I've come to dread this time of the month... Making sure we stay under budget while also making sure everybody is fed is hard.
Right now I'm also trying to balance getting all the baby sewing done, getting some furniture rearranged before baby comes, getting school stuff ready.. Add in all the regular household chores and having to rest.. There's not enough hours in the day. Thankfully the grocery list is something I can do while resting.
We aren't doing too many new meals this month.. Just felt like I needed a break from the new.. We're still working on trying some freezer meals out so I can have some things in the freezer... Even if we don't use them until after Dennis goes back work, it will be a good tool to have in the freezer. As for the breakfasts, I've decided we're just going to grab a box of premade breakfast sandwiches, a package of precooked bacon, and a box of poptarts.. As for suppers we are seriously considering ordering a week's worth of from Blue Apron or something like that..
So, onto the meal plan... Breakfast is the usual... eggs, bacon, yogurt, cereal, juice, almond milk, coffee of course.. We added cinnamon monkey bread to the mix this month, it was REALLY yummy so definitely keeping that around.
For Dennis' work lunches he's sticking with the salads.. Avocados are cheap right now, so we're mixing up the boiled eggs with some avocados instead.
For our lunches the kids are requesting mac and cheese... I've been doing sort of a meatless goulash (noodles and spaghetti sauce), I'm going to see if Sam's has the cheese sauce in bulk... Not the best, I know, but I just want something easy-and they don't like my homemade mac and cheese. I also did some homemade hot pockets that went over great, I didn't have enough cheese to make more than one batch, so we're getting more cheese this month and I'll make enough to throw some in the freezer. Chicken strips and fries, leftovers, meatball subs (mini hoagie rolls, Italian meatballs, mozarella cheese and spaghetti sauce). Sundays we're sticking with our pita sandwiches, but we'll probably end up doing a different meat this month just for some variety. Also, instead of chips we're going to buy some of our favorite snacks and make a homemade snack mix along with something sweet (case of individual cookie snack bags or something from Dollar Tree).
For the kids' snacks, I'm hoping to get some goldfish while they are on sale at Sam's.. They also really like the homemade trail mix I did with peanuts, raisins and m&ms. Mix that up with fruit and we'll be good to go.
Dinners.. We decided to add in a few casseroles this month. I'm still working on getting the freezer pizzas figured out (the middle doesn't like getting done).. I was told to mummify them in seran wrap before freezing.. So we're going to try that.. If that doesn't work, then I definitely thawing before baking should do the trick..
So..
Tator Tot Casserole
Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Casserole
Chicken Parmesan Bake
Shrimp and Kielbasa
Hamburgers and hot dogs
Dorita Taco Salad
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Five Spice Tilapia and Fried Rice
Smithfield pork loin with potatoes and broccoli
Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches and fries
Homemade Pizza-Hawaiian, cheese, pepperoni, pepperoni and veggies
Honey Mustard Chicken Avocado Salad
BLT Salad
Pineapple Chicken Tenders with peppers and pineapple
Chicken and Veggie Baked Egg Rolls (also a freezer meal)
Caprese Chicken
Simple Mexican Chicken with yellow rice
Well... Post Grocery shopping. We're worn out, van has a flat tire in a town where the town shuts down for the weekend at noon. Thankfully it kept air in it enough to get us home.
So..Sam's.. We didn't find the meatballs for meatball subs, so Saturdays might get interesting. We are making a homemade trail mix for Sundays to go with our sandwiches, so we grabbed some m&ms from Sam's. We spent $292.86 at Sam's.
Dollar Tree. We didn't need too much at Dollar Tree, but stocked up on what we did need. Spent $25.56.
Walmart. That's always the one that seems to put us over. We had a ton of cereal coupons, so the kids got to pick some cereal out, we also got some poptarts-which I'm debating if we should wait until baby comes, or just have a treat and eat them. We spent $207.90
Aldi. Aldi usually helps us out a little here.. BUT.. we found a few deals we couldn't pass up. They had a 10 pack of kid's underwear for $10, and a 3 pack of activity books for $2.49.. So we grabbed though. We also grabbed most of the ingredients for our trail mix from Aldi. Banana chips, sesame chips, raisins, peanuts, and a few versions of granola. We spent $175.64
So in all we spent $701.96.
What was I saying the bacon saving us money? I do expect the homemade trail mix to last us more than one month... And we will get some extra meals for the freezer out of this month for when baby comes. So that will help in the long run, too.
Have a great week!
~Tabitha
Triple Clicks
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Grocery Saving Apps for Your Android
I know I've mentioned we are trying out some grocery saving apps... I didn't want to share them until I knew how they worked... So now that we're getting to know them, how to use them and have even cashed out on a few of them- here is me sharing.
I'm also going to share a referral code for those apps that have it, if you want to put it in, then that helps us out. If you don't want to, then don't. Most of the apps we went through and found a goal we wanted to work for-usually an Amazon gift card. My husband has a spreadsheet on his computer for his survey sites and the money saving apps. We have also found out that we have to look for coupons FIRST online, then go into the savings apps and "clip" the digital coupons, or we can't print off the online coupons.
IBotta
This one is one I've heard about from many different bloggers.. Now while it does have a few generic "carton of eggs", "gallon of milk" ".25 off grocery receipt".. Most of Ibotta is very brand and very store specific. So we don't get much out of it, but we are getting some. For Ibotta there is a $20 threshold to reach to cash out. You go through the app and find whatever you have on your list for each store, then "clip" the coupon.. Once you get home from the store, you have to scan the receipt and sometimes the bar code-that depends on the item I'm finding. Just like the paper coupons, it really depends on what's loaded on as to what you find. It does have more than groceries, but we only use it for groceries because that's all we ever buy lol. If you want to use my referral code and try it out the code is "gwwaqep". After 3 months, we have $8.60 on the app. Now, if you can get to $10 in the first 4 weeks, you get $10 from the company (apparently), we didn't get there..so I can't confirm that, but that's what it says when you sign up.
SavingStar
This one is even more brand specific. Although we are seeing a lot of offers that are basically "buy 2 of your choice from Kelloggs (or another brand) get so much back". Instead of a specific item, although it has those too. This one I sometimes leave until after we are done, then go through and load the offers. I've had to scan the barcode on the box and the receipt for proof of purchase. In 3 months we've earned $.82. LOL You need $20 to cash out.
Receipt Hog
This app you can load almost any receipt into and get something.. I do everything BUT gas receipts.. it will tell you if it can't give you anything. You do have to answer a few short survey questions with some of them-every receipt asks you who went, how was your visit. I did earn about 100 coins last week because of a few brand specific items we bought. Receipt Hog also lets you connect to Amazon and your email to scan for receipts. In 3 months we've earned 866 "coins", we need 1000 to get $5 on Amazon.
Walmart App
The Walmart app has the savings catcher... Since I always look at all the ads anyway, it usually doesn't do us much good.. But we have earned $.45 on it. You need $10 to get a Walmart gift card. I figure since I'm scanning receipts, it can't hurt to take a picture of one, one more time.
Fetch Rewards
Fetch is one of my favorites. The only thing you can't redeem through them is restaurant receipts. We've tried. lol. It just tells you unable to process. Even the little local shops we get something for it as long as the app can read the receipt. We have cashed out on Fetch once already, and we're already back up 2,162 points. We need 5,000 to get $5 Amazon gift card. This is one you can go in and find the digital coupons... or you can just let it find the coupons for you.. It takes a little longer to process when it has to find the coupons, but we're in no hurry, so we just let it. If you want to try this out with my referral code, the code is "T4PVA".. It says you get 2000 points and I get 2000 points when your first receipt is approved.
ShopKick
We are still trying to figure this one out... I'm adding it to my list in hopes somebody uses it and can tell me how to. LOL It says you can earn from walking in the store, scanning your receipt or scanning bar codes.... It's very brand and item specific... But we have yet to figure out how to earn just walking the in the store... So there it sits in hopes we can figure it out. lol If you are interested in trying it out my code is "MALL688333".. It says "when someone accepts your invite and gets their first Walk-in or Scan (within 7 days of joining) you both earn 250 kicks. Sooo... if you think you want to figure it out.. It does sound like a good
app... I just can't figure it out. lol
Checkout51
This one is worse than SavingStar when it comes to being brand specific. We bought a certain brand of toilet cleaner last month simply to get the $5 cash back on it (making it free once we get enough to cash out). You have to go in and load the offers before you scan the receipt... and it has to be clearly labeled on the receipt. We have to get to $20 to cash out.
ReceiptPal
Another of my absolute favorites. The only thing it won't give me points for is.. no wait restaurants do go through... You can upload any receipt on this and get some points.. For every 4 receipts that are completed, you get an extra 100 points. You need 2000 to get $5 on Amazon, we have 1650 after 3 months. You have 7 days from the date on the receipt to get them scanned in, but other than that, you're good to go.
We print almost all of our coupons through a survey site we both use called MyPoints. For each coupon you print off and redeem, you get 10 points.. There's also different coupons and things to do on the website to get points. Along with a lot of different cash out gift cards.
Keep in mind that although I kept saying how many points you need to get an Amazon card, there are many other options for cash out on each app.
I think that's all the apps we use... It sounds like a lot.. but it's stuff we are buying anyway, so to me it's worth it to take 15 minutes and scan stuff in.. Each different app will walk you through how they want you do it.
Have a great week!
~Tabitha
I'm also going to share a referral code for those apps that have it, if you want to put it in, then that helps us out. If you don't want to, then don't. Most of the apps we went through and found a goal we wanted to work for-usually an Amazon gift card. My husband has a spreadsheet on his computer for his survey sites and the money saving apps. We have also found out that we have to look for coupons FIRST online, then go into the savings apps and "clip" the digital coupons, or we can't print off the online coupons.
IBotta
This one is one I've heard about from many different bloggers.. Now while it does have a few generic "carton of eggs", "gallon of milk" ".25 off grocery receipt".. Most of Ibotta is very brand and very store specific. So we don't get much out of it, but we are getting some. For Ibotta there is a $20 threshold to reach to cash out. You go through the app and find whatever you have on your list for each store, then "clip" the coupon.. Once you get home from the store, you have to scan the receipt and sometimes the bar code-that depends on the item I'm finding. Just like the paper coupons, it really depends on what's loaded on as to what you find. It does have more than groceries, but we only use it for groceries because that's all we ever buy lol. If you want to use my referral code and try it out the code is "gwwaqep". After 3 months, we have $8.60 on the app. Now, if you can get to $10 in the first 4 weeks, you get $10 from the company (apparently), we didn't get there..so I can't confirm that, but that's what it says when you sign up.
SavingStar
This one is even more brand specific. Although we are seeing a lot of offers that are basically "buy 2 of your choice from Kelloggs (or another brand) get so much back". Instead of a specific item, although it has those too. This one I sometimes leave until after we are done, then go through and load the offers. I've had to scan the barcode on the box and the receipt for proof of purchase. In 3 months we've earned $.82. LOL You need $20 to cash out.
Receipt Hog
This app you can load almost any receipt into and get something.. I do everything BUT gas receipts.. it will tell you if it can't give you anything. You do have to answer a few short survey questions with some of them-every receipt asks you who went, how was your visit. I did earn about 100 coins last week because of a few brand specific items we bought. Receipt Hog also lets you connect to Amazon and your email to scan for receipts. In 3 months we've earned 866 "coins", we need 1000 to get $5 on Amazon.
Walmart App
The Walmart app has the savings catcher... Since I always look at all the ads anyway, it usually doesn't do us much good.. But we have earned $.45 on it. You need $10 to get a Walmart gift card. I figure since I'm scanning receipts, it can't hurt to take a picture of one, one more time.
Fetch Rewards
Fetch is one of my favorites. The only thing you can't redeem through them is restaurant receipts. We've tried. lol. It just tells you unable to process. Even the little local shops we get something for it as long as the app can read the receipt. We have cashed out on Fetch once already, and we're already back up 2,162 points. We need 5,000 to get $5 Amazon gift card. This is one you can go in and find the digital coupons... or you can just let it find the coupons for you.. It takes a little longer to process when it has to find the coupons, but we're in no hurry, so we just let it. If you want to try this out with my referral code, the code is "T4PVA".. It says you get 2000 points and I get 2000 points when your first receipt is approved.
ShopKick
We are still trying to figure this one out... I'm adding it to my list in hopes somebody uses it and can tell me how to. LOL It says you can earn from walking in the store, scanning your receipt or scanning bar codes.... It's very brand and item specific... But we have yet to figure out how to earn just walking the in the store... So there it sits in hopes we can figure it out. lol If you are interested in trying it out my code is "MALL688333".. It says "when someone accepts your invite and gets their first Walk-in or Scan (within 7 days of joining) you both earn 250 kicks. Sooo... if you think you want to figure it out.. It does sound like a good
app... I just can't figure it out. lol
Checkout51
This one is worse than SavingStar when it comes to being brand specific. We bought a certain brand of toilet cleaner last month simply to get the $5 cash back on it (making it free once we get enough to cash out). You have to go in and load the offers before you scan the receipt... and it has to be clearly labeled on the receipt. We have to get to $20 to cash out.
ReceiptPal
Another of my absolute favorites. The only thing it won't give me points for is.. no wait restaurants do go through... You can upload any receipt on this and get some points.. For every 4 receipts that are completed, you get an extra 100 points. You need 2000 to get $5 on Amazon, we have 1650 after 3 months. You have 7 days from the date on the receipt to get them scanned in, but other than that, you're good to go.
We print almost all of our coupons through a survey site we both use called MyPoints. For each coupon you print off and redeem, you get 10 points.. There's also different coupons and things to do on the website to get points. Along with a lot of different cash out gift cards.
Keep in mind that although I kept saying how many points you need to get an Amazon card, there are many other options for cash out on each app.
I think that's all the apps we use... It sounds like a lot.. but it's stuff we are buying anyway, so to me it's worth it to take 15 minutes and scan stuff in.. Each different app will walk you through how they want you do it.
Have a great week!
~Tabitha
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