Awesome FREE Target $5 Gift Card Offer

Every once in a while Target offers a FREE giftcard with a select purchase. It usually isn't worth my time unless it involves Pepsi products or snack foods my husband and kids will eat up before I can tell them I bought them.

Well this week Target will give you a FREE $5 gift card when you buy any combination of 5 select Kellogg's snacks at $2.33. The offer is good on Cheez-it 9 oz pkgs, 12 ct Pop Tarts, and 11.5 oz Fudge Shoppe cookies. Since Cheez-It hands down have the least sugar I had to go for those. Not to mention how we happen to love them so much!

I happened to have a $5 gift card from a previous deal so that made each box roughly $1.33, plus I got another gift card out of it! Hurray for cheap snack foods!

Our Budget Saver of the Month: $40/week Groceries

As part of overhauling our family budget this month, I cut back at the grocery store.

For the first week of May, I spent $61.01. This week was a little higher than most because I was taking advantage of a big sale to stock up for the month. I also had to replenish a lot of our pantry items that were running low. Not a bad deal though, since I was able to completely stock up for the month at some very low prices at HyVee.

The second week of May I spent a whopping total of $21.79. I didn't have much to buy this week but took advantage a sale on bagels for $1 and some inexpensive meat and grilling items.

I skipped out on grocery shopping the following week. Our refrigerator was full of items still and this became our "No spend" week of the month. We also had lots of leftovers to use up.

This week I spent the most but I made it worth my money. I made a trip to HyVee and spent $33.01 on groceries. Not bad, since I had to replenish a lot of necessities from not shopping the week before. It was a great weekend to shop with all of the Memorial Day sales. There were some fantastic snack and pop deals at Walmart, Target, and Kmart so I took advantage of those. All together I spent about $20 on pop and $10 on snacks for our many trips to the park that we take in the summer. I also picked up some Organic Gerber baby food items at ToysRUs (BRU has the same deals). That totaled $10 but I won't have to buy baby food for a LONG time now.

Everything averages out to under $40 a week! Which is a HUGE change for us. We had been spending about $50-80 a week, sometimes much more if we were stocking up on items. And that didn't include pop. So we did a fantastic job this month. I will of course still be on the look out for this Wednesday's ads from Fareway and HyVee. I am hoping for some great sale prices following Memorial Day weekend. :-)

Walmart Reusable Grocery Bags

Our family officially went "green" this weekend.

My husband and I agreed to buy our first reusable shopping bags at Walmart. I was surprised to find that they are actually very durable and have lots more room than your average plastic bag. In just one blue tote we were able to fit to large bags of Ruffles chips, bread, english muffins, and hot dog buns. And there was still plenty of room left for lots more!

We figure we use on average 8+ plastic grocery bags every time we go shopping for groceries (not even including basic toiletries or non-grocery shopping items). And if we go shopping on average 4 times a month that is 32 bags minimum a month and 384 in a year!

Now the trick is to keep them on hand so we can use them each time. We stored all 4 bags in the trunk of our van for when we go grocery shopping. I can't wait to use them the next time we go grocery shopping.

Hyvee 3 Day Sale

Today was a great day to pick up some basics at Hyvee! A LOT of items were very cheap in their ad this week. This week was supposed to be our "no spend week" but Hyvee has a 3 day sale going on thru tomorrow (Saturday). Since I had to run in to pick up some necessities anyway I went ahead and did some light shopping. Plus, we have company coming into town this weekend so we wanted to get some meat to grill out since the weather is just so amazing today! Hard to believe it is almost 90 degrees as I type this!

Here is what we got for under $55

Dairy

2 gallons of Country Fare skim milk @ $2.25 each
1 Hyvee sour cream @ 58 cents w/ in-ad coupon

1 Hyvee strawberry yogurt @ $1.77

1 Country Fare cottage cheese @ $1.48

1 Hyvee eggs @ 97 cents

Frozen

2 Jacks frozen pizzas @ 1.99 each

Grocery & Pantry Items

6 Taco seasoning mixes for at 3 for $1 = $2

1 Hyvee White Sandwich bread @ $1.18

8 boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese @ 48 cents each

Produce

Fresh green beans for 99 cents/lb

2 lemons @ 2 for 59 cents

Oranges for 69 cents/lb

Meat

Chicken Family Value Pack @ 97 cents/lb

Ground Turkey 2 for $3

3 Ribeyes @ 5.99 each

They were sold out of their 3 for $1 baked beans and Kraft Singles for $1.99. But it was still a good trip for us. Next week is another "no spend" grocery week and we are going to try and stick to basic items again. Barring no amazing deals you won't see me heading out anywhere for groceries! :-)

How to freeze strawberries!

What is more enjoyable in spring than fresh strawberries! We bought LOTS of super cheap strawberries recently at HyVee. And this week they are selling a 4 lb package for $4.68. So here is how you can make those strawberries last for you to use year long:

Step 1: Wash strawberries in cold water and use paper towel to pat dry. I also let mine drain in a strainer over the sink for 5 minutes. Make sure to toss or use any that show any sign of major discoloration or damage--the freshest kind work best. Then use a knife to remove the tops, stems, and leaves.

Step 2: Place berries on a baking sheet, cut side down so that they lay flat. They should be close together but not touching each other. For an easy clean up place nonstick wax paper on the baking sheet.

Step 3: Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until well chilled, then transfer sheets to the freezer for 6 hours or overnight.

Step 4: After they have been frozen you can remove the berries from the baking pan and place them into a freezer proof ziploc bag or airtight freezer container.

Step 5: Mark container with the date you froze or bought them.

TIP: Strawberries last up to 1 year after freezing if done immediately, but I recommend no longer than 6 months. They are really great for smoothies among other things!

Weekly Groceries for under $55

Cooking at home this month has made me much better at grocery shopping! We have not dropped a dime to eat out since March 31st with the exception of Sunday night on our long drive home from Easter weekend. This week I spent under $55 on a total of 37 items at HyVee. My total was $54.76 with tax and it included:

1 dozen eggs
1/2 gallon orange juice
2 4 packs of Imperial margarine sticks
2 pkgs of Birdseye frozen peas
1 pkg of frozen spinach
4 Jack's frozen pizzas
4 cans cream style corn
4 cans green beans
1 loaf of Sarah Lee white bread
2 boxes of Stove Top chicken stuffing
1 gallon skim milk
1 Roberts sour cream
1 Kraft Velveeta cheese
4 pkgs of California strawberry
3 lb pkg of baby carrots
1 onion
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 lbs roma tomatoes
Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Chicken Drumsticks
1 lb ground beef

Not bad! Normally I would have to buy at least 1 more gallon of milk but since we were out of town for the weekend, we still had a gallon left to use. I'm enjoying this challenge this month of cooking at home and trying to cut down on grocery costs. I have been trying lots of great new recipes and searching sale ads for the best prices. Its been quite the fun quest so far! I think we might try to make this a regular thing for our family.