Melissas Bargains

Last night, I was in the meat section at the grocery store when a woman caught my attention. She was walking back and forth shaking her head, and finally she said, “I can’t believe these prices! How are we supposed to ever eat meat with prices like this and afford anything else?” It caught me off guard.

So, the question is….is it possible to buy steak on a budget? The answer is yes (with careful planning, of course).

Here’s how I did it last night:
LOOK FOR THE YELLOW TAGS! (this means markdowns at my store at least) I found a package that was marked down to $9. I had a Kroger store coupon for 20% off any Private Selection Angus beef. I also had a wine tag for $3 off any beef purchase (if you’re not familiar with wine tags, they are apparently coupons that are around the top of a wine bottle – I’m not a wine drinker, and I have never seen any in my stores, but I trade for them on various coupon trading sites…I always trade for the ones where no wine/beer purchase is needed!) So, I paid $4.20 for a package of 3 steaks. They are not huge, but they are decent sized, the cut of meat is actually good, and my husband will be happy.

People often ask me if it’s worth it to clip coupons and can you really get “real” food using coupons. It takes a little time and some planning, but I think it’s worth it when I look at our savings (last night it was 71%)

Here’s what I got for $23.50 last night (my total before coupons was $84.72): (I’ll let you decide if it’s worth it)

gallon of skim milk, 1.5 pounds yellow squash, two packages of Tyson chicken breast, hot dog buns, Cottonelle toilet paper, 3 pounds bananas, paprika, 3 pkgs Totino’s pizza rolls (my kids love these, so I let them have them every now and then), Kraft salad dressing, beef stew meat, Pillsbury crescent dinner rolls, Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, 1.5 pounds zucchini, steak, 6 packages Kool Aid, 4 apples, 2 packages wheat thins, 3 bottles of Hormel real bacon pieces (I use these in recipes that call for crumbled bacon), 3 containers of Daisy sour cream, 1 bag of grapes (2 lbs), 1 Pillsbury pizza crust, 3 cans 98% FF cream of mushroom soup, 3 cans 98% FF cream of chicken soup, 1 bag of rice, 1 bag of pinto beans

Here are the coupons I used:
$6 off any $60 grocery purchase (got this in the mail from Kroger)
2 $1/1 Tyson chcken (they chicken was BOGO free)
.25/1 Kroger hot dog buns (from a mailer)
.25/1 Cottonelle toilet paper (tripled)
.35/1 Totino’s pizza rolls (tripled)
Free Kraft salad dressing WYB 3 Kraft products (that’s where the Kool Aid comes in)
$1.50 off a $7 beef purchase (Kroger coupon from the mail)
.25/1 Pillsbury crescent rolls (tripled)
.30/1 Pillsbury sweet rolls (tripled)
20% off Angus Private Selection beef (from a Kroger mailer)
2 $3 off any beef purchase (NWBPN) wine tags
$1 off any $4 fresh fruit purchase (Kroger mailer)
3 – .35/1 Hormel coupons (tripled)
3 – .35/1 Daisy sour cream coupons (tripled)
.30/1 Pillsbury pizza crust (tripled)

If you’re wondering if you can eat “real” meals on a budget, I think so. Here’s our dinner menu for the week:

Sunday – chicken rice casserole
Monday – crock pot pork chops
Tuesday – taco pie
Wednesday – chicken stroganoff
Thursday – french dip sandwiches
Friday – baked ziti
Saturday – steak (it was supposed to be lemon chicken puff, but I switched it now that we have steak!)