Pizzas came in!

Remember the crazy pizza order I told you I placed at CVS? Well guess what it came in today! It actually ended up being just a couple more dollars than in my original plan since the pizzas were $7.79 a piece instead of $5.99. In the end I paid $24.64 for all 18 which makes each pizza $1.38 WOOHOO! I bet no one can guess what we are having to eat at Little Man's 5th birthday party this weekend ;)  And I also want to remind you that I did NOT clear the shelves I called and placed an order last week with my favorite ordering manager Jill. That girl rocks right along with everyone who works in that location.

Cheap Christmas Mug

I Heart Grandpa Design Mug

Check out our modern shower invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

This cute mug is going to be one of Daddy Dears Christmas presents. And the best part of it? All I had to pay was $5.99 Shipping! Through 10/13 head on over to Shutterfly and design your own Custom 11oz White Mug ($13.99 value) and use promo code HALLOWEENMUG at checkout to get it for only shipping.

Hot Pizza Deal @ CVS starting 10/14

So starting next Sunday (10/14) there will be a awesome deal on DiGiorno pizzas at CVS:

DiGiorno Pizza:  Buy 1 Get 1 Free...use B2G1 manufacturers (use zip code 63122)

Before I tell you my plan let me first state I will be on the phone first thing in the morning to special order these. I will not be buying this large amount off the shelf as I already know it would  leave none in the store. Also I can use a large amount since Tristen's birthday party is coming up and I now know what we are having to eat!

With all that said here is  my plan:

18 DiGiorno pizzas (assuming the $6.50 max)= $117
9 Free with the store deal= $58.50
use 6 manufacturers coupons= $39
Total= $19.50 for 8....or $1.09 each

My Now I See How She Does It Shopping Trips

I know a lot of people ask how we manage to feed a lot of people on such random things and now that the fall deals are starting to roll in I think my shopping trips are going to start shedding some light on this. I buy lots of what we will need at once and then we don't need anymore for awhile. Also we buy half cows once a year with our tax check so that doesn't come out of our budget and makes it possible for me to  only buy beef when I find a great price. I have price points that I am willing to spend on each item and when I find them at or below said price I buy lots. With that said lets see the craziness I did today.

First we stopped at Walgreens:

There are ten (10!) seperate transactions here. I always go to the beauty counter so I am not holding up everyone who just wants to run in and run out for a few items.
The first 9 transactions were each:
1- 4ct Cepacol Lozenge $1....get $1RR back (so basically FREE!)
All of those together cost me $9.63 and that gave $9RR to use on the rest

Transaction #2 was:
12- Halloween Coloring Books 3/$1 w/ in ad coupon (filler items so I can use my RR)
4- Cottonelle 12 ct $5@.. I used a $1sq (took off $4) & 4- $ .55 printables
3- Scott paper towel 6ct $5...used $1sq (took off $3) & 3- $1mq

I had $5RR from last week and the $9RR from the first order, so that order came to right at $13.

Then we went to Meijer! This was actually all done in four transactions (Brian did 2, I did 2)

We got:
12- Quaker Instant Oatmeal 4/$10...used 6- $1/2mq
2- Quaker Real Medleys cups 2/$3...used $1/2mq
2- Quaker Granola Bars $2
16- Cesar Dog Food $ .67...used 4- Buy 3 Get 1 Free mq
4- Cesar Meaty Selects $1.25... used 2- Buy 1 Get 1 Free mq
12- Pedigree Dog Food $ .67...used 2- $1/6mq
2- Nylabones Buy 1 @ $6.39 Get 1 @ $2...used 2- $2mq
20-Campbells Soups (food pantry donation) $ .60...used 4- $ .40/3 printables & 2- $ .40/4 mq

Not pictured because I didn't feel like carrying them all in:
12- 24pk Pepsi $6...used 6- $2/2mq (We have a lot of birthdays coming up!)
2- 20 ct Frito Lay Singles $6.99...used 2- $1mq

I saved $2 instantly on every 4 Quaker products I bought.

Total for Meijers: $126

Homemade Sliders

In my opinion part of being thrifty is figuring out how to make what you can. My little guys and my big guys love White Castles but lets be honest it takes a lot of them to feed my crowd and they aren't cheap. So after checking that glorious DIY site Pinterest, I found a recipe that sounded good and tried it out. It was super easy and a hit! Here's the basic directions:

*pour a layer of dried minced onion into the bottom of a shallow baking pan
*press a thin layer of ground beef on top of the onions
*bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (I may have forgot to time them, I just kept checking them)
*cut the ground beef into squares (kind of like your cutting brownies)
*cut rolls in half (I toasted mine)
*place a pickle on each roll and using a spatula place a "burger" on each roll

 I ended up making 60 sliders and I had about 48 left after dinner to freeze. Now I have plenty in the freezer for when the guys get a craving and I won't even have to drive the 30 minutes each way!


So lets do the math:
60 Originals @ $ .69= $41.40


For my version:
3 lbs ground beef @ $2lb= $6
5 packages rolls @ $2.48= $12.40
Minced onion= $2
I always have pickles in this house so lets not count those :)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total=  $20.40

That means my version is $ .34 each thats less than half!



I am going to try to post more of my homemade versions now that fall is here and my kitchen will be full of dirty dishes constantly and grandma is calling me Betty Crocker.

 

Shopping October 3rd

I originally went to Aldis this morning to get the $1.69 chicken breast but, I found out the local Aldis puts the Wednesday meat deals out on Tuesdays so they were sold out before Wednesday came around. (Yeah I had that same look on my face and asked them what the point of a Wednesday sale was if it started Tuesday!) I did however pick up a few things while I was there.
2- Cornbread crackers (these are great in chili) $1.29@
2- Two gallon freezer bags on clearance for $ .79
2- Bunches bananas $2.27 total for both
Apple Butter $2.29

Total $8.83

I also stopped by Walmart to get the rolls for tonights slider craziness I will be posting in a minute and I found these ribeyes Brian likes.

5- Kings Hawiian Rolls $2.48@
Burger seasoning $2.98
2- 5ct Ribeyes $9.98@


Total $35.34

K-mart 10/2

I recieved a email from Shop Your Way Rewards yesterday saying that I had $5 in bonus rewards to be used on children'r apparel through Friday. The Dora shirt was regularly $8.99 but was on sale this week for $6.29 (30% off) so after the bonus rewards and they regular rewards I already had the shirt was....FREE! I also checked out the 50% off Clearance toys. I only had a few minutes so I didnt get to look very long but, I did find this cute doll set. The Beast costume just slides over the Prince. It was regularly $28.99 clearanced priced at $22 so I paid $11 after the additional 50% off. Since I plan to put this back for Lexi at Christmas it won't come out of the budget! :)

I also picked up a gallon of milk today at Marsh for $2.79 (I just didn't feel like running to CVS and  Marsh was right there)

So total budget spent today: $2.79