December report

My budget for December was $460. It was a little hazy tracking things at the end, because Husband went to the store and didn't give me receipts a few times. After all was said and done, I went a little bit over, but I'm going to call it a wash since it was the holidays and we were under on our holiday budget.

January's budget is $440. I'm already having a bit of a tough time, but I think things will calm down the next couple weeks. Coming back from vacation you always get out of your habits, etc. My goal still is to get the budget down to $400/month, which I think will be doable for us.

We are trying to improve our eating habits, which can be more expensive than the good old packaged foods standbys. I'm trying to think more creatively to come up with better snacks and meals.

How have your budget strategies changed for 2009?

No spaghetti for you!

Last night, Husband and I packed up the girls and went with my sister and her family to take advantage of the incredible deal at the Spaghetti Factory. In celebration of their 40th anniversary, they had a special menu of spaghetti dinners (with different sauces to choose from) ranging in price from $2.45 to $3.45 per person. And that included a salad, bread, and ice cream!

Dinner started at 5pm, so we opted to head out early since we had 3 babes in tow. As we approached the restaurant, we noticed a crowd of people on the sidewalk. And the line continued...and continued...There were lots of people with the same idea! There was no way we could stand in line for an hour (at the least) with our babies, so since we were out on the town anyway, we headed to Chili's for a little more expensive meal. Bummer.

If you missed out on the great Spaghetti Factory dinner deals, have no fear. The specials continue for the next two weeks. Monday and Tuesday nights, they will have the same menu (a little bit expanded) for 40% off the regular price. So it's more like $5 per person instead of $9. Still not too bad. I may be inclined to try it one more time...

Safeway deals 1/07-1/13

Welcome Grocery Gatherers!

These are the deals for Safeway this week, with prices valid from Wednesday, January 7th through Tuesday, January 13th.

Super Coupons:

Honey Nut Cheerios, Cheerios, or MultiGrain Cheerios: $1.50 with in-ad coupon. Use $0.75 off Honey Nut Cheerios here. Use $0.75 off Multigrain Cheerios here. Use $1/2 printable on coupons.com

Jennie-O Turkey Store Lean Ground Turkey, 20oz.: $2.49 with coupon. (This is a great price!)

Fuji Apples, 3lb. bag: $1.49 (That's only $0.50/lb!)

Nabisco Tray Packs: $2.99

Gorton's Seafood Selections: $2.49

Buy 5, Save $5:

Ocean Spray Cranberry drinks are $1 each after savings

Tree Top Apple Juice and Capri Sun are $1.50 each after savings.

Welch's Grape Juice and V8 Fusion are $2.50 each after savings.

Family Fridays:

Friday, January 9th, get a Signature Cafe Whole Roasted Chicken for only $5!

Sweet Deals:

• Foster Farms Whole Chicken: $0.79/lb. This is the lowest price I've seen.


• Fresh Pork Loin Assorted Chops: $1.79/lb.


• Sweet Bing Cherries: $2.99/lb.


• Safeway Canned Fruit: 10/$10


• Safeway Variety Breads: 2/$4 (I usually buy these instead of OroWeat.)


• VitaminWater, SmartWater, or Fuze: 10/$10


• O Organics Baby Salad Blends, 5oz.: $2.99

Coupon Match-Ups:

• Quaker Instant Oatmeal: 2/$5. Use $1/2 here. $2 each after coupons.


• Yoplait Yogurt: 10/$5. Use $0.40/6 coupon in 01/04 General Mills insert. Or use $0.50/6 printable here. $0.42 to $0.43 each after coupon when you buy 6.


• Tyson Grilled Chicken Breast Strips: Buy one, get one free ($3.99/2). Use $0.55 coupon in 01/04 SmartSource. $1.50 each when you use two coupons.


• Hillshire Farm Thin or Hearty Sliced lunchmeat: 2/$7. Use $0.55/1 or $0.65/2, both in 01/04 Red Plum insert.


• Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice: $4.99. Use $1/2 coupon from 01/04 RP insert.


• Chef Boyardee: 10/$10. Use $0.35/3 coupon from 01/04 SS insert.


• Quilted Northern Bath tissue, 24 rolls: $10.99. Use $1 off printable at coupons.com.


• Neutrogena Skin Care or Hair Care: 20% off. Use $1 off hair care in 12/07 RP insert. Or there are two Neutrogena coupons on coupons.com.


• Quaker Oatmeal: 2/$5. Use $1/2 here. $2 each after coupons.


• Nestle Hot Cocoa: 2/$5. Use $1/2 coupon from 11/02 RP insert.


• Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn: Buy one, get one free ($3.49/2). Use $0.50/2 coupon from 12/07 or 01/04 SS inserts.


• Kleenex facial tissue: 3/$5. Use $0.50/3 coupon from 12/07 SS insert.


• Electrasol Auto dish detergent: $4.29. Use $2.50 coupon from 01/04 SmartSource insert. Or use $1/2 printable coupon here. Better yet, get it at Walgreen's this week and get it for free!


• Lindt Bars: 2/$6. Use buy one, get one free coupon from 10/05 SS insert. There's also a coupon for $0.75/1 in the same insert.


• Tide or Cheer Laundry Detergent: $6.99. Use $1 off Tide from 12/14 Procter & Gamble insert. Use $0.35 off Tide and $0.35 off Cheer found in 12/28 Procter & Gamble insert.


• All Detergent: $4.49. Use $0.40 off coupon in 01/04 RP insert.


• Kellogg's Special K Cereal: 2/$6. Use $1/2 from 01/04 RP insert or $1 off coupon from 12/14 RP insert.


• Splenda sugar substitue: $8.49. Use $0.55/1 or $1.50/2 coupons from 11/02 RP insert. Or use $0.55/1 from 01/04 RP insert.


• Knorr Lipton Sides Plus Veggies: 10/$10. Use $0.75/2 from 11/16 RP insert.


• Coffee Mate flavored creamer: $3.79. Use $1 printable here. Or use $0.50 coupon in 11/02 and 01/04 Red Plum inserts.


• Yoplait GoGurt: $2.99. Use $1/2 coupon from coupons.com. Or use $0.35/1 coupon from 01/04 General Mills insert.


• Birds Eye Steamfresh frozen vegetables: 2/$4. Use $1/3 printable here.


• Huggies Training Pants: $14.99. Use $1 off Pull-ups printable here.

Power Pump Rewards are back! Check your weekly ad for the fine print and rack up those gas savings!

January 5 through January 11 Menu

My first opportunity to post my weekly menu in 2009! Here it is:

Monday: Orange Rosemary Chicken, salad

Tuesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup

Wednesday: Chili and cornbread

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Date Night!

Saturday: Mahi Mahi (from Trader Joe's) with rice and roasted vegetables (yep, I'm getting healthy on ya)

Sunday: Chimichangas (I've been craving these for awhile. Gotta love that fried goodness.)

What are you having for dinner this week?

Free Electrasol and cheap Chubby Hubby

I went in to Walgreen's today and got the 20 pack of Electrasol dishwashing tabs. These are on sale for $3.49 and there's a $1.50 Easy Saver Rebate. Combined with the $2.50 coupon from this weekend's SmartSource and you get 50 cents back in your pocket for that Electrasol! Also at Walgreen's, Ben & Jerry's pints of ice cream are 2/$7. I used my $3 coupon that I printed last week and got some Chubby Hubby (my favorite!) for 50 cents. Finally, I almost missed the in-ad coupon that had Mott's apple juice (64oz.) for $1.79 each. I couldn't find a coupon to combine with this, but it was a great deal in and of itself.

My second stop was Rite Aid to get the 10 Soy Joy bars for $5. I used my $3/10 coupon from this weekend's paper and will get a $5 rebate through Rite Aid. I made $3 on that transaction!

Power Pump Gas Reward

Did you take advantage of the Power Pump Gas Reward program that Safeway ran in November and December? One way I got some bonus rewards was by purchasing giftcards for Christmas gifts at Safeway. Their giftcard mall was quite impressive, I must say. I figured, if I'm going to get these giftcards anyway, I might as well get them in one place and get a bonus on top of that!

Well, I got to reap the rewards of that program tonight! I had racked up $9 in free gas through Arco. That's almost 5 gallons! Not a bad way to start off the new year!

(If you have earned rewards, remember that January 3, 2009 is the last day to use them!)

Year to date free stuff and savings: $9.00

Welcome 2009!

I am very excited for the New Year and fresh start. This will be my first full year of "couponing", etc. and I'm excited to see how things go.

I have had a cold that has been hanging on for about 3 weeks now. It's driving me crazy! It's also throwing things so out of whack because I barely feel well enough to take care of my babies, let alone anything else.

My financial/family management resolutions for 2009 are:
1. Keep better track of the money I spend.
2. Stay within monthly grocery budget.
3. Find ways to buy more items for charity.
4. Increase food storage.
5. Learn to do more with less.
6. Make a weekly menu on a regular basis.
7. Incorporate more fresh and healthy food into our diets.
8. Take better care of myself. One way I plan to do this is make a weekly menu of lunches for myself as a special treat. Yes, it can include leftovers, but it should include at least one special meal each week.
9. Organize my coupons and rebates better.
10. Plant a garden (again) and make it manageable enough to take care of it.

That's what I've gotten so far. What about you? Are you excited to make some resolutions for 2009?!!!