Fourth of July Grocery Deals!

Hello friends!

While I enjoyed this refreshing lunch of tomatoes and cucumbers, I compiled a list of all the best current deals at Harris Teeter, Lowes Foods, Food Lion, and ALDI for you. These sales started yesterday and run through Tuesday, July 3rd. I included items that you may be planning to purchase for a fourth of July cookout or party, such as

-condiments and grilling seasonings

-side items (pasta salad, baked beans, etc.)

-plates,cups,napkins

-produce

-snack items (chips, crackers, etc.)

-sodas, drinks

-steaks, ribs, chicken breasts

-hotdogs, brats, buns

-icecream and frozen desserts

*You do NOT have to be a couponer to take advantage of these deals! Most of the items listed are currently Buy One Get One Free or just on sale at a great price. I did include info for a few printable coupons and coupons from last week's paper if you still have it available.

HARRIS TEETER

*Buy 3, Get 2 Free - Coke Products, 12 pk. cans, $6.39 (makes it $3.83 ea.)

*Buy 2, Get 3 Free - Oscar Mayer Wieners, 16 oz, $3.99 (makes it $1.59 ea.)

  (might be a regional deal)

Buy One Get One Free Items (or get 1 at ½ price listed in parentheses)

*Fresh Express Salad, 12 oz, at $2.99 ($1.49)

*Smithfield Pork baby Back Ribs, at $6.29 ($3.14)

*Oscar Mayer Beef or Cheese Franks, 16 oz, at $5.29 ($2.64)

*Split Chicken Breast, at $2.69 ($1.34)

*Hellmann’s Mayo, 30 oz, at $5.15 ($2.57)

 (if you still have Sunday’s paper, use the $1 coupon from the Smart Source Insert, get it for $1.57)

*Ken’s Marinade or Dressing, 16 oz, at $3.25 ($1.62)

 ($1 copuon from the 5/06.12 Smart Source insert will make it 62 cents)

*McCormick Grill Mates Seasoning, at $2.75 ($1.37)

*McCormick Grill Mates Rub, 3.78 oz, at $4.39 ($2.19)

*McCormick Grill Mates Marinades, at $1.49 (74¢)

*Chex Mix Products, 8.75 oz, at $2.79 ($1.39)

 (50 cents off 2 coupon from the 6/3/12 Smart Source insert, makes them 89 cents each)

*Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce, 18 oz, at $2.45 ($1.22)

 (various coupons were available in the 5/20/12 Smart source insert for additional savings)

*Utz Tortilla Chips, 11.5-12.5 oz, at $3.49 ($1.74)

*Vlasic Pickles, 16-32 oz, at $3.49 ($1.74)

*Lawry’s 30 Minute Marinade, 12 oz, at $3.39 ($1.69)

 (follow the link to print a 50 cent off coupon (enter zip 44240) PRINTABLE (makes it 69¢))

*Harris Teeter Chocolate & Vanilla Swirl Ice Cream Cake, 60 oz, at $18.99 ($9.49)

*Utz Party Mix, 12 oz, at $3.49 ($1.74)

*Hefty Plates or Party Cups, 30-40 ct., at $3.29 ($1.64)

*Chinet Plates, 32-36 ct., at $3.79 ($1.89)

 (if you still have Sunday’s paper, use the $1 coupon from the Smart Source insert, get it for 89 cents)

Produce

*Blueberries, 1 Pint, $3

*Farmers Market Watermelon Chunks, 32 oz, $4.99

*Sweet Corn, 25¢ ea.

*Watermelon, $3.97 ea

Other Deals

*Harris Teeter French Onion Dip, 8 oz, 87¢

*Carvel M&M Ice Cream Cake, 40 oz, $9.99

*Mrs. Smith’s or Edwards Pie, 25-35 oz, $4.99

 (follow the link to print a $1.50 off coupon PRINTABLE, makes it $3.49)

 (or use the 75 cents off coupon from the 6.17.12 Smart Source insert, get it for $3.49)

*Cool Whip Products, 8 oz, 99¢

*Jell-O Gelatin, 3.3 oz, 75¢

*French’s Spicy Brown Mustard, 12 oz, $1

 (if you still have Sunday’s paper, use the $0.30 off coupon from the Smart Source insert, get it for 40 cents)

*Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad Mix, $1

 (follow the link for a $0.50 off of 2 coupon PRINTABLE, get them for 50 cents each)

*Nature’s Own Bread or Buns, $1.67

*Suddenly Pasta Salad Pasta Salad Mix, 7.25-7.75 oz, $1

*Merita Autum Grain Natural or Whole Wheat Bread, 20 oz, $1.99

*Nature’s Own Whole Wheat Bread, 20 oz, $1.99

*Powerade Drinks, 32 oz, 79¢

*Arizona Tea, 128 oz, $2.50

LOWES FOODS

Buy One Get One Free Items (or get 1 at ½ price listed in parentheses)

*Oscar Mayer All Meat Bologna, 16 oz, at $3.59 ($1.79)

*Old Oak BBQ Pork or Star’s Hot Dog Chili, 12 oz, at $3.19 ($1.59)

*Land O’ Frost Bistro Sliced Meats, 6 oz, at $3.29 ($1.64)

 (if you have Sunday’s paper, use the $1 off 2 coupon from the Red Plum insert, get them for $1.14 each)

*Oscar Mayer Beef Franks, 15-16 oz, at $3.99 ($1.99)

*Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns or Sub Rolls, 4-8 ct., at $2.89 ($1.44)

*Utz Tortilla Chips, 9.5-11.5 oz, at $3.49 ($1.74)

*Lowes Foods Vanilla Wafers, 12 oz, at $2.99 ($1.49)

*Kraft Barbecue Sauce, 17.5-18 oz, at $1.59 (79¢)

*Heinz Mustard, 17.5-17.85, at $1.89 (94¢)

*Heinz Ketchup, 40 oz, at $3.49 ($1.74)

*Merita or Wonder Hot Dog or Hamburger Buns, 8 ct., at $2.49 ($1.24)

*Lowes Foods Foam Plates, 50 ct., at $2.39 ($1.19)

*Lowes Foods Cutlery, 48 ct., at $1.79 (89¢)

Produce

* Yellow Peaches, 97¢ lb

* Bing Cherries, $3.97 lb

* Fresh Express Cole Slaw, Garden Salad, or Shredded Lettuce, 8-16 oz, $1.50

Other Deals

* Bratwurst or Italian Sausage Links, $2.99 lb

* Boston Butt Pork Roast, $2.79 lb

* Boneless Sirloin Tip Steak, $3.99 lb

* T-Bone Steaks, $7.99 lb

* Breyers Ice Cream, 48 oz, $2.50

* Kraft Cool Whip Topping, 8 oz, 99¢

* Kraft American Singles, 12 oz, $2

* Claussen Pickles, 20-32 oz, $2.97

* Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad, 7.25-7.5 oz, $1

 (use the printable coupon listed under the Harris Teeter deal for this product)

* Pepsi Cans, 12 pk., $3 (use the following printable coupons for additional savings)

  ($1 off Pepsi Max beverage, 12 oz 12 pk. PRINTABLE)

  ($1 off Pepsi Next 12 oz 12 pk. PRINTABLE)

* Powerade Sports Drink, 32 oz, 79¢

FOOD LION

Buy One Get One Free Items (or get 1 at ½ price listed in parenthesis)

* Oscar Mayer Meat or Beef Weiners, 16 oz, (price not listed), limit 4

* Breyer’s Ice Cream, 48 oz, (price not listed), limit 4

* Kraft American Singles, 12 oz, at $2.99 ($1.49), limit 4

* Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, 16 oz, at $4.99 ($2.49)

* Kraft Shredded Cheese, 8 oz, at $3.23 ($1.61)

* Lay’s Potato chips, 10-10.5 oz, (price not listed), limit 4

  (follow the link for a $0.55 off 1 bag coupon PRINTABLE)

* Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce, 18 oz, at $2.19 ($1.09), limit 4

* Mt. Olive Pickle Spears, 24 oz, at $2.99 ($1.49), limit 4

  (use the $0.55 coupon from last Sunday’s paper, get it for 94 cents)

* Cutter Insect Repellant, 6-7.5 oz, (price not listed), limit 4

Produce

* Raspberries, 4.4 oz, $2.50

* Hass Avocados, 89¢

* Grape Tomatoes, 12 oz, $1.99

* Yellow Onions, 3 lb, $1.99

* White Potatoes, 5 lb bag, $2.99

Other Deals

* New York Strip Steaks, $5.99 lb

* Klondike Ice Cream Bars, 4-6 ct., (price not listed) limit 4

* Birds Eye Corn on the Cob, 12 ct., $2

* Nature’s Own Whitewheat Hot Dog or Hamburger Buns, 8 ct., $2

* Bush’s Best Baked Beans or Grillin’ Beans, 21-28 oz, $1.66

* Heinz Ketchup, 40 oz, $2

* Pepsi Products, 12 oz 12 pk., $2.40, limit 5 (use the following printable coupons for additional savings)

  ($1 off Pepsi Max beverage, 12 oz 12 pk. PRINTABLE)

 ($1 off Pepsi Next 12 oz 12 pk. PRINTABLE)

*7UP or Diet Rite Products, 2 L, 99¢

* Hefty Easy Grip Cups, 30 ct., $1.99

*Hefty Foam Plates or Bowls, 24-50 ct., $1.99

ALDI

* Honeydew Melon, $1.49 ea.

* Tyson Split Chicken Breast, 99¢ lb

* Parkview Brats, 14 oz, $1.99

* Roseland Baby Back Ribs, $3.59 lb

* Parkview Jumbo Franks, 16 oz, 99¢

* Oscar Mayer Classic Wieners, 16 oz, $1.49

* Sundae Nut Cones, 6 ct., $1.99

* Ice Cream Bars, Sandwiches, or Sorbet Swirl Stix, 12 pk., $1.99

* Ice Cream, 5 quarts, $4.99

* Burman’s BBQ Sauces, 18 oz, 89¢

* L’oven Fresh Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns, 12 oz, 79¢

* L’oven Fresh Wheat Kaiser or Corn Dusted Buns, 20 oz, $1.49

* Burman’s Yellow Mustard, 14 oz, 69¢

* Burman’s Regular Mayonnaise, 30 oz, $1.99

* Tuscan Garden Ranch Dressing, 16 oz, $1.29

* Clancy’s Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips, 11 oz, $1.19

* Clancy’s Tortilla Chips, 12 oz, $1.69

* Benton’s Graham Crackers, 14.4 oz, $1.49

* Baker’s Corner Regular Marshmallows, 10 oz, 99¢

* Nature’s Nectar All Natural Lemonade, 59 oz, $1.99

* Party Cups, 50 ct., $2.39

* One-Ply Napkins, 250 ct., $1.49  

***This list was compiled using www.southernsavers.com)***

I hope this helps you enjoy the upcoming holiday while keeping a little extra cash in your pocket! 

I plan to do a follow-up post this weekend adding the deals that begin Sunday at Walmart and Target, so stay tuned...

Meal Planning: Week 3

Wow, the week has gone by very quickly and it is Wednesday again - that means I have another grocery haul and weekly meal plan for you. But first, here are our dinners from the past week...

Wednesday - Spaghetti

Thursday - Sausage with Peppers, Onions, and Potatoes

Friday - Balsamic Chicken over Salad

Saturday - Stroganoff

Monday - Buffalo Chicken Pasta

Tuesday - Breaded Lemon Pepper Parmesan Pork Chops with Pierogies and Corn

The Balsamic Chicken and Buffalo Chicken Pasta were very good! If you like Cajun Chicken Pasta from Chili's or Three Cheese Chicken Penne from Applebee's, let me know and I will post the recipe, because that's exactly what Buffalo Chicken Pasta tastes like!

Sunday evening we had dinner with Nick's family, so we only made six of the seven dinners. Never fear, I made the beef pot roast tonight and it was DEEEE-LISH (pic at the end of this post).

Anywho - I went to four stores for groceries this week and spent $43.90. That's a little more than I expected  to spend since I stocked up on some items last week, but Nick was low on snack items which I couldn't find many deals on this week, and there were a few essentials we have to get week to week no matter what. While I was hoping to come in under $40 this week, we have enough lunch meat and Gatorades for two weeks worth of lunches, so that should help some.

Stop #1 - Harris Teeter

Pictured:

Six ears of sweet corn (25 cents each, great deal!)

Sixteen Gatorades (name brand this week, woot woot!....20 oz)

Planters Lightly Salted Dry Roasted Peanuts

French's Spicy Mustard (for 40 cents, score!)

Total Value: $26.64

Total Spent: $10.84

Gatorade is normally pretty expensive, so I usually purchase an off-brand or store-brand product instead. This week, VIC customers can get eight 20 oz bottles of Gatorade for $3.97. Plus, there is a tag attached with a coupon for an additional dollar off, so I scored them for $2.97 per 8-pack. You can purchase up to four 8-packs at this price, so go! Gatorade is regularly $4.95 at Walmart (lowest price I've found otherwise) for the same size bottles, so once again, this is an awesome deal!

Stop #2 - Lowes Foods

Pictured:

Six Eastern Peaches (grown in SC, 97 cents / lb)

Oscar Mayer Bologna 

Two packages of lunchmeat - Land O' Frost Bistro Favorites 

Total Value: $14.72

Total Spent: $6.48

Stop #3 - ALDI

Pictured:

Butter Flavored Air Puffs

Barbeque Chips

Tortilla Chips

Vanilla Covered Raisins

One dozen eggs

Crunchy Peanut Butter

2 lbs carrots

1 lb baby carrots

Total Value / Total Spent: $12.91

This is where I bought most of Nick's snack items for the week. There are usually better deals to be found on potato chips/pretzels, but they must have been hiding or asleep this week. If you can't find a deal somewhere else, head to ALDI - these are items you can't usually tell much quality difference in between name brand and off/store brand.  $3 or $4 for Tostitos tortilla chips you say? Um, definitely not when I can get them at ALDi for $1.19. I did have some of the Butter Puffs while dinner was cooking and they were purty dang good!

Stop #4 - Food Lion

Pictured:

8 oz Mexican Blend shredded cheese

10 swiss cheese sandwich slices

four sticks of butter

small sour cream

one Hass avacado (89 cents, good deal!)

four bananas

orange juice

Spinach for salads

Total Value: $14.73

Total Spent: $13.67

Didn't save too much here, but in my defense...I planned on purchasing the sour cream, cheese, bananas, and salad at ALDI for some better advertised prices, only to find that the quality of these items looked pretty poor this week. I could have saved three or four dollars sticking to my plan, but I don't like to skimp on quality when it comes to produce. They were all necessary items for the week, so I can't complain!

Value of This Week's Purchases: $69.00

Total Spent: $43.90

Saved 36.4% ($25.10)

Dinners!

For dinner this week, we will be having...

*Beef pot roast 

*Chili with Cornbread

*Barbeque Chicken with Corn on the Cob

*Grilled Chicken with Side Salad

*Lemon Pepper Pork Tenderloin with Mashed Potatoes

*Fishsticks with Fried Zucchini and Corn on the Cob

I only planned six dinners for the week because we are usually elsewhere at least one night. I'm going to squeeze in the homemade pretzel recipe sometime this week, and perhaps some brownies (yum).

Here's a pic of the pot roast...

Super easy to make and Nick gave it multiple compliments - I think that means we will be having this again.

Also, I can't wait to enjoy some salads and tomato sandwiches featuring green thumb hubby's garden produce. I am so proud of his hard work. This is our second year planting a garden and it is so worth it. I'll be doing a separate post on our garden in the near future.

I'm gonna wrap this post up so I can finish watching the NFL Top 100 Finale with my hubby and pup!

*If you want to start couponing or just try it out - go get the Gatorade at Harris Teeter, seriously! You can use your VIC card and the coupon is right there on the product, so you don't have to print it or hunt it down in the paper. It's an $8.29 value for $2.97. Come on, you know you want to :)

*Oh, because I love you all so much, I've scoped out some great deals for the Fourth of July (you know, hotdogs, buns, pasta salad, etc.) and I will post them in the next day or two, so check back soon!

Meal Planning: Week 2

It's Wednesday again folks! That means I have a new meal plan for this week ready for your reading pleasure! I am really excited to share my plans with you. So excited in fact, that I played some mind games with myself. I had to make the bed, fold four loads of laundry, unload and load the dishwasher, and put away my reusable shopping bags before typing this post as a reward. Whatever helps you get it done, right? 

While I spent a good bit more this week than last week, I was able to hold the total expense for what will be consumed in this week's meals to $37.34! Other items I purchased include laundry detergent and meat to freeze for the upcoming weeks.

Remember, my goal is to average $40.00 per week on groceries, eventually working up to $40.00 per week for groceries, toiletries, cosmetics, and cleaning supplies. So far, I'm 2 for 2!

A quick update...

Before I get to the specifics for this week....here is an update on how the first week of meal planning worked out. This is not a perfect system and there are bound to be changes and snafus (or is it snafoos?) along the way. Because you deserve it, I plan to be absolutely honest about any deviations from "the plan" each week.

We ended up eating two dinners away from home this past week: one at a friend's house and one with my father in law. We did not end up making spaghetti or brats. Luckily we didn't need the brats, because they somehow fell out of my grocery bag in the car and I didn't realize it until the next day (yuck)! Obviously, they went straight into the trash along with their $4.99 price tag and a little piece of my heart. Oh well, things happen. I carried the spaghetti option over to this week and made it for dinner tonight. This means a few of the items I originally purchased for last week's meals will be put to use this week.

I must confess, I did make one food purchase Saturday night... and for $3.56 it was sooooo worth it.

An impulse purchase, yes. But - it was half off at least!

Don't worry, I worked some ice cream into the plan for this week and got a much better deal :)

Anywho...let's get back to today's purchases.

A snack was in order before heading into battle....

What I bought:

Stops 1 & 2: Food Lion and Aldi

(produce and juice from Food Lion, everything else from Aldi)

Pictured:

8 store brand sports drinks

1 bag of spinach

1 cantaloupe

4 bananas (still have 3 left from last week)

5 granny smith apples

1 red onion

1 carton of orange juice

1 bag of croutons

1 jar alfredo sauce

1 bottle of ranch dressing

1 loaf of white bread

1 dozen eggs

1 bag of flour

Total Value / Total Spent: $26.18

Stop 3: Harris Teeter

Pictured:

2 boxes of fishsticks (18 count)

1 box of Mrs. T's Pierogies 

Blue Bunny ice cream (1.75 qt)

8 Yoplait yogurts

8 oz Cabot "Seriously Sharp" cheddar

1 pack of store brand swiss cheese slices

1 six pack of English muffins

6.86 lbs of 80% lean ground beef

24 oz center cut pork tenderloin

Total Value: $70.17

Total Spent: $32.97

(The ground beef and pork tenderloin alone would have cost $34.15 at full price.)

 Stop 4: BILO

Pictured:

2 bottles of 50 oz All laundry detergent

2 cans Hanover baked beans

1 package of black forest ham (10 oz)

1 Hillshire Farm beef smoked sausage

1 roll of Jimmy Dean hot breakfast sausage (16 oz)

2 boxes Morningstar blackbean burgers (4 per box)

Total Value: $38.21

Total Spent: $15.59

Total value of purchases at all four locations: $134.56

Total spent: $74.72

Percent paid: $55.5 %

Percent saved: $44.5% ($59.84)

* I already know that I will need to purchase another gallon of milk in a few days. 

I already priced it because thinking ahead is the name of the game! 

In case you are dying to know (just humor me, okay?)...it's $2.59 at Aldi.

What will we be eating this week?

(Keep in mind that only $37.34 of the purchases above are included in the following menu.)

Breakfasts and lunches are pretty much the same as last week:

Breakfast options (mix and match): scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, English muffins, bananas, cantaloupe, cereal, oatmeal

Lunches: salads and sandwiches for Nick, salads, veggie burgers, leftovers, fruit for me

I am pretty excited about the dinner options I was able to come up with. I picked out several new recipes to try, and when I checked my cabinets before making my list, I realized we already had a lot of the necessary ingredients. Some of the purchases this week along with the staples left in our cabinets and freezer will be used to make the following:

*Spaghetti (had it tonight)

*Buffalo Chicken Pasta  (new recipe!)

*Balsamic Grilled Chicken (new recipe!) with Side Salad

*Breaded Lemon Pepper Parmesan Pork Chops with Au gratin Potatoes

*Beef Pot Roast with Potatoes, Onions, and Carrots (new recipe!)

*Grilled Sausage with Potatoes, Onions, and Peppers

*Beef Stroganoff

Also, there might even be some fun snacks and desserts this week, such as homemade soft pretzels (new recipe!) and cheesecake, yummmm :)

Since I did stock up on a few items, here are some of the meal ideas I have already come up with that you will see in the following weeks:

*Ground Beef with Red Beans and Rice

*Shepherd's Pie

*Chicken Pot Pie

*Pork Tenderloin with Pierogies

*Breakfast for Dinner

*Fishsticks (my fondness for them is both amusing and sad, I know)

The ground beef should be enough for about 12 meals, and the pork tenderloin should make two dinners with some lunch leftovers. We also still have a lot of chicken breasts in the freezer. I predict that my totals for the next 2-3 weeks will be much lower because I will be making fewer meat purchases.

A little accountability never hurt anyone, right?

In an attempt to hold myself to the plan above, which includes four new and possibly time consuming recipes, I will be posting pictures of each dinner...starting with tonight's dinner: spaghetti.

Quite delicious if I do say so myself! 

Couponing and meal planning are two processes that take a good bit of time, but the payoffs are huge and they get easier with time. The $59.84 I saved this week will probably cover our next two weeks worth of groceries. While odd to others, it is fun to watch the number go down at the register. The register is my enemy, and the super long receipt I walk away with is evidence of my victory (haha, you should know by now that I am a wee bit dramatic).  

It's a hobby you don't have to feel guilty about, because instead of spending money, you are saving money. If anyone is interested in starting meal planning, couponing, or both, I say go for it! Whether you are saving $25 or 25 cents, you are still winning, and let's face it, we all like to win.

Well, if you are still reading, congratulations, because you must possess one of two things:

A) a great deal of mental fortitude, or B) a lot of free time!

If you are interested in the specific prices of any items pictured above or how to get the coupons I used, feel free to comment below or facebook/email me! I would love to see others score some of these awesome deals!