Saving in East Texas!

We all like to save money. and in these times it is imperative that we all stretch our dollars to the max.  I have always had a limited budget,  plus I think it is just my nature to try to save as much as possible.  This seems even more important today.

Last month we saved a lot at Dollar General Store by using coupons and taking advantage of sales and promotions.  I'm no super couponer, but I use coupons if it is something we use, and try to combine coupons with sales for even bigger savings.

Each week Dollar General Store offers a coupon for $5 off on a $25 purchase. Sometimes I print it off from their on-line coupons, or if we pickup an item from Dollar General during the week we have a -$5 coupon on that receipt.  We use this for paper plates, drinks, dish wash soap.and other household items that we use. We use other coupons in conjunction with the $5 off one for further savings.  This time, the All laundry detergent that we use was on sale for $3.50 instead of the usual $5, and I had a coupon for $1 off on two cans of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. (There is a good Crockpot meal that is quick and easy using Dinty Moore Beef Stew to make a stroganaf)That made for a savings of $7.50 ($5 off the order, a $1 coupon and the $1.50 sale savings) plus we saved by getting some DG brand products.  The only way I might have done better would have been to have had a cents off coupon for the All in addition to the sale--next time!  As it is I got $28.64 in product for $21.14 tax included.  That's pretty close to 25% savings the way I figure it.

This week, Dollar General sent me a deal for digital coupons.  I signed up for this as it offered $2 off on a purchase of $2.01 or more.  There are other advantages to the digital format including one which is particularly good for me, that of making a list on-line.  I'm sure there will be other perks, too.

Brookshire Brothers is also changing the format for their free and reduced price coupons.  I can't wait to see what goodies they will offer and how to get them.  We have often bought $10 worth of sale items at BB to get the freebies in the past.  We have gotten many free items this way.

We have also learned that Bluebell ice cream lovers can get 2 coupons/month for $1 off on a half gallon of Bluebell.  This is at their website bluebell.com.  We usually take advantage of the sales at Brookshire Brothers and with the sale price and the coupon we get a full half gallon of Bluebell ice cream for $3.00.  That sure beats going to the local DQ or Sonic for treats.

Happy Savings!

More Budget Stretching Meals and Store Freebies

I want to tell you, everyone should take advantage of responding to the on-line questionnaire when you get a receipt at the store offering you a chance to win Whatever amount of money.  A while back I decided to go to Brookshire Bros. website and do the questionnaire.  Maybe I could get lucky and win the $1000 in gas or groceries.  Well, so far I haven't heard that I won anything big like that, but each week in my e-mail I get a couple of coupons from Brookshire Bros. and some yummy looking recipes.  Each week one coupon is for a FREE item.  Of course, you have to buy $10 worth of groceries to get the freebie, but when shopping the other specials in the store there is no problem getting a $10 order.  So far, I have gotten an appliance light bulb, a good sized container of Organic Chicken Broth, a large can of Cream of Mushroom soup and one of Cream of Chicken Soup, all for FREE. I have a coupon for this week for a 1 lb. chub of Angus Pride Ground Chuck.  I will be shopping at Brookshire Bros. Monday or Tuesday to take advantage of that.
Also last Saturday, I had a had a coupon for $2 off any package of Swift All Natural Pork.  It turns out the Swift Pork Country Ribs were on sale.  I was able to use the coupon and get an even better bargain.  With the $2 off, I got almost 4.5 lbs of meat for $6.33 or only $1.42 per lb.  The sale price was $1.88/lb which was a good deal anyway.

Monday's are usually Super Busy and Hectic to say the least. Makes for an excellent CrockPot cooking Day.  Because of procrastinating, or just plain taking off on Sunday there is a lot of routine housework to do, and then  I have a TOPS meeting and weigh-in, try to work out at Curves, see after Mimi, tutor after school time, shop at HEB since I'm in Lumberton anyway, and so on. Anyway, on Monday morning I pulled out the crockpot and set the Ribs to cooking.   I put salt, pepper,  and marjoram on the meat and seared it in the cast iron skillet before putting it in the crockpot. I added about half the bottle of Barbeque Sauce--happened to be honey mustard flavor, but have used most any kind--to the top of the meat. I then added the onion soup mix on top of the meat and put about 1/2 of the container of Chicken Broth in the crock pot.  I started it out on high then turned it to low and let it cook.  I was not sure if it might be too salty with the chicken broth and the onion soup mix and having salted the meat also, but it turned out delish. 

Crockpot Pork Ribs on a Budget

I baked some sweet potatoes in the microwave and by mid afternoon, we had a yummy meal of pork ribs and sweet potatoes.  I got the sweet potatoes before Christmas when they were like 17 cents a pound. Unfortunately, I should have gotten more as they are all gone now.  (Hubby did cut some sprouts off to plant in his container garden on the front porch, though.)  Anyway, the meat and the potatoes were fantastic.

And with this package of meat, we ate at least 3 full meals during the week.  One day, I made mashed potatoes to go with it. and had steamed some fresh broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.  Another day, I fixed rice which we mixed with the gravy and what meat was left.  I think we even made sandwiches out of it once.
Sometime during the week, I fried okra.  I use the frozen cut okra when fresh okra is not in season. Another time I fried up some fresh squash that I had left in the fridge.

I hope everyone can benefit by getting the on-line coupons just by responding to a quick questionnaire.
Happy Cooking!