Meal Deals

One of the biggest things that have helped in my mission to feed the family on $20 a day is $5 Friday Specials at Safeway. 2 weeks ago, Safeway had Tyson Chicken strips on special Friday only $5.00 a bag. This is one thing that Cameron loves and having those on hand makes life a lot easier.  Also watching the clearance section for meats is a great savings tool… I picked up ground chicken breast on clearance and was able to make a quick variation on sloppy joes. 

Coupons have also helped make it possible to use a $20 a day menu.  I watch Facebook and twitter for hints to see which stores have the best deals and combinations of coupons.  While extreme couponing has been all the rage lately I am far from an extreme couponer. I am aware of deals and so far have been able to see savings of about 45% on my grocery bill. These savings make it possible to get things that I wouldn’t always get.  An example would be Sunday afternoon (6/26/11) I headed to Wal-Mart and Safeway to do some grocery shopping.  Wal-Mart take competitor coupons (even the Catalina coupons) so I was able to get 2 bags of Tyson Chicken strip for 6.43 a bag. (Not a screaming deal but a good deal none the less). I also picked up a couple things for an upcoming Zhu-niverse Ice Cream Social all using coupons. (I used 14 coupons at Wal-Mart for a total savings of $17.50). Once we were done at Wal-Mart we drove across the highway to Safeway and matched coupons to get some really good deals including crackers, hot dogs, chicken sausage, and 2 more bags of Tyson breaded chicken.  I again hit the clearance section in the Deli meat section and scored 3 packages of Foster Farms Grilled Chicken and Deli Chicken lunch meat.  This weekend’s special included buy 2 get 3 free Oscar Meyer’s Lunchables, so we picked up 5 Lunchables for our busy week ahead, for only $1.00 each.  I found a pretty good deal on Coca-Cola  2 liter bottles, $0.99 plus deposit if I bought 4, since that is in my opinion a really good deal I picked up 4 bottles of Coke Zero.

I highly recommend following couponing websites and blogs on Facebook or twitter, these blogs usually post deals and deal scenarios for the Sunday coupon slicks Saturday evening and then throughout the week.  Remember double coupons in weekly ads from Safeway are a great additional savings tool. Also keep your Catalina coupons don’t just throw them out. They come in really handy, especially at store such as Wal-Mart where competitor’s coupons are accepted.

The other recommendation I can give it store rewards cards. Safeway, Fred Meyer’s, Kroger, Walgreens, Albertsons, and Rite Aid all have programs that I use. Check with your local store to see what kind of program they have. Also check out sites like coupons.com and cellfire.com to print or add coupons to your store club cards.