Due to some unusual expenses (personal property taxes, higher than usual power bill etc..) I decide to turbo-grocery budget this week! Rick is out of town so the grocery list & budget are average, but I think we did pretty good!

I shopped at Kroger, and pretty much went generic (I didn't have any good coupons anyway). Just about everything was either generic or on sale. Here's what I got:

Kr. bagels - $1.00
Kr. frozen veges - $1.00
Bananas (1.64 lbs) - $0.80
Kr. cream cheese - $1.00
Navel Oranges (2) - $2.00
Romaine Lettuce - $1.49
Cucumber - $0.83
Kr. apple juice (frozen) - $1.39
10 lb bag of potatos - $1.99
Kr. hot dogs - $0.89
Kr. shredded cheddar cs - $1.50
Kr. bologna - $0.89
Kr. wheat bread - $1.00
Kr. french bread - $1.00
Kr. hot dog buns - $1.00
Kr. crackers - $1.22
Kr. popcorn - $1.19
Kr. baked beans - $1.00
Kr. chicken noodle soup (2) - $1.09
Kr. frozen pot pies (2) - $1.16

Grand Total (with tax): $24.16

We did have some things already in the pantry & freezer. Here's what we made to eat all week:

DINNERS:

- hot dogs, baked beans & corn
- chicken pot pie with fruit
- grilled cheese w/chicken noodle soup
pancakes & fruit
- pasta with spag. sauce & garlic bread (I already had the pasta & sauce)
- baked potato & salad
- grilled chicken breast with pasta & salad (already had 2 frozen chicken bst)
- salisbury "steak" (frozen turkey burgers) with mashed potatoes, garlic bread & salad

LUNCHES & SNACKS

- leftovers, pb & j sand., bologna sand., popcorn, crackers, cut up veges, fruit, popcorn, bagel w/cream cheese

BREAKFAST

- grits (already had those), pancakes, french toast, certeal (already had 1/2 box of cheerios), bagel.

OK health police, don't come after me! Yes, I bought hot dogs and bologna, but my kids are in love with that crap, and when I can afford it I buy the turkey, healthy kind. But on "lean" weeks like these, they got what was cheapest. Otherwise though, I had plenty of salad, veges & fruit to go around.

I pat myself on the back...I did really good this week. Good savings to all, and to all a good night!

Holy Moly, how do they stay in business?? I got a coupon in the mail for a free 8 pc crazy bread and crazy sauce, with the purchase of any pizza. Considering you can get a hot & ready pizza for $5.55...I'm seeing an entire meal for the me & the kids this weekend if we decide we HAVE to splurge.

I just had to give a shout out to the little Roman man down the street...thank you Little Caesars.

Ok, so I saw "The Coupon Mom" on TV twice last week, on "The Doctors" and "The Dave Ramsey Show". I love a good deal so I decided to check out her website and see what it's all about. Has anyone else checked it out?

I'm usually not a big brand person, I go with the generics unless I REALLY notice a difference. Plus, the idea of cutting coupons and comparing them week-after-week with the sale ads, just seemed like too much. I'm a working mama, I really don't want to go to 5 different stores every week to scour for deals!

But after watching her save like 50% on TV, I went to the website to see how it works. What's cool is that the website keeps track of the weekly ads and what current/recent coupons (either printed online or found in the newspaper), and what the final price is. I usually shop at Kroger (or Walmart), so I was pretty excited to see the deals, as Kroger doubles coupons. Some stuff is like, 60% off! I just signed up a few days ago (it's free) so I haven't really tested it yet during a shopping trip.

I can definitely say that if something's cheaper generic, I will go that route. And I won't buy something I normally wouldn't just because it's a good deal. But if I can get a sweet deal on something I could really use,I will. Too bad there aren't coupons for fruits & veges...

My husband Rick and I are complete foodies. As terrible as it may sound, one of the hardest things about debt-busting is dealing with our grocery budget. I love to cook and going to restaurants used to be our past-time. There are people like my dad, who can eat the same sub sandwich & spagetti nearly every day... but I have never been like that!

We are in week 3 of a "real" grocery budget, and every day it seems like I am tweaking it. I actually don't know certain things like, how often do we go through a carton of milk? How many diapers does our youngest use in a month? I quickly started at a $150/week budget, but I realized it should be lower for a family of 4. But I'm not gonna lie...it's hard to menu plan and not order pizza after a busy day at work!

I'm sure I will post many entries on this subject. I'm pretty proud of myself tonight. After a tiring day at work, I was not at all in the mood to cook, but I got in the kitchen and made somewhat boring, but cheap, grilled cheese sandwiches. Rick made homemade french fries (baked, not fried) that were really tasty. Yes, it took some time, but it was so much healthier and cheaper than fast food fries. Yay for us! If you're wondering why I named this entry "potato butts", it's because that's what Rick calls the last slice of the potato, with the most skin on it. That slice makes the perfect kind of fry, yum.

I will post next week's grocery budget & list, after everything is bought and I can account for the cost. It will be a little lower since Rick will be out of town, but I'd still love to get any input on this subject!