I don't know how many times in the past years that I have heard...."I don't have time to shop with coupons!". Well you know what, I don't always have time either. As a matter of fact I have not bought a paper for coupons in over 2 months. I have pulled some out of blinkies, and some off of packages, but really organizing and clipping coupons.....nope! Between taking 4 different kids to 4 different schools, 2 children playing football, Ashlee taking gymnastics, and just everyday life I have been very busy.
However just because I haven't been clipping coupons doesn't mean I have not been shopping good sales. I get emails with weekly deals from Food Lion, Harris Teeter, and Lowe's Food. I also get in the mail sales ads from Piggly Wiggly & Bo's Food. I spend about 10 minutes once a week to scan all the ads and see if anything is worth going to that store. I normally only make it to 1 or maybe 2 stores a week. I DO NOT shop at 5 stores a week to get deals. I would waste all my time & gas trying to do this. I go within 1 mile every week of all 5 stores and I just pick and choose where I am going.
So I thought I would show you a good idea of what a simple meal for my family can be and what it would cost. I stopped by Lowe's Food last night on the way home from gymnastics with Ashlee. This has started becoming a habit because I have found if I stop by right around 5:45 they are marking down bakery items for the day. My boys have been super happy about this because I can get 6 doughnuts for $1.50. Yep and they are pretty good if I say so myself.
Last night I scanned the sales ad real quick and noticed the pre-made chicken cordon bleu was BOGO. So I picked up a couple of boxes to give it a try. I thought it would be a good quick meal for those crazy days I have no time to fix a real meal. I normally have rice a roni & pasta roni in the pantry because you can normally get this on sale for $1 a box at most stores. I have also been blessed with a dad that grows way to much in his garden and likes to shares. So here is our meal tonight and the cost break down.
2 boxes of Chicken Cordon Blue-$8.49
2 boxes of Alfredo Noodles-$2
1 jar of Green Beans-Free (but truly how much can a can of beans be ...$1?)
So dinner for 6 (however the 2 teenage boys should be counted as 2 adults each)
Total cost.....$10.49. That's about $1.75 each. You can't even get a happy meal for that.
So when I say you don't HAVE to have coupons. I really mean it. It just takes around 10 minutes a week to plan your meals around the deals of the week. Good luck and Happy Savings!!
