Getting Back to Grocery Shopping

I will say that while I did work at the cupcake shop - I was able to enjoy the grocery store during the day during the week.  It was great! I had a few people admire my coupon binder on more than a few occasions.  I still stick to my strategy, even if I haven't been as good about meal planning.

So this Sunday, I clipped my coupons and headed to my office and made myself a list!

Roche Bros:

I typically only get sale & coupon items at Roche Bros and if I need fresh produce I really like it there and will pay a little extra because their produce is typically my favorite

List:
Progresso Soup Sale .77/each - $1.00/4 Coupon
T. Marzetti Dressing  Sale 2/$6.00 - $1.00 off Coupon
Delmonte Natural Fruit Cups Sale 10/$10.00 - $1.00 off Coupon for Breakstone Cottage Cheese with purchase of 5 Delmonte Natural Fruit Cups
Frigo String Cheese Sale $2.99 - $1.00/2 Coupon

I like to grab some soup just to have on hand for soup & sandwich or soup & salad nights.  Sometimes Hubs and I are on different schedules.  .52 a can and .26 a serving is pretty good.  I always am wary to have too much on hand because I like my own soup and canned soup tends to be high in sodium

Bonus Pick up:

Weight Watchers Peanut Butter Brownies $2.50 sale - .55 Coupon

This was not in the flyer - which is why I always keep the binder handy even though I have my coupons & list together.  You NEVER know what you might find!

The coupon got doubled so it was $1.40 to have a small sweet treat in the house. Despite the fact that I bake a ton...most of that leaves the house immediately, so I like to have a little something for Hubs and his sweet tooth and I like a little sweet treat with my post dinner tea once in awhile (I swear I'm not 78 years old)

The results:

Shaws:

Again, I typically only get sale & coupon items at Shaws, also they tend to be good for managers specials on meat and every once in awhile they have a can't be missed price on meat.  This week that was the case, so I dropped in.

List:
Boneless Chuck Roast $2.88/lb (Typical Buy Price $2.99/lb)
Eye Round Roast $2.88/lb (Typical Buy Price $2.99/lb)
Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt 4 pack Sale $3.50 - $1.00 off coupon

I bought the chuck roast to make an amazing Beef Stew this week to combat the Polar Vortex. Eye Round is amazing when slow roasted.  Makes a gorgeous fancy pants roast beef dinner and then roast beef sandwiches for days! I like doing this so much....I bought a slicer.  Like a deli slicer.  I'm not kidding.

Bonus pick ups:
Barilla Pasta Sale $1.25 - $1.00 off 2
Tyson Light Breaded Chicken Strips Sale $8.99 - $1.00 off

Again - Pasta is a staple.  Ideally I would like to change from Barilla - but I like the product and I can typically buy it at a good price.  I really like their Barilla Plus, so I continue to search for a more tolerant but still affordable pasta.  I never pay more than a $1.00 a box - typically under and I stock up when I can.

Breaded Chicken is more of a convenience food, but that's more about having stuff on hand that I can throw together quicker than I can get a pizza to my door.  Chicken strips are easy enough to heat up and throw on a salad.

The results:

Stop & Shop:

This is where I do my shopping for most things.  It's closest to my house and I earn points for discounts on gas.

List:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast $1.99/lb (Typical Buy Price $1.99)
Fiber One Bars 2/$6.00 - $1.00/2 Coupon
Special K Bars 4/$8.00 - $1.00/3 Coupon *Must by 4
Planters Roasted Peanuts - 2/$6.00 - $1.00/2 Coupon
Stonyfield Greek Yogurt 10/$10.00 - Buy 2, Get 1 Free

Chicken, I'll buy at that price and I'll buy as much as I can fit in the darn freezer.  Not a lot of room, so I just picked up 3 pounds.  Trying to make a better effort to have breakfast bars in the house to discourage trips to the local dunks.  It really has been adding up to about $50-$75 a week (eek! - thanks Mint.com)

Bonus Pick Ups:
Sara Lee Whole Wheat Bread Sale $2.50  - $1.00 off Coupon
Swanson Broth 2/$4.00  $1.00 off 2
Rice Vinegar

I needed broth and I resigned myself to buying the store brand only to be surprised that Swanson was on sale and I had a coupon.  Ideally I don't like to pay more than $1.50 a box and I stock up when I can because you can always use broth.  Also I've been on an asian cooking kick lately and I remembered I was without rice vinegar.  I never really see it go on sale so I just grabbed it.

The results:

A long hiatus...

So yeah, life has gotten in the way.

I was really stressed out by my job and it was really making me a negative person.  So I worked hard, me and hubs...we worked really hard and paid down our debt and became debt free.

This gave me the opportunity in the spring of 2013 to quit my miserable corporate job in a cube farm to change industries completely.  I went to work for a local cupcake shop and quickly took the job of general manager.  I worked there for over six months, learned a ton but I still wasn't doing what I want - which is to bake for a living.

So - I left.  Right now, I'm doing fill in shifts for them while they search for my replacement and some odd jobs while I look for what's next for me.

It's terrifying to be 100% truthful.  What's next, when will we run out of money for me to just work when work comes up.  I feel guilty for not pulling my weight by bringing in any income.  But enough of that, that's what I have a therapist for!

The last time I was out of work was when I honed my coupon skills.  So it's time to get back to what I have fun with and get blogging again. Now I have time and I figured out that time is so valuable.  I am getting back on track with cooking at home, grocery shopping and couponing.

I was toying with firing up the old blog again - and then someone I follow on twitter (which I use mostly for my hockey obsession) asked "Bizarre question - how much, per pound, is the boneless skinless non frozen chicken that you buy?" Of course I responded $1.99.  Then I went back and forth and then I remembered I had a whole blog post about what I do when I stock up on chicken.

So I'm giving this a crack again and I hope I can stick to it.