Money Saving Mom Blog: Gretchen's $44 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan and more...

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Gretchen’s $44 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan
Reader Tip: How I Save on Gifts All Year Long
48-Hour Giveaway: Artisan Granola from Gathering Grains (6 Winners)
Do It Yourself: 12 Gifts-in-a-Jar Ideas
You all have BLOWN me away…!

:: Gretchen’s $44 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan

Dillons

1 pkg Kroger Tortillas – $1.79

1 Quilted Northern (4 double rolls) Toilet Paper – $3.59, used $0.75/1 e-coupon – $2.84 after coupon

1 Kroger Ice Cream – $1.99, used $0.40/1 e-coupon - $1.59 after coupon

1 Hamburger Buns – Marked down to $0.49

1 Dillons Eggs (dozen) – $1.69

1 can Kroger Black Beans – $0.69

4 Dannon Yogurts – 3 of these were marked down to $0.29 and 1 was $0.50

1 gallon Dillons Milk – $3.09 (Received $0.25 back from Ibotta)

1 Kroger Italian Dressing – $1.50

1 Avocado – $0.99

1 pkg Chicken Drumsticks – Marked down to $2.71

1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99

1 Sweet Potato – $0.70

1 Broccoli Crown – $0.67

1 Onion – $0.58

2 Green Peppers – $0.79 each

1 Hillshire Farms All Natural Turkey Breast Sandwich Meat – $3.49, used Free e-coupon (no longer available) – Free after coupon

1 Jimmy Dean Sausage – $2.99

1 Cucumber – $0.79

1 can Kroger Corn – $0.50

Total with tax ($2.28): $31.05

Homeland

1 pkg Farmland Bacon – $3.99, used $1/1 printable (doubled; no longer available) – $1.99 after coupon

1 pkg Ritz Crackers – $1.67, used $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $0.67 after coupon

1 Chinet Napkins – $2, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – Free after coupon

4 Betty Crocker Cake Mix – $1 each, used 2 $0.75/2 printable (first one doubled) – $0.43 each after coupons (Buy 4, Get Best Choice Butter for $0.99)

Best Choice Butter – $0.99

5 Jello Instant Pudding Mix – $0.79 (Buy 5, Get $2 off instantly), used 2 $0.55/2 printable (first one doubled) – $0.06 each after coupons and savings

2 C&H Brown Sugar/Powdered Sugar – $1.79 each, used $1/2 printable (doubled) – $0.79 each after coupon

2 Halls Cough Drops $1.25 each, used $1/2 coupon from the 11/2 SmartSource insert – $0.25 each after coupon

1.60 lbs Navel Oranges @ $0.99/lb – $1.58

1 pkg Ocean Spray Cranberries – $2, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – Free after coupon

2 cans Lindsay Olives – $1 each, used $1/2 printable (doubled) – Free after coupon

2 cans Libby Pumpkin – $1.50 each, used $0.75/2 coupon from the 11/2 SmartSource insert (doubled) – $0.75 each after coupon

2 Kellogg’s Rice Crispies – $2.50 each, used 2 $0.75/1 printable (first one doubled) – $1.37 each after coupons (Buy 2, Get Free Jet Puffed Marshmallows)

1 Jet Puffed Mini Marshmallows – Free

Total before coupons and sales: $67.38

Total with tax ($1.95) after coupons and sales: $13.49

Total for all grocery items: $44.54

Menu Plan for This Week

Breakfasts

Cereal x 2, Bacon and Eggs, Homemade Granola, Toast & Eggs

Lunches

Turkey Sandwiches x 2, Tossed Salad, Fruit/Yogurt/Veggies, Cheese Quessadillas

Dinners

Italian Chicken Drumsticks, Biscuits, Tossed Salad

Biscuits & Gravy, Homemade Applesauce

Easy Cheesy Tex Mex Skillet, Tossed Salad

Sweet Potato Burrito Bowls, 30 Minute Rolls, Steamed Broccoli

Easy Fajita Chicken Bake, World’s Best Dinner Rolls, Steamed Peas

Baked Spaghetti, Tossed Salad, Sliced Oranges

Baked Creamy Cheesy Chicken Flautas, Homemade Applesauce, Steamed Carrots

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:: Reader Tip: How I Save on Gifts All Year Long

garage sale finds

Beka emailed in the following tip:

We’re avid garage sale people — we go nearly every Saturday. Some days we find absolutely nothing, while other days we hit the jackpot!

We have 5 children (who are still young enough that gifts don’t have to come in brand new packaging), so by garage-saling, we are able to stock up on Christmas and birthday gifts during peak garage sale months. This has saved our gift budget a LOT of money!

Thankfully, we live in a suburb in Texas and garage sales are happening 9 months out of the year — however, even if you have a shorter garage sale seasons, this is still an excellent way to save on Christmas and birthday gifts! -Beka

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:: 48-Hour Giveaway: Artisan Granola from Gathering Grains (6 Winners)

Do you love homemade granola? If so, you’ll definitely want to enter this giveaway!

Gathering Grains is a company that offers delicious homemade granola. And I don’t say that lightly!

I’ve tried multiple varieties they offer and they are so delicious! My favorite, of course, is the Chocolate Peanut Butter kind.

Mixed in with some coconut milk, almond milk, yogurt, or milk, it’s the perfect start to your morning!

Gathering Grains Granola is made by Andrea — a mom who was concerned with the chemicals her children were eating for breakfast and went on a mission to do something about it.

Andrea started making things from scratch, reading really old recipes, creating great friendships with an Amish family, and doing some research. Eventually, she started a business fueled by her passion to bring natural food back into her home.

Her motto became: “If my great-grandmother can’t identify it, it’s not coming into our house!”

She says that her granola has been “approved by the neighbor children, encouraged by great friends, and supported by a (very) understanding husband.”

Gathering Grains Granola is handmade, with 100% non-gmo ingredients, including heart healthy coconut oil and non-pasturized Amish raised honey. It is 100% sodium and preservative free.

Special orders are available, including gluten-free and nut-free. Contact Andrea directly to place special orders (gatheringgrains @ gmail.com).

For more information, check out the Gathering Grains website or follow Gathering Grains on Facebook.

Would you like to try some Gathering Grains Granola? Click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address to be entered to win. Six winners, each will receive a sample of granola, including full size jars and snack packs. This giveaway ends Saturday, November 22, at 11:59 pm, CST.

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:: Do It Yourself: 12 Gifts-in-a-Jar Ideas

gifts in jars

FreebieFindingMom.com shows you how to make 12 different homemade gifts in a jar.

Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

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:: You all have BLOWN me away…!

So can I just say something? You all are one downright amazing group of readers!!

I was so excited about the Choose Gratitude Blessings Journal and knew it was a product that has the ability to totally transform your life. However, it’s scary to put a product out there for all the world and encourage other people to buy it — especially because this was our first time to offer physical products in our online store.

But I believe in this product, I know the value it has had in my own life, and I knew that it was something many of you have been asking for. So I wrote the post on Tuesday telling you about it.

And then I clicked publish with a little fear and trepidation wondering if anyone would actually order it.

20 minutes went by and it was pretty much crickets chirping.

I started to second-guess myself and wonder if maybe I had been crazy to put the time and effort into this. But then I remembered: you know what? If I did all of that work just so I could have a product that would make a difference in my personal life as I use it year after year, it was completely worth the effort.

Well, about 5 more minutes went by, and then the orders started trickling in a few at a time. A few more hours went by and they started streaming in. And by that evening, so many orders had come in we started talking about possibly needing to hire extra help to fulfill them all!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing in my excitement and for supporting this project — buying copies not only for yourself, but for your friends and family.

Being the goal-oriented person I am, I set what I thought was a fairly audacious sales goal of how many I had hoped to sell by year-end. I truly didn’t think we would hit it, but I set it anyway.

Well, guess what?!? We hit the year-end sales goal in less than two days!!!

Yes, I told you that you all BLOW ME AWAY!

I am humbly grateful for each of you, for reading here, for sending in encouraging comments and emails, for being such cheerleaders, and for showing up here every day and investing your time and resources to help make this site a success.

I’m not sure what to say other than thank you from the bottom of my heart. You bless me far more than you could ever imagine!

LAST CHANCE TO GET THIS JOURNAL FOR $7.99!!

If you didn’t get a chance to order a Choose Gratitude Blessings Journal, the $2 off coupon code is only good through midnight tonight.

We do not plan to offer it at this low of a price again before Christmas (except for bulk orders). So if you have been thinking of ordering, now’s the time to do it!

Through tonight at midnight, save $2 off the purchase of our brand-new Choose Gratitude Blessings Journals from our store when you use coupon code BLESSING14 at checkout.

That makes it just $7.99 + shipping. You can order as many as you’d like with this discount code.

This would make a great gift idea for friends and family this Christmas season! And don't forget to purchase one for yourself, as well!

If you'd prefer, the Blessings Journal are also available to purchase off of Amazon. However, the $2 discount code is only good through our online store.

This offer is valid through through midnight tonight only (November 20, 2014).

Go here to order your Choose Gratitude Blessings Journal.

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