1. I did my first salvage shop of the season. I got two large banana boxes of stockpile groceries for $33.35. Some of my best deals were: jello lemon pudding mix 35 cents; almond milk (qt)) 60 cents; vegetable stock (qt) 25 cents; fire roasted diced tomatoes (28 oz) 60 cents; tomato sauce (14.5oz) 30 cents; rotel tomatoes (28 oz) 60 cents; pears (14.5 oz) 50 cents; mayonnaise (12 oz) 35 cents; soy milk (32oz) 50 cents; natural peanut butter (16 oz) $1.50.
2. I made a batch of Chex mix and a batch of honey-mustard pretzels for snacking.
3. Mike and I received coupons for free groceries from a local store. $50 in free groceries is definitely a win!
4. We purchased a rotisserie chicken from Costco. That night we had a traditional chicken dinner. We then carved the meat and portioned it out to cover sandwiches, salad, crepes, risotto, and divan. Plus we will use the bones to make broth and whatever meat we can get from the bones. This we will turn into soup. So one $4.99 chicken will feed the two of us 7 meals with some leftovers for lunch. That works out to $0.71/ meal or $0.35/ person/meal. Cost effective convenience. A real win.
5. I did a second salvage shop, getting three boxes of staples for about $104.60
Some of my best deals were: Self rising flour, 5# for $1.50; salsa, 40 oz for $2.50; soy sauce, 24 oz for $2.25; almond breeze milk, 64 oz for $0.75; Trappist apricot jam, 12 oz for $1; saltines, 1# for $1; Breton crackers for $1; falafel mix for $0.25; Spicy beef broth, 32 oz for $0.50; red bean curry for $0.40; whole grain oatmeal, 3# for $0.75; Del Monte spaghetti sauce, 36 oz for $0.79; pearled barley, one pound for $0.50; tomato paste, 12 oz for $0.49; Nine pounds of coffee for $39. Or $2.39/pound, including Starbucks.
6. We used a $15 gift certificate to help us celebrate my birthday at the Yacht Club.
7. I did a third salvage shop and spent $149.21. Some of my best deals were: 16 oz salsa for 50 cents; great northern beans for 50 cents/#; black beans for 25cents/pound; fire related diced tomatoes, 28 oz. For 75 cents; dry Italian salad dressing, 5 envelopes for $1; a lb of wild rice for 75 cents; cereals for $1 each; flour tortillas for 75 cents; coffee, 18# at $1.35/#; evaporated milk for 25 cents each; 136 granola bars for 4 cents each ( includes Halloween items)
Frugal Fail: I purchased some peaches and plums on sale. They went from not ripe to spoiled in two days. What a waste of money!
