Yesterday we made our first trip to Winco.
Before leaving Jared asked me if it was even worth driving 25min? I told him that from everything I had heard it was in fact really worth it. So we packed up the munchkins and our $150 spending limit, and headed to the Puyallup Winco, which was Jareds pick.
I'll get this out first. I don't know if this is one of their older stores or what but it seemed a little old and forgotten I guess you could say. It almost has that dirty feel but is not at all. It was actually quite clean. We might try the Lacey store next time just to compare(and compare the drive too).
So things I loved. The produce was AWESOME! I did not see 1 fruit fly, nor did I see an beyond purchasable item. I am always finding not good fruit/veggies in the commissary and Safeway. The Honey Crisp apples were how ever quite a bit more expensive, and they are my favorite. I loved their selection of vegetarian things but it could be improved, I was just surprised they had anything!
Jared and I noticed something that is quite possibly our favorite part of Winco. Fresh Almond Butter, Peanut Butter, Clover Honey, Blackberry Honey and Orange honey. You grab a tub and fill it up to how much you wish.
We chose Almond Butter and Orange Honey. Our only complaint is lack of directions. We were not quite sure what to do. Its all price per pound but you don't know how much the 1 size container holds. There are scales just behind you for measuring the contents of the self serve candies and such, but I was worried about cross contamination with the almonds. Jared took the leap and weighed each container. The good side though is that you cant beat $4.12 for a little over a pound of fresh almond butter!
Moving on, we stumble upon this area with things in bins and dispensers on the wall. Its my heaven. Chocolate chips; dark, semi sweet, butter scotch and melting chocolates. All in a row ready to be dispensed!! I look down and there are bins with hunks of chocolate in them! We move down to see sugar, pure cane sugar, and brown sugar! Flour, cake mix, butter milk pancake mix, biscuit mix and so much more!! There were even recipe cards for making biscuits and things with the products right there!
We unfortunately skipped getting any of this because our screaming 10 month old was getting some looks(or should I say we were!).
Next was the Meat and dairy. Jared concluded that the meat was comparable if not more expensive than the commissary, everything was of good quality though. We will have to do a little more comparison though next time just to make sure.
We did however get an AMAZING deal on our turkey. The deal for their turkey was that if you purchase $50 worth of stuff the price of the turkey will drop to .26 per lb.
We knew we would easily buy $50 worth of stuff so why not! We have only had 3 Thanksgivings together so we aren't really particular with turkey brands. Its just going to be us so we only needed a smaller one, we did how ever want enough for some left overs. So our turkey was 13.66lbs at .26 came to a total of $3.55. How can you beat that!
As we wandered threw the rest of the store we saw so many great deals. This wasn't a stalk the shelves kind of trip for us so some of the isles we didn't need anything in.
We did how ever find things we didn't know we needed or had not planned on getting this shopping trip. Like Ammonia, Hair dye, special french toast bread(a treat) and a new tooth brush because of the prices!
Im not going to list everything this time mostly because some of the names on the receipt are confusing and its just long! So I will just high light a few things.
Items bought- 76
Total spent- $113.01
Orange Honey 1.07lbs @ $3.51/lbs- $3.76
Almond Butter .98lb @ $.20/lbs - $4.12
Turkey 13.66lb @.26/lbs - $$3.55
Wheat bread 2 @ .86/loaf - $1.72
Kraft Mac n Cheese 4 @ .68/box - $2.72
Average amt spent per item at Winco- $1.49
Average at Safeway(using last weeks 35 items and $81.80 total)- $2.34
What Ive learned
*Have a list!! We were overwhelmed at first, lost direction and ended up back tracking threw the store once we got in the mode!
*DONT go when everyone else is off work/out of church/up for the day. Next time we will go early in the morning(if a weekend) or I will go while Jared(and the rest of the world) is at work!
*If at all possible leave the kids at home. Both Rylan and Gabe got restless because it was taking so long. We were making sure we were getting good deals so it was quite a process.
*Learn how to bag quick! You do have to bag your own stuff which is fine with me but that also plays into the previous advice.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Winco Here I Come!!!
That is if Jared ever gets out of bed(yes it is almost 2pm!)
Anyway, I recently started getting sales fliers for Winco. Ive heard of Winco before, that it was an amazing discount bulk grocery store. People in my home town would drive 2hrs away just to make their big shopping trip because Winco was just that good! Well I must say in my 22yrs of life I have never set foot in one.
As of late our main grocery stops have been the Commissary and Safeway, but Ive really been trying to get our food bill under control. Ive been to grocery outlet before, its quite good but I don't buy a whole lot of frozen meals, or pre made boxed things so I usually don't find much. Sometimes the quality isn't that great either.
I don't really do coupons because of this either.
So today we may make the only 25min trip to Winco and see what its all about. We are in need of quite a bit of the staple items. I think I will set our budget at $150 to get us to December 1st. We still have meals already for the next 4 days so $150 for 7 days seem totally do able!
When and if we go I will make sure to add an update!!
Anyway, I recently started getting sales fliers for Winco. Ive heard of Winco before, that it was an amazing discount bulk grocery store. People in my home town would drive 2hrs away just to make their big shopping trip because Winco was just that good! Well I must say in my 22yrs of life I have never set foot in one.
As of late our main grocery stops have been the Commissary and Safeway, but Ive really been trying to get our food bill under control. Ive been to grocery outlet before, its quite good but I don't buy a whole lot of frozen meals, or pre made boxed things so I usually don't find much. Sometimes the quality isn't that great either.
I don't really do coupons because of this either.
So today we may make the only 25min trip to Winco and see what its all about. We are in need of quite a bit of the staple items. I think I will set our budget at $150 to get us to December 1st. We still have meals already for the next 4 days so $150 for 7 days seem totally do able!
When and if we go I will make sure to add an update!!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wallgreens comes threw again
Wallgreens does some awesome photo deals.
30 3x6 prints for $3!!
Just make an account(super easy and no cost)
Upload your pictures(you can even add frames and crop).
Put in your order and code.
Have them printed out at your nearest Wallgreens.
Go pay your minuscule $3 and walk out happy!!
30 3x6 prints for $3!!
Just make an account(super easy and no cost)
Upload your pictures(you can even add frames and crop).
Put in your order and code.
Have them printed out at your nearest Wallgreens.
Go pay your minuscule $3 and walk out happy!!
Things never go as planned!
So I just roll with it, or really bounce along begrudgingly
Jared scheduled has been pretty hectic. He leaves here a little after 5am and is not home until about 5pm. Then leaves for Jui Jitsu close to 6, he has been going every night since getting his second stripe so I have had no time to go grocery shopping.
So last night I did a little shopping at Safeway...at 10pm, which made it nice and quiet! I don't normally do our major shopping there because I can get it cheaper else where. Our main stop is usually the commissary but I would like to add Grocery Outlet in again and maybe Winco, just to cut costs again.
I went in to Safeway with $100 in cash and was only planning on getting a day or 2 worth of food.
UNTIL.....I saw some deals, but Im still new at this so I probably could have found better else where.
I managed to spend %81.20. I paired what I had at home with the deals and got at LEAST 6 dinners. Some breakfast stuff and a snack. There are still some things we need but they can wait until next week.
Here is the breakdown.
Gerber Baby food stage 3 60z jars. 4 for $3.00
*purchased 8 for a total of $6
Safeway "cherrios" 14oz box. $1.99
Tree Top Apple Juice 64oz bottle. $1.99
Franks Red Hot sauce 12fl oz bottle. 3.25
Eggs Large 1 dozen. 1.99
Lucerne sliced cheese 12oz pkg. $2.49
Skim milk 1 gal. $2.99
Safeway frozen Stir fry veggies 14oz bought 3 @ 2/$4. $6.00
Safeway Frozen Broccoli cuts 32oz. $2.50
Safeway Whole Wheat English Muffins 14oz. 1.29
Safeway Whole Wheat Bread 24oz, 2@$1.50 $3.00
Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh lunch meat 8oz, BOGO $8.58
*purchased 2 got 2 free.
80/20 Ground Beef 3.51 lbs $6.98
Beef Stew Meat 2.33lbs $7.67
Safeway Chicken Wings 4.17lbs $8.30
Honey Crisp Apples 3 %3.23
Celery 1.55lbs @.99/lb $1.53
Jumbo yellow Onions 1.47lbs @.99/lb $1.46
*2 onions
Carrots 2lb bag @1.69
2 coke zeros $3.58
Crest Toothpaste $3.99
Total- $81.20
Total Savings- $22.20
So what meals will I make you ask??
Dinners-
*Broccoli Beef Stir fry (with more veggies)
*Beef Stew
*Hot wings
*Mini Burgers
*Soup and Sandwiches
*Spaghetti and meat sauce
Sides-
*veggies
*Pasta Salad
*Lentils and rice
Breakfasts-
*Cereal
*Eggs(and variations off)
*English muffins
Snacks-
*Apples
Jared scheduled has been pretty hectic. He leaves here a little after 5am and is not home until about 5pm. Then leaves for Jui Jitsu close to 6, he has been going every night since getting his second stripe so I have had no time to go grocery shopping.
So last night I did a little shopping at Safeway...at 10pm, which made it nice and quiet! I don't normally do our major shopping there because I can get it cheaper else where. Our main stop is usually the commissary but I would like to add Grocery Outlet in again and maybe Winco, just to cut costs again.
I went in to Safeway with $100 in cash and was only planning on getting a day or 2 worth of food.
UNTIL.....I saw some deals, but Im still new at this so I probably could have found better else where.
I managed to spend %81.20. I paired what I had at home with the deals and got at LEAST 6 dinners. Some breakfast stuff and a snack. There are still some things we need but they can wait until next week.
Here is the breakdown.
Gerber Baby food stage 3 60z jars. 4 for $3.00
*purchased 8 for a total of $6
Safeway "cherrios" 14oz box. $1.99
Tree Top Apple Juice 64oz bottle. $1.99
Franks Red Hot sauce 12fl oz bottle. 3.25
Eggs Large 1 dozen. 1.99
Lucerne sliced cheese 12oz pkg. $2.49
Skim milk 1 gal. $2.99
Safeway frozen Stir fry veggies 14oz bought 3 @ 2/$4. $6.00
Safeway Frozen Broccoli cuts 32oz. $2.50
Safeway Whole Wheat English Muffins 14oz. 1.29
Safeway Whole Wheat Bread 24oz, 2@$1.50 $3.00
Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh lunch meat 8oz, BOGO $8.58
*purchased 2 got 2 free.
80/20 Ground Beef 3.51 lbs $6.98
Beef Stew Meat 2.33lbs $7.67
Safeway Chicken Wings 4.17lbs $8.30
Honey Crisp Apples 3 %3.23
Celery 1.55lbs @.99/lb $1.53
Jumbo yellow Onions 1.47lbs @.99/lb $1.46
*2 onions
Carrots 2lb bag @1.69
2 coke zeros $3.58
Crest Toothpaste $3.99
Total- $81.20
Total Savings- $22.20
So what meals will I make you ask??
Dinners-
*Broccoli Beef Stir fry (with more veggies)
*Beef Stew
*Hot wings
*Mini Burgers
*Soup and Sandwiches
*Spaghetti and meat sauce
Sides-
*veggies
*Pasta Salad
*Lentils and rice
Breakfasts-
*Cereal
*Eggs(and variations off)
*English muffins
Snacks-
*Apples
Monday, November 15, 2010
Blogs I follow
Just thought I would share some blogs I have been following in my attempt to cut our food bill, live greener, live simpler and eat healthier
Eat at Home- Saving money on food and menu planning
Small Notebook- Everything from saving, food, D.I.Y, living simple, and even a section including what her husband thinks.
Money Saving Mom-Another awesome all encompassing blog, complete with store deals and coupons.
According to Kelly- A Funny, crafty, honest read!
NannyGoat- Some amazingly crafty women here!
Eat at Home- Saving money on food and menu planning
Small Notebook- Everything from saving, food, D.I.Y, living simple, and even a section including what her husband thinks.
Money Saving Mom-Another awesome all encompassing blog, complete with store deals and coupons.
According to Kelly- A Funny, crafty, honest read!
NannyGoat- Some amazingly crafty women here!
Starting Over
So The first week of November gave us a good reason to start back on track with our Envelope method.
The boys and I went to vising my mom for the first week since Dj was back in town. Lucking my is amazing and provides all our food when we are there, even snacks for Gabe!
We had a halloween party the week before so Jared was left here with quite a bit of food, not that he eats much anyway. That along with some friends who came over wanting him to cook steaks for them lol, they were nice enough to leave half a bag of potatoes here that we used last week.
When I returned home Jared had the idea to just eat out of the pantry and wait until the 15th to get more food. I agreed and got to work going threw all the left overs in the pantry. Luckily though we do get WIC and had 1 check left on it with milk, juice, bread and peanut butter/lentils.
So I was able to make a whole weeks worth of food out of the odds and ends in our pantry and fridge.
Now this week and paycheck we are starting out pretty empty in the pantry lol.
Here is what we have on hand
*half package of Rotelle Noodles
*2 cans of cheddar cheese soup
*2 large cans of tomato/spaghetti sauce
*1 small can olives
*1 can re fried beans
* White rice
*4 medium potatoes
* stewed tomatoes
* green beans
* Frozen mixed veggies
What we are buying
* 10lb bag of chicken breasts
* 2 cans cream of chicken soup
* 1lb ground beef
* 2lbs stew meat
* 1 bag frozen broccoli
* 1 bag flour
* brown sugar
* 2 dozen eggs
* Milk
* Cheese
* 4 cheap steaks
* bread
* Pillsbury pizza dough
* Red and yellow peppers
* Frozen mixed veggies
* Tomato soup
* 2 onions
* ground turkey
* Mustard
* Ketchup
* Lunch meat
* 1 head lettuce
* Toilet paper
* shaving cream
* Garbage bags
* Face wash
* dishwasher tabs.
Meals for the week
Cheesy Slow cooker Chicken
Broccoli Beef and Veggies
Chicken strips
Steaks
Turkey Loaf
Pizza
Soup and Sandwiches.
Obviously quite a bit of what is on our list are things we need to stock back up on or are not food items. I only did 1 week of a menu to keep us on track. Set options makes it so I dont come up with some thing random out of what I have, leaving other random ingredients that make nothing. Next we should only have to buy the perishables like milk and fresh veggies. We will have enough chicken for dishes next week and some of what Im making will have enough to be frozen for next week!
The boys and I went to vising my mom for the first week since Dj was back in town. Lucking my is amazing and provides all our food when we are there, even snacks for Gabe!
We had a halloween party the week before so Jared was left here with quite a bit of food, not that he eats much anyway. That along with some friends who came over wanting him to cook steaks for them lol, they were nice enough to leave half a bag of potatoes here that we used last week.
When I returned home Jared had the idea to just eat out of the pantry and wait until the 15th to get more food. I agreed and got to work going threw all the left overs in the pantry. Luckily though we do get WIC and had 1 check left on it with milk, juice, bread and peanut butter/lentils.
So I was able to make a whole weeks worth of food out of the odds and ends in our pantry and fridge.
Now this week and paycheck we are starting out pretty empty in the pantry lol.
Here is what we have on hand
*half package of Rotelle Noodles
*2 cans of cheddar cheese soup
*2 large cans of tomato/spaghetti sauce
*1 small can olives
*1 can re fried beans
* White rice
*4 medium potatoes
* stewed tomatoes
* green beans
* Frozen mixed veggies
What we are buying
* 10lb bag of chicken breasts
* 2 cans cream of chicken soup
* 1lb ground beef
* 2lbs stew meat
* 1 bag frozen broccoli
* 1 bag flour
* brown sugar
* 2 dozen eggs
* Milk
* Cheese
* 4 cheap steaks
* bread
* Pillsbury pizza dough
* Red and yellow peppers
* Frozen mixed veggies
* Tomato soup
* 2 onions
* ground turkey
* Mustard
* Ketchup
* Lunch meat
* 1 head lettuce
* Toilet paper
* shaving cream
* Garbage bags
* Face wash
* dishwasher tabs.
Meals for the week
Cheesy Slow cooker Chicken
Broccoli Beef and Veggies
Chicken strips
Steaks
Turkey Loaf
Pizza
Soup and Sandwiches.
Obviously quite a bit of what is on our list are things we need to stock back up on or are not food items. I only did 1 week of a menu to keep us on track. Set options makes it so I dont come up with some thing random out of what I have, leaving other random ingredients that make nothing. Next we should only have to buy the perishables like milk and fresh veggies. We will have enough chicken for dishes next week and some of what Im making will have enough to be frozen for next week!
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