I did it! I have been telling myself that I don’t need it and the papers just keep piling up in my closet, so I finally did it! I canceled my newspaper subscription!
For the past 3 or more years I have been a loyal subscriber to our local Sunday paper for the sole purpose to get the coupons. At first it was great! There were so many deals every week and I was using those clipped coupons multiple times weekly. Well, times have changed and there is just no need for them now.
I found that if I plan my meals out for two weeks at a time I can work the grocery shopping better into our budget, since we get paid every two weeks. The very first thing I do before I start planning our menu is I look through all of the stores weekly ads. The first thing I look for are really good deals on meat. Depending on how good of a deal it is determines how much of the meat I buy. If it’s just an “okay” deal then I might only buy enough meat for one meal but if it’s a smoking deal then I will buy what my budget allows and put the extra meat in the freezer.
Now that I know what meat I have available I start planning my menu. Even though I plan my menus for two weeks out, I will still look at the ads for the week that I already have planned. If there are any really great deals, especially on meat, I will buy and stock up for the coming weeks.
So hopefully this gives you an idea of how I plan my weekly menus around a budget and you can use this information to start doing the same for your family. But to make it even easier for you I wanted to post what meals I am going to be making in combination with the deals I found. Remember that some stores sales are specific to the area but most US chain stores have similar sales.
Roast @ $3.99/lbs at Sprouts
White Lasagna x 2 (1 for the freezer)
Cottage cheese 16oz @ $2.99 at Target (I substitute cottage cheese for ricotta cheese since its usually cheaper)
Chicken Tacos (I marinade chicken with salsa all day then grill and serve with cilantro and chopped onion on tortilla)
Ham and Cheesy Potatoes
Ham @ $1.99/lbs at Sprouts
Crockpot Freezer Meal (All ready in my freezer – Find ideas on how to stockpile freezer meals here)
Chicken Marsala
Campbell’s ready marinades found on clearance plus coupon 2 weeks ago at Albertsons @ $1.00
Stir Fry (marinade chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic power, cook chicken, add frozen veggies and marinade and noodles)
Sweet and Sour Marinade @ $2.99 at Target
Philadelphia Cream Cheese @ $1.99 at Target
Crescent Rolls @ $1.88ea at Vons
Here are some other good deals I found at Von’s (Safeway) this week:
| 2 Crescent Rolls @ $1.88 ea | $3.01 |
| Flour 5 lbs @ $1.67ea (Friday) | $1.67 |
| 2 Chex @ $1.67ea (Friday) | $2.34 |
| 2 Ore-Ida potatoes @ $2.50ea (Friday) | $3.00 |
| Spaghetti noodles | $1.00 |
*The prices in the right column have subtracted the coupon amounts from below
$0.75/2 Pillsbury Crescent Rolls – Coupon Here
$1.00/2 General Mills Chex Cereal – Coupon Here
$1.00/2 Ore-Ida Potatoes – Coupon Here
$1.00/2 Ore-da Hash Browns and French Fries Combo rebate from Ibotta rebate app
Have fun shopping and let me know about any good deals you find this week!
