It's Tuesday, Menu Planning Day!

I plan my menu around what's on sale any given week. I shop at Safeway, so that's where I look for bargains.

I'll shop on Friday, so I can take advantage of their Friday only specials.

Some of the good bargains at Safeway this week:

Chicken leg quarters for 69 cents a pound. You have to buy the value pack, but it's worth it. Break them up yourself (cut the drumstick from the thigh) and you save 30 cents a pound! Then freeze some in family size portions for future meals.

Red seedless grapes are 99 cents a pound and you can buy a 6 lb. bag of oranges for $5, so that will be our fruit this week.

Another Friday special is the $5 lb raw shrimp, I'll get some shrimp. A pound of shrimp can feed the whole family. If you're not sure how to cook the shrimp, here's a great recipe from 10 Dollar Dinners:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/lemony-shrimp-scampi-pasta-recipe2/index.html

Safeway also has cereal on sale...Honey Nut Cheerios. Since this is Marielle's favorite, I'll buy 2 at the sale price, then slap on a coupon for save $1. on 2 and pay $1.47 for each box. By the way, this coupon is from more than a month ago. I only clip coupons on items I buy anyway, then I just sock them away and once a week, I look through and see if I have any match ups. It takes only minutes this way.

If you like smoked salmon and I do (this is a guity pleasure for me), it's on sale 2 packages for $4. So I'll buy a package of that, as well, and enjoy some lox and bagels for breakfast a couple of days next week.

I'll probably stop in on Monday and get some of the meatballs. They have a Monday only special of a bag of meatballs for $5. That's a get this deal, go through the quick check and get out of the store, type of buy for me. I like to pair the meatballs with cranberry sauce and chili sause in the crock pot for an easy meal. At $5 a 2 pound bag, that'll make a couple of meals and really inexpensive, too.

My Shopping Trip Today

So today I went shopping. I try to shop only once a week. My last shopping trip was on October 1st and the total then was $54.00. I try to keep our total food budget under $400. per month, but usually it comes out to about $450.

So this trip, the some great things on sale were:

Bagged baby carrots (love these, so easy, great snack) $1 a bag
Pears (got the red kind, all kinds on sale) 99 cents a pound
Progresso light soup: 2 for $3.00 (added a $1 off 4 cans coupon)
Bertolli Meal soup, this is a new product, priced at $7.99, got it for $2.49 with card savings and coupon
Pastrami: $2.49 for half a pound
Bell peppers $1 each
Shrimp ring: $8.99 (I'll use this when the family comes over for Rico's birthday)
Yakisoba noodles: $1 each (These are great when you need a fast side dish to serve.)

So total was $ 190.33, after coupon and club savings, new total $120.84 Savings of $69.49
Plus I got a coupon for $10. off my next shopping trip!

I don't feel like cooking....

That's how I felt last night. It was a busy day and I just didn't feel like cooking. But, I won't fast food it. Too expensive...if I'm going to serve less than healthy, good food, well, I'll make it at home and pay pennies instead of $20 for a quick meal for us.

So, the kids chose Chef Boyardee mini raviolis and I had a Progresso hearty soup for dinner. We paired it with half a loaf of french bread and some fruit.

Mini raviolis, 1 can (the kids split it) 89 cents (on sale)
Bread, 1/2 a loaf 99 cents
Soup, Progresso (0n sale) $1.29
Fruit $2.00

Total cost for dinner for 3 of us, a little over $5.00

Side note on couponing: One way to get coupons for items you use all the time, is to "like" them on Facebook. Many manufacturer's will offer coupons to FB followers, that you can just print off your computer and save money on items you buy anyway.

Another thing you can do, is write the manufacturer, telling them that you like their product and requesting coupons. It takes only a little time, but you'll save money.

If you don't get a Sunday paper, you can also request that the coupons be mailed to you, if you go to the website of the company that makes the coupons. Many will allow you to print them directly from the computer, as well.