Being Booga

From eFIPO.Com Finance and Politics for a New Generation, in an article posted April 13, 2008:

“How to Prepare for a Recession”

“Start Saving – If you aren’t a frugal person; it’s time to tighten your belt and learn to be one. Start setting aside a bit of cash each month, even if it’s only a little. Cut out unnecessary spending, clip coupons, whatever it takes to make yourself more liquid.”

I’m as liquid as I can get!~ I couldn’t possibly BE more liquid — How about anyone else reading this? I think we could be a LOT more specific. Good article though. I like how she says, “It’s TIME TO BE A FRUGAL PERSON” –

Here are the results of our PRICE CHECK DENVER for a variety of everyday items from April 13, 2008:

Strawberries, Fresh, 1 pound:

King Soopers - Sale Price ($2.50)
Safeway Sale Price - ($3.00)
Little Saigon Supermarket - 99 Cents

Tortillas, Large, One Dozen:

King Soopers ($2.19)
Safeway ($2.79)
Avanza Supermarket $1.69 (Fresh Homemade)

Dry Beans, Pinto, Per Pound:

King Soopers ($1.99)
Safeway ($1.29)
Avanza Supermarket .79 Cents

Wraps, 6 Count:

King Soopers ($3.19)
Safeway ($3.39)
Avanza Supermarket $2.79

Mushrooms, Button White, 1 Pound Whole:

King Soopers ($3.13)
Safeway ($3.49)
Little Saigon Supermarket $2.79

Rice, Jasmine, Per Pound:

King Soopers ($1.50)
Safeway ($.77)
Little Saigon Supermarket 57 Cents

Zucchini, Per Pound:

King Soopers ($1.29)
Safeway ($1.29)
Little Saigon Supermarket .69 Cents

BOTTOM LINE:
Yesterday we purchased the above lowest-priced products - we spent $20, and saved a total of $5 and some change - a total savings of 27%, without using coupons. For information about the markets mentioned in this PRICE CHECK, click here.

A few weeks ago the Denver Post ran a story claiming that food was generally less expensive in the mainstream stores in more affluent neighborhoods. I disagree. While this price-gouging might be happening in the mainstream, larger markets due to higher operating costs in these areas, I find that by shopping in the alternative shops and in ethnic neighborhoods, I can save up to 30% on my grocery food budget.

Know any great every-deals on everyday products in alternative grocery markets? COMMENT! Have you found an alternative source for groceries in the Denver Metro area or other area you’d like to share? Please comment!

I tend to have a pretty good instinct for what things cost and so I am fairly quick at spotting a deal. However, sometimes I’m wrong and I’m duped into believing I’m “saving” because either something is On Sale or I use a Coupon.

Scenario: $30 Food Budget for this week - needs to feed 2 people.

Now, I’m pretty resourceful, so I immediately set up a strategy for how we were going to accomplish this.

The first thing we did was take total inventory of the food we had in the house. I won’t bore you now but if you’re really interested you can see our inventory here. Basically, Ryan read off what was what, and I entered the information in the notebook.

Now, why is this important? It’s important because when you’re on a food budget it’s important to know exactly what you have to work with. I myself was surprised at how much we actually had in the cupboard, including leftovers.

Restaurants and businesses take inventory every week because:

1.) It helps minimize waste (first in first out)
2.) It helps them know what items to order
3.) It helps them track trends

NOW all this boils down to is COST CONTROL for a restaurant - and this is because when you are careful about controlling costs, you can have better control over the profit margin.

How to Do Food Inventory

Professional food-buyers also keep a price book.

Over time, a price book allows you to track pricing trends so that you can buy when the price is RIGHT. Using your price book data, you will know, over time, when a deal really is a deal, and act accordingly. Over time, using this strategy alone (Price Book + Weekly Inventory Control) you can shave several hundred dollars a year off of your food budget.

You can shave even more off your food budget by shopping certain stores for certain products. It’s the same concept as only shopping for the loss leaders at your major chain - you’ll save an average of 20%-35% by shopping this way - WITHOUT USING COUPONS!

After taking your inventory you will know what you NEED to buy at the store in order to make complete meals out of everything by purchasing some key ingredients.

Next, food shopping list in hand, scan the sale ads for your favorite stores and try to match up with coupons.

Don’t be afraid to NOT use coupons, because often times when you’re really strapped for cash it’s a better deal to buy a smaller portion, the store brand, or even shop elsewhere. In our case, I acted on instinct and decided to check the ethnic shops before stepping foot in my major chain every day grocer (King Soopers and Safeway, here in Denver).

BOTTOM LINE:

We saved 26% by buying several of our key items at the ethnic shops, due to their every day prices being cheaper! Now, I knew that my Asian Market was a lot cheaper than King Soopers on things like rice, noodles, condiments. I decided to check them out more thoroughly, and after shopping there then shopping at my Mexican Market, I discovered that their prices are a lot cheaper on staple items, and we were able to meet our budget.

I believe the concepts here can work for any major metropolitan area. Look to your off-the-beaten-path ethnic shops in alternative neighborhoods for lower prices.

Want to know, on-the-fly, about the best deals in Denver? Follow me on TWITTER, (http://twitter.com) Follow: boogawooga

I’ll be posting price checks and deals! Click Here to learn about / join TWITTER (it’s Free). You can stay updated via text messages from Twitter, or follow the chatter on this web site. You can also join in, and post your own deals.

BOTTOM LINE:
For Details on what Denver stores netted us the 26% savings as well as a Price breakdown by item, click HERE.

Happy Bargain Hunting / Food Budget Stretching!~

Drastic Times, Drastic Measures. We have a food / grocery budget of only $30 this week. Our strategy #1 is to take a complete inventory of everything we’ve got on-hand.

Here’s our food inventory - Week of April 13, 2008:

Pantry & Canned / Packaged Food:
1 lb sugar
4 lb flour
baking powder
baking soda
peanut butter
7 oz jalapeno peppers (pickled, whole)
12 oz roasted salted peanuts
1 6 oz can tuna
1 25 ounces Honey Nut Cheerios
1 25 ounces Cinnamon toast Crunch
1 box Cheez-it Duos 14.5 ounce
Pancake Syrup
3/4 loaf of bread

Freezer:
Meat:
1 package Cheddarwurst - 1 pound
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 lb. corned beef brisket

Other in Freezer:
18 ounces cookie dough
1/2 gal ice cream
Various Zip Bags or containters, containing:
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped chilis in adobo sauce
1 cup diced celery (for soup stock)
1 cup frozen mystery sauce (tomatoe?)
1 pound frozen sweet potato soup

Fridge
Dairy:
1 dozen eggs
1/4 gallon milk
1/4 cup cottage cheese
15 ounce Country Crock margarine
1/4 cup sour cream

Condiments:
Just a little mayo (about enough for a sandwich)
yellow mustard
1/4 cup grape jelly
big jar dill pickles
big bottle red hot sauce

Produce:
1/2 cup diced onions and celery
1/2 whole onion
1 cup diced carrots

Leftovers:
8 leftover cheesy dill dumplings
1 cup leftover basmati rice, cooked
soup pot full of leftover sweet potato soup
1 cup leftover pasta salad
1/2 cup peas
3 leftover biscuits

Dry Produce Storage:
2 large sweet potatoes w/ small eyes - need to eat soon
18 medium red potatoes w/ eyes - need to prepare / eat soon
1 shiny red apple
4 large bulbs garlic

Dry Spices, Condiments and Mixes
Soy Sauce, 5 oz Super Lucky soup mix, Cinnamon sticks, thyme, thai seasoning, crushed red pepper, wasabi sauce mix, zest blend, italian seasoning, garlic powder, lemon pepper, salt, pepper

Pasta / Rice / Beans (Dry)
12 oz. soy beans
8 ounces veggie rotini pasta
16 oz. rice noodles
25 lb jasmine rice, New Crop 2008
1 cup basmati rice
4 cups jasmine rice, store brand

Other: (Cooking Oil, Drinks and Drink Mixes - Tea Bags, etc.)
15 ounces Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 ounces grapeseed oil
200 ml asian hot oil
Ground Coffee
tea bags (a ton)

What meals can we make with these ingredients? Any ideas? Do you take a food inventory? With these ingredients on-hand, and a budget of $30, do you think we’ll be okay? Please comment!

We were able to net a 26% savings by shopping these two stores in Denver. Following the stores information is a price-breakdown for comparison to Safeway and King Soopers stores in Denver.

Store #1:

Little Saigon Supermarket
375 S. Federal Blvd.
Denver, Co
Map It!

What to Purchase: Rice, Noodles, Condiments, Spices. Also check their produce and meat departments for great deals. This week the major chains (King Soopers and Safeway) are really pushing and promoting their sales on Fresh Strawberries. The ads say “Strawberry Fest” and they’re adverted price is 2 pounds for $5.00. Little Saigon Supermarket’s price on Strawberries week of April 13, 2008: 1 POUND FRESH STRAWBERRIES for .99. Yes that’s right, 99 CENTS.

Review: Their prices on SOME items are up to 30% cheaper than the major grocery chains. They’ve got a huge selection of ramen noodle for 33 cents a package - also their meat and produce departments have an open-market feel. Where else can you buy a sack of chicken feet? I took advantage of an excellent deal on zucchini: 79 cents a pound! Here in Denver, King Soopers / Safeway are currently advertising their sale on zucchini for $1.00 / pound. Also I really love their prices and selection of spice condiments (hot sauces) and packaged spice mixes (lucky Soup Mix 69 cents). Here is where you can also purchase a 25 pound sack of 2008 New Crop rice for about $14.00.

Just south of the Far East Center, check out 88 Asian Market. I have also found great deals here, and they carry a good selection of 2008 Rice Crop - furthermore, they also have a used cooking utensils section. Salvaged restaurant items are available such as steamer trays, woks, large cooking pots, tea sets and plates.

Store #2:

Avanza Supermarket
1320 South Federal
Denver, Co
Map It!

They are having a monthly drawing to win $250 store credit. After your visit to Avanza Market, keep your receipt and log into www.storefeedback.com and complete their online survey to be entered to win.

What to Purchase: Here at Avanza, I was able to buy a dozen large, HOMEMADE TODAY flour tortillas for $1.69. King Soopers price on a dozen tortillas? $2.19 ($2.00 on sale) - Safeway? $2.79. Watch out though, their milk is priced at $4.17 a gallon, not a good deal at all when King Soopers / Safeway regularly sell milk for as low as $2.77 / gallon. There are excellent deals to be found on their regular prices for Vegetable oil, pinto beans, lentils, tomato sauce, wraps and pasta.

Review: We really enjoyed shopping at Avanza. We don’t speak spanish, and the store’s patrons were mostly spanish-speaking hispanics who live in the neighborhood. It didn’t bother us at all though. The store had an open-market atmosphere with Mexican music, pinatas and baskets of wares hanging, and lots of friendly chatter in the aisles. We are definitely going to return to Avanza to do our shopping for specific items. Oh, and at Avanza you can purchase some pretty interesting things in the meat department such as pork belly!

For our item PRICE BOOK breakdown, we noted prices on the following purchases:

Strawberries, Mushrooms, Dry Beans, Tortillas, Wraps, Pasta, Rice and Zuchinni. We priced these items at New Saigon Supermarket S. Federal Far East Center, Avanza Supermarket at South Federal, King Soopers 14th & Krameria, Safeway 14th & Krameria. See the results here.

While Restaurants regularly take a total inventory of what they’ve got “on hand” for obvious cost-control and product-ordering purposes, most families do nothing more than keep a “To Buy” list posted somewhere.

Well drastic times call for drastic measures. For us, long gone are the “To Buy” checklists where we add something to the list simply because it comes to mind. Now, we work with a food inventory, weekly menus, and a specific “To Order” type list. The benefits? Cost-Control, of course! We are forced to keep careful tabs on every aspects of our expenses in order to survive. So we adapt and we employ a weekly food inventory.

Using this strategy ensures we “eat well” while staying within our very tight food budget. We can accomplish this because we are longer wasting anything. Everything is right out in front of us due to having taken our inventory - and so, we’re “using up” what we have ans ticking to the rule “Last In, Last Out / First In, First Out” - example would be, say you have 10 potatoes all going soft and sprouting eyes. In days past I might have thrown them out and replaced them with a shiny new bag of potatoes. Not anymore. Yesterday during inventory I discovered 18 medium red potatoes in the bin - all going soft and sprouting eyes. By all accounts, they’re still plenty good-enough to cook. But soon! So guess what I get to do today after posting to my blog? I get to shred and cook the 18 potatoes and store them in the freezer. Why? Because we cannot afford to waste anything! I just saved a few bucks by not going out and buying potatoes. (Well, in our case we did buy more potatoes, they are a bargain this week, we’ll just be eating a LOT of potatoes!)

How to take Food Inventory

First of all, it helps a great deal if there’s 2 people working together on this. Either have your laptop with you in the kitchen and run a list on Notepad or other word processing software, or carry a clipboard where you write everything down. Have the second person go through each of the following areas, noting each product and the amount you have on-hand:

pantry / dry food storage (packages and canned goods)

pantry baking items (sugar, flour, spices etc.)

Dry produce storage (potatoes, onions, etc.)

Oils and beverages (can of coffee, box of tea bags, drink mix, olive oil, etc.)

Refrigerator - break this down into fresh item, condiments and leftovers

Freezer - break this down into meats, leftovers, and other items.

Note on your list how “much” of each thing you’ve got. For example - we have a 5 lb. sack of sugar, but only a little bit in the bag - we estimate we have “1 pound” of sugar.

Here’s Our Inventory as an example.

No, Really, Who ARE you?

Well there’s been a lot of heat and discussion over on one of my favorite blogs, Suburban Oblivion, and so today I decided to come out of the broom closet with a formal statement:

It takes writing to become a writer. It takes blogging to become a blogger.

So I fired up a blog because I’m going through some unique-to-me experiences and wanted to document them - - and…make friends with others who might be doing the same stuff.

While I’m workin hard at finding my own “voice” and discovering my own unique “niche” I might as well say this - yeah I am copying everything I can find. NO. I just write some stuff then later find out someone already wrote it. S%#!@t — I got a mean comment stating something to that effect - well it didn’t hurt my feelings - however, it did open my eyes to the fact that I am just a blogger a ME and I do what I waaaant.

I know I’m not the only blogger to post rebates and coupons. I just figure the more the merrier, because who can’t use coupons and rebates? Plus, for me, it helps keep me organized.

Who am I as a blogger and what right do *I* have to be here?

I don’t know. Check back…

Right now I’m busy trying to make friends with others who are like-minded, for support and good things — I can use all the help I can get. Blogging, or otherwise.

Image via Wikipedia

AOL has launched a new service that allows you to place electronic coupons on participating Grocers’ Loyalty / Frequent Shopper Cards. In addition to saving time in clipping and sorting coupons, I discovered that by using the Shortcuts.Com Coupons, you can double or even triple your savings!

When I tested it on Big G Cheerios, I found that I not only saved $1.00 with the Shortcuts.Com coupon + the item was on sale + I used an additional $1.00 off manufacturer’s coupon from the Sunday insert.

I was able to purchase a box of Cheerios cereal for $1.00.

Not all stores or manufacturers are participating yet - you’ll have to check the site to see if one of your stores are.

I hope the food manufacturers get on board - currently I’m seeing participation from Big G, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Nature Valley and Green Giant.

When you log into the site you can view a report of your savings-do-date as well as the dollar amount of all coupons saved to your loyalty card.

My King Sooper (Kroger) shopping card is currently “Loaded” with the following electronic coupons, and they expire May 18:

Pillsbury Grands or Rolls
SAVE $.50 on TWO
Refrigerated Pillsbury® Grands!® Biscuits (any size/variety)
Expires: 05/18/2008

SAVE $.55 on ONE
Betty Crocker® Frosting (any flavor/variety)

SAVE $1.00 on ONE
Fiber One® Original, Fiber One® Honey Clusters, Fiber One® Raisin Bran Clusters® or Fiber One® Caramel Delight™ cereal

SAVE $.55 on ONE
Lucky Charms®, Chocolate Lucky Charms® or Berry Lucky Charms® cereals

Big G Honey Nut Cheerios
Save $1.00 on TWO

Green Giant Green Giant Frozen Boxed Vegetables (Any Variety)
SAVE $1.00 on TWO

SAVE $.75 on TWO
Nature Valley® Granola Bars (any flavor/variety)

SAVE $.25 on ONE
Pillsbury® Crescent Dinner Rolls

SAVE $.80 on TWO
Yoplait® products listed: • Yoplait® Go-GURT® Yogurt • Yoplait® Go-GURT® Fizzix™ Yogurt • Yoplait® Go-GURT® Smoothie • Yoplait® Kids Cup Yogurt • Yoplait® Kids Yogurt Drink • Yoplait® Trix® Multipack Yogurt (any variety)

I had an idea for a post title, “Don’t go Shopping when you’re hungry - and other useful tips”. Yes, it
was an idea, MY idea. But lots of folks beat me to it. Dratz!

I simply did a search on my proposed new-post title, and here’s what came up. I don’t think I can do better, so I’m just going to list out the best articles!

Please note that I have read ALL the articles linked here and believe they’re full of very useful information about good strategies to use in order to make your shopping more successful. While mainly focused on grocery shopping, I believe the basic concepts are useful for any kind of shopping.

Lifehacker: Shopping: 10 Things Supermarkets Don’t Want you to Know

Zen Habits: 50 Tips for Grocery Shopping

WikiHow: How to Go Grocery Shopping

Real Life Survival Guide Tips: Don’t Go Grocery Shopping When You’re Hungry, Cranky, or in a Fabulous Mood”

Kids Health: Smart Supermarket Shopping

And Finally - Here is what my favorite site, “Frisky Wife”, has to say on the subject:
Do You Long for the “Good Ol’ Days”?

In other news, I’m still working on the “Domestic Goodness Great Thangs Amazon Store”. Today I added 20 aprons.

I got interested in aprons a number of years ago while living in rural Missouri. I attended an auction / estate sale and scored a hard-sided suitcase full of handmade vintage aprons from the 50s and 60s. These were aprons that someone’s dear mother had actually worn. I was drawn to them! I believe they were drawn to ME, or, rather, I attracted them to me, because I really appreciate them. After I got the case home I literally spent hours sorting through them, feeling the fabric, smelling them, trying them on! I guess they had an energy vibration - as all things do. I started wearing the aprons, hanging a few of the prettiemy aprons / fancier ones on hooks in my kitchen. Unfortunately, I discovered they were rather delicate, being so old - so I carefully cleaned them with a dry-cleaning kit and gingerly folded them in tissue paper and packed them away. Now I’m in the process of framing the vintage ones to display in my home. I think they’re beautiful and a solid reminder of the good things and of days gone by.

Now I LOVE aprons, and find them very necessary now that I’ve started wearing them. They keep my clothes clean while doing the mundane household tasks we all do. The great thing about aprons is, by wearing one, you can still dress “nice” while cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, and whatnot. Long gone are the baggy T-Shirts and sweats! If I can “bring back the apron” I would. I’m trying to anyway! So my advice to you, harried housekeeper would-be Domestic Goddess is, Number 1: Don’t Go Shopping When You’re Hungry, and
Number 2: Wear an Apron.

If you want to know more about apron-lore, check out the book,
“Aprons of the Mid-20th Century: To Serve and Protect” by Judy Florence.

I’ve also selected a few lovely aprons to get you started, they’re here in my Domestic Goodness Great Thangs Amazon Apron Store. Just don’t go over there if you’re hungry!

It’s easy to save money when you use your computer / internet and printer! Another example of “making money” from home, using the internet, is to sign up for special programs and promotions from retailers.

In addition to the free coupons you can get from Safeway, Kroger Stores and Walgreens, RiteAid has some great offers, including “Single Check Rebates”.

If you sign up at RiteAid.Com they reward you with coupons! I saved my coupons to print later as a PDF file. Here they are, enjoy! (this is a PDF file, you need Adobe Acrobat installed)

In addition, if you haven’t checked your Riteaid Single Check Rebates for the month, you can do so on the web site. What I like about their program is I don’t have to mail anything in to get the rebates. You just log in to the site and fill out your rebate form with receipt numbers and they issue / mail you your rebates.
Sign up HERE for Single Check Rebates.

For the month of April 2008, Riteaid is offering a rebate on Aquafresh Toothpaste - just like Walgreen’s. Match that with the currently-running Aquafresh $1.00 Off Coupon in the Sunday coupons, and you’ll not only get free toothpaste, you’ll “make” a dollar. Find another coupon to use at Walgreens - get another rebate - and you’ve made almost $10.00.