Cheap Grocery Shopping

I don't spend very much on groceries. Most months it is about $300. Many people are amazed and want me to "give them my secrets". The following is about the best I can do for that. I am sure that many of you have children who need to eat a lot more than mine do. Many probably wouldn't be happy cutting down their meat. I live in a big centre, and many live in smaller places that don't have access to the big chains that might give them cheaper prices. Also, there may be differences in prices in different areas. (It should be interesting for those of you from the states to compare some differences in prices, as I live in Canada).

Here is an example of a cheap grocery day shopping trip (May 6,2008)

Key
Red = sale price
Blue = my comments

First Stop: Save-On Foods

Alfa Sprouts $1.28
Asparagus ($3.70/kg) $1.59
Betty Crocker Fruit by the Foot $3.59
(Note: I would normally never purchase the above but I had a coupon to get it free)
Baby Carrots (bag of) $2.98 x2
Bakipan Yeast (pkg of 3) $1.99
(for Cinnamon Buns I plan to make this month)
Bassilis Lasagna (frozen 2.27 kg) $9.99
Breakfast Sausage (bulk) $5.99
(This is 24 sausages in total, which I split up into 8s for 3 family suppers)
Canada Corn Starch $2.89
Christie Ritz Chips $1.69
Classico Alfredo Sauce $2.99 x2
Cream Cheese $3.59
(for the cinnamon buns again)
Dare Cookies $2.00 x2
(Note: Again I would not normally buy cookies, but dd missed an opportunity to have cookies of this certain type at a church thing, and so I told her I would get some on cheap grocery day – they turned out to be on sale 2 for $4- yay!)
Dairyland Whipping Cream $2.79
(again for the cinnamon buns)
Dairyland Sourcream 500ml $1.99 (store coupon)
Dairyland 4L 2% milk $3.29 + 0.02 recycle fee (store coupon)
Five Alive frozen juice concentrate $0.80 x10
Garlic x2 ($2.82/kg) $0.30
Golden Delicious Apples ($2.60/kg) $1.85
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal (bulk) $7.69
(the girls have “sugar cereal day” on Saturdays and the family fave is cinnamon toast crunch :0) )
Gold Seal Flaked Tuna $0.79 (store coupon)
Green Pepper (x1) ($4.39/kg) $1.12
Lean Ground Beef (bulk, approx. 4.5 lbs) $9.16
(This was my best deal, although it wasn’t on sale, so maybe I’ve discovered something that I can use all the time! Regular packages were priced more than twice as much. I took this home and split it into 5 pieces and froze it in sandwich bags for use during the month. )
Hamburger Helper $2.00 x4
(We don’t eat this very often, but it was on sale and this is how I got that free Fruit by the Foot above – buy 3 Hamburger Helper, get a free Fruit by the Foot)
Honey Ham (from the deli, 150 grams for sandwiches) $2.78
Strawberries (907g) $2.99
Lily White Corn Syrup (35 bonus points) $3.69
(normally I would buy this at Superstore for a better price, and stock up because it is the favourite of 3 out of 5 house members, but I was surprised by an outage and needed to get 1 “emergency” bottle. :0) )
Caribbean Chicken (from the deli, 150 grams for sandwiches) $2.65
Maple Sausage (375 g, 14 sausages)$3.99
Onions (x2) ($1.30/kg) $0.49
Minute Rice (bulk) $9.99 x2
Olafson Whole Wheat Pitas (pkg of 6) $3.99
(for homemade mini-pizzas)
Parsley $0.59
Cheemo Perogies $2.49 x3
Sliced Pepperoni for Pizza Making (from deli, 100 g) $1.32
Red Pepper (x1) ($6.57/kg) $1.68
Scott Paper Towels (pkg of 6) $4.99
(I also used a $1 coupon on the paper towels)
Shredded Mozzarella (400g)$7.49
Shreddies (620 g) $2.49
Sugar Peas (200g) $1.68
V8 Splash $2.46 + 0.20 deposit +0.02 recycle fee (store coupon) x2
(I buy V8 splash for my 2 younger, but mostly my middle who don’t like most fruit, it is hard to get their servings in)
Capellini pasta (450g) $1.99
( normally I won’t pay more than $1, but I needed it for a recipe)
Western Family Bathroom tissue (24 rolls) $9.99 (store coupon)
Western Family Creamed Corn $1.19 x2
Western Family granola bars $1.50 x2
Western Family sliced mushrooms (fresh, bulk pack) $3.99
Western Family Jungle Pals pasta $0.99 x2
(think Zoodles, we have this for lunch about once a month)
Eggs, large (12) $2.29
Western Family Linguine 900g $2.89
Western Family low salt bacon $3.99 x2
Western Family Peaches and Cream Corn, Frozen 1 kg $2.99 x2
Western Family Petit Peas, Frozen 1 kg $2.99 x3
Western Family Pineapple chunks, canned $1.09 x2
Western Family Rice Cereal (Rice Crispies) (700g)$3.49
Western Family Sierra Mix (trail mix,1 Kg) $7.69
Western Family tuna, canned $0.99 x2
Western Family white mushrooms, fresh $1.99
White Potatoes (5) ($2.16/kg) $3.05

Subtotal $239.01
Minus 4.59 coupons (fruit by the foot and scott paper towels)
Minus $35.16 (15% off Tuesday)
Balance Due $200.79

Second Stop: Safeway

Safeway soda crackers (900g) $3.67
Generic Frosted Flakes (bulk, in bag, 1 Kg) $4.99
Pecan Pieces (75g) $2.92
(once again for those cinnamon buns)
Trophy Munchie Mix (bag of dried fruit, I Kg) $4.99
Canada Dry Club Soda 2L bottle 3/$5.00 + 0.60 deposit +0.09 recycle fee
(this is hubby’s thing, I usually buy him 2 or 3 bottles at cheap grocery day for the month. Normally I get them at Save-On for $0.80 per 2L (no-name), but they were out this month)
Dare Bear Paws (banana bread) 2/$5.00
Dream Whip ( box with 4 envelopes)$3.69
Lean Cuisine frozen dinners 2/$7.00
(I stock up on these when they are on sale. I use them for the times when I am home alone and in a hurry and there are no leftovers – about once a month. Ie. When the kids sleepover at Grandma’s)
Snow White Large Eggs (12) $2.11
Lucerne Skim Milk 4L $4.23 +0.02 recycle fee
Lucerne 2% milk 4L x2 $4.23 +0.02 recycle fee
Imperial Soft Margarine $6.98 x2 (1.36 Kg each)Buy One Get one Free = 2/$6.98
Fantastik Brush $6.69
(Again not something I would normally get, but I had a coupon to get a free one)
60% whole wheat bread $1.69 x4
Olafsons Bagels $3.29
(I wouldn’t normally get bagels either but I needed something to use up the extra cream cheese from making the cinnamon buns! :0) )
Maple Leaf Country Kitchen Ham 800g $10.99
Imitation Crabmeat (454 g)$3.99
Bananas ($1.48/kg) $1.04
Red Seedless Grapes ($2.84/kg) $1.12
Seedless Watermelon($1.08/kg) $6.46
Romaine Lettuce 69 cents each x3

Minus $6.29 fantastik brush coupon
Minus $10.08 (10% off Tuesday)
Tax $0.45
Balance Due = $85.59

This month was kind of a “splurge” month for me somewhat. I am trying some new recipes this month and I find that that always makes the bill a little higher because until you have decided to use it as a “regular”, you don’t know how much to buy, how often, what the good prices are for those ingredients and you haven’t stocked up on them at best prices. I also haven’t spent very much in the last three months because I was too busy and therefore my stores of food at home were depleted so I had to spend a little extra this month. I won’t be able to keep it under $300 this month, because these two bills total $286.38. I will still need to buy about $64 more dollars on milk for the month and there will probably be another $30-40 in other items that are on sale when I make my milk trips

What I will likely feed my family this month:

Breakfast: we almost always eat cereal for breakfast. My mom comes for about one weekend a month and she makes pancakes or cream of wheat for breakfast while she is here. My oldest dd makes crepes about once a month.

Lunch: We often have leftovers for lunch. About 5-10 days we have sandwiches. Once a month we have Zoodles. Once or twice a month we have soup. About 3-6 times a month we have a “snacky lunch” (ie. Trail mix, crackers, fruit and veggies, etc.). My oldest and I will sometimes eat fried mushrooms on toast or make a crab-melt (artificial crab and cheese on toast) for lunch.

Suppers: Ham will last for three suppers. Hamburger Helper for one supper. Sweet and Sour Meatballs with rice for two. Meatloaf for two suppers. Sausage with Perogies or other for 3 suppers. Spaghetti with tomato sauce (no meat) for 2-3 suppers. Mini- pizzas for one supper. Fettucine Alfredo (no meat) for 2-3 suppers. Chicken Fingers for 2 suppers. Lasagna for 2-3 suppers. My mom comes once a month and puts all of my odds and ends together and makes fried rice which lasts us about 3 suppers. She also usually makes a Stir Fry that lasts us for 2-3 suppers. One supper is usually at my in-laws house. One supper the girls are gone and I will eat my Lean Cuisine.

I have mainly listed the meat above. With the meat, I usually serve rice, noodles, or perogies for the starch. For veggies, I serve whatever there is fresh, salad, or frozen or canned veggies. We have milk with every meal (my daughter would like to add, “This is probably why none of us have ever broken a bone”. :0) )
( I don’t have it on this month but most months we also have salmon for one night and we have stuffed chicken breasts one other night. Other things that we occasionally have that aren’t on this month are tacos, wraps, BBQ burgers in the summer, quiche, chicken wings, Shake n’ Bake chicken drumsticks, and very rarely also tuna helper).

New Recipes I am trying this month: This month I am making grilled potato fans as a side dish for one meal. I am making Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns as an extra. Mushroom Bacon Bites as a side/appetizer. Mushroom corn Casserole as a main dish. Oven Parmesan (potato) chips as a side.

How to save money on food:

1. Eat out rarely to never (you get used to it and then you don’t miss it)
2. We only order out about 2-3 times a year
3. Buy the majority of your groceries on customer appreciation/ discount day
4. Know your prices!
5. Shop around- when making my lists for cheap grocery day, I go through the flyers of all 4 grocery stores near me and make lists. I go to the 2 grocery stores that have the best deals for that week.
6. Also as cheap grocery day prep – clip coupons and go through them before you go ( I spend about 3-4 hours on cheap grocery day prep and the actual shopping part in total. The rest of the month is just short 20-30 minutes each time (about 5-6 times- every time we need more milk).
7. When there is a good bargain, stock up!
8. Always keep your eyes peeled for things that you will need, even if it is down the road (ie. sometimes I plan birthday parties for the kids for the weekend after cheap grocery day so I can get all the supplies at a discount or if you know there is a pot-luck or special occasion coming up, remember to include needed items on your cheap grocery day list.
9. Eat meatless suppers a couple times a week
10. Limit portions of meat on other nights. No-one truly needs to eat 9 oz. of meat or more in one sitting- blech!

WebQuests

I found the following entry on Prufrock's Gifted Child Information Blog

Imagine you’re a middle school social studies teacher and your assignment is U.S. history. You have a small group of students who are quite capable of learning more than the standard fare. Unfortunately, you don’t have time to design and lead them through a separate curriculum. An alternative would be to compact their curriculum  and present them with a WebQuest, such as The Effects of the Cotton Gin on Life in the United States: Different Perspectives.  

As teachers, we need a bag of “educational tools” from which to draw. No one teaching method should be used when working with students: instead, we need a repertoire of techniques from which we can pick and choose according to the individual and circumstance. The use of WebQuests is one such tool that can be used for differentiation in the classroom either with a small group or for a student to use as an independent study. WebQuests contain a list of teacher-screened Web sites that can be used to do research and complete specific tasks within a defined structure. When using these with gifted students, the tasks should be more complex than with the regular population. WebQuests are most often used with children in upper elementary and middle schools.

 

There are three different ways that teachers can apply WebQuests:

1.      Use a WebQuest that has already been created and is available on the Internet.

2.      Take a WebQuest that has been created and modify it to meet the needs of your students.

3.      Create your own WebQuest.

 

For sources of WebQuests that are already created, take a look at

• WebQuest.org


• Best WebQuests.com


• iWebQuest.com


• WebQuest Collections

For sources to modify existing WebQuests, see

• Adapting and Enhancing Existing WebQuests

For help in creating your own WebQuests, check out

• WebQuest.org


• WebQuest Taskonomy


• InstantProjects.org


• WebQuest 101

Finding Mentors

I know I will lose this info if I don't put it on here. :0)

How To Find a Mentor

It's been a while...

I wanted to share this great link for ideas for writing.

91 Ways to Respond to a Book

Life Goes On…

There really is life after TV. Gasp! I used to watch two television shows faithfully:Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives (and then I added October Road this fall). I put up with the here and there episodes for a while, but before they stopped airing everything because of the writer’s strike, I had already stopped watching. There are so many more constructive ways to spend my time…like, uh…Facebook. Hee hee. Now that things are supposed to be getting back to normal, every once in a while I realize it is a “TV night” and check to see if “my show” is on, but so far…nada. I really don’t feel like checking anymore. Maybe I will spend the time doing something I have always wanted to do like learning Latin, or maybe I will just play alot more Scramble on Facebook...only time will tell.

Early Childhood Checklist For the Child Who is Not Yet Peaceful

This is a list that was being passed along through one of my email lists. Love it!

Early Childhood Checklist For The Child Who Is Not Yet Peaceful

* Someone to behold the child's face with joy, hold her, hug her, and treasure her for herself alone.

* Someone to read chapter books aloud for twenty to thirty minutes a day, at a level three years beyond the child's reading level.

* Someone to recite poetry every day, a new poem each week.

* Someone to sing every day, a new song each week.

* Someone to tell delightful stories of the child's own life.

* An atmosphere of open curiosity and inquiry, in which everyone in the family treasures learning.

* Responsibility for caring for himself and his own things as well as contributing to meal preparation and the care of the house, garden, and pets.

* A two-hour weekly limit on all screen media - movies, videos, TV, and computer games - combined.

* Freedom from being dragged around on errands.

* Freedom from the cynicism and sarcasm appropriate to later years.

* Parents who say no cheerfully and mean it.

* Parents who wait until their children are in bed to listen to music, watch movies, play computer games, and watch TV programs, even the news, that are not appropriate to the children's ages or that would give children more media hours than is best for their development.

* Parents who establish and uphold a family child-rearing culture that is appropriate to the child's age and who support age-appropriate independent thought and action and age-appropriate role in decision making in as many areas and as often as possible.

Fallin' Off the Bloggin' Wagon

The crazy train made an unscheduled stop at our house. See you soon.

Grown-up Time Book Review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The Life of Pi is written by a Canadian author and has not only reached National Best Seller status, but has also won the Man Booker Prize. This book is plain great and that is all I have to say about that. So, let’s fill up some space with my favourite quotes. ☺

"I have nothing to say of my working life, only that a tie is a noose, and inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he is not careful.”

“It was a huge zoo, spread over numberless acres, big enough to require a train to explore it, though it seemed to get smaller as I grew older, train included. Now it’s so small it fits into my head.”

“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”

“Come aboard if your destination is oblivion –it should be our next stop.”

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

A Bit O' History

Our oldest daughter is in confirmation at our church and learning about Martin Luther right now. We missed the session where they watched the Luther movie so we borrowed it and watched it as a family. I always find that I remember things better when I watch a movie or a show about it (visual learner, you think?). ☺ For this reason, I have decided that I would like to build a collection of historically based movies. This one will definitely be on the “to acquire” list. An overview of the life of Martin Luther can be found here.

And Now for Something Completely Different…

I found this article on 100 ways to save money. I have read so many lists like this that there wasn’t too much that I didn’t already know. However, I believe this is the most thorough list I have ever seen, while being so compact (some could expand on this and justify selling it as a $20 book). I do a lot of these things, but there are some on this list that I could be doing and am not, so reading it is a gentle reminder that there are more things that I could do if needed/wanted. The one that was most interesting to me was #78: Make Your Own Stuff. While I don’t think I would make my own laundry detergent as dh would likely have a cow, I just might be concocting some home-made goo-gone when my bottle runs out (which should be about 5 years from now☺). Now I just need instructions on how to make a home-made housekeeper that will make use of my home-made goo-gone.

When you don’t know what else to do…make popcorn

I’m just going to get it over with – just get into the flow of the blog like I have been doing it for years. There is no reason a second post has to be any more less or more important than the 200th, right?
I have been hearing some pretty gross things about the stuff that goes into microwave popcorn packages, so I have been asking around about popcorn makers. I was thinking about something like this whirley pop. The most popular response when I asked how a family popped their corn was overwhelmingly the ol’ pan on the stove method. We never did this in my house so I always thought it would be tedious and possibly resulting in a bunch of burnt popcorn with the smallest change of factors. I tried it tonight with wonderful results! I coated the bottom of the pot with oil and placed 3 kernels inside. Then I put on the lid, turned the stove up to medium and waited for those first kernels to pop. As soon as they popped, then I added a half of cup of kernels (put the lid back on)and shook them about every 30 seconds until they started to pop. Then I waited until the popping slowed and removed the pot. There were hardly any kernels that didn’t pop, none were burnt, and it filled a large popcorn bowl. I was very impressed!
As if that weren’t exciting enough, (yes, I get excited easily) we were watching a version of Alice in Wonderland that I have been hoping to find for ages. I watched this movie so much when I was a girl that I memorized it! It was originally a made for TV movie and so the copy of it I had was taped onto a blank VHS tape, with blips of commercials here and there and a little bit of “snow” added in as we didn’t have cable. I finally found it on DVD this week and eagerly anticipated the opportunity to watch it with the kids this weekend. It did not disappoint. It was not one of those things that you think is great when you are young and then you are thoroughly disappointed wth when revisiting it as an adult. It is peppered with lots of great stars such as Red Buttons, Sammy Davis Jr., and Carol Channing as well as some surprises like Ringo Starr. This Alice in Wonderland held it’s “wonder” for me.

What's in a Name?

Picking the name for a blog proved to be quite stressful for me. How can you sum up what your entire blog will be about or even maybe who *you* are in just a few choice words? Well, I couldn’t do it. The name of this blog is just a nifty name that I finally settled upon, and it may turn out that it has nothing to do with who I am or what this blog is about.
My favourite word lately has been autodidact (my previous favourite word was eclectic, meaning selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas). The definition of autodidact is a self-taught person. I believe I first encountered this word on my favorite blog: Mental Multivitamin. Although autodidact may describe me, and eclectic may describe my homeschooling stlye, and even though those two things are a big part of my life, it does not sum up my whole being.
...and this blog, I want it to be about whatever comes to mind that I feel like sharing. I may want to share some thoughts about being frugal, a day in the life of my homeschooling family, a review of a book I think is super (whether for the kids or me), some learning tips, some crazy thing that happened, and maybe an ah-ha moment or two.
Welcome to Adventures of an Autodidact!