Tuesday, February 5, 2008

I am all that is woman.

In case you were wondering how the $1.00 (or less) per meal plan works, I will shed some light on my grocery shopping techniques. I buy the Sunday paper exclusively for the coupons (I prefer to read my news online because I don't like how the newspaper turns my fingers black). I shop at a grocery store that does double/triple coupons, and I read the ad online every week for a few different stores to see what's on sale. If something is both on sale and has a coupon, I will almost definitely buy it. If I need something for which there is no coupon, I buy the store brand. Today I went grocery shopping and for the first time, I saved more than 50% on my final bill (I payed $20 for what would have been $42.) Highlights included a jar of liquid hand soap for 4 cents and a box of Quaker flavored oatmeal packets for 88 cents (11 cents/ meal). I felt like a baller.
Dinner this week: I made 6 dinners of pasta primavera for around $3.50: I bought high-protein pasta for around $1.75, a jar of Ragu light Alfredo sauce for $1.00 when it was on sale a few weeks ago, and a bag of frozen vegetables (of which I used about half) for $1.00 on sale. I put my own herbs into the sauce to make it taste nicer. It averages around 55 cents per meal.
Besides not eating out unless it's an occasion, and spending as little money on groceries as I can, the other keys to the $1.00 per meal or less plan are that if I make something gross I have to eat it anyways, and if there is free food I have to eat as much as comfortably possible. I did, however, refrain from grocery shopping in my mom's pantry last weekend while I was at home.
Here is a picture of my sister and I from the weekend:

1 comment:

Shannon said...

I am really jealous of your coupon genius. The highlight of my Sunday morning is to cut coupons out of the newspaper and see what is on sale for the week. Ben doesn't understand it, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.