time and use them then.
• Remember, you can use dollars-off coupons, such as $5 off a purchase of $50 or more, to save!

I did my Passover shopping over the last few days.  Besides my weekly Publix shopping, here's what I got:

Winn-Dixie:
1 Passover cake meal @ $3.50
1 Kedem grape juice @ $2.50
1 Savion salad dressing @ $2.59
1 Osem chocolate covered matzah @ $4.99
2 Yehuda gefilte fish @ $5.49 = $10.98
1 Savion marshmallows @ $1.99

Tax: 21¢
Total product: $26.76
Pay with $25 Winn-Dixie gift card (received for hosting a giveaway)

Total out of pocket: $1.76

Publix:
1 5.16 lb turkey breast @ $5.49/lb = $28.34
1 Streit's farfel @ $4.99
2 Streit's egg matzah @ $2.50 = $5.00
4 Manischewitz matzah meal @ $3.50 = $14.00
1 5-lb King David Matzah @ $6.99

- $5 off $50 Doris Italian Market coupon

Total product after coupon:  $54.32
Pay with $50 in Publix gift cards (received for hosting giveaways)

Total out of pocket: $4.32

Kosher Marketplace:
1 4.50 lb chuck round @ $4.99/lb = $22.46
1 5.10 lb chicken cutlets @ $5.49/lb = $28.00
1 Blanchard salad dressing @ $3.99
3 Oneg chocolate chips @ $2.99 = $8.97

Total out of pocket: $63.42 (no gift cards here)

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Read more...

$500 Whole Foods Market Gift Certificate Giveaway

I don't do a lot of shopping at Whole Foods Market.  They're a competitor store to my Publix, so sometimes I use their printable store coupons to save at Publix.  But at the store itself, not so much.

But if I won a $500 gift certificate to Whole Foods, I'm sure I'd find a way to spend it!

You can enter for a chance to win a $500 gift certificate to Whole Foods!  Just click here, then "Like" the Whole Mom page.  You'll then be prompted to enter your name, email address, and country.  After allowing the application to load, you'll be entered to win!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Read more...

Went over budget on purpose!

Besides my Publix trip this week, I also went to ALDI to get the basics and the kosher supermarket to get kosher meat.  Between these two trips, I spent more than my weekly $80 budget.  But that is okay, since the meat will last a few weeks, maybe through the end of the year.

Here's what I got:

Read more »

Read more...

I'm in a coupon bind

I love the $2 off a $10 purchase coupon for Penn-Dutch that appears each week in the Community Marketplace section of the Friday South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  But for the past two weeks, instead of a coupon to cut out, there has been a website address where you can go to print out your coupon.

This distresses me, because I often see elderly shoppers at Penn-Dutch, and I wonder if they have a computer to print out the coupon, or if they do, if they have the know-how to go to a new site and use it.  Plus, I just went to print it out, and I got a message saying, "This coupon is currently unavailable. Please check back soon."

The other problem I have with the coupon (assuming I can get it another time) is that it ends on Wednesdays, which is the end of the Penn-Dutch sales week.  I'd like to go shopping there on Thursday, since that is when I go to Publix at the start of their week.  But if the coupon appears on Friday, and is good until Wednesday, then I can't use the coupon for a Thursday trip.  Ack!

Luckily this week, in the Food section of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, there was a Penn-Dutch ad with a $2 off $10 coupon to cut out.  Yay!  So I was able to go yesterday to get produce.

I hope Penn-Dutch continues to print this coupon each week!  Or at least get their online coupon working again.  Sheesh.

Here's what I got at Penn-Dutch:

Read more »

Read more...

I spent half my budget on meat!

I was out of meat - I mean, nothing in the freezer at all!  So I headed over to my kosher butcher.  If you don't know, kosher meat is very expensive compared to regular meat.  So these prices are quite high.

But I'm frugal and use coupons on other food items so that I can afford to spend the necessary money on kosher meat. I generally choose inexpensive cuts of meat, though this time I bought boneless chicken breasts instead of whole chickens or pieces.  And I'm frugal in the way that I use the meat - I'm sure to get as many meals out of it as I can while still providing the protein that my family needs.

Here's the cost breakdown (sit down if you're not sitting already):

Read more »

Read more...

The problem with ALDI

One of these things is not like the other...

We were out of milk and flour this morning (the milk I knew about, the flour I discovered in the middle of making challah), so I took a trip over to ALDI.  I turned down the baking goods aisle... and there was no flour.

None whatsoever.  The sign was even gone.

I picked up the milk and a few other items and went to check out.  The manager was running the register, so I asked her about the flour.  "The shipment was bad," she said.  "We'll have more on Sunday."

ALDI keeps their cost of running their stores, and thus their retail prices, low partly by carrying only one brand of each item, their house brand.  This works for them almost all the time.  But when things go wrong, they really go wrong.

Had a Publix or Walmart store received a bad shipment of a product, they would still most likely have other brands of the item, and they certainly would for a basic item like flour.  And even if somehow they lost everything they had on the shelves, they could go to their local store distribution centers and have more product shipped to them within hours.  Worst-case scenario, someone in high-level management could contact the brand name companies, who could probably get more product out to them as quickly as possible.

But ALDI doesn't have this kind of backup plan.  So the store is without flour for at least two days.  That's lost sales, and a little bit of doubt in ALDI creeping into the minds of loyal customers.

So I had to make an extra stop at Walmart for the needed flour. 

Here's the details on this trip, as well as two other grocery trips I made this week:

Read more »

Read more...

Cheap apples and lettuce

This week at Penn-Dutch, I found two great deals on produce!

First, they had Gala apples on sale for $2.99 per 3-lb bag.  This is significantly cheaper than ALDI, where the cheapest 3-lb bag of apples is $3.49, and that is for Red Delicious.  My kids love Gala apples, so I was psyched to find them at this price.  Plus, the apples in the bag were smaller than typical apples, which are better for school lunches - less apple wasted.

I also found a one-day only sale on prepackaged lettuce.  The expiration date on the lettuce bags must have been coming up soon.  There was a shopping cart full of lettuce bags, and I rummaged through them.  Some bags looked like they were going bad, but I found three that looked fine.  Lots of salad here at the Frugal Follies household for the next several days!

Here's what I got at Penn-Dutch:

Read more »

Read more...

Penn-Dutch: I threw out the coupon!

I love using the $2 off $10 Penn-Dutch coupon that appears in the Sun-Sentinel each week.  But it's hard for me to remember that it's there!

This morning, I completely forgot to check the Community Marketplace NW section for next week's coupon, and I put the newspaper in the recycling pile, put the pile in the recycling bin, and took it out.  I didn't remember to check for the coupon until I started writing this blog post!  So thank you!

I went outside, rummaged through the bin - luckily the recycling truck hadn't shown up yet - and found the section and the coupon.  Yay, more cheap(er) veggies next week!  I love combining this coupon with Penn-Dutch's produce sale items.

But here's what I got earlier this week:

Read more »

Read more...

Penn-Dutch: Reaching the minimum on a dollars-off coupon

To save money on groceries, I often use dollars-off coupons - coupons that say you get $X dollars off on a purchase of $XX or more.  These are often listed as $X off $XX or $X/$XX in couponese.  For instance, at Publix I use the $5 off $50 Doris Italian Market Recyclebank coupons to save each week.  (Doris is considered a competitor to my Publix store.)

At Penn-Dutch, I've been using the $2 off $10 purchase coupons that have been appearing in the Community Marketplace section of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel each week.  There's a coupon in today's (August 31st) paper, good through Wednesday, September 5th. (There may be different versions of the Community Marketplace section based on your area; not all sections may have the Penn-Dutch ad.) Unfortunately my Publix does not take Penn-Dutch coupons as a competitor, so I've been heading to Penn-Dutch to get on-sale produce deals each week.

So if you're using a dollars-off coupon, you need to make sure that your total is above the minimum.  It is the pre-coupon total that counts, not the total after coupons are used.  I go through the store with a calculator, adding the prices of items as I put them in my cart.  That way I know I've reached the minimum.

But what if you get to the cashier and find out you didn't reach the minimum?  This could happen because an item was actually priced lower than what was listed on the shelf.  Most people would find that to be a happy thing, but if you can't use your dollars-off coupon, the price cut actually costs you money.

Another way this could happen is that if you bought items sold by the pound and weighed them yourself on the produce scales, but the scale at the register shows a lower weight.

That's what happened to me at Penn-Dutch this week.  I weighed my items and figured my bill would be $10.50 before the $2/$10 coupon.  But when I got to the register, it was only $9.93.

Ack, what to do?  I checked the impulse items near the register, but there was nothing under $1.00 to get.  In the past when this has happened at other stores, I've bought a pack of gum that cost 39¢.  But no help this time.

But the cashier had an idea: she took one of my tomatoes out of the bag and weighed it again, taking the total over $10.  Then, after the transaction was completed, she sent me back to the produce section to pick up one more tomato.

This way, she didn't hold up the line of people behind me for me to get one more item from the aisles, and I got another fairly cheap item that I can use anyway.

Here's what I got on that trip:

Read more »

Read more...

Coupons for meat or produce - yay!

I've discovered a new regular coupon in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel!  Each week in the Friday paper, there's a Community Marketplace ad section.  For the last few weeks, including today, there has been an ad for the Penn-Dutch food market, and with the ad is a coupon for $2 off a $10 purchase! 

I often buy vegetables at Penn-Dutch, so I was excited to see this regular coupon.  I don't buy meat at Penn-Dutch, but if you do, you could use this coupon there as well and get a good discount on meat!

Penn-Dutch has two Florida locations:

• Hollywood: 3950 N. 28th Terrace (exit I-95 going west on Stirling Rd, left on 29th Ave, left on Evans St. to 28th Terr.)
• Margate: 3201 N. St. Rd. 7 (441 south of Sample Rd.)

I went earlier this week with last week's coupon.  Besides on-sale produce, I also bought some on-sale pasta and some lemon and lime juice.

Here's what I got:

Read more »

Read more...

Back to school = more shopping

The kids are back in school, so that means I'm doing more grocery shopping!  Besides my trip to Penn-Dutch, here are a couple of other trips I did this week.

I went to ALDI as I usually do and got the usual stuff - dairy, bread, and produce.  Except I also stocked up on toilet paper.  Earlier in the week, it looked like Tropical Storm Isaac was headed this way, on the southeast Florida coast.  (It appears it will miss us directly, but we'll certainly get some wind and rain.)  I usually buy toilet paper on sale with coupons at the drug stores, but I was almost out, and you don't want to be out of toilet paper when there's a hurricane!  So I got some at ALDI.

Here's what I got there:

Read more »

Read more...

Penn Dutch: Free olive oil!

This week I did some shopping at Penn Dutch, a store in my area which specializes in meat - particularly store-made meat products like sausage.

Penn Dutch offers a free 34-oz bottle of extra virgin olive oil if you join their mailing list.  I had seen the offer for quite some time, but hadn't taken them up on it until this week, when I spied a $2 off $10 coupon in their weekly ad.  The two deals together looked like a winner!

I also picked up some imported pasta for 79¢ per pound, as well as some on-sale produce - great prices on cucumbers, celery, cilantro, bananas, and lettuce.  I also picked up some tomatoes and red peppers.  I now have some great ingredients to make pasta primavera!

Here's what I got:

Read more »

Read more...

Chicken, sugar, and bananas

Today I went to four, count 'em, four grocery stores.  Two of them were just quick trips to get a couple of things.

I went to Western Beef to get a deal on sugar: 4 pounds for $1.50.  That's a great deal and I didn't even need coupons!  I also picked up bananas there.  And I went to the kosher butcher to pick up some chicken.  Yes, the numbers below are the real prices.  Kosher meat is very expensive - one of the reasons I coupon is so that I'll have enough money in my budget to afford to buy the meat.

Here's what I got:

Read more »

Read more...

Too much shopping!

I can't believe how much shopping I've done in just the past couple of days.   Check out all my receipts!

I'm already way over budget and I still have shopping at CVS and Walgreens on Sunday to go this week.  Ack!  Here are all the places I've shopped in the past couple of days:

• 2 trips to ALDI
• 1 trip to the kosher supermarket
• 1 trip to Western Beef
• 2 trips to Publix
• 2 trips to CVS
• 1 trip to Walgreens

I'll describe the ALDI, Western Beef, and kosher store trips here; I'll post separately about Publix and the drug stores.

I first stopped at ALDI to pick up just a few things - bread, juice, and veggies.  I also found a great buy in the savings aisle - large boxes of strawberry frosted mini-wheats for 99¢ each.  There were only three boxes left; I was tempted to take all three, but only ended up taking two and left the last one for someone else.

1 multi-colored peppers 2-pack @ $1.39
2 dozen large eggs @ $1.49 = $2.98
4 cans tuna @ 59¢ = $2.36
2 strawberry wheat cereal @ 99¢ = $1.98
2 apple juice concentrate @ 92¢ = $1.84

Total spent: $11.84

The next day, I went to the kosher supermarket to get some meat, as I was pretty much out!  Yes, the prices are real - I haven't added an extra digit or two.  Kosher meat is expensive because the animal feed is more expensive, there is more labor and time needed to kill and butcher the animal, the expense of shipping the meat from kosher butchering plants in the Midwest, and because there is simply lower demand for the meat.

3.48 lb boneless chicken breasts @ $4.99/lb = $17.37
7.47 lb whole chicken @ $2.69/lb = $20.12
2.99 lb ground beef @ $4.99/lb = $14.92

Total spent: $52.41

My old ALDI is just around the corner from the kosher store (I now shop at a newer, closer ALDI), and my husband had asked for some crackers and fruit bars to eat at work, so I stopped at ALDI again.  And I realized I was out of a few things like salmon for my Char Crust Salmon & Veggies as well as cheese, so I picked them up as well.

1 Parmesan cheese @ $2.39
1 2-lb frozen salmon @ $7.99
1 fruit & grain bars @ $1.49
1 16-oz shredded cheddar @ $2.99
1 woven wheats crackers @ $1.39
1 cream cheese @ $1.19
1 Reeva rinse aid @ $1.99

Tax: 12¢
Total spent: $19.55


Lastly, I went to Western Beef yesterday.  It was the last day of their sales cycle, and I wanted to pick up more pasta at 50¢ per 1-pound package that I got last week.  I'm glad I did because this time they had some different pasta shapes that weren't there last week.  I also picked up some produce.

10 Flora 1-lb pasta @ 50¢ = $5.00
1.83 lb bananas @ 59¢/lb = $1.08
2.41 lb plum tomatoes @ 79¢/lb = $1.90

Total spent: $7.98

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Read more...

Another $10 off $50 Whole Foods coupon

For my Fort Lauderdale area readers: There's another great coupon in today's newspaper!

On page 11A of the March 28, 2012 newspaper, there is an ad for the new Whole Foods store in Pembroke Pines. There's a description of its grand opening today. And, most importantly, there is a coupon for $10 off a purchase of $50, good from today through 4/30.

The text of the coupon says it's only good for the new Pembroke Pines Whole Foods. But if your Publix accepts Whole Foods coupons as a competitor, it should work there as well. That's how I plan to use it.


In fact, this is such a great coupon, I did something I normally don't do: I bought two more copies of today's newspaper.  I rarely purchase extra newspapers for the coupons, but paying $1 for a $10 coupon that I will almost definitely use seems like a good investment to me!

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Read more...

$10 off $50 Whole Foods coupon - Ft. Lauderdale area

For my Fort Lauderdale area readers: Don't throw out today's Sun-Sentinel newspaper!

On page 9A of the March 21, 2012 newspaper, there is an ad for the new Whole Foods store in Pembroke Pines. There's a description of its grand opening on March 28th. And, most importantly, there is a coupon for $10 off a purchase of $50, good from 3/28 through 4/30.

The text of the coupon says it's only good for the new Pembroke Pines Whole Foods. But if your Publix accepts Whole Foods coupons as a competitor, it should work there as well. That's how I plan to use it.

Many thanks to Anna for pointing this coupon out to me.  I appreciate it!

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Read more...

A big splurge

I went shopping for meat at my local kosher supermarket.  I needed chicken - both whole chickens for my Everything Soup and boneless chicken breasts for dishes like my Honey Mustard Herb Chicken - but I also wanted to splurge a little on some meat for a nice meal for Valentine's Day.

It turned out to be more of a big splurge - I bought kosher veal cutlets for $16.99 a pound!

But I only bought less than half a pound, so it ended up being around $7.50 for the meat.  Expensive, but a restaurant meal would be far, far more expensive than that!

(Note: these prices are for kosher meat, which for many reasons is much more expensive than conventional meat.  These prices are not indicative of regular meat prices in my area.)

Here's what I got:

7.72 lb whole chicken @ $2.49/lb = $19.22
0.44 lb veal cutlet @ $16.99/lb = $7.48
3.47 lb boneless chicken breast @ $4.99/lb = $17.32

Total spent: $44.02

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Read more...

Buying meat at CVS?

CVS helped me buy kosher meat this week!

No, I didn't buy the meat at CVS. Instead, I used the $10 American Express gift card that I earned on this CVS trip to help pay for my chicken breasts, whole chickens, and ground beef.  These items are really expensive, so having the $10 card to offset some of the expense really helped!

Here's what I got:

3.54 lb kosher boneless chicken breasts @ $4.99/lb = $17.66
7.64 lb kosher whole chicken @ $2.49/lb = $19.02
4.00 lb kosher ground chuck @ $4.99/lb = $19.96

Total product: $56.64
Pay with $10 American Express gift card
Total out of pocket: $46.64
Saved: $10.00

Read more...

Grocery shopping: Running from store to store

Our grocery stockpiles were pretty full this week, so earlier this week I ended up just running to a few different stores to pick up a few items at each. I wish I could just go to one store, but I feel terrible buying something at full price at one store, knowing that it's cheaper just a mile away!

Here's what I got:

Western Beef:
0.90 lb plum tomatoes @ $1.19/lb = $1.07
1 bunch scallions @ 65¢
1.65 lb green pepper @ 79¢/lb = $1.30
1 3-lb bag Gala apples @ $2.99
3 cucumbers @ 50¢ = $1.50

Total spent: $7.51

Kosher Supermarket:
4.72 lb chicken breasts @ $4.99/lb = $23.55
3.62 lb ground beef @ $4.99/lb = $18.06

Total spent: $41.61

ALDI:
2 gallons milk @ $2.99 = $5.98
1 juice pouches @ $1.79
1 box instant oatmeal @ $1.39
1 frozen juice concentrate @ 92¢
1 cottage cheese @ $2.19

Tax: 11¢
Total spent: $12.38

Walmart:
2.82 lb bananas @ 38¢/lb = $1.07
4 GV Great Northern beans @ 68¢ = $2.72

Total spent: $3.79


Total spent on four trips: $64.22

Read more...