Cooking From the Pantry January Update

Ok, so I haven't been the best at keeping you all posted about my pantry challenge I started a couple months ago. If you have been following me on my journey, you know I challenged myself to "cook" and "eat" from my pantry and freezer and gave myself a $20 per week budget. That budget is done monthly and I use the cash envelope system in order to track my spending. In December I was able to stay under budget, and because of a week trip to my parents up north, I was extremely under budget! Because of this, I decided to donate the rest of my monthly budget to my little sister who is 23 and trying to start cooking and couponing for herself, so I took her shopping!

This month I have been "tracked out" and return to work/school this week. My pantry was getting depleted, until Super Doubles at Harris Teeter last week stocked me right back up for under $20! I have kept under budget so far this month, and plan to continue "cooking from the pantry" as I am highly stocked up again!


Stay tuned for more updates, and my February grocery budget plan along with more recipes! You can also join me in my challenge and post your recipes and ideas for eating well, creating recipes, and staying on a budget.

--Savvyteacher

Series: Cutting Your Grocery Bill

It's time for another post about cutting your grocery bill. If you follow the blog then you know that one way I am working to cut my grocery bill is by eating from my pantry and freezer stockpile and living off of a $20 per week budget. Last time I told you about shopping the manager's specials, see here if you missed that!

Many of the NC locals know that Harris Teeter has triple coupons this week. Today I want to share with you how you can use triple coupon weeks in order to stockpile, save money, and cut your monthly budget. Something I learned about a year ago when I first began couponing is to think monthly, and not weekly. I used to only buy the groceries I would eat in one week, until I learned how stockpiling can seriously cut your grocery budget. Of course there are things you must buy week to week like produce and some dairy products, but overall if it's a deal, I stock up.

Many stores nationwide offer triple coupons on certain weeks of the year. This means they will triple coupons up to 99 cents, making many items free or very inexpensive. This is when I stock up on the pantry basics like rice, noodles, soup, pouched/boxed potatoes, baking products, cleaning products, and whatever else seems to be on the great deal that triples week.

Why triple coupon? Because you save lots of money and can stock up on items. So far this week at triple coupons I have saved over $150.





Spent Total OOP (out of pocket) on groceries pictured: $19.93
Saved with Coupons: $156.18

**Over $150 saved just with using coupons! That is almost 90% savings on the groceries purchased!


Tips for Managing Triple Coupon Week

#1 Get several copies of the paper in the weeks before your store has triple coupons. For our local store, they offer it Wed-Tues, so I think of triples in two parts. I use all my existing coupons the first 4 days, then I get more copies of the paper that comes out that Sunday, and use the new coupons over the last 3 days. We have a 20 coupon limit, and depending on how good the deals are I may go everyday, or a few times.

#2 Print coupons from smartsource.com and coupons.com. These sites offer a variety of coupons, and if you check the several sites that may post about your local store's triples week you can check to see what you might want to print.

#3 Be organized! I used to walk around with a fist full of coupons I wanted to use. I didn't find this to work real well because it took so much time! Now, I use an envelope system (*see picture above). The weekend before triple coupons start, I go through my coupon binder and pull out all of the coupons I either *think* might be a deal, or know *are* a deal from looking up the deals on a website. I organize the coupons into the envelopes by categories. Then, when I walk around and I am in the aisles, I just pull out that envelope. I also always bring my coupon binder, because many times I find other things I didn't know were deals and I can pull out my coupons from the binder as I come across them. Another important thing is to have a place you will put the coupons that you want to use. I have a "To purchase" envelope where I stick all of the coupons I will use at check out. Using the envelope system is also helpful when putting back the coupons that I didn't use in my coupon binder.

#4 Know what you are willing to pay, how many items you will use, and what you need. When I walk in I have an idea in my head of what I am willing to pay for each item based on if I would have bought it anyways. For example, during a stock up for triple coupons I am not willing to pay more than 25 cents for pasta, and I will only get the rice if it is free because of how much rice I already have. The first couple times I went I got caught up in things being so "cheap" that I now have 4 things of mustard and even though I only paid 5 cents for each thing of it, I passed on the mustard this time because I just have way too much! I also have to sometimes stop and think if I really need that item. If I do, I am willing to pay a bit more, but if it's just an "extra" then I may not. Just be aware of what you are buying, and how much you are buying!

#5 Have time set aside. I always take more time on the first day, as I am figuring out what is a deal and what is not. I usually allow an hour the first time so I can really spend some time walking around and looking for deals. Then, each time after is much quicker. On my my fourth trip it took only 15 minutes because I knew exactly what I was looking for. On Sunday with new coupons from the Sunday paper, it might take a bit longer again.

#6 Calculate your savings. Add up what you spent and what you could have spent. This is always a great motivator to keep going. It is a lot of work, but the time pays off when you see what you are saving!

#7 Have a spot for your stock pile. Make sure if you are buying things to stock up on that you have a spot ready otherwise you'll be overflowing some area of your home!

Shopping on triple coupons week can take some time, but if you follow my tips, stay organized and dedicated, your hard work will pay off in cutting your grocery bill!

--Savvyteacher

Series: Cutting Your Grocery Bill

As my stockpile has grown, I am constantly looking for ways to continue to cut down on my grocery bill in other areas. The most expensive part of my grocery bill has always been produce and proteins.. until I discovered manager specials!

Kroger and Lowes are some of my local stores that have amazing manager special deals. The thing about manager specials is that it can be hit or miss. The trick is to go more often, and not during peak days and hours. I find that week nights have been the best for finding deals.

What are manager specials? Manager specials are marked down items that are near expiration dates. The most common kinds of manager specials are meats, produce, and bakery items.

This week I got milk for $1.80 and eggs for $0.60 at Lowes, then meats marked down almost 50%, yogurt for $0.25 (after mark down and a coupon), and marked down bread at Kroger.












So next time you're at your local grocery store, be on the look out for those manager special tags and find your deals! Stayed tuned for more info on Shopping the Manager Specials!

--Savvyteacher