Trip Grocery Challenge

As previously noted, money for this trip is extremely tight, even moreso than I’d originally thought. I think we’re still in the clear though between gas and a hotel room, though I might have to bow out of some social interaction with friends due to lack of funds.

Tonight we’re making our trip to the grocery store and I’m going to try to spend less than ten dollars tonight, which means I won’t actually have to pay anything because that will finish up the credit on our Dillons card. Last night we made a trip so that we’d have breakfast and lunch for today, but some of that can carry over easily, including the impulse Twizzlers we bought because they were only a buck for a package and I am a Twizzler fiend.

We also scored two things of hummus for a dollar each. We both like hummus and couldn’t say no to the deal. So far, we have a few things to take with us already:

Twizzlers
Hummus
Crackers
Water
Yogurt

I’d like to also pick up:
Bread – 78 cents
Lunchmeat - $1.35
Cheese - $1.66
Pop – 2.19 (12 pack)
Bananas – 1.00 (about a pound a half)
Oranges - 1.00 (for two)
Quaker Quakes - $1.00
Breakfast Cereal Bars - $2.00

So it actually comes to about $10.98. I don’t actually need the Quakes, but their so good! Oh well…if I take them from the list I’ll be under my total, though that doesn’t include tax. For now, I’m going with this list because I think I might be able to find cheaper versions of the cereal bars, cheese and lunchmeat.

For anyone who might be shaking your head and wondering why I’m even taking this trip if I don’t have the money, the truth is that at this point, I need to see my family and I’m willing to do it on a tight budget. Luckily I won’t have to spend a lot of money there, so the travel will be worth it, and I’ll have gotten paid by the time we come back, so the trip back is not a worry at this point. Besides, it’s kind of fun seeing how frugal we can be when it comes to travelling.

Recipe: Easy Chicken Tenders

This recipe actually started out as a sesame chicken recipe gone a bit wonky. However, the recipe came out really well and these chicken tenders were much tastier than the kind you buy in frozen foods section.

- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips or small pieces (use your judgement)
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- salt and pepper to taste
-1 egg beaten (recipe may also use 1/3 cup melted butter if baked instead of cooked in a skillet)
- a little bit of veggie or olive oil (if cooking in skillet)

1. Mix ginger, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and bread crumbs together (I do this by throwing it all in a plastic baggie, sealing, and shaking)

2. Dip strips into egg then in breadcrumb mixture

3. Heat oil in skillet on med high heat and cook strips for about 5 minutes on each side (longer if needed depending on how thick your chicken is)

4. Serve with choice of sauce.

The variation on cooking this is to put on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Estimated cost: about $2.00 per person per meal

Recipe: 20 Minute Chicken Parmesan

I have to credit this recipe to SparkPeople (http://www.sparkpeople.com/). They have a daily recipe that they send in email and I found this one in my specified folder. It was from months ago, but could probably still be found on the 'net. For anyone looking for good, healthy recipes and a bunch of other healthy stuff, check this site out.

This was recipe was AWESOME! Very easy and the best chicken parm recipe we've made so far.

- 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
- 1 large egg, beaten lightly
- 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs (I only had regular breadcrumbs, so I mixed in some italian seasoning and garlic salt for the same effect)
- 2 tbs butter or margarine, melted
- 1 3/4 cups spaghett sauce (I didn't measure this, I just used a standard can of sauce)
- 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Dip chicken in egg and dredge in breadcrumbs
2. Cook chicken in butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned on both sides
3. Spoon spaghetti sauce over chicken (I just poured the can over it carefully)
4. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, let simmer 10 minutes
5. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley; cover and simmer 5 minutes
6. Serve over spaghetti

This made two meals for two of us, even using the tiny 8 oz box of spaghetti from Wal-Mart. Best thing is that this can be thrown together quickly and is very flavorful and filling.

Estimated cost: about $1.50 per person per meal

Recipe: Pork Chops with Balsamic Vinegar

This recipe is technically a dinner for two, but we doubled the recipe to get two meals out of it. I'll post the original as it's made for two people or two meals for one person.

-2 boneless center pork loin chops, 1 1/2 inch thick
-1 1/2 tsps lemon pepper
-1 tsp vegetable oil
-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
-2 tbsp chicken broth
-2 tsps butter

1. Pat chops dry and coat with lemon pepper
2. Heat oil in heavy skillet over medium high heat
3. Add chops. Brown 8 minutes, turn, and cook 7 more minutes or until done
4. Remove from pan and keep warm
5. Add vinegar and broth to skillet; cook and stir until syrupy (about 1-2 minutes. NOTE: I never did get to the syrupy stage, so either I did something wrong or it just takes longer than a couple of minutes)
6. Stir in butter until blended
7. Spoon sauce over chops

We served this with frozen vegetables as a side.

Estimated cost per person was a little higher as we had to buy lemon pepper. Lemon pepper is a great thing to have on hand though.

Estimated cost: about $1.50 per person per meal

The taste was really good though a little light on balsamic flavor. Add more to taste as needed. I had thought that the leftovers would be more flavorful as they had time to sit in the sauce, but they weren't as good as leftovers generally have seemed to be. Still good in a pinch however and good with any number of sides.

Recipe: Onion Baked Pork Chops

Another fairly cheap recipe and a tasty one!

4 bone-in pork chops (center cut) (bought on sale for about $1.00 each)
1 envelop Lipton Recipe Secrets Golden Onion soup (about $.65 as the whole box was only like $1.29 and you only need one envelope)
2/3 cup Breadcrumbs (already had stocked, but Wal-Mart sells big cans for less than a dollar)
1 egg well beaten (about $.15)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine soup mix and bread crumbs in plastic storage bag. Shake until well mixed then pour out on flat dish.
Dip chops in egg then coat with crumb mixture on both sides.
Grease baking pan and arrange chops
Bake uncovered 10 minutes, then turn and bake for another 10-15.

We served this with macaroni and cheese, which we bought for $.33 a box at Aldi. We had enough for two meals, so we had leftovers a couple days later. The leftover taste was fine, but the pork got a little bit tough when re-heated in the microwave.

The estimated cost per person per meal: less than $1.50.

Weekly Splurge at IHOP and Garage Sales

The BF and I decided this week we would do an early breakfast at IHOP for our weekly treat, followed by some garage sale shopping.

While I'm not upset that we did it because it was planned and budgeted for, IHOP is expensive and we ended up spending more than I'd planned for. I remember the days when coffee was $.89. Not so much anymore. My coffee cost $1.49 and his soda was $1.79. Our meals were good. My breakfast was just under $7.00 and his burger (he'd just gotten off work so it was dinner for him) was just under $8.00. Figure in the cost for tax and tip and we spent over $20 for just the two of us.

So big splurge, and one we're not likely to repeat again for a long while. It was good though and worth it. The garage sale shopping wasn't as intense. After working the graveyard shift, he was ready for a nap and after parting ways with a $20 bill, I just didn't want to spend anymore. We did however stop at two of them.

Our fun and awesome find: 15 books from The Enchanted World Time Life book series for $3.00.
Our practical but still awesome find: A pair of nice shoes for work for $3.00.

I love garage sales.

Cheese and Spinach Burgers

We found a recipe for a different sort of burger that we tried out today. I'm not entirely sold on them but the BF really liked them. They have a weird tang to them that I'm not accustomed to. However, they lend themselves to several different variations and were fairly cheap to make:

1 pack dry French Onion Soup Mix (GV brand - $.68, which is for the whole box, so one envelope is actually $.34).
2 lbs hamburger (price varies. We were able to get ground round on sale for $1.99 a lb so about $4.00)
10 oz box of frozen spinach ($.96)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (GV brand - $1.98).
Buns (we bought reduced bakery buns at WalMart for 1.34)

1. Squeeze the moisture out of the spinach and let dry
2. Mix soup mix, cheese, dried spinach, and hamburger together.
3. Form patties and grill or broil (we used a George Foreman grill).
4. Serve on a bun with your choice of toppings.

Notes: This recipe should yield 8 burgers, therefore we cut the recipe in half, which still yields two meals for each of us. Taking that into account, the cost per person per meal is approximately less than $2.50 person, and that's taking into account we ate it with Pringles (on sale for $.88 at Dillons this week).

There are several areas where costs can be cut even more. You can get standard hamburger buns for around a dollar in some places and you can find shredded cheese for cheaper than we did. Cheaper cuts of hamburger can be found, though they may have more fat and will shrink the size of the patties.

Some of the variations of this include substituting the french onion soup mix for a ranch dressing powder, using mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar, and using more or less spinach depending on your palate. Next time we try these, I will probably forego the spinace while the BF will probably want more of it.

Easy and cheap recipe. Try it.

Be Careful of the "Splurge"

Interesting story I thought I'd share.

Yesterday was my first payday and even though the BF and I agreed we were still going to be frugal, we decided to go ahead and hit the drive thru on lunch while were running errands around town. With a little bit of money at our disposal, we figuired it would be okay.

After a few weeks with no fast food and rarely eating a meal that costs more than $3.00 per person, we decided to try Burger King. The first painful part of our meal was the wait, though by that time we really didn't have time to go anywhere else.

The cost was another hit to the stomach. For two medium size value meals, the cost was $11.70. This is more than double what we've been paying for the meals we've been eating at home. I knew it was a bad idea, but to top it off, we both agreed that the food was horrible. Fairly bland, way too greasy, and completely unsatisfying.

Our lesson? There are some splurges that are worth it when you're trying to live cheaply. Fast food is not one of them. Because of what we spent, we have agreed to forego our normal after-church meal out, which, from now on, will include fare that's worth the splurge: Quizno's, chinese, Applebees, etc.

No more of this fast food stuff. Our wallets and bodies will be alot better off.

The Joys of Hamburger Helper

I have a confession...I used to be a Hamburger Helper snob!

I'm not sure why. It wasn't that I looked down on it as a meal. I think part of it was growing up and remembering how often we had noodles and meat, so the thought of it as an adult wasn't appealing. Another part of it was the preparation. Up until recently, I've never felt comfortable in a kitchen, and even now I'm still finding my feet. But it always seemed like such a pain to have to brown the meat and mix everything (I know, right? That's pretty lazy of me).

Cooking dinner tonight, which was Hamburger Helper (Three Cheese if anyone was wondering), I felt silly for being so snooty about it. HH is a really cheap, pretty tasty, easily made dinner for people who are aiming to save money. It comes in a ton of different flavors and when you get sick of hamburger, you can fall back on Tuna Helper and Chicken Helper.

Some nifty things about Helper meals:

1. Low Cost of Item - The brand name starts at about $1.50 depending on the area you live in, but it seems to be one of those items that goes on sale alot. Look for local sales on HH. The most common one brings the price to about a buck a box, so stock up when you find them to keep around for an easy dinner. If you want to go generic, there's many off-brands of this type of meal, though you might not get the same variety.

2. Budgeting for the meat - The thing that's going to drive an HH meal up is going to be the meat which has gotten more expensive over the past few years. Depending on the type of hamburger you buy, it can get really expensive. We opt to buy the cheapest/easiest we can find which is the small pound tubes of it at WalMart for $2.12 (plus tax). We're currently working with limited freezer space so these one shot servings work best, though if you can find bigger packages at a lower per lb price, buy up, divvy the meat into storage bags, and freeze away. Also remember to drain the grease too as the cheaper hamburger will produce alot of it.

Chicken breasts for CH are a little pricier and take more preparation but not much. If you really want to save time, buy the canned chicken. TH is probably the cheapest as you can get a can of tuna for less than a buck. A Helper meal covers your meat and grains, so adding a cheap veggie and a glass of milk can help cover some of the others.

3. Not a health food, but... - Hamburger Helper is a little higher in calories and fat than alot of foods, but if you're trying to save money you can still compromise. For a slightly higher cost you can buy a leaner cut of hamburger, or you can buy ground turkey instead. I haven't bought ground turkey in a long time, but last I remember, it's actually cheaper than hamburger but gives a similar taste and is much healthier. Substitute "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" for butter/margarine and use skim milk for the mix.

Portion size is also something you can control and can make your meals cheaper. Check the box to see how many it will serve, especially if you're cooking for two or just yourself. Divvy the portions up accordingly. This isn't always easy with families, as different people eat different amounts, but you can try it a couple of ways. After separating it out for one meal, decide if you want to further multiply it. A single person can get two large meals or four small meals out of one box. Two people can one or two meals, etc. The more meals you can get out of one box, the cheaper each meal becomes. Keeping that in mind will also help you stay on track with healthy portions.

The BF and I were lucky enough to have acquired three boxes of HH from a friend who was moving so our meal was a bit cheaper. But taking into account the regular price of HH from WalMart, the meal breaks down into the following:

HH = $1.50
1 lb Hamburger = $2.12
Milk = negligible, but estimated at about $.50.
Total = $4.12

We opted for no sides and we didn't go the healthy route on this, deciding on a big dinner after a long day of work. Therefore, this meal came to $2.06 per person.

Online Pre-Browsing

I really hate buying something at one store only to find later that I could have gotten it cheaper at another one. I'm currently in the process of coming up with a database that will tell me the different prices of different things at different places. Unfortunately, it's a work in progress as I'm not about to go through three different stores and take notes on every price. Since we're just in the early phases of cooking, we don't even know what our staples are going to be.

I found out today that one of the local grocery stores has a site that shows their weekly ad prices. After working in retail for many years, the general rule seems to be that big grocery chains generally have higher prices than say WalMart or Aldi. But they also tend to have the best sales. Checking sales online before going shopping can save gas money and a small piece of mind.

In this case, I made a list of all the sale items that would work with this coming week's menu and their sale prices next to them. I'll take this list when I go to one of the other stores and will be able to compare sale prices with regular prices. Granted, this doesn't work on regularly priced items, but it's one step to take to make sure you're getting the lowest possible price on groceries.

High Money Days

Alot of money has been spent over the past few days, but most of it has been things that are fairly necessary, at least for where I'm at right now and what I'm doing.

1. I had to spend 23.00 on a new drivers license. There's really no way out of this people. However, I did have to pay a 1.00 late fee since my last license was expired. Be aware of your drivers license expiration date and renew before it completely expires. I only had to pay 1.00 but different states have different rules and you can save a good chunk of change by not accruing those late fees.

2. I finally had to get gas for my car. I only had $20.00 to spend, which doesn't get very much these days. It took me just over half a tank of gas. Make sure to find the cheapest gas in your area. I've also heard that the best times to get gas are in the morning. As far as gas mileage goes, keep your tires inflated and your car free of extra weight that's not needed. And be conscience of how much you drive. Walk or bike whenever possible.

3. Food over the past few days has cost a little more than usual, mostly due to our own failure to plan. At Wal-Mart, we spent a whole $10.00. Unfortunately, we only got 1.5 meals out of it, sloppy joes one night and then we had some bakery cheddar buns for tonight's meal. It wasn't a total washout though. We scored some more sugar free drink and cheese, as well as some bananas and cookies for snack purposes. Tonight, we splurged on dinner and ate out, though if you want to go cheap and like pizza, Little Caesar's Hot and Ready deal is great. For 7.50 we got a large pizza and a thing of breadsticks and made it last two meals.

Bratwurst Dinner and Grocery Shopping

We decided to do something different for dinner tonight and cook something a little more wild than just tuna helper or hot dogs. So we decided to go for a bratwurst dinner with french fries.

This dinner was actually a little more expensive than our last few. The bratwurst were on sale for $2.50 for a five sausage package and the fries were $1.79. Our original idea had been to make the bratwurst last for two meals, but after a traumatic over-broiling experience (my bad), we ended up having a larger dinner than we'd planned for. If you add in the bread and condiments we used, this meal for two people came to a little less than $5.00. I thought it felt extravagant, but when we compared it to a typical Taco Bell meal, we came out alright, considering that's less than what most people pay for an individual TB value meal.

SHOPPING TIPS: On today's shopping trip, we visited Dillons. Like many regular grocery stores, I find that their stuff is a little high priced compared to Aldi and even WalMart. But we decided to check it out and by looking at their ad prices, we were able to get some great things on sale.

Oscar Mayer Bologna was on sale for $1.00 each for the larger packs (regular price $3.29). Like hot dogs, not everyone can stomach bologna, but I have no problem with it and actually kind of like it. We bought two packages to stock up for lunches and the occasional dinner.

Kroeger's Bread was also on sale for $0.88 per loaf, which is about 60 cents lower than it's original price and almost 10 cents cheaper than Wal-Mart bread. Again, we couldn't beat the sale, so we got two loaves, which we can use for hotdogs, hamburgers, toast, and sandwiches. If you can get a sale like this and have freezer space, stock up.

We also scored some ketchup and mustard for under a dollar each and a dollar pack of cookies. Dillons is one of the chains that requires a savings card to get the deals. When all was said and done, we went from a grocery bill of $21.00 to one of $14.00 by using the card.

Wal-Mart Shopping

Wal-Mart is a little pricier than stores like Aldi and Sav-A-Lot, but they have a good selection and you can still find some pretty cheap finds if you hunt for it. On our latest WM shopping trip, the BF and I did everything we could to spend the least amount of money and get the most meals out of it.

Bar-S Hot Dogs are only 67 cents for a package of 8. Many people don't like hot dogs at all, and if they do eat them, they have to be beef. If you're like me and don't care, you can make these last for a couple of meals. We paired a pack of them with a loaf of GV bread ($0.96) and some mustard which we already had. Pringles are a dollar per can, so we bought two. This gave us a dinner and a lunch. We also picked up two cans of GV tuna fish (0.56 each) and two GV Cheesy Pasta dinners (like Tuna Helper but semi-generic) for 96 cents each. That's two more meals, four if we halve each one.

We splurged a little on a pack of 98 cent GV cookies. The most we spent was $1.88 for a canister of GV sugar free drink mix. Though we spent over a dollar on it, it's actually the best deal. You get 6 tubs of mix in a canister, and each makes 2 quarts of drink. Since it's sugar free, it's already flavored, so we saved by not having to buy sugar. Once we figured it out, we found it was the healthier and cheaper option.

The total cost for four meals for two people, including dessert and drink: $10.23.

Not too shabby.

Lazy Day Options

Being limited in what you can and can't do because you don't have the money is really tough. What I need to remember is that when I do get money, I do not need to spend it all at once, but by saving and budgeting it, I have a better chance of not finding myself in this position again.

Said position is me stuck at home, not wanting to go anywhere because of the need to save on gas. Grocery shopping needs to be done, but I only want to make one trip, so I'm waiting until the BF gets out of class so I only have to drive once and then park for the night.

Not going anywhere meant having to find something to eat and keeping myself busy all day. Lunch was macaroni and cheese. If anyone had an Aldi near them, I recommend giving it a try. They have mac and cheese for about 33 cents and it's actually comparable in taste to the name brands. That's my opinion, and I'm sure not everyone would share it. Aldi is along the same lines of a Sav-A-Lot. It's a bring your own bag and bag your own stuff place that offers fairly low prices basic grocery goods. The funny thing about Aldi is that you sort of "rent" the cart by putting a quarter in a slot to release it and then getting your quarter back when you return it to the cart corral. This is their way to save on labor. They don't have to hire anyone to go chase after stray carts.

Note: Mac and Cheese is very starchy and carby, and should be served as a side with some sort of protein. As I have no protein in the house and am making do with what I got, it didn't make a bad meal for a lunch.

So what does one do when she's homebound? See list below:

1. Cleaned house
2. Looked for cheap living tips online
3. Engaged in Facebook poking wars with friends
4. Uploaded photos from digital camera onto the computer
5. Played Guitar Hero II

None of these things are an immediate cost to me, though internet does cost most people and if you don't have a digital camera or Guitar Hero, it's not overly frugal to go out and just buy it.

Other things to do when boredom sets in:

1. Read
2. Write a story or a poem
3. Journal
4. Organize something (you may find things to sell for extra money)
5. Watch TV or a DVD/VHS
6. Call a friend (which I can't actually do since it costs me cell minutes)
7. Take a walk

In truth, I'm not going to pretend that anything is that exciting when you'd rather be out driving around and/or spending money. But be aware that there are always options, even when you're feeling extremely poor.