Frugal Friday!

Happy Friday Ya'll!

We are inching closer to fall, and I can't wait. As soon as the workday ends, I have an afternoon planned hustling around at Michael's and Hobby Lobby to gather up supplies for some fall inspired projects to get started this weekend. I know what you may be thinking... "This girl's crazy! It's 100 degrees outside, and she is already obsessing about fall!" I just can't help myself.

Friday Night football officially kicks off tonight, and a part of me wants to sit on the porch and listen to the screaming fans and marching bands at the Vestavia High School Football game tonight. The stadium is only a short walk away, so I'm sure I will be able to hear all the fun. The best part is that SEC football kicks off in 8 days!!! Go VOLS and HOGS!

The point of this post is not to go on and on about fall or football but to tell you that I had a great grocery shopping week! I think we are finally getting the hang of saving at the grocery store and making it work for us. I did use a few coupons, but in case you haven't noticed, it's hard to save on fresh fruits and veggies or meat. We don't eat much out of a box, so I've had to adjust a little from my first post about couponing. I found the best savings comes when shopping from the store holding the best sales for the week on the stuff we eat then head to Wal-Mart for the rest. I have tried my best to stay away from Wal-Mart for several personal reasons, but if we want to save money, it's nearly impossible not to go to that store!

So this was our game plan, and it payed off big time this week. We stuck with the Buy 1, Get 1 free items paired with a few coupons at Publix who had a great weekly ad with food we eat and amazing sales on produce. The best part of Publix is you don't have to buy both Buy 1, Get 1 items. You can buy just one at half price, which is great for two of us who have limited space. Then the rest of the groceries, which included canned goods and paper goods were bought at Wal-Mart. The real savings were a result of the menus I chose, which were all MEAT-FREE. This week we went vegetarian for dinner, but I did buy Boar's Head lunch meat because what's a sandwich with out some meat?

This week, we spent $63.00 by planning based on the best sales, by going meatless for dinner, and by sticking with a list.

For $63.00 we bought groceries to cover over 17 meals from Monday - Sunday, including

Breakfast
Oatmeal for me, Michael makes peanut butter tortillas

Lunch
Sandwiches and Chips for both of us

Snacks
Fruit

Dinner
Squash and Zucchini Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce, Salad
Black Beans and Rice Tacos with Skillet Corn, Peppers, and Tomatoes
Veggie Quesadillas
Eggplant Parmesan, Salad
Homemade Miso Soup and Vegetable Fried Rice
Breakfast for Dinner

I think we ate pretty well for $63! It takes time and planning, but it's worth it. This week we did really well because we figured out what works best for US. As a whole, we did not save as much as we wanted to this month because we were buying things we didn't really eat simply because we had a coupon. Because we didn't buy things we eat, we found ourselves going back to the store to buy items we really wanted. My advice is to scan the store ads to pick out who is offering the best sales then circle or list the foods you want to buy, find your favorite couponing site to complement the items you've circled for extra savings (if you score big time, that's great, but don't stress if you don't have coupons), then create recipes that you'll actually eat with items on sale. Make a strict list and stick with it. Don't buy stuff you won't eat or don't need!

Happy Frugal Friday. I can't wait to go grocery shopping again and challenge myself to save more money!