Today I started getting everything together to go to the grocery store (menu plans, coupons, looking for last minute deals) and after I was done I really had no idea how I was going to pull off getting everything we needed for $10.

I headed off to Target and stocked up on quite a few loss leaders, headed to the back of the store to get the Kashi waffles and stopped in one of the freezer isles to get my coupons in order... I almost walked off when I faintly heard a lady behind me trying to get my attention. I walked back a little closer and she repeated herself saying that if I took a survey I would receive a $10 gift card! I quickly agreed and answered what seemed to be a ton of questions about the frozen veggies in my cart, and headed to the checkout - after coupons and the gift card, I paid $1.83!

Next I went to Kroger to pick up some milk, oj, banannas, cheese, potatoes and Velveeta shells and cheese. I went over the budget by $.90, but I received a $1 off your next order coupon for buying the Velveeta. Overall this was a really good shopping trip, and next week I hope to have a better plan!



Last Saturday I didn't get around to posting (actually I didn't get around to posting anything this past week) what I bought, but it was pretty boring - we didn't need much...

How did all of you do this week at the stores?

This week we spent $9.76 on everything in the picture above (from Target and Kroger) - meaning that we came in under budget for the first week of the Eating From the Pantry challenge!

I know the whole point of this eating from the pantry challenge is to try to reduce the amount of food storage we have, I couldn't pass up the deals at Target this week... those waffles were only $.24 after coupons (which I am happy to pay that for wholesome healthy waffles that I didn't have to make :) - quick foods like waffles also come in handy when it comes time to move -- just heat and eat)

Ok, as promised here are the pictures of my pantry, fridge/freezer and deep freeze.
I also went through everything and took inventory of the entire stockpile. It's really hard to tell, but the pantry shelves are really deep, I can put my entire arm into the pantry and just barely touch the back. I don't really like having such a narrow and deep pantry, but I will only have to deal with it for 4 more months :)

By the way, we dont eat a ton of cereal -- what you see here will last us for about a year. Cereal goes on sale a lot, but just this past week it hit the rock bottom price so I stocked up as much as I could. (If you watch the sales, cereal usually goes on sale for the rock bottom price about once a year)

Here is where the inventory of all that food is

Between 2 transactions at Kroger all this stuff was only $22. Earlier in the day I had to go to Wal-Mart for work and picked up 2 cartons of strawberries for $1.97.


Total spending for yesterday was just under $24!

We are also going to start an Eating From the Pantry Challenge (like the one Money Saving Mom had awhile back) and hope to stick to it for about 6 - 8 weeks! That might sound really long, but we will be moving at the end of September (we are buying our first house!!!) and need to work through the stockpile I have going on. My love is completely up for this challenge and is very excited to be able to save quite a bit of extra money, especially since there are usually extra costs that come up with buying a house and moving.

During normal weeks, I allot $40 to the grocery budget. But during the challenge there will be a $10 per week allowance to buy milk, produce, a few random ingredients or to pick up the extrordinary sale items that I can fit into the budget.

If we can manage to stick to this challenge for all 8 weeks - we will have saved an extra $240!!

The next post will have the pictures of my pantry, fridge/freezer and deep freezer just so you can get an idea of what I am working with...

All I know is that I won a gift card.... which store it is for though, I have to wait to find out in 6-8 weeks ** Usually if you win an instantt win prize, the sponsoring company will email you -- well after awhile with no email, I found out that a lot of other people have also won this, so the chances that this will come are slim to none... oh well...

First, I want to apologize for the lack of posts over the past week or so, it's been hectic at work and have been busy on the homefront as well. Yesterday and today I had the privelidge of watching my little sisters (might I mention they are 6 yo twins?) and we had fun, but I am exausted none the less.

Here is my quick rundown of new freebies, coupons and what's new in sweeps:

Freebies:
Nescafe Tasters Choice Stick Pack
Dogswell Dog or Cat Food Sample
Always Clean Pads
Dear Abby, Heart Health Kit
Dove Energy Glow
Cottonelle Ultra Sample
Pull Ups Training Pants
Head and Shoulders Sample
Sample of Lactaid
Brilliant Brunette Shampoo and Conditioner Sample


Music:
I am not going to list all the new songs this week, but head on over to Amazon and check out what has been added to the evergrowing list of free downloadable songs

Coupons:
I am having a hard time finding any new high dollar coupons this evening!
$.40 off SoftSoap Products

What's New in Sweeps:
Hershey's Bliss IWG
Grand prize winner will receive $20,000 cash prize
200 winners will receive $100 cash

Hershey's Rascal Flatts IWG
100,000 winners of a song download
10 winners of a $2500 Visa Gift card
also 5 first prize winners and 1 Grand prize winner

Slurpee Nation IWG
170 XBox related prizes

Heineken Block Party IWG
59,400 Instant Win Prizes

ATT's Brain teaser, Waller pleaser IWG
100 winners of a $100 Visa gift card

Weber Taste of Grilling
Several big prizes
1000 $10 off Omaha Steaks code

Redman Roadtrip IWG
Instant Win Prizes
-10 winners of a Leather jacket
-50 winners of a Pair of Bolle sunglasses
-500 winners of a Belt buckle
-1,000 winners of a T-shirt
-2,500 winners of a Three-can roll tin

Pedigree Luckiest Dog IWG
Instant Win prizes - 200 $25 Pedigree branded gift cards

Dockers IWG
Instant win prizes - 65 winners of a $50 gift code for dockers.com

Cash for Cat Care IWG
Instant win prizes - 55 winners of a $50 gift card