Two Frugal Cats

  Menu Planning March has arrived! Winter will still be with us for a while longer, but I am really enjoying the longer daylight hours, hearing the birds chip in the morning, and the thought of starting our garden seedlings soon! Last week we successfully worked through most of our "what needs to be used up" list, which was helped by hosting a dinner for six - that's six people I was able to feed lettuce to! This week we are back to our standard weeknight commitments after a week off due to schools being out for February vacation, which means making sure we plan ahead for lunches and busy nights. We also received a last minute invite to go out to dinner on Sunday night, so you'll see where I've spread some meal prep throughout the week on an as-needed basis. Otherwise, this weeks meal plan is primarily based around items that need to be used up, whether from the fridge, pantry, or freezer. green peppers roma tomatoes diced onions and peppers french bread heavy cre...

This past week's grocery spending is a testament to why I should not be allowed to go grocery shopping alone! I found a ton of bacon marked down at Shaw's one evening when I went in to pick up a missing ingredient for dinner. I will end up sharing quite a bit of what I got with family for their freezers, and provide the bacon for this year's Memorial Day camping trip, so in the end we won't be keeping or consuming this all ourselves! Also, bacon around here is one of the few items I've seen increase in price substantially, so I was overall thrilled to be able grab this deal to share and stock my freezer with. What We Spent   Shaw's 2 Packages Chips Ahoy Cookies - $1.86 2 Florida's Naturals OJ - $3.86 16oz. Cottage Cheese - $1.49 Broccoli Crowns - $2.41 Green Beans - $3.29 Zucchini - $1.03 Summer Squash - $0.88 Roma Tomatoes - $0.67 2 Old El Paso Fajita Seasonings - $1.18 (clearance) 2lbs. Grass Fed Beef - $3.98 (clearance) (12) 3lb Packages of Bacon - $100.5...

This past week's grocery sales yielded some great treats, pantry staples, and clearance items. I was especially happy to find real parmesan on clearance, which I froze for later use in sauces, pizza, etc. Sales have also continued for fresh produce like green beans and grapes, so we've been taking advantage, especially since our garden won't start producing until early July. What We Spent   Market Basket 3 Garlic Bulbs - $1.20 1/2lb. Red Grapes - $0.80 2lbs Green Beans - $2.11 Curly Leaf Parsley - $0.99 1/2 Gallon 1% Milk - $1.88 2 Bags Mini Frozen Ravioli - $1.98 French Bread Loaf - $0.99 Oatmeal Bread - $2.00 4 Boxes Microwave Popcorn - $4.00 Krusteaz Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix - $2.29 Tea Bags - $1.49 Knox Gelatin - $0.50 (clearance) Ding-Dongs - $0.50 (clearance) Corn Flakes - $0.99 (clearance) Tax & Bottle Deposit: $0.08      Total: $21.80 Papa's Produce Multi-Colored Tomatoes - $1.50 Blueberries - $1.00      Total: $2.50 Dollar Tree 3 Cans Bla...

This week was a pretty low spend week. I stopped into Shaw's to pick up a few sale items, like ice cream for Ben's birthday, and of course I cruised the clearance sections while I was there.  I've seen very few decent coupon deals lately, but... Shaw's was advertising all Annie's products at 50% off, plus I had two app coupons, each for $1.25 a specific Annie's product, plus a one dollar off when you buy two peely in my coupon stash. Stacking the sale & coupons together resulted in getting two items for $0.49 each! What We Spent   Shaw's 2 Bags Signature Select Potato Chips - $0 (store freebie) Friendly's Coffee Ice Cream - $1.97 4 lbs. Jimmy Dean Bacon - $11.88 Annie's Cheddar Fish - $0.49 (50% off store sale combined w/ $1 off 2 app coupon) Annie's - Cheddar Squares - $0.49 (50% off store sale combined w/ $1 off 2 app coupon) Twix Cookies & Cream Bar - $0.64 (clearance) Progresso Chicken & Dumpling Soup - $1.34 1.27lbs. Red Seedless...

 The past few weeks have been incredibly busy, and I lost track of my posting cadence... so I'd like to catch you up with a WWS & WWA from March 26th - April 1st, and a Plan & Prep from April 3rd - April 9th. I figured I'd pull them into one post, since I know I'm a few receipts short, and well, WWA tends to all blend together after a while!  What We Spent:   March 26th - April 1st I scored a major bacon haul at Shaw's, they had a bunch of the butcher's bacon packed up in the clearance case for $2.99 per pound! That bacon discount made up about 90% of the week's spending. I also stopped in to Market Basket to pick up a few fresh items. Unfortunately my receipts from that week accidently made it into the recycling, but the total for both stops was $67.16 according to my card statement. March ended up wayyy over our normal budget of $200, but that's why I use the term "budget" loosely, as some months are much higher than others, with it typic...

Can you say cheese? Shaw's was running a great sale on one-pound blocks of cheese this week, at $2.77/lb this is about the lowest cheese prices will go for cheddar (even beating out bulk prices at Sam's Club). Cheese lasts months in the fridge, and even longer in the freezer. We had the opportunity to tour Cabot Creamery's factory a few years ago, and they shared that the date on the shrink wrap (for cheddar, and most other hard cheeses) only indicates the date upon which the cheese enters the next "aging category" (ie, what you bought was aged for 6 months, the date on the wrapper is the date for when the cheese will be 9 months old, it is not a best by date, if anything, the flavor is better!). We keep an eye on the quality of the wrapper seal, freezing blocks that look like they may be losing their seal. This allows us to always have cheese on hand! In the meal prep realm, I turned to one of my favorite meal prep tricks - sheet pan meals! We have two standard h...

This week we capitalized on great loss-leader sales that Shaw's was having for traditional St. Patty's Day vegetables - potatoes, onions, cabbage, and carrots! These are all great staples that last quite a while in the fridge or pantry. We also picked up a few treats - dark chocolate Kit-Kats (amazing if you haven't tried them, especially frozen!), and Planter's chocolate almonds, which were surprisingly delicious. In the meal prep realm, I finally got to that Sticky Ginger Chicken, which received two thumbs up. Creamy Beef & Shells and Pesto Chicken were also mainstays this week for lunches as they both reheat well and keep their bright flavors. What We Spent   Shaw's Groceries - Minus Two Bags of Potatoes Shaw's Pork Loin - $5.24 4lbs. Challenge Butters - $3.48 12lbs. Yellow Onions - $3.88 4lbs. Carrots - $1.94 Cabbage $0.19 20lbs. Russet Potatoes - $1.94* 2 Jarritos Sodas - $1.24 (clearance item) Ratio Protein Yogurt - $0 (free app item) $3 off $30 (I als...

If you tuned in to last week's Plan and Prep - you might have noticed we were eating some beef! Beef was on great sale at Shaw's this week, so we stocked up the chest freezer since my ground beef bin is getting pretty low. I use bins in the chest freezer to help keep items organized into groups, plus it makes it easy to access items towards to bottom of the freezer. We also restocked a few basics this week, plus topped up on dairy and fresh vegetables. A Few Dinners from the Past Week What We Spent   Shaw's Redstar Yeast - $0.99 (2) 5oz. Bags of Beef Jerky - Free (store app freebie) Yogurt Bar - Free (store app freebie) Jarritos Mandarin Soda - $0.62 (clearance) Jarritos Fruit Punch Soda - $0.62 (clearance) Bakery Hamburg Buns - $1.64 (reduced rack) 9.3lbs of 90% Ground Sirloin - $27.53 Petite Sirloin Steak - $8.91 2 Cube Steaks - $7.60 (reduced rack) 2.58lbs. Red Grapes - $2.48 ($0.96/lb) Coffee Ice Cream - $1.94 Goya Chipotle Peppers - $1.43 Tax & Deposit: $0.10    ...

March has a arrived, bringing with it the promise of Spring, and the teeth-chattering reality of -20 degree Fahrenheit mornings to remind us that we aren't quite there yet! This month I had intended to reduce spending a bit, recognizing that we have been purchasing many unnecessary treats lately, but instead I've ended up focusing on restocking some basics and a bit of meat and cheese, as these continuing pandemic times have me a bit nervous to dip to deeply into using up our freezer stores. My aim is to keep rotating items as we would normally, but to start making some space for the produce to come starting in late May (strawberry season!). Since it's just the two of us, it can take a while to create a true dent in the freezer.  What We Spent   Shaw's 2 Cans Mutti Diced Tomatoes - $0 (on sale for $1, paired w/ $1 off any Mutti product app coupon twice) 4 Packages Chips Ahoy Cookies - $3.52 (one for us, the rest for a friend) (2) 1lb. Blocks Sharp Cheddar Cheese - $5.98...

February is slowly edging to a close. Here in Southern Maine that means dramatic swings between sub-freezing temperatures and an increasingly intensive sun ushering in balmy forty plus degree afternoons. These temperature swings, freezing at night, thawing during the day, is what triggers the sap to begin flowing in the maple trees. Maine is the third leading producer of maple syrup in the US behind Vermont and New York respectively. Most importantly, the trickle of sap signals that Spring is just around the corner! We ordered garden seeds from Johnny's Seed Company last week, and hope to get our seedling started soon after they arrive. Maine's growing season is relatively short, so many crops do best started indoors so that they have time to ripen before the first frosts of late September. This week we took advantage of a few sales and restocked on some fresh items. I did notice that at some point earlier this month I had transposed my spending totals, so you will see those up...

This week was a great one for stocking up on seafood & bacon thanks to some store sales and store app coupons! Two of the three grocery stores in my area have store loyalty programs that offer personalized coupons that you can "clip" via their phone app. I know that they use these programs to mine data on spending habits, but I do benefit by getting coupons geared towards the items I buy, plus accumulate cash back/rewards, so I consider it a pretty even trade.  Many of these coupons are available to all app users (weekly free item, special sale prices), so it is easy for most users to take advantage without spending the time to physically clip coupons. Unfortunately, I do sometimes have issues with the Shaw's app, it can be glitchy and not all coupons come off when they should, customer service is typically pretty good about correcting these issues though. The same applies for their "buy 5 or more of a particular selection of items" sales, which tripped me u...

Did you know that here in Maine, on March 18th, sunset will be at 7:38pm!? Currently sunset is right around 5:07pm for where we are, Spring, it's in sight! This week I put together my seed catalog order, and we will start some plants indoors here once they arrive. While we look ahead to spring (it was, ahem, 4 degrees here this morning), we continue to look towards sales for inspiration, and recognize the subtle shift in produce offered on sale and it's origin help us track the coming of our own planting season. Well, enough dreaming, here is.... What We Spent   Shaw's 1.55lbs Steak Tips - $7.24 1lb. Italian Sausage - 1.99 2 Bags Sour Cream & Onion Chips - Free (store coupon)      Total: $9.23 Market Basket 39oz Package of Kielbasa - $5.99 3 Small Heads of Broccoli - Free (the cashier rang these in at $1.99 each, not $0.99/lb, so customer service just refunded me the money) 2.59lbs of Green Beans - $3.34 ($1.29/lb) Parsley Bunch - $0.79 2 Cucumbers - $1.00 A Bag ...

Welcome to February! Here in Maine February tends to be the coldest and snowiest month, which has has proven to be the case so far with temperatures in the single digits, wind chill, and snow storms. This week I was able to hit some good sales at Shaw's (I swear I don't have a seltzer problem...). I was especially excited to see frozen vegetables on sale, with almost all varieties included. I took this opportunity to stock up on spinach especially, which is often excluded from sales. Popcorn & Homemade Hot Cocoa Make a Great Light Dinner What We Spent   Shaw's 12-pack Signature Select Ginger Ale - $1.99 12-pack Refresh Seltzer - $1.99 4 AHA Seltzer Waters - $9.38 8 Count Burrito Tortillas - $1.00 4 Bags Tortiyahs Tortilla Chips - $3.88 (1) 16oz Bag Frozen Corn - $0.88 (1) 16oz Bag Frozen Peas - $0.88 (1) 16oz Bag Frozen Cauliflower - $0.88 (4) 16oz Bags Frozen Cut Leaf Spinach - $3.52 1 Pint Hood Whipping Cream - $1.49 (clearance) 4.26lbs. Boneless Skinless Chicken Br...

January has almost come to a close - it's been a successful start to 2021 in terms of meal planning. Planned meals have been eaten, lots of fresh vegetables were enjoyed, and we've even managed to use up lingering pantry and freezer items. We did end up coming in a bit over budget for the month, which I will explain a bit more about below. What We Spent   Shaw's 1 Quart Buttermilk - $2.49 16 Light & Fit Yogurts $3.52* 8 Boxes Quaker Oat Squares $8.42* 3 Twinning's Holiday Teas - $5.97 (50% holiday clearance) 1lb. Red Seedless Grapes - $1.70 2 12oz. Bags of Organic Tri-Colored Baby Carrots - $0 (store freebie coupon)     *     The yogurt and cereal were both coupon deals, the yogurt was all supposed to be free and the                cereal $0.49 a box. Unfortunately a couple of the coupons didn't scan correctly and I did not          ...