I’m currently challenging myself to stick with a $70 grocery budget for our family of five. This includes almost all of our breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners + most household products (toiletries, laundry soap, etc.).
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I didn’t go shopping yesterday, so my total for groceries spent over the past 6 days is still $33.13. I’m hoping to stop by Kroger today, though, so I should have some great deals to report tomorrow!
One of the ways that I love to save money is by getting creative in the kitchen. I like to try to come up with yummy meals based upon what we have on hand and what I was able to get on a great sale or markdown. Sometimes, this means that I make up recipes — like I did today! 🙂
I had some red peppers (that I had gotten marked down 4 for $1) plus some sausage that I had gotten marked down to $1.49 per pound (that I had browned and frozen) plus some celery and chicken broth.
So, I created a recipe with this — and added in some garlic and seasoning to it. We’re simmering it in the crock-pot today and I’m going to make some rice in the Instant Pot and we’ll serve it over rice. It smells really yummy and I think it will be good!
I did a live video while I concocted it if you want to see how I made it. 🙂
I’m not sure what to call it, but some of my Instagram followers suggested calling it Cheapo Gumbo or Stone Soup! It could also be similar to Dave Ramsey Soup. 😉
We’ll serve it with some fruit (that I got marked down!) and maybe some muffins, if I have a chance to do any baking this afternoon. I also made some refrigerator pickles with the organic cucumbers that I got marked down last week, so I’m going to serve those, too.
It might seem like an interesting meal, but my family always enjoys the creative concoctions and combinations I come up with. And hey, at least it keeps things interesting! 😉
By the way, I was excited that I was able to make $2 from Checkout 51 and Ibotta — and I got this cash back on marked down groceries!!! I wasn’t sure if they’d issue it to me since the items were marked down, but they did! So that made a great deal even better!
Here’s what I got:
- I bought Artisan Lettuce marked down to $1.49 and got $0.50 back from Checkout 51!
- I bough 2 Fage yogurts marked down to $0.59 each and got $1.50 back from Ibotta! (Note: The graphic above says Dillon’s because I used to live in Kansas where the Kroger affiliate stores there are Dillon’s so that’s what my account is registered under!)
The moral of the story on this is what you should always check your receipts to see if you purchased anything that would qualify for a rebate from Checkout 51 or Ibotta! It never hurts to make a few dollars in a few minutes on items you already bought! 🙂
How did you save today? Have you found any great deals on groceries or gotten creative in order to save money? Tell us about it in the comments!
