Let’s talk about saving some money while grocery shopping. Now, I am no “Krazy Coupon Lady.” Ya know, the people that spend hours clipping coupons and searching for what stores have the best deals with what coupons they have. Many even dumpster-diving to get extra coupons! Then, after all their hard work, they go into the store and come out with five huge packs of toilet paper, twenty hand soaps, eighteen cans of soup, and thirty-two boxes of pasta. The best part? The store owes them money after all the discounts. It’s crazy and takes some serious dedication. I am not going to that extreme, but seriously, high five to anyone with the brains to figure all that out. That’s awesome.
My speed is a bit different. I love to save money and find the best deals; I just don’t have the time to be quite that extreme. My favorite way to save money is mobile apps. Do you know that most grocery stores have an app? Do you also know most of them can send you emails about deals for the week? Weis does, anyway. They sent me an email two weeks before school started saying “Deals for back to school.” I looked through them and actually found some really good deals! The next day, I went, and here is what I got.
– Three boxes of Tastykakes
– Simply Lemonade
– Box of Go-Gurt- 8-count
– Can of Pringles
– Box of Uncrustables – 4-count
– String Cheese- 12 count
Can you guess the total before I tell you how much it was? It’s hard to even go to the store and spend less than $50. You get one bag and wonder what the heck you bought! But on this day, I had two bags of groceries for $20!! I walked out of there so proud. I’ll break it down for you and tell you how I did it. It wasn’t hard! It just takes a few minutes to look at their flier and then go on the app to search for e-coupons.
– Tastykakes were on sale for 3 for $11.
– Go-Gurts I had a $1.30 e-coupon, which made it $2.
– Simply Lemonade: I had a $1 e-coupon, which made it $2.
– Can of Pringles I got for FREE with 100 points on my Weis Loyalty card.
– Uncrustables: I had a $2.50 e-coupon, which made it $2.
– I also had an e-coupon for $2.60 for Polly-O string cheese, which made them $3.
My bill would have been $33. I saved $13!
What is an e-coupon? It means an electronic coupon. They can be found on mobile apps, store websites, or just searching online for codes. I would never have known about the deals if it hadn’t been for the Weis app. I try to get in the habit if I go to Wegmans or Weis. I’ll pop on my app quickly and search for that week’s e-coupons. If there is a really good deal or something on my list with a coupon, I’ll “clip it,” and it will link directly to my loyalty card at that store.
So, for this week, Wegmans has a $2 off coupon on Wegmans Deli Turkey & Swiss Cheese. Spend $6 on either item, and you get $2 off. That’s a pretty good deal on deli meat for Wegmans. (I like to get our lunch meat at Diamond Square, but I will grab lunch meat at the grocery store if I am on a time crunch, and with $2 off, it helps!)
When I go to Wegmans and get a pound of turkey at check out, the coupon will come right off when I scan my loyalty card. When you sign up for these apps, you will be asked to link your loyalty card number or places like Dollar General where you would use your phone number. There are no cutting coupons. It’s just a few minutes of searching for coupons on the app before you go into the store. I love scanning everything first and seeing my total of $43.21 come down to $28.06 or $21.93 down to $16.82. I just like to see how low I can get that total and be surprised. (It’s truly the little thing in life for me, haha.)
Dollar General is another one that can have great deals. Every Saturday, they have $5 off $25. Sometimes, even $10 off $40! If you go in a clip e-coupon off $5 for Gain detergent, $1 off Irish Spring soap, $2 off Hellman’s mayo, .75 cents off coffee creamer, and $1 off General Mill cereal, that would definitely be over $25. You’d get the $5 off $25, plus all the other coupons. You would save $14.75!!! If you got other little things you needed, and ended up spending over $40, then you would get the $10 off instead of $5.
It just takes a few extra minutes, and think of the money you save. We work hard for our money, and if we can save here and there, why not do it? I hope this helps some of you. After my deals at Weis, I could use the coupon for the Uncrustables and Polly-O string cheese up till August 23. Every time I went in, I’d stock up for my kids’ lunches. I ended up getting seven boxes of Uncrustables and four bags of string cheese. I spent $26 and will be stocked on lunch items for a while! It would have cost me $53.79 for all that without coupons. That’s over half off! I switch up their lunch daily, but having these things handy is so nice. Uncrustables can be in the freezer, and string cheese lasts for quite a while. You have to snag those deals while you can. Good luck and happy clipping!
Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
Ingredients:
• 6 white potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 3 cups of extra sharp cheese, shredded
• 6 Tbsp of butter
• 4 Tbsp flour
• 3 cups of milk
• Salt and Pepper
• 3 cups of cooked ham, cut into chunks
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a baking dish and set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook for one minute. Remove the saucepan from the heat, then slowly add in the milk. Return to medium heat and whisk constantly until it comes to a simmer. When the sauce has started to thicken, add one cup of shredded cheese. Stir till melted. Add salt and pepper. Set aside.
Spread out half of the potatoes on the bottom of a 9 by 12 buttered casserole dish. Top with half the onions, half the ham, and half the cheese. Top with half the sauce. Continue to layer again, and the remaining cheese on top. Bake for an hour or until potatoes are tender and top is golden. After baking, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to set.
