Super Saving Saturday

Crystal over at MoneySavingMom hosts a Super Savings Saturday Link Up and thought I would participate. I've really been getting into the money saving groove and gotten some great deals this week. I let our cupboards and fridge get really low on just about everything so I was cringing making this week's list.

I really lucked out at Dillon's though with the awesome specials they had! Here's a pick of what I purchased. I realized though, AFTER I took this picture and uploaded it, that I had put away 3 bags of Birdseye Steamfresh veggies and 2 bags of Gorton's frozen fish. I had also forgotten about the 10 lb bag of potatoes.

The price I paid may still seem like a lot to those of you who rarely spend more than $40-$50 bucks a week. However, if you look close you'll see I got two 3lb rolls of ground chuck, 2 family size packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts (enough for 4 meals), a corned beef brisket, a 1lb bag of honey ham lunch meat (we use for brkfast sandwhiches as well as for lunches), and a value pack of chicken thighs!

I got all this for $86.36 and saved $84.32!

You may be wondering where some other essentials, like milk, are. Well I stocked up and purchased 4 gallons at $2.88 each on Tuesday before the sale switched. So that should last us a week! lol No, they might last a week and a half!

I was so excited when I left Dillon's and started breaking down all the meat into freezer bags. With all I purchased, and a few little things I still had in the freezer, we have enough meals for at least 20 days, and that's not including days we'll do leftovers!

I could list all my deals but instead here's the link I used to snag up most of these deals you see in the pic. Visit MotherhoodOnaDime for this weeks Dillon's specials with coupon match ups.

Happy Shopping!

Cut Laundry Cost: DIY Dryer Sheets

So anyone who knows me would probably call me frugal (but then you have not met my Mom)

but my recent SAHM status has opened my eyes to ways I'm NOT being frugal. I'm starting to see so many ways to cut costs not just on groceries but other items around the house.

I never realized how spoiled I was in the laundry department. I've almost always used BOTH fabric softener AND dryer sheets...EEEK! I don't know if any of you have seen the price of these items but even with coupons they are pricey. I know you can use vinegar in the rinse cycle for a super cheap alternative and the vinegar smell disappears. I'm still a girl who loves smelly good things though.

So I came up with a low cost way to still have my laundry smell good but be able to at least drop dryer sheets from my household supply list. Last week my husband's socks were getting stretched out and he was ready to pitch them. I decided to cut them up and use them for rags to clean the bathrooms and such. One night when I was doing laundry and we had long ran out of dryer sheets I decided to pour a small amount of liquid fabric softener to the sock and tossed it in the dryer. They work great AND you could usually use the same "sock" twice without adding more softener.

The other added bonus is you can toss the dried sock into your drawer of "delicates" when you're not doing laundry or place in your linen closet to keep the items smelling extra fresh!

Menu Plan Monday

It's Menu Plan Monday again already. I have to say that so far (it's only week 2 though) I look forward to Monday's because it's when I get to share my meal plan with all of you! It was time consuming to go grocery shopping Saturday (6 stores in 4 hours, but NO kids!) because I had specific things I needed and they were on sale at certain locations. The good news though is all the stores I went to are only 2-3 miles from one another so it's not like I was wasting money on gas or it would not have been worth it! I think I did pretty good. I spent $132.00 for two weeks worth of groceries!

I went ahead and made a menu plan for two weeks instead of just one for the simple fact of saving time and less trips to the store means less cash coming out of my pocket! It felt good and a weight was lifted. I guess just knowing what you're eating for two weeks and knowing that you're saving money by going to the store with a plan makes a huge difference!

So here is what our dinners look like for the next two weeks:

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches with Curly Fries

Chili and salad

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Chicken Quesadillas with Spanish Rice

Tater Tot Casserole & Salad

Chicken Pot Pie

Stir Fry

Sloppy Joe's with fries and veggies

Herb baked chicken thighs w/ garlic,parsley & butter noodles with broccoli

Chicken Tortellini Alfredo

Pizza

Hamburger Helper (what can I say, I need an easy one at least one night of the week!)

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Soup

As you can see I haven't added which days we're eating what, like I did last week. I kind of just pick what will work for us on which nights. For example, I don't pick something like Chicken Pot Pie that takes 45 minutes to bake, when I know we have church, play dates, appointments, etc.

So there you have it! I hope to link to my recipes once I get some added.