https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 22 May 2026 12:33:40 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1458113 Fri, 28 Feb 2014 13:06:51 +0000 mrsmate 1458113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>$270 for the month! This is food only, no diapers, formula household goods.</p> <p>We continued to eat out of the pantry and freezer. We ended up taking everyone out to a local family restaurant for pizza after DD's birthday, but it was only about $150 for pizza and alcohol for 7 adults and 5 kids.</p> <p>In march I'm sure we'll spend more, bc our pantry/freezer is getting pretty spare but hopefully nowhere near what we've spent in the past. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1457523 Fri, 28 Feb 2014 10:21:49 +0000 jedeve 1457523@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Grand total - $642. Somewhat better than my last month of $700 but still nowhere near my goal of $600 (or ultimate goal of $550). That does include diapers, household goods, toiletries, and some OTC medicines. </p> <p>Good things - </p> <p>- Menu planned<br /> - Got really good at couponing. I used the Safeway just for u app and saved a lot with it. Definitely bought a few splurges - odwalla, Nutella so that was fun. They have deals on produce which is great, but not really organic produce so that's a bummer.<br /> - stocked up on some laundry detergent, only to find out DH had just bought some. So we are good for a while!!</p> <p>Not so good things</p> <p>- DH!!!! He is very good at buying stuff on sale and all, but just always seems to turn little trips into big trips. He went to the store for basil and wine and spent $90!!! I think part of it was because I had told him we were doing really well this month. But then LO has been super sick and we've had a blizzard and my car is snowed in, so DH has done the last few trips. It's not like he is making crazy purchases, but I just don't factor them in to my plan and then we go over.<br /> - I'm not gonna go extreme couponing but I do want to learn how to match coupons to sales. I need to organize my coupons somehow. </p> <p>I can't wait to sign up for a csa this year. I don't know if it will save a ton, but I think it will cut down on grocery store trips so that will save money! It doesn't start till June though! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1429684 Mon, 17 Feb 2014 16:35:14 +0000 dagret 1429684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>$120 this week, so we kind of blew the budget, but we also ate lobster and filet at home on valentine's day. So all of my meals this week are things I can make out of what we have on hand. I'm thinking that $90/week is a more realistic target. </p> <p>If you use finish tabs, the big 3-pack is on clearance at target at the back of the store - it's 96 tabs for 9.34, which is a bit better than my stock up price of $.10/tab. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1423969 Fri, 14 Feb 2014 10:18:18 +0000 looch 1423969@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're not doing too badly, I am making an effort to check the freezer and pantry when I make my list and see what I can use.</p> <p>My biggest victory was buying just two pork chops for a planned dinner. Usually, I buy a big pack, cook too much, have leftovers and end up having to toss them (my husband doesn't really like leftovers). I realize I paid more per unit than a family pack, but I didn't have leftovers to throw away and I am not storing stuff in the depths of my freezer! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1420041 Thu, 13 Feb 2014 10:40:32 +0000 immabeetoo 1420041@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: I don't think so thanks for asking though!!</p> <p>I'm doing big batches of Bean burritos- black beans atop refried crockpot beans (kitchen treaty recipe) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1420019 Thu, 13 Feb 2014 10:32:41 +0000 jedeve 1420019@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@scg00387: neat! Is there a referral link you benefit from? Wall me!</p> <p>What is everyone's favorite cheap meals they are making this month?</p> <p>Here is my two. I adapted them from some recipes, so I'll just post mine below. </p> <p>Chicken Philly cheesesteak in the crockpot:<br /> <a href="http://foodfamilyfinds.com/slow-cooker-chicken-philly-sandwiches-recipe/" rel="nofollow">http://foodfamilyfinds.com/slow-cooker-chicken-philly-sandwiches-recipe/</a></p> <p>My version:<br /> Slice one onion and two green peppers. Place in bottom of crockpot with two tablespoons of butter. Add in a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, teaspoon of soy sauce, and a quarter cup of white wine if you have it laying around. (Not necessary). Also good is a few drops of liquid smoke, if you have it. Sprinkle with paprika and garlic salt. Layer in 5-6 chicken thighs (breasts work too, but thighs are much more flavorful. You would only need three breasts). Cook on low for 8 hrs. Serve on a hoagie roll with mozarella or provolone. Serves 4 at about $2. </p> <p>Also zucchini grilled cheese.<br /> <a href="http://foodfamilyfinds.com/slow-cooker-chicken-philly-sandwiches-recipe/" rel="nofollow">http://foodfamilyfinds.com/slow-cooker-chicken-philly-sandwiches-recipe/</a></p> <p>My version:</p> <p>Grate a zucchini. Heat oil, add 2-4 cloves a garlic, depending on your Italianness and if you have a date night, and salt. Add in zucchini. Cook until it is a jam like consistency, about 20 minutes. Layer in the middle of a grilled cheese. I highly recommend adding in goat cheese (which is cheap at Costco, otherwise, not a frugal meal!) Serve with tomato soup. Serves 2 at about $2. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1418442 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:46:13 +0000 immabeetoo 1418442@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>has anyone tried checkout 51?? it's a smart phone app like ibotta, you get $ back when you scan your receipt. I like that it includes food bought anywhere, including online. I just did blueberries, eggs, milk, and a start up bonus and have $3 so far (cash out at $10). Interested to see next weeks offers! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1412536 Mon, 10 Feb 2014 16:33:57 +0000 Chillybear 1412536@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>last week i went to the store by myself while my parents watched the baby and spent $108 yesterday I went to my mom's supermarket with her and spent $88. We got some good deals on eggs, berries, oj and detergent that we split. hopefully this month will continue on this trend. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1412443 Mon, 10 Feb 2014 15:56:44 +0000 dagret 1412443@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>$80.62 for groceries this week - which included two pork tenderloins, so I was pretty impressed with myself. </p> <p>Successes last week - no extra shopping<br /> Fails: last-minute eating out once (we had no power), making stuffed peppers, putting them in the crockpot and THEN not turning them on...and then after my husband turned them on and they cooked all day i forgot to put them in the fridge at the end of the night. </p> <p>Oops. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1409400 Sat, 08 Feb 2014 16:50:35 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 1409400@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I spent $85 this week, which is more than my hoped-for goal of $80. But, we're going away for a week soon...so things will even out I hope. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1409388 Sat, 08 Feb 2014 16:43:34 +0000 mrsmate 1409388@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So far we are at $121, which is pretty good for us (3 adults + 3yo). I have been baking my own bread and using up stuff in our pantry and freezer. We should be able to get through the next 3-4 days with what we have now, including having a small group of friends &amp; family over tomorrow for DD1's birthday. We also had our neighbors over last night, and they were fed within our budget as well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1409363 Sat, 08 Feb 2014 16:22:54 +0000 tinyperson 1409363@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're up to 230 for the month; we were $6 under our budget last week, and have $63 left for this week. So we're on track! We might drop our $$ amount once we've done this for a little while. I think we can spend less than we are now, with some work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014/page/2#post-1409334 Sat, 08 Feb 2014 16:05:24 +0000 jedeve 1409334@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How is everyone doing?</p> <p>I spent a lot again this week ($130) but am still doing pretty good couponing and shopping sales, so we are building up a pantry/freezer. (We moved from an apartment so never could store stuff.)</p> <p>Successes last week:<br /> - no last minute trips to grocery store<br /> - finished left overs<br /> - didn't eat out</p> <p>How is everyone else doing? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1396175 Mon, 03 Feb 2014 16:05:01 +0000 dagret 1396175@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. bird: allrecipes.com has a search by ingredients function. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1396143 Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:54:42 +0000 Boheme 1396143@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. bird: There is a website somewhere where you can type in what you have on hand, and it will direct you to recipes. I just can't remember what its called! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1396137 Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:52:55 +0000 mrs. bird 1396137@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@grizz: wow!! That's awesome! When I get home I'm going to rummage through my freezer &amp; see what I can use up this wk, maybe I can have an extra frugal wk! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1396117 Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:44:14 +0000 Boheme 1396117@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have dinners for the next 4 nights without spending any money! I found it all in our pantry. Skinnytaste macaroni casserole (I subbed a few ingredients) and Skinnytaste crock pot chicken taco chili. We just need breakfast and lunch items this week, and dinners for Friday-Sunday. I'm going to try to come up with two more dinners out of our pantry and freezer. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1396106 Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:40:14 +0000 dagret 1396106@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Spent $70 for groceries this week:</p> <p>$42 Aldi's<br /> $12 Giant<br /> $6 at local grocery </p> <p>that's with NO coupons and some splurge items from Aldi's (jalapeno poppers, popsicles, pistachios) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1392464 Sat, 01 Feb 2014 16:30:00 +0000 mrs. bird 1392464@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>so i blew the budget last month, granted it was a real challenge goal ($50/wk) and it ended up being a hectic month that was not conducive to planning and shopping well. this month i'm gonna do better! i went to the discount grocery store last night and am going to try to be better at stopping there for things i can't find on sale. i almost never go there, but it wasn't that bad (and i found myself ridiculously amused by some of their products). this month i am also going to try to better about sticking to our meal plan &amp; using what we already have in the house. challenges are going to be a few dinners we're hosting and i need to make up meals for our cat sitter to eat while we're away (we leave the first of march, but they'll be bought &amp; prepped in feb).</p> <p>this month's goal is to average $65/wk (food only, household supplies are separate) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1392459 Sat, 01 Feb 2014 16:26:21 +0000 SugarplumsMom 1392459@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Feb 1st: Today we went to Ikea and returned stuff. I literally have unopened stuff just lying around that we either never got around to installing or I've changed my mind about. So today, I gathered them all (lamps and shelves) and returned them -- I couldn't find receipts since they're all bought on different occasions. It ended up being 857:- ($130)! </p> <p>I bought: shelves (in a diff color), storage boxes, a kid chair, a doll bed, lightbulbs, and a little stuffed bear for LO all on store credit, with about $20 leftover :happy: I am so proud of myself! One of the lamps we've had for over 6 months and it was just sitting inside a box in the storage room the whole time. It feels good to come home with new stuff without having to enter it into Feb's tab :happy: :happy: :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1392419 Sat, 01 Feb 2014 16:00:19 +0000 jhd 1392419@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: good for you! :)</p> <p>I spent just over $80 today stocking up on cereal (had great coupons), frozen veggies, fruit, nuts, etc. My plan is to make a pasta dish and a soup this weekend and freeze leftovers in lunch sized portions. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1392410 Sat, 01 Feb 2014 15:48:07 +0000 jedeve 1392410@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so proud of myself. I just did a huge shopping trip at Safeway and saved 34% - $85. I even bought Kleenex which I never ever do but the big box of lotion ones were only $0.75 and my nose is so sore from a cold!</p> <p>I downloaded the just for U app and "clipped" a bunch of coupons and made a list based on their sale flyer. I stocked up on salsa, marinades, jam, beans, canned tomatoes, Cheerios. </p> <p>DH went to costco yesterday and spent $250 on a bunch of frozen foods - tilapia (we love their tilapia), veggies and berries, chicken, and almond milk for LO and a few other things. </p> <p>So now we have spent a staggering $400 by the first. But our pantry was virtually non existent before this weekend. It's good to have some stuff you can make meals out of. I think that's a key part of keeping overall costs down!</p> <p>Eta: we only go to costco every few months so I don't count it in that Monty's tally since it will last three or four months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1388066 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 14:11:46 +0000 mrs. wagon 1388066@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ok friends... I finally got up the courage to tally up my totals for groceries and eating out, and my grocery total is not bad at all: $615. (for a family of four.) BUT my eating out total is horrible... almost the same as groceries. And explains why the groceries aren't adding up to much at all: I barely cooked at all in January. I mean, we cook breakfasts and lunches, but dinners we ate out a ton because I was sick for most of the month and working, so there was no cooking when I got home AND there was no meal planning and prepping at night because I would go to bed super early each night.</p> <p>I'm finally on the mend, so it will be great to track February!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1387850 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:06:30 +0000 jedeve 1387850@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: nope. :-/ I wish we had an Aldi or a Trader Joe's! Whenever I shop at one on the east coast I can't believe how cheap the prices are! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1387802 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:52:49 +0000 looch 1387802@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: Do you have a shop rite near you? They do an annual canned goods sale, that would be a time to stock up on things like canned tomatoes, beans, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1387795 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:50:48 +0000 Silva 1387795@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@grizz: Chana masala! Just chick peas (i use canned and stock up when they are on sale), diced tomatoes (canned again), spices/onion/garlic/ginger and a bag of spinach. Serve over rice! Quick and healthy. <a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/02/chana-masala/" rel="nofollow">http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/02/chana-masala/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1387672 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:17:17 +0000 jhd 1387672@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: I'm pregnant &amp; feel like I eat all the time. I can't imagine how hungry you must be!!! It is hard when unexpected things come up. We eat really healthy most of the time but DH's weakness is Coke or Cherry Coke. 2 liters were super cheap so we bought a couple last night. But you're right most of the sales for the super bowl aren't the healthiest options. I would look for meat or dips for veggies etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1387540 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 11:45:31 +0000 jedeve 1387540@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Question:</p> <p>Any Super Bowl deals I should be taking advantage of? Looking through the sales flyers, most of it is junk. But I'm thinking it would be a good time to stock up on things like salsa, maybe cream cheese, some meats?? I don't know. Any ideas? I'm trying to learn the best times of years to buy. </p> <p>Also: goals</p> <p>* talk to DH weekly about what we have spent<br /> * menu plan!<br /> * eat a legumes based meal once a week. </p> <p>January:<br /> what went well: we hardly ate out!<br /> what didn't: unexpected diet changes. LO was severely constipated, resulting in the purchase of lots more berries, juice, bran muffin ingredients, etc. We tend to eat seasonally, but I guess it's harder with a baby!<br /> Also, I ate more than I expected being pregnant and nursing.<br /> We spent about $700. It feels extravagant, but really it is in the USDA's "moderate" guidelines for a family our size, and food in my area tends to be a bit expensive. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1387379 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 11:12:09 +0000 jhd 1387379@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cmomma17: I would try to count that for Feb too. This is just hard!! But even little things will add up over time. And sometimes it helps to look at it over a 3 month average instead of each individual month. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/grocery-savings-february-2014#post-1387200 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 10:29:36 +0000 looch 1387200@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cmomma17: put that in february. </p>