So Apparently I Need a Creative Name for my Grocery Deals

I'll think on that and get back to you. I'm not actually sure how many tips I will discover, but I like sharing them with you, because you care, right?

This week was bit more like our bills will typically be, in my opinion. My mom sent me a website called MyGroceryDeals.com which I was excited about. You sign up (for free) and they list all of your local grocerys' sales for the week. We typically only go to one grocery, and at the moment we are stuck on Mejier. They have a wonderful produce section that is very fresh, and fully stocked at all times. Plus? They have an abundance of cashiers, which totally floats my boat.

Because we don't get the local paper, I was very excited about MyGroceryDeals.com, all of their stores' sales all listed out for me? Wonderful. I had planned to use the sale meat for the basis of my meal plan for the week.

We always go to the grocery on Sunday morning. Some of my friends are shuddering in horror reading that. Yes, once, in a time long, long ago, Cory and I lounged together in bed until 10 or 11, then drank hot coffee luxuriously while we contemplated if we would get out of our pajamas at all during the day.

Now? We're typically up by 7 AM, and rearing to go by 8 or 9. The grocery fills that morning time before Cory's Car Shows at 11 very well. We're in such a rut. I luv it. I heart routine:)

So I make my grocery list Sunday morning before we go. I happily logged in to MyGroceryDeals.com to see all the sale items, and make my meal plan.

Um, they haven't put the sales up yet. And as of 12 PM on Sunday, they still aren't up yet. I'm not sure when they typically go up, but that won't work for me unfortunately.

Luckily, I thought to go directly to Mejier's website. And low and behold, their Sunday Sale sheet that was in the paper, is was right on their home page. So I flipped through the sale sheet, noted the sale meat, and made my list. It worked great. And, as I mentioned last week, actually made the menu making easier for me.

We bought a few extra things this week, versus last week. We needed toilet paper, and our kitty food brand was on sale, so even though we didn't need it, we bought it while is was on sale. So we will get in that habit, buying things when they are on sale, instead of when we need them. According to Crystal, things go on sale in a pattern, so we just have to get in a groove on that pattern, paying attention to when things go on sale.

A lot of meat was on sale for buy-one-get-one-free. So we stocked up on sausage, hot dogs, and polska, then froze the duplicate (or "free" one) to use for next week's meal plan. Next week, I can use those things to build different meals.

Something else to note, that I have read several places, is about hamburger. Cory has a huge problem with greasy foods. In the past we have bought extra lean ground beef because that fact. It is much less greasy, however it is a lot more expensive. To save money, and be just as healthy, we have been buying ground round hamburger or ground chuck hamburger and cooking it as normal, draining it as normal, but then rinsing it with hot water in the sink. This rinses the rest of the grease off, making it just as healthy as the extra lean ground beef. (or so I have read:)

We haven't been lacking in the snack department either. Last week, I bought large blocks of cheese, and have been making beer cheese from scratch, which is delicious, and much cheaper than buying dip for chips.

Speaking of dip, we bought a eye of round beef pot roast for a dinner this week (which was on sale at Mejier), and I cook my roast in my crock pot with chunky veggies as sides. Instead of buying already chopped and cleaned veggies, like I have in the past to save me time, I bought large quantities of celery, carrots, and onions. Then, as I chopped them for the pot roast, I chopped the leftover celery and carrots into dip-able sticks. Now we have those to snack on and dip in ranch, during the week. I spent 20-30 minutes chopping veggies after we got home.

This week was more on target for what we will probably typically spend. The final bill was $96 for one week, with six planned dinners, and two lunches, plus all the norms such as milk and eggs.