Yesterday: I am so pleased. Our grocery store remodeled and expanded. They now carry a dollar aisle which is in reality two aisles long. I found canola cooking spray (557 servings) with no calories. I also found the diet cocoa (8 servings) at 60 calories. We live rural, so finding these values and products are a treat!

The Meat Dept. had a few unadvertised reduced specials: Pork spareribs @ .99 per pound. Pork sausage @ 1.19 per pound. Chicken thighs @ .69 per pound.

Dairy had buttermilk-1/2 gallon at .89.

Today is newspaper coupon for buy one large pizza and get the second of equal or less for free.

Wow! You really cleaned up! Great bargains!

I honestly have cut every legit corner I could to save on family finances since dh was laid off 3 years ago. The only place I can save is groceries. The only place he can save is playing the banking game for rates on accounts. *sighs* Is this really what the golden years boil down to?

:rolleyes: The goldedn years are when we get to heaven.......the Bible says even the streets are golden! :)

Saving on groceries can be kinda overwhelming sometimes glad you found some good deals Editor!I would have had a hoot in the dollar ailes!

It gives me my rush!

:cool: topic. I just discovered this thread. This bargain occurred almost a week ago. A lady had asked me to make her a couple of dishrags, & after crochet group I was going to go to WMart to buy some "dusty blue" cotton yarn. I was in the stash closet (in Sr. Citz. bldg. where crochet group meets) looking for afghan yarn, & the lady helping me sort through, said, "Well, there's some blue cotton right behind your head" & there on a shelf was exactly the yarn I was going to look for. All it cost was a small donation to the Center. (If we crochet for charity, the yarn is free; if it's for personal use, we have to fork over some $) Now that was a blessing and a bargain. It made my day! (I'm easily thrilled, you can tell.)

I was able to save/not spend almost half of our income last month. I just shopped with the idea that if we didn't really need an item, I didn't get it. We're eating from our pantry; I don't need portabello mushrooms; button ones will do nicely, & in fact, I don't need even them: we have some in cans. I shopped from a list, & sometimes didn't even get what I had written down, deciding when I came upon it, that we didn't actually need it; we had other items that would do nicely. Shopping became enjoyable, not a gotta-do-it-wish-somebody-else-could-do-this chore. I was certainly out of the stores more quickly than heretofore.

Saving money can be downright fun!

:) Tiana

Saving money is fun! You really did well!

When we went to Sam's Club this weekend we got a plastic container of mixed salad greens. It didn't look like a lot of salad, but after we got home we discovered it's about as much as 5-6 bags of salad. It was only $5! Most of the time the prebagged stuff is $2 or more a bag.

Family sized savings!

Meat specials this week:
Only 3 available, Bob Evans Fully cooked pot roast and gravy, reg. 5.99 for a 1.99!
Fresh Bratwurst: 1.69 pound
Meat Loaf mixture: 1.39 pound
And dh favorite, Hot Pepper Cheese, reg. 4.49 pound for 1.99 pound.

Looks like some great deals! Especially the roast and cheese! Wow!

Mmm. Wish I had these stores! We have a local market where each week, a different cheese is on sale for $2.29 a pound. DH stocks up when it's longhorn or mozzarella.

This week, the only good "sales" are apples (3-lb bag for 99 cents) and strawberries (BOGO but I don't know how much the first one is yet! :lol:). Last week the best bargain was broccoli at 79 cents a bunch. It's usually close to $2. That, and a small carton of blueberries for free after my coupon.

We have a family-owned produce stand (indoors) and last weekend when my parents were up we stocked up on mixed greens (89 cents a pound, and you know how much fills a pound!), carrots at 59 cens a pound, and cukes for 2/59. This was after my mom and I cleaned out at the Goodwill - for $11 I got a workout video, full Talbot's wool suit, top to go underneath, new pr of leather 9West shoes, and a nice new bra. Well, the big bargain was, I went to put back a pair of shoes I decided against and Mo sidled up to the cashier and had it all checked out by the time I got back! We played credit card slam but the cashier took my mom's card first, saying I had to listen to my mother. :lol: :wub:

Tomorrow's bargain will be all the books and videos I care to read/watch in two weeks, as I'm visiting the local library!

And, Carol, you are so right about our golden years! :)

Really good prices on veggies, Betsy. Our store also offers reduced veggies and we take all we can use in a week.

Sometimes there are further reductions at Giant Eagle but you have to watch the quality.

Today I found the bulk-packaged nuts (not bagged, or in a bin with a scoop) for 99 cents a pound. I bought a pkg each of walnuts and almonds, since they are "good" protein/fats for the detox. I am really starting to say "nuts" to the nuts!! :)

Cranberries were $1.50 a 12oz bag (larger size) and I had a coupon for 55 cents off - making them 40 cents after the doubling. The best bargain? The fact that they are a healthy food! :) And there were some bulk bananas for 99 cents - four pounds in the bag. That's pretty much all I bought today.

You really do well on saving money with those bulk items. We have nothing at all around us that sells like that.

What a great deal on the nuts! They are sooo expensive around here. Were they in the shell or out? Maybe if I start buying them in the shell I'll get a better deal.

Toni, they were in the shell - the way I like to buy them, because they stay fresher/more nutritious that way.

CE, I know I am blessed. Yesterday we went for produce at that stand and got carrots for 59 cents a pound again. Oranges were 4/99 cents, which is a pretty good deal for around here. I got a 10oz bag of spinach leaves for $1.59. I don't know if that's a bargain or not! But the head of cauliflower for $1.59 sure was a bargain!

Produce is slowly coming down. Good buys!

I bought Jimmy Dean hot sausage--16 oz. rolls for $.99 each.

Wow! Super deal! I haven't gone to the store yet but we are having company tomorrow so I intend to buy two Pepperidge Farms cakes - on sale for $5, $2 automatically deducted at the register, and a double 40 cent coupon. Two cakes for $2.20 = cheaper than making yourself!. Colgate on sale, with double coupon will be free. Same with a Hershey's power bar-type thing. I am going to buy a box of cereal on sale for 60 cents. Not the best choices but the best bargains and for sharing and in these small amounts, I am OK with that.

My tongue always wags over these coupon deals. Where do they come from? We have no such thing here, not even double or triple coupons like we used to.

We rarely get any coupons, but might if we got the city paper on Sundays. Betsy, you are a champion at searching out a bargain!

We get about 3 or 4 coupons in our Saturday paper (which comes to the office and no one else takes the coupons) - and my mom saves the coupons from her Pgh papers - we can get a Pgh paper here, too, if we're out to buy one. :) Giant Eagle has the double coupons. I did not buy the cakes after my eating yesterday. I ended up getting the 60 cent box of 14.5 oz Berrie Krispies, free tube of Colgate, and 8oz bag of Kraft cheese chunks for $1.

I am tickled to report that after grocery shopping today, after sales, coupons, and rebates (not back yet), I will be paid $13 for accepting 2 2-l bottles of pop, 2 12-pks of pop (all Coke), 2 boxes of General Mills cereal, a bottle of Loreal shampoo, and a loaf of Pepperidge Farms bread. :rah:

I just love your shopping saavy!

C'mon down. We'll go! :)

Head of cauliflower $.99
Bob Evans Sausage & Biscuits $1.99
1 gallon milk $1.19

We have just been shopping and got a lot of bargains, well things half price but remember that you might think them cheap but the local earn approx $100 per month that is if they have a job because you retire women at 30 and men at 35 and most don't have a pension their child (1 kid policy) has to look after them. At least it isn't Thailand where the youngest daughter is responsible to look after sibling (why a lot of men don't bother to work, why work when your kid sister will pay for everything you want) parents and grandparents. Hence the reason a lot of them end up in prostitution. You really wanted to know all that.

Skinless and boneless chicken for 12 yuan a kilo same price as chicken gizzards, so guess what we went for.
Cod half price
Minced pork which I use for sausage meat here because we can't get any.
Bacon half price.
Ice Cream - Vienetta half price
A sort of fish fingers but nothing like we get in the west half price.
Tea reduced in price.
But we still ended up paying almost half a month's local salary for what we bought. Yikes

My tongue is green with envy. Was slow pickens' this week for me.

But the chicken in US was like $1.50 per half kilo and the same with the cod so not exactly cheap. Even chicken gizzards are normally around $1.50 per half kilo and hearts and liver around $4 per half kilo whereas steak is around $2 per half kilo. It might seem cheap but when you take into consideration how little people earn that is a lot. $1 is what a person would normally spend on eating out at a noodle shop on the side of the street.

Ce- wow on the milk and cauliflower! Excellent!

Boys, I didn't know that about the local area - none of it! I'm so sorry!

Here's my bargain for the week - shampoo (again) - free, on sale with coupon. Mixed greens, 99 cents a pound. I bought cauliflower at $1.89 and was pleased as punch until I came here and saw CE underminded me! :lol: Strawberries were only $1.50 a pint so I had to get some - esp. since they looked so nice!

I need to learn that it's no bargain if it makes me sick, fat, or I throw it away in disgust after binging on most of it.

Your bargains were great and not impulsive binge items. Good job!

This AM - $1/2l bottles of pop at Giant Eagle. Some of the bottles had 50 cent off coupons, which GE doubles. So, 5 two-liter bottles of pop for the three cents tax each.

Yesterday was the Salvation Army's Christmas sale. Everything half off. I got 8 or 9 complete outfits (including wraps or blazers or accent scarves), one pair of shoes, plus about 8 new-to-me exercise videos for $40.

I was thrilled the other day when I went shopping. Our local grocery market had 8 oz. bags of grated cheese on sale for $1 each. I got 10 bags and threw them in the freezer. We go through SO much cheese that they probably won't last long.

Toodles!

Great dollar buys, Betsy and Lenise. I got butter (10) at a dollar a pound. Love the dollar day sales.

Wow, CE - and you wish for double coupons?!? I would have bought lots of that butter, too!

Lenise, I love the price on the cheese! I also would have stocked up! :)

No bargains here to report. :cry: Living in a resort (tourist) area minimizes the great sales I think y'all find. We gotta get out of this place. When Foxy was in Navy the Commissary was a great place to get unbelievable bargains but when he got his health problems they kicked him out short of retiring without benefits. Faithy is still pouting three years later!

I am thankful for Super Wal-Mart or we would not be able to afford shopping in this area without the Commissary. Faithy is sure thrilled to hear of your bargains though, Betsy can I go shopping with you?

Hugs, Faithy

I feel for you. I NEED bargains. We always fretted ahead of time if the stores we get them at should go out of business.

I didn't know the commissary was a great place to shop - DSD and DSSIL are in Italy and she can use my expired coupons - they get an extra 6 months on them. But she said sometimes they run great specials but the rest of time it's just regular shopping, and without my double coupons!

Yesterday I got an 8oz tub of butter/olive oil mix with flax oil - I think it's Olivia Plus or something like that. Regularly $2; I got it for 70 cents. otherwise I would not have bought! I also got SlimABears ice cream sandwiches for $2 - instead of the same price for a carton of ice cream. I'm so proud of me! And I haven't even eaten any yet! :)

Good buys, Betsy.