HyVee Specials in Topeka Through July 24, 2012

Stock Up on Prego this Week

HyVee is currently holding a "Dollar Days" sale effective July 18-24, 2012.  What jumped out at me in this week's advvertisement was Prego Pasta Sauce for $1.00.  "Prego" is Italian for "You're Welcome". Just what you want in a spagetti sauce, tomatoes, green pepper and oh, yeah, a little arrogance.

Spagetti sauce frequently goes on sale.   Lately, I have seen Ragu running 2 jars for $3. $1 a jar is about as cheap as it gets and personally, I like Prego better than Ragu. HyVee pasta is also on sale for $1. Brown up a package of that 98 cent sausage that was on sale at Apple Market a couple of weeks ago, buy a $1 jar of sauce and $1 jar of pasta for a really cheap, filling meal.

My friend, the beautiful Italian, shared the secret to truly great spagetti sauce is to add some beef broth (for richness) and just a little cayenne pepper (to bring out the flavors). I always doctor up my store bought spagetti sauce, don't you? Spice it up, baby.

My husband doesn't really care for spagetti.  He puts about three stands on his plate and then proceeds to  fill up on garlic bread, which he covers with a thick layer of  meat sauce.  As a result of his indifference to pasta in general, the word "spagetti" has become code in our family for any food one of us dislikes. For example, my son-in-law recently referred to Pancakes as "the spagetti of breakfasts". I agree.

Other deals I took advantage of at HyVee this week included HyVee microwave popcorn for $1 a box (3 bags) , sour cream for $1 and cabbage 2 pounds for $1. 



The Clearance Rack is my Friend



I had to make an emergency run up to Dillon's (more on that later) and while there found these Hormel Peppercorn Fillets on clearance for $1.99.  I think they usually cost around $8-9 dollars. I had a couple of $1 off coupons so they ended up costing a whopping 99 cents a package.  I also found some Naan bread on clearance for $1.49.  Naan is nomally around $2.99. 

Naan is the the most delicious bread in the world.  I remember the first time I ate homemade Naan at an Ethiopian restaurant in Kansas City.  I fell head-over-heels in love with it. The commercial breads are good also (http://stonefire.com/our-flatbreads/naan/).

So based on this week's current sales, clearance rack finds and previous sale purchases, here is my menu for the week:

Indian Butter Chicken (made with chicken that was on sale last week and clearance Naan)

Pork Chop, mashed potatoes and corn-on-the-cob (some of the corn from Target and sale Pork)

Pulled Pork Sandwich with coleslaw (Hormel meat and sale cabbage)

Taco's (with garden tomatoes and fresh salsa)

Hamburgers, homemade fries and probably leftover slaw

Salad (made partly from taco leftovers)

Chicken Pot Pie with any leftover salad

Prego!

Dillon's Odds and Ends

Back to School Specials are Starting

19 cent notebooks

Close Out V05 at Dillons

50 pounds for $6.99 on close out

The sale cycle ends tomorrow so move quickly on these deals.  I forgot to post that many back to school items are on sale at Dillon's. This is the time of year to stock up up on paper, pens and markers. If you miss this sale, I'm sure many other local stores will be running similar sales in the next couple of weeks.  I always try to buy enough notebooks and highlighters to last me a year. 

I also cruised by the discount rack and picked up some chai tea mix at half price and some cheap dog food. The last time I purchased Kibbles & Bits, I paid $27 for 35 pounds.  "This is ridiculous," I thought as I hefted the bag into the grocery cart.  "I can't afford to always eat exactly what I want to eat, so why can the dog?"

I was so excited to find the 50 pound bag of dog food for $6.99.  "Look!", I said as I proudly pointed at the bag of dried chunks. My husband frowned.  "I've heard it can upset your pet's stomach if you switch brands," he replied with concern.  "Well,  it's cheaper to feed him Tums than Kibbles," I retorted.

Since I have began really tracking my household expenses, I have noticed pet food and supplies make up about 10% of my weekly grocery expense.

A friend once commented, "You will never know true freedom until all the kids leave the house and the family dog finally dies."  I found her comment hilarious.  Then at a business conference, I repeated this bit of humor to another woman about my age who responded, "My dog just died". 

I laughed uproariousy at her dry sense of humor. 

"No seriously, my dog of 16 years just died. I am heart-broken without my little Rags," she said, stifling a sob. I never make many friends at conferences.

Our large dog is a light eater but the two little cats demand a mighty gourmet buffet of soft food, preferably with lots of cat gravy.  Then there is the litter issue.  Until recently, I was buying the very expensive clumping cat litter which cost about 8-9 dollars a week. "Why couldn't I just have a gambling problem instead of a cat?" I would think each time I purchased litter.

My cats love to sit outside on the deck all day.  It is apparently beneath them to use the "outside facilities".  Both will lounge outside all day and then literally run to the litter box the moment I let them inside.

 "Pee in the grass, you say old man?  How barbaric!" they seem to sniff.

They even purr with a bit of an colonial aristocratic English accent.

At one point, I attempted to make my own cat litter. Whatever you do, DO NOT make your own cat litter. You are probably already living on the edge by storing diluted fabric softener in a bottle. Especially do not attempt to make your own cat litter out of paper from your shredder.  While it may give you immense emotional satisfaction to line the cat box with your shredded credit card statements, trust me you will soon tire of picking up tiny pieces of paper your cat will most definitely track all over the house.  Even I have my cheap limits.

K-Mart Deal Good Through July 14

Good Through Saturday, July 14

I do not do a lot of shopping at K-Mart. However, this week K-Mart has a decent "Shop Your Way Rewards Members" deal.  You must have signed up through the K-Mart website to be a member but you earn points anytime you show your card (one of those annoying little plastic tags you put on your keychain).  I believe you earn 10 points for every dollar spent at either K-Mart or Sears.  The nice thing about this rewards program is you can redeem your points as cash towards your purchase.  This week the cashier asked me if I wanted to redeem my rewards points.

"What?" I responded. 

Until this point, I had no idea I earned points or could use them towards purchases. Turns out I had $3.74 in "credit" I could have used towards this purchase.  This is amazing because I spend very little at K-Mart.  I suppose this would really pay off if you bought an appliance at Sears or your husband had just purchased a giant toolbox and you had remembered to show your card.  Life is full of lessons and most are not pleasant.

I think I even received a $5.00 rewards card just for signing up for the program.  Anyway, they handed me a $5.00 rewards card the last time I shopped at K-Mart--I'm not really sure how I earned it but decided to redeem it this week.



All FREE

 So the deal this week was buy Oscar Mayer Grilled Chicken Strips for $2.99 and get FREE Ragu Pasta and FREE Barilla Pasta.  You could probably make a whole meal for your family just from these basic ingredients for $3 bucks (Chicken Alfredo, anyone?).  I had that rewards card so I was wandering around the store looking for something to buy for another $2.00.  I am sure the purpose of these cards IS to get you to wander around the store and hopefully buy more stuff. I decided to buy two cans of Chef Boyardee pasta for $1.00 each.  I was expecting to spend a few cents in tax but they handed me back the receipt and told me I still have a dime on my rewards card.  When it seems like it's in your favor, it's better to not think too hard about numbers.

If I was you, I would sign up for the K-Mart rewards program and then go get me some free pasta and sauce.  But then again, I'm not you.

Really Cheap Blue Bunny Ice Cream

HyVee Ad good through July 10th

Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month in 1984. I assume this is what made him such a popular president.  While I could live the rest of my life without ice cream (I am more of a potato chip kind of gal), I know it is loved by most.

Now, head over to:  http://www.bluebunny.com/.  Click on coupons at the top of the page and join their "club".  As a club member, you will be able to print a couple of dollar off coupons.  Using the coupon, you can get some premium ice cream for just $1.99. 

A final note:  many companies make you sign up for emails to receive coupons or other offers. I recommend creating a seperate email account  to sign up for such offers. While I personally don't use "Facebook" to keep in touch with friends, I do have a "Facebook" page (middle name, maiden name) I use just to sign up for coupons.  Many companies require you "like" them on "Facebook" to receive a coupon.  I don't want the hassle of a Facebook account but I do want the coupons.  I use this Facebook account merely to receive offers.

Fourth of July Savings

I recently developed a money-saving class I have been presenting to local women in Kansas.  The class, which consists of a power point about an hour long, demonstrates how to save money on groceries. After all, groceries are most families largest expense after their rent/mortgage. Your banker always demands you make your full mortgage payment but you can control how much you spend on groceries.  

In my class, the most popular element of the power point always seems to be coupons and how to use them to get grocery items for next to nothing.  While this is only one way I teach to save money, I have decided to start posting some of the best deals I find each week in the Topeka, Kansas area. If you have taken my class, you should know the basics. If you would like to schedule a class, please feel free to contact me at ksfarmgirl@live.com. I offer group and one-on-one classes.  It is my hope the class will start you on a path to saving thousands of dollars off your annual grocery bill.  Plus, it's fun!

Last week I was on vacation so I got behind in my grocery shopping.  However, holidays always bring great grocery deals that I didn't want to miss. So yesterday, I made a menu for the week based around what was on sale locally.  Being the Fourth of July, picnic items were cheap.  As I teach, always stock up on sale items.  I'm not talking about devoting a room in your house to shelves of groceries you will just eventually throw out.  No, when things go on sale, simply buy enough to last about three months. Most items go on sale about every 3-4 months so it is not necessary or desirable to stockpile more than a limited supply. 

This week, condiments, hot dogs and hamburger were all on sale. I may feel like steak and baked potato but in order to save money, we eat based on what is cheapest. Here is my menu for this week, based on what was on sale locally:

Tacos (just starting to get a few tomatoes out of the garden to use with the tacos)

Broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl

BLTs and salad

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini and squash (also from the garden)

Homemade Pizza

Hotdogs and grilled potatoes

One night of leftovers or as I like to call them, Delicious Do-Overs

Here are some of the great deals I got this week.  My plan is to post the deals I find early so if you live in the Topeka area, you can also take advantage of local specials.  I imagine most areas in the United States ran similar sales this week.

I purchased these items at Apple Market. The French's mustard was on sale for 98 cents each.  I had a coupon for 30 cents off each bottle so after double coupon each bottle of mustard cost 38 cents.  This is enough mustard to last me a very long time because I hate mustard. The KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce was also on sale for 98 cents.  I had coupons for $1.00 off two.  I purchased four bottles at 98 cents each - two coupons totaling $2.00 off, for a final price of 50 cents a bottle.  In essence, I paid for four bottles what you would normally pay for one.  This is enough BBQ sauce to last our family for 3-4 months. 

I paid 95 cents for the bananas.  Apple Market has what they call "Banana Tuesdays" and sell bananas for 39 cents a pound on Tuesday.  If you buy a lot of bananas, I doubt you will find them anywhere else in Topeka for less. The sausage was on sale for $1.29 a package.  This sausage is usually around $2-3 dollars a package.  I love sausage and it's cheaper than hamburger so I often substitue it in any recipe I can that calls for hamburger.  I bought four packages but then wished I had bought more at that price.  Lucky me, today's Apple Market ad indicates they are selling the same sausage for 98 cents a package.  This is an incredible deal.  I rarely see it for less than $1.00 a package.  Think of all the things you can make with sausage...spagetti sauce, pizza and goulash. Stock up people.   

All together I spent $9.17 (before tax) for the above pictured items.  Of course, I picked up a few other items while I was there since you can't live on BBQ sauce and mustard, spending a total of $26.53. I also bought Lipton Tea on sale for $1.79 for 24 large family size tea bags (about $1.00 less than most local stores). And I have to plug Apple Market's produce...they have some of the nicest in town and often the cheapest. For example, I bought a head of romaine type lettuce for $1.29 which sells at Dillon's for $1.89. I also bought some Kraft shedded cheese for $1.98 a package.

Ever have one of those days?  Yesterday was mine.  I left the house without my cell phone.  Though I grew up without a cell phone, now I feel lost without one.  Worse yet, I forgot my debit card.  I felt pure panic when I couldn't find it in my purse.  Thankfully, I had enough cash to purchase the items at Apple Market and Dillon's number one.  At the first Dillon's, I found these great bread bowls on the clearance rack for 49 cents each, some clearance cake for $1.49 and three containers of coconut pecan frosting on close out for $1.19 each, normally $1.99.  Before tax, the above items were $6.04. 

After running home to get my debit card, I went to Dillon's number two.  I had only planned on going to one Dillon's store but didn't have enough cash to get everything I needed.  Dillon's was running one of their buy 10 items, get $3.00 off now and a coupon for $2.00 off later. While these events can save you money, I find them complicated and a little stressful.  The $2.00 off coupon has a short redemption window so you have to remember to use it right away.  I assume the store hopes you will fail to ever redeem it. 

Anyway, I found these great deals at Dillon's.  A package of clearance hot dog buns for 99 cents, a bottle of Ajax dish detergent for 60 cents ($1.00 - .20 cent coupon doubled), four packages of Hefty storage bags (on sale for $1.19 with purchase of 10 participating items minus .50 cent coupon = .69 cents each or $2.76 for all four), and 4 more bottles of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce for $1.50 or .38 cents each ($4.00 minus $2.50 in coupons). The Yakisoba noodles and Kraft Fresh Taste products were free after coupons.  All of the above items cost $5.85 before tax. 

These were great deals but I still had to buy other groceries totaling $57.34 at Dillon's.  One thing I have learned to do is always add up my coupons before check-out and double check they all were deducted.  I happened to notice this trip that not all my coupons had been credited and had to go to customer service to get it corrected. As I shop, I write everything down as I put it in the cart so I can make sure it scans correctly plus track my coupons.  Dillon's has a policy that if an item scans incorrectly, they will give it to you free.  Plus, I never want to get to the check out counter without knowing exactly what I am spending.  It is amazing how many errors I catch. 

Altogether, I spent $81.56 on groceries this week plus $8.89 tax (total $90.45).  I saved $26.44 with coupons and clearance items.  I do not keep track how much I save by stocking up on sale items though I imagine it would be the most significant savings.  After all, if all your meals are primarily made with items you bought on sale, the savings adds up. This week I spent around $1.84 per meal per person (21 meals x 2 people = 42 meals).

I hope to post some of this weeks deals tomorrow so you can share in the savings!  Let me know what you think.  Is this post helpful?