Monday, March 1, 2010

Monthly Food Purchase Update #2 of 12

Grab a chair people...
this is going to take awhile...

*****

It's really quite mind boggling how inexpensive it is to eat in America...
Well... when you're eating corn syrup that is...

But what exactly are we eating?

February 1st double coupons $21.46


Chocolate binge...$3.22...The flavored water was free...

Maybe instead of trying to buy junk food for ultra cheap...
I could strike up a bargain with myself...
(because that's what (coupon) addicts do)
I could tell myself...Yes Mavis... you can bring junk food into the house...
as long as you can get it absolutely free...

And by making myself stick to this 1 simple rule...

FREE junk food or NO junk food...

I will able to:

#1 Still get my coupon fix...

#2 Lessen the junk food that comes in our front door

What do you think? Huh Huh?...is it a deal?

PLUS... if I get it for free I don't have to show you the picture...
because I didn't BUY it...right?
(I'll still show you the pictures... it's too much fun not to)

Hmmm...



Stop the presses...

3 out of 5...

Local Organic chicken, fair trade coffee, and local whipping cream...
there may be hope for me yet...
and if labels are to be believed... the cucumbers and crappy romaine lettuce were grown in the USA...somewhere... Is lettuce suppose to be that pale?


Have you ever wondered why all the "organic" people are always so skinny?


It's because they can't afford to buy a lot of food!

Holy Crackers... I cannot believe I paid that much for chicken...

But don't get too excited... because the very next day I scored some baby goldfish crackers for .25cents a bag... and YES... that's a packaged seasoning mix for General Taos Spicy Chicken...


If you could buy sour cream for .29 cents a lb...how many would you buy?


I bought four...


I now have enough laundry detergent to last me until July...
and FYI... that candy was for someone else... who does not live here...

Laundry detergent $1.71....


Paper plates for the handsome husbands lunch...
I pack the handsome husbands lunch everyday... I have tried and tried many things over the years... like a lunch box, a thermos and of course plastic re-usable containers... but nothing ever seems to make it back home... so I usually make up a plate of food for him, wrap it in saran wrap and send him on his way each day...I figure it's the lesser of 2 evils... if I don't pack him a lunch... then he would just go out and buy his lunch...and we all know how expensive that can be...


The tortillas were free, avocados & red peppers were .50 cents each, mayo 1.24, crasins 1.50 each, pistachios 2.99, lime .79cents (rip off!) and 5 local pears for $1.00


Did you see the .06 credit for reusing my bags? A few more of those and I might just have enough for a gelato... in PARMA, Italy


$4.30 @ Ben & Jerry's...
If you are going to be near a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream store and want a free cone... I highly suggest you go to their website and sign up for their "chunk mail". You will get a coupon for 1 free ice cream cone... but if you bring 2 kids to the ice cream store and only have 1 coupon... be prepared to pay $4.30 for the second cone.



$4.79 will buy you 10 slices of bacon from a "happy pig"...


I found this at the local health food store...


Okay... so I bought 6 Super Bowl Sunday newspapers...
for $9.00... It's like one of the biggest coupon inserts of the year...
Some people buy lattes... I buy the newspaper...
Please don't hate me for killing trees...
I'll recycle it into paper mache birthday pinatas...


Milk $2.79, FREE chocolate milk, Cream Cheese .49 cents each, salad mix .35 cents each...


But lookey here... a $2.00 off coupon if I take their survey...
which I did... as soon as I got home...


Cheese Nips FREE, Ritz cracker .50cents each,
cinnamon rolls $1.31 each, gum .25 cents each.

AND... $4.00 off my next trip at the grocery store...

OKAY...
Do you remember how I said I would REALLY start trying...
after February 7th?

I meant what I said...
I decided to check out the above books from the library...
again...
I read See You In A Hundred Years and Plenty last year around this time...
these books and several others like it were what inspired me to grow crazy amounts of vegetables in the backyard... and I think it's time I read them again...
I picked up Diet For a Small Planet on a whim... so that will be a new read.

The thing I think is soooo terribly interesting about the whole eating cheap processed junk food thing is... that when you can buy it for next to nothing... it seems like such a bargain... like you'd be crazy NOT TO BUY IT...BECAUSE IT'S SOOO CHEAP...

But the strange this is... is that I don't really even eat the junk food... (except the chocolate of course)... it's the handsome husband (mostly)... and the monkeys...

Maybe also... it has something to do with the fact that I can't walk outside and pick anything from the garden either...

And another thing... two years ago we were spending an average of $814 a month on food...even last year we spent about $632 a month on food... Holy Crackers... what the heck was I buying with all that money? If I can get our monthly food/liquor/toiletries bill down to under $400 a month this year...I will be VERY pleased... and If I can bring less crap food into the house I'll be even happier...

********

Okay, here's what I bought after Feb. 7th...



2lbs of carrots .99 cents


5 cups of instant oatmeal... .55 cents
But we picked up a bunch of cans on the side of the road on the way home...
So maybe in the end the oatmeal was close to free?
And anyway... it wasn't really about buying oatmeal for cheap...
it was our very own half-time show... Mavis style.


Would you believe that after I receive my Rite Aid rebates I will have paid only $1.24 for all of the above items? I can hardly believe it myself. I have a sneaking suspicion that filling all those Christmas "health & Beauty" gift baskets is going to be a piece of cake!

1-800-HELP-MAVIS-NOW...



Here is a more civilized purchase $3.34
water chestnuts (for stir fry) olives (for pasta salad) and CANDY...
actually... I also picked up two boxes of Kotex for FREE as well... but thought it would be weird if I was taking pictures of feminine hygiene products... then later I was kicking myself for not including them in the picture...because really...who cares? But apparently I was too lazy to go dig them out of one lucky recipients Christmas gift basket...re-arrange the the photo shoot and take a picture. So I do apologize for that...nobodies perfect.



$9.71 for all that (it would of been $2 less but I grabbed the WRONG box of tea) ...FYI...I'm not keeping the cereal... I AM SO SICK of seeing cereal in my cart... BUT IT WAS FREE... and I'm sure someone down at the food bank will be happy to get it.



$ 1.30... and NO I don't have a cat...


Honestly... coupon clipping should be an Olympic sport.


$1.72... free Day Quil & Band Aids...yipee!


.57 cents...and NO... I don't have a baby either...


I'm out of control...


$4.93...free cookie mix for the food bank...
clearly I need to do ALL my non perishable shopping with double coupons...
to make up for the full price I'm paying for fruit & veggies.


$20
The girl who thinks she's a bird had some peeps over for dinner
and they wanted to make stir fry...
and they wanted egg rolls & weird rice crackers too...
and because I am a super cool mom I bought it all for them...
WITHOUT ANY COUPONS...
I nearly fainted when the cashier told me my total.
FYI... I have NO IDEA how the pear jelly bellys ended up in my cart and later in my mouth...


Some people pay big bucks for art work...
but not me...


The last thing I want to hang on my wall is something that was mass produced in China by someone who doesn't care that they're making 10,005 pieces of the same thing...
Nope... I'd rather pay the artist personally for their work...


Via Ben & Jerry's $22.05


$1.13
Free light bulbs at Target (for my brother's gift basket)
and fancy hair gel (that smells like a girl) for the handsome husband.


A years supply of make up for $2.08


The cashier at Albertson's thought she rang up my order wrong because the total came to over $1.00 (as in the total was to high). The dish soap was on "sale" for $2.50 each... but I had 3 $1 off double coupons so I ended up with 3 bottles of dish soap for $1.58


About every 10th transaction or so the register will spit out a coupon for $2 or $3 off your next order... which is awesome. Since when I shop I usually do about 6 transactions (you can only use 3 double coupons at a time) Somehow this transaction came out to .30cents!


Okay... are you ready for this one?
I had a coupon for every single item on this table (of course). See the Olay body wash? When you bought 3 of them in the same transaction, you receieved a $5 Target gift card. Also, if you buy 3 there is a $15 rebate you can send in for from the Olay company. And to make this deal even sweeter... If you buy 1 Venus Razor you get the body wash for free (with a coupon) and if you buy 2 razors you can get another $5 target gift card as well. Confused?

2 Venus Razors @ $6.99 each
3 Olay body washes @ $5.50 each
= $32.92 with tax

- $4.00 razor coupons
- $1.00 body wash coupon
-$11.00 buy 2 razors get 2 free body wash coupons
- $10 Target gift cards for buying 3 body wash & 2 razors
- $15.00 mail in rebate for buying 3 body washes
-----------------------------------------------
-$8.08

They paid me $8.08 to take this stuff (razors & body wash) off their hands

Actually, I ended up with only a $4.27 profit because I picked up the other stuff too...
(all of which I had coupons for)

It's crazy I tell ya! Not only do I end up with a bunch of free crap, I made a little green too!

1. I get free stuff
2. I get to give away free stuff (via gift baskets & the woman's shelter)
3. I get to make money on free stuff (think Parma, Italy)
4. Does it get any better than this?
5. I think I should make myself a leotard costume with a big red cape with a big C for coupons!


12 packages of FREE TUNA...

Not only was the tuna FREE...
but the register spit out a $2 off your next order if you take a survey coupon (which I did)... I was so excited I nearly peed my pants...


Then... I found ANOTHER coupon for more free tuna...PLUS FREE IVORY SOAP... so I used the $2 off coupon (for taking the survey) and bought some milk for .79cents.


But wait.... it gets even better... then I found 6 coupons for $1 off right guard deoderent.. and I noticed it on sale for $1 at Safeway... so I picked up 6 free deoderents too... I only bought the banana's so the manager wouldn't throw me out of the store...


Okay... and not to brag or anything... but these were FREE too!


Actually my total came to $3.60... with $4 off my next purchase...
so really... I made .40 cents for taking it off their hands...
(I did this same transaction several times)


And I figured since they were giving it away for free...
I might as well stock up on some free laundry detergent for the Christmas gift baskets...
I may need to rethink the whole "gift basket idea"... perhaps "gift pallet" would be a better idea.


I picked this up at the last minute for our trip...
I think I paid around $8 or so...


I took this picture while I was standing in line at Rite Aid
(you know... to mix it up a little)
After my coupons and a $5 rebate I paid .71 cents for 4 boxes of sandwhich bags and a bottle of free shampoo...


More Organic Chicken... $18 and change...

$2.68 at Rite Aid... not bad...
Don't even think about rolling your eyes over the candy...
it's for the Easter Egg hunt...

There were a couple of other purchases I forgot to take pictures of... like the one where I bought 8 avocados and 4 red peppers...

and another time I bought sugar snap peas and sprouts...
and beer for the handsome husband...
Also included is all the newspapers and milk...
*****
Believe it or not I'm actually trying...
I think I just lost focus there for a few weeks because of the whole new and exciting coupon addiction... which I have Mrs. H to blame for 100%...



And a few things to keep in mind: our freezer is stocked with free range organic buffalo & and organic angus beef, and our cupboards are full of home canned goodness too... and we still have about 1/2 a freezer full of fruit & veggies. Still that doesn't offset all those stinkin crackers (even if they were free or less than .50cents a box)

One things for sure...

We now have a year supply of the following items: laundry detergent, dish soap, deoderent, shampoo, hair gel, body wash (which I've never even bought before in my life...but it was free) razors, and basically a 6 month supply of crackers & candy.

******
Be sure to check back...
I have a new & exciting challenge for myself...
I think it will help!

9 comments:

  1. Wow. Wow. Wow. I think it's awesome that you are able to donate so much stuff to the food pantry. Diet for a Small Planet is an excellent read. Prepare to be challenged!:-)

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  2. I cannot WAIT for our Christmas Pallet!!!!

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  3. Dear Mavis,

    The looney bin called. They want all their crazy back. :)

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  4. You scored some great stuff! I would've peed my pants...if I were you.

    I am starting to get jealous of your store that does double coupons. My little store does nothing of the sort and I think I'm missing out on some serious fun.

    I didn't like "See you in a hundred years"---thought it unrealistic and showy.

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  5. Mavis! Holy Tamale you really scored some great deals. Mrs. H said to tell you that she thinks you are pretty darn awesome. You are doing so good, tons of free stuff via your coupon ambitions, freezer and pantry still well stocked, and a garden with chickens to boot.

    I can't believe how much organic chicken costs, what's up with that? I was out pinching the girls (chickens) legs today after I read what a gold mine organic birds are. Makes me glad I don't really eat meat that much...unaffordable.

    Those books sound very interesting, I have not read any of them and have put them on my library reading list...hopefully they will have at least one of them.

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  6. Mavis ~ you continue to amaze! What an incredible post! I especially like it that you provide us with the 1-800 HELP MAVIS NOW phone number...it may come in handy! :)

    Have a fabulous week!
    Blessings,
    Camille

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  7. That is just awesome crazy! I want to know about your French fry experiment please.

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  8. Thyhand... I dropped off 3 bags today!

    Leopard Girl... If I were you I'd have my calendar marked... I think you can spend your money on a trip to Paris next year instead of buying toiletries...

    Tori... be nice or I may give your gift pallert to someone else :)

    JJ... I know ... I should probably get some depends... especially with the deals coming up next week!

    Mr. H... I cannot believe how much joy Mrs. H has brought to me from her one little comment about that coupon website... Holy Tamales...it's crazy!

    Camille... I may have to drive up to the border with my coupon purse and take you grocery shopping with all my coupons!

    Mrs. Mac... check the post from January 2nd... have you ever seen the movie super size me?

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  9. Come and meet me in Blaine! Fun times!! :)

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I LOVE comments BUT if you know who we are...due to the fact that we are currently enrolled in the international witness relocation program because of a moon shining incident in Dingle, Ireland involving 3 Mutton, a pair of red shoes and a road flare .... please do not reveal our personal information.... You know.... like names, places, or our favorite brand of toilet paper :) Hey, thanks!