I stopped by Albertsons twice this week to grab some deals. I’ll admit it, one of the things I miss about Extreme Couponing and Albertsons Double Coupons {do you think they’ll ever come back?} is being able to stock up on boatloads of stuff in one shopping trip.
Even though it was a lot of work to gather all the coupons, calculate the deals and wait in line, it was kind of fun to come home with a car load of food for under $5. But them again, we are eating a lot healthier now and growing more of our own fruits and vegetables so there is really a lot less to buy.
I only had 2 shopping trips this week:
Albertsons – $2.39
English muffins were only $0.50 a bag so I grabbed two of them plus some sour cream for the Asparagus Salad I made the other day.
Albertsons – $13.77
I can explain. Ha!
I picked up 30 {yes 30!} boxes of cake mix and 9 boxes of brownie mix for a committee event. I have a $100 budget to provide dessert for 600 people and Albertsons had a deal that if you bought particular items in sets of 10, you could get them for only $.49 a box.
Now, you and I both know cupcakes and brownies taste better from scratch, but if you had to provide dessert for 600 people would you make them from scratch, or go the boxed route. Hmmm. It’s a tough one, I know.
Because I am being reimbursed for the items I buy for the dessert I am not including them in my total.
I paid $13.77 for 2 gallons of milk, 20 boxes of pasta {I think I’ve got enough now to last me the rest of the year} mustard for $0.19 and a free jar of pickles {Vlasic coupon NLA}.
Mr. Produce Guy – Free
Last week I hit the jackpot. There was a little of everything. Bananas for power smoothies, broccoli for stir-fry and broccoli salad, plenty of fruit for breakfast, corn for the grill lot’s of other goodness. Between the garden, Mr. Produce Guy and my bulk purchases, I rarely have to buy anything these days.
Total Spent This Week $16.16
Total Spent This Year $962.06
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $893.99 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 16 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes. Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil. I also picked up a boatload of heirloom tomato plants at the Seattle Tilth sale.
Penelope says
Cake mix extender. Love it. Makes the cake mixes go further, gives them a more homemade taste, more moist and more stable, but not the floury taste you can get from only scratch.
Helen in Meridian says
What is cake mix extender? I often add a cup or less of sour cream to my cakes or cup cakes to make them moist and a tsp or more of real vanilla on top of the regular directions, but I don’t know what cake mix extender is all about.
Kathy says
I through in a box of instant pudding mix (to match the cake mix flavor) when I make cakes from a box. I think it makes the cake more moist and less box-tasting. 🙂
Kathy says
That should be *throw*. Oops!
Kelli says
Add an extra egg to each cake mix and use milk instead of water, if called for, to make the cake taste more like homemade.