Archive for February, 2009

For a good read on the uniquely American perspective of “tough economic times” check out this post on Living on a Dime.

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The question of the ages, isn’t it?

Okay, maybe not. But I’d wondered in the past, so when I cooked up a turkey I bought at an after-the-holidays sale (49¢ a pound), I decided to find out.

My bird (a very large hen) weighed in frozen at 21.67 lbs.

I cooked this just for the meat, so once it was cooked, I put on my trusty, industrial, food-safe gloves and ripped the meat off while it was still reasonably hot (comes off MUCH easier that way).

I got 4 pounds, 5 oz. of breast meat and 3 lbs, 13 oz of dark meat (not completely dark, some of this was off the back, the wings, etc.)

So, the final tally: 8 lbs., 2 oz. cooked meat.

21.67*.49=$10.62 /8.125 lbs = which boils down to $1.31 per pound.

Always good to have a comparison. That way I’ll know a good price when I see it.

I wasn’t as frugal as I could have been. I didn’t even make turkey stock this time. We had several meals with the turkey and the rest was shredded, vacuum sealed and frozen.

I went to the 2 Blooms near me this morning…

Morning trip, my total was $10.15 (7.55+2.60)

… and then again after dinner.

The night trip was much more expensive - $19.23 (14.96+4.27)

The deodorant did me in! Even after Q, it was $1.44, but it is one of the few toiletry items that my husband is specific about. Plus I splurged on the chips and the V8.

The before coupon price for the night trip was over $60. The morning trip would have been just under $79.

I could have got more Steamers (free), but I don’t have any more room in my freezer. I still have coupons for more chocolate milk (17 cents each), but I’m having the same problem in the fridge. Perhaps I’ll get more on Sunday if the boys drink a bunch of it. I also decided against using my Red Hot hot sauce coupons, even though the small bottles would be free. I have 10 or 20 on the shelf already, and they only have the Xtra hot in the small size.

The stores were out of several items that I’d still like to get, so I’ll probably go tomorrow morning (they stock shelves at night).

One last shout out of thanks to the gals on the Bloom forum at HotCouponWorld. You guys ROCK!

More Good Deals

I’ll be heading to Super Kmart for Super Doubles in the morning. Tomorrow is the last day of that promotion, and as usual, I just found out about it today since we don’t get the Super Kmart ads since they aren’t in our zip code.

I have a great time talking with other couponers during these special promotions. I always learn something new.

Hampton Roads “sanitized” list (coupon values have been verified as what we got in the Pilot).

For the IP (internet printables) go to HotCouponWorld and look up the item in the coupon database, which will provide you with a link. Many thanks to my fellow couponers on the Bloom forum!

While this is not an amazing haul, it is worth mentioning. It’s a Wednesday, so Farm Fresh is doubling up to a dollar. They are also running a deal where, when you buy 10 products from a specific list (much like Kroger’s Mega Savings), you will get a catalina for $10 (a catalina is a coupon that prints out on the little machine next to the register, the company that makes the little printer is called Catalina).

I got a kick out of giving one of my teenage son’s friends a $1 off 2 Reese’s Whips coupon, and she was thrilled to get the 2 candy bars after only paying the sales tax of 3¢.

Much thanks to the folks that posted the deals they saw at HotCouponWorld. I probably would have blown the catalina deal off without them.

My shopping trip included some non-couponing items ($6 for 6 bottles of pop and $1 for a box of ziti (didn’t have my Mueller’s coupons with me!). My total at the register was $20.92. I got $10 back (the catalina didn’t print, so they gave me a gift card). The pop isn’t in the picture because I just didn’t feel like bringing it in the house yet. So, what’s pictured actually cost me $4.92.

$4.92 really CAN buy a lot.

The scary thing is that I’m not even all that impressed with this. $4.92 still actually feels HIGH to me.* For crying out loud, the regular retail of just the two Hershey’s Cacao bars is $5. LOL! The french bread was free using a coupon that prints out from the cash register asking you to do a phone survey. I always take advantage of those. Takes about 3 minutes.

The Fruit Sense juice was a total splurge ($0.89 of my total). The Hershey bars cost me (after doubling a dollar Q on each of them) 50 cents each. (another splurge I allow myself on my low-carb diet as it’s easy to limit myself to one square which only as 5 carbs).

The toothpaste was a “gimme”… the $1 off coupon was actually IN THE AD about an inch from the toothpaste with a price of $1.99 – double the coupon (on Wednesday) and it’s free. <smirk> This one’s going right into the “to donate to a homeless shelter” box.

One of the perks of today’s trip was being able to use my $5 off $50 coupon (6 of them in the local Entertainment coupon book). Since my initial total was over $50, that coupon came right off the top. Then all the other coupons.

This was good, and I really like the folks that work at Farm Fresh. They are always very helpful.

Stay tuned. Bloom is tripling this weekend!

* It is too high… But it is my fault. I bought 6 Warm Delights – 1 regular and 5 Minis which those rang up for $2.49 each instead of $1.50. That would explain why the catalina didn’t print, too. Lesson learned, it’s VERY important to make sure you’re getting the right item. I could probably exchange them, but then I wouldn’t have been over $50 to use my $5 off coupon, which is the difference in final price.