Easter Menu Ideas To Fit Your Budget

1. APRIL – Week #1 of 4- Apr 3-9, 2017

   2016 GROCERY BUDGET / STOCKPILE BUDGET AND US RESERVE:

   •Total Grocery Budgeted For Year: $190.00 x 12 = $2,280.00 for 2 adults

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   REMARKS FOR THE MONTH:

   Before we start our APRIL shopping off, I am going to make my “reserve” transfers:

   Grocery:

   $ 190.00 for the month
   ($ 25.00) trf to re-stocking – normally $15.00
   ($ 0.00) trf to holiday reserve–normally 15.00
   ($ 0.00) trf to summer reserve–normally 15.00
   ($ 75.00) trf to US Reserve –normally $45.00

   CANADIAN Grocery Balance $90.00

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   REMARKS FOR THE MONTH:

   This month I decided the Re-Stocking Reserve needed another little bump of cash but mostly I just topped up the US reserves because we’ll be shopping in the US in both April and May.

   We’re planning an extended long weekend away this month to try and prop up our somewhat S.A.D. winter spirits until we can get in our trip to Palm Springs, California. It feels like this winter has lasted FOREVER!

   That means one week this month will not need additional groceries because we’ll be using up the bits in the fridge. If I plan the April US shop right, I may even be able to stretch it into two NO SHOP weeks again this month for the Canadian side of the border…it just means picking up my eggs and milk across the line. 🙂

   Where there’s a will, there’s a way to stick to this darned budget even with Easter falling into the mix. I expect to make an Easter feast, a week late, so that I can shop on Easter Monday when everything is on deep discount. Have I mentioned how much I hate paying full price for anything? LOL 🙂

   Chocolate is not on the grocery list for this holiday though because we still have a huge cache from Christmas. I will be watching baking supplies though to see if there are any deals to be had.

   REMARKS FOR THE WEEK:

   This week’s shopping is all about taking advantage of sales. I did see the Walmart turkeys for $10 but we have a cooked turkey breast in the freezer & don’t need any more turkey for the holiday. Maybe we’ll get one in the fall?

   I haven’t made hubby one of my French Onion slow roasted blade roasts using onion soup mix in what I am sure feels like forever! He really loves them as they come out absolutely fork tender after roasting at 250 for 5 hours, tightly wrapped in foil. I’m not a beef person so I’ll just have the potatoes and maple glazed vegetables that I do up to go with the roast…that way hubby gets the roast all to himself. It makes an amazing hot beef sandwich too… especially if you top it with sautéed mushrooms, onions, peppers and provolone cheese.

   I’m thinking that I’ll do up one pack of the BOGO chicken breasts as Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Glazed Pulled Chicken for my sweete’s lunch materials and I’ll use the other pack to roast up for use in an assortment of other dishes i.e. a teriyaki chicken stir fry, Chicken Caesar Salad and a sweet n sour chicken.

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   OUR “CANADIAN” SHOPPING:

   No Frills – Maple Ridge << This whole shop is about treats for hubby while the prices are right!

   2 x 1L Chocolate Milk @ $1 ea = $2
   2 x Pillsbury Weiner Wraps @ 2 for $3 = $3.00
   1 McCains 900 g Fries $1.93

   Total OOP: $6.93

   ** Earned 0 PC.Plus Points on this shop **
   ** SAVED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
   ** SAVED $0.00 Loyalty Savings on this shop **

   —————————————————————–

   Walmart – Maple Ridge –

   1 x 2lb Boneless Blade Roast $12
   1 Whipped Cream $3.08

   • Grocery Budget OOP: $15.08

   —————————————————————–

   Thrifty Foods – Maple Ridge –

   2 x Warehouse Packs boneless skinless chicken breasts BOGO ($24.34+$24.22) = $24.34 << I can't imagine paying full price!

   • Grocery Budget OOP: $24.34

   ** Earned 1 Air Miles on this shop **
   ** USED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
   ** SAVED $24.22 Loyalty Savings on this shop **

   —————————————————————–

   No Frills – Maple Ridge –

   3 No Name Onion Soup Mix @ $0.80 = $2.40
   1 No Name Onion Soup Mix – FREE – SCOP << Hubby was thrilled that he caught the error again!

   Total OOP: $2.40

   ** Earned 0 PC.Plus Points on this shop **
   ** SAVED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
   ** SAVED $0.00 Loyalty Savings on this shop **

   —————————————————————–

   Shopper’s – Maple Ridge –

   2 x doz. Large Grade A eggs @ $2.29 ea < ham and cheese omelettes for a weekend brunch for us! 🙂

   • TOTAL Grocery Budget OOP: $4.58

   ** Earned 40 Optimum Points on this shop **
   ** SAVED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
   ** SAVED $0.00 Loyalty Savings on this shop **

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   OUR “US RESERVE” SHOPPING:

   OUR NEXT USA SHOP IS SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 17th < this will be a great time to re-stock our hams!

   =============================================================================================

   2016 Y-T-D GROCERY SAVINGS:

   •Total Loyalty Card Price Reductions This Year: $54.64

   •Total Coupons/Rain Checks Used This Year: $0.00

   •Total Price Match Savings Used This Year: $0.00

   •Total More Points Earned This Year: 58 Points

   •Total Air Miles Earned This Year: 22 Air Miles

   •Total PC PLUS Points Earned This Year: 2,600 Points

   •Total Optimum Points Earned This Year: 4,100 Points

   =============================================================================================

   • SUMMARY OF FUNDS Y-T-D:

   $ 760.00 Grocery Budget JAN-APRIL

   ($ 63.29) NET RESERVE SAVINGS

   ($660.04) Actual CASH SPENT

   $ 36.67 AVAILABLE Y-T-D GGC SPENDING NOT INCL RESERVES << It's gonna be tight! 🙁

   • RESERVES Y-T-D:

   $ 202.44 Re-Stocking Fund
   $ 95.70 Holiday Season Fund + $170 RCSS POINTS + $10 Dream Air Miles.
   $ 653.54 Summer Season Fund
   $ 386.05 US Shopping Reserve
   $ 0.00 Points Redeemed Reserve

   OUR CURRENT TOTAL UNUSED RESERVES ARE $1,337.73. This means the $1,274.44 that we carried forward from 2016 PLUS AN ADDITIONAL $439.32 that we have added in 2017, LESS $376.03 that we have drawn out for use in 2017.

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   Reply

   • Hi Mary,
     Sounds like you are ready for vacation. Our winter wasn’t nearly as bad as last year. I’m also not a huge fan of beef but prefer ham, pork or chicken I would never pay that much for chicken reg price. Do they mark the price up higher for BOGO sales? I hate when they do that. Makes it no deal at all. Chicken breasts can be pricey though. So, Larry was excited by the SCOP. Does he do a dance, smile or hold a straight face when he finds one? lol. I love the after-holiday dinner approach…. talk about savings. What a great idea!! We did that at Christmas and we were all able to get marked down prices on gifts for those we were buying for. No biggie for us.
     What are you doing with the whipped cream?
     You stocked up good but I think if you pull off 2 no-shop weeks you’ll be fine even 1 depending on what you have left at home of course. It’s always hit or miss but we try to stretch stuff. Well done. You get ballot #1. Mr.CBB Have a great week… mines off to a crap start.

     Reply

     • These are really big packages of chicken Mr CBB so no…they aren’t marked up. Usually there are 10 really large breasts in the pack and other stores sell 5-packs for $18 so it is still a good deal. Hubby gets all excited and can hardly wait to show me the receipt and the deal that he got. Just wait til you see next week’s post…we’re gonna be just fine this month. 🙂

       Reply

       • Ya I bet he does. My wife is the same way when she finds a deal too. It’s always exciting to save money. I always look forward to your deals of the week Mary.

         Reply

2. Week 13 – Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2017
   Name Your Store: No Frills
   Total Coupons Used: $
   Total Points =
   Total Out Of Pocket: $17.74

   Human
   2 NN Mushrooms = $2.54
   2 Cheerios = $5.94
   4 L 2% Milk = $4.27
   Banana – 2.045 Kg = $2.52
   Sesame Seed Bagels – 50% Pink Sticker = $0.84
   Raisin Cinnamon Bagels – 50% Pink Sticker = $1.65

   Cats
   No Shop

   Grocery Game Challenge Results
   Total Grocery Budget for the 2 Adults ($1820.00, for the pay period – $70.00)
   Total Human (Adults) this Week Period: $17.74
   Left for the Month: $18.08 (won’t be carried over)
   Total Human (Adults) to Date: $341.24

   Total Grocery Budget for the 3 Cats ($364, for the pay period – $14.00)
   Total Cats this Week Period: $
   Total Cats to Date: $91.16

   Total Grocery Budget for Stockpile ($507.69)
   Total Stockpile this Week Period: $
   Total Stockpile to Date: $108.75

   Total Grocery Budget for the Personal Hygiene ($182)
   Total Personal Hygiene this Week Period: $
   Total Personal Hygiene to Date: $78.99

   Total Grocery Budget for Meat ($499.98)
   Total Meat this Week Period: $
   Total Meat to Date: $198.59

   Total Coupons Used this Week Period: $
   Total Coupons Used To Date: $11.99

   Total Grocery Savings for this Week Period: $
   Total Grocery Savings to Date: $49.80

   Total Price Match for this Week Period: $
   Total Price Match to Date: $13.35

   Total PC Points Received this Week Period:
   Total PC Rewards Points Used this Week Period:
   Total PC Rewards To Date: 6,933

   Overview: Quiet week in what was needed. Will take the left over balance and use it on a bill (of some nature).

   Reply

   • Hi Dee,
     Don’t forget my bill? I’ll send you my banking details… lol.
     Always having extra is a good thing especially to pay down debt.
     It’s a well-balanced grocery shop too, most of the basics.
     You seem to be doing lots of small shops now has something changed in the way you grocery shop?
     Keep up the great work. You’ve got ballot #2. MR.CBB

     Reply

     • I’m sure the fact that I’m shopping at RCSS any longer probably has something to do with it but I haven’t been wanting to grocery shop so I get as little as possible based on what we need and go from there. This coming week will be no different except we have to think of something for Easter potluck.

       Reply

3. Week #1April 3-9/2017Grocery Game Challenge
   Yearly grocery budget for One + Occasional grown children 2017: $4,200 year or $350 month
   Hello! My first weekly Game!
   33
   Total Grocery Budget for this Month: $ 350 + 300 = 650 ($300 FOR DAUGHTER )
   Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $ 350
   Total Gift Cards used to date: $0
   Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $8/ Safeway 20times Air-miles or 10% off
   Total Rewards Points used to date: $8.00
   PC Points Plus Earned to date: 0
   Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP) to date $0
   Shoppers Optimum: 21,770 Points
   Air-miles points: earned this week 4, Earned to date: 1671 miles
   Coupon Apps (add any other apps you use to save money)
   Zweet to cash out : $0
   Checkout51 to cash out : $3.00
   Stockpile budget 2017 ($25.00):$
   Stockpile budget used to date: $ 80.00
   Total coupons used this week: $ 3
   Total coupons used to date: $ 3.50
   Total in-store discounts this week:$ 99.32
   Total in-store discounts to date: $ 179.32
   Total spent this week: $ 222.84
   Total over/Under spend this shop: Under$77.16
   Total over/Under spend for the month: Under $ 277.16
   Total left to spend for the month: $ 197.16
   Total Spent To Date 2017: (does not include stockpile budget) $ 1,496.00 (January $349.24,
   February $ 146.39, March, $ 630.12, April so far$ 371.00) includes expensive Ideal Protein diet foods. I am now finished the program and will save money.
   Weekly Overview (your final thoughts):

   This week was for my daughter. I had set aside $300 for her needs. In addition to the food, I contributed to her new eyeglasses. I spent $330 in total, so I was over budget with the glasses.

   Safeway (Groceries for my Daughter)
   Paid $48.22
   Vendor Coupons $1
   Total Saved 18.62 or 28%

   3 Stagg Chilli sale 2.59 reg 2.79

   3 boxes Christie crackers reg $2.98 sale 1.88, paid $5.64

   2 Yogurt, Danone Activia, 650g reg 3.79 sale 3.50 less coupon of $.50. Paid $6

   Rising Crust Pizza reg 7.69 paid 5.99 save1.60

   2 Frozen Fruit, 600 g =, compliments reg 4.79 paid $4 save 1.60

   2 Cheemo Perogies 1 k, reg 3.19, paid 2.00 save 2.40

   2 Frozen Veg, Green Giant, 750 g, reg 3.39 paid $2 save 2.80

   Broccoli crowns, sale 3.28 k, paid 1.67 save 1.35

   Carrots, Baby peeled, 2 lb paid 2.69 save .30

   2 Ice burg lettuce reg 2.29 sale, 1.69 ea, saved 1.20

   Shoppers Drug Mart (Groceries for my Daughter)
   Paid $80.96 (with $75 gift card bought to earn Shoppers Points)
   Vendor Coupons $2
   Total Saved $37.10 or %
   Points earned; regular 800 + bonus 19300 = 20100 points

   2 Milk jugs, 4 l, 3.25% $1 mark down paid 4.49 save $2

   Butter, No Name, 1 lb, 3.99 compare at 4.99, save $1

   Eggs, 1 dozen, weekend sale price, $2.29 save 1.20

   Icing sugar, 1 k, sale 1.99 compare at 2.99 save $1

   Yellow sugar, 1 k, sale 1.99 compare at 2.99 save $1

   Bakers Chocolate, semi sweet, sale 3.99 compare at 5.99 save $2

   Fry’s Cocoa, lg. Sale 3.99, reg $8, save $4

   2 Betty Crocker cake & icing, sale 1.99, reg 2.99, save 2.00

   2 Hershey Chipits, sale 2.99 reg 3.50 save $1

   Baking soda, Arm& Hammer, 1.49

   Salt, Windsor, 1.99

   Peanut Butter, PC, 750g, 3.99, compare at 7.99 save $3

   Jam, more fruit, PC, 500 ml, 3.99, save $2

   2 Oatmeal, Instant PC brand. Sale 2.49, compare at 4.49 save $4

   Cheerios, Apple Cinnamon, ?g sale 2.99 save $2

   24 pack Powerade, sale 11.99 works out to $ .50 each. Compare at purchasing singles at the convenience store @ $2. = $48 -11.99 = $35.99 SAVED!!
   Plus return the bottles and earn $1.20

   Wholesale Club; a PC store but not a points earner (will go to Real Canadian Superstore next time to get PC points) (Groceries for my Daughter)
   Paid $80.79
   Vendor Coupons 0
   Total Saved

   6 Five Alive frozen juice cans, 6/$5.70, compare at 1.79 ea, 10.74-5.70 = 5.04 saved $5.04

   Robin hood flour, 2.5 k 3.98

   Rogers granulated sugar, 4k 5.37

   Olive Oil, Extra Virgin, No Name, 1 L? Paid 5.57 compare at $7-12 for name brands

   Garlic, Rooster 3 pack, paid 1.27, compare at 4.00, save 2.73

   Potatoes, 10 lbs, not the best price, paid 5.97

   Oranges, 5 lbs, paid 4.77

   Green Grapes, $7.65 kg, paid 2.47

   Red onion, paid $0.53

   1 grapefruit, 1.77

   Tomatoes, 2, 3.90 kg, paid 1.38

   Honey Ham, 17.94 KB, paid 9.97

   5 Carl Budding lunch meat @ 4/3.88 paid 4.85 Valid at Checkout 51

   Ground Pork, lean paid 10.75

   Pork Tenderloin, 2 pack, paid 10.02

   reusable bag, 1.49

   Weekly Thoughts

   My daughter was thrilled with all the food! It is hard work learning to compare fliers, but rewarding. It will get easier. Was very happy that Shoppers had bonus points week the very week after I discovered this website!

   Thank you Mr. CBB! I am using the Budget Spreadsheet with yearly totals.

   Reply

   • Hi Valerie…
     Welcome…you made it!! You’ve just joined the secret society of amazing grocery shoppers (or we attempt to be). The gang is super friendly here so feel free to ask any questions.

     The hard work that you talk about will get MUCH easier the more you continue to learn about your food budget, pricing etc. Shoppers Drug Mart has one of the best rewards cards point programs along with PC IMO. I know Mary loves her Air Miles and she can tell you anything you’d like to know about that program which she values dearly each year.
     I’m glad you are enjoying the spreadsheet! If you have any questions about your new spreadsheet feel free to message me and I’ll help out best I can.
     Can you tell me a bit more about yourself, shopping habits, reason for joining the Grocery Game Challenge so I can get to know your situation a bit better? 🙂 One of the hardest things we’ve had to endure over the past almost 6 years of the GGC is buying stuff not on our list. This has caused us to save great amounts of money but having to go without because of overspending for the month. We’re still working on that BUT it’s gotten much better.
     Mary will love your organization WOW!! She’s a master planner as well. I love how in-depth you are with your pricing and sales.
     We go to Costco and if we use our PC Mastercard to pay we don’t get points from PC. I guess they must not like each other lol. If I use my Canadian Tire MasterCard at Costco I will get points from CT. It’s odd but hey what can I do.
     We have almost a million Shoppers Drug Mart points and people ask us how we have so many… the secret is to shop on the spend $75 get 18,500 bonus points coupled with only sales and coupons. There’s a great post on the blog about earning SDM Optimum points fast you might like.

     Welcome again!!! We look forward to learning from you and reading your journey.

     Mr.CBB You get ballot #6

     Reply

4. Thank you Mr. CBB!

   Sorry for this late reply! I have just now taken the time to review my “shop” and look for your comments, so thank you.
   Your web site has been the catalyst for me to FINALLY start paying attention to my dollars! I thank you, thank you thank you!

   My situation, you ask, a little bit more about me? A separated mother of two adult children, my son living next door (side by side apartments) my daughter and one hour drive.

   My challenges; Seasonal work in a small town means living on a very careful budget, and I have not been. I am now able to work again after a decade of a mobility handicap. So thankful to live in this glorious Canada and free healthcare which provided me with new hips, one in 2012 and another in 2015!

   While unable to work, I used student loans to hobble to College and attained a diploma in Business Administration through Okanagan Collage. At this time i also had teenagers to feed and pay rent. Total loan was about $52,000.
   Many years we lived with my mom in the basement of the family home (dad had passed). I have some savings, but have had to use some as Emergency funds, and I ADMIT I WAS NOT THRIFTY!!!

   .Now I am happy, healthy and seasonally employed. And getting serious about being financially responsible!

   I am not yet sure what my realistic budget totals will be, but happy to be on the path of learning, and happy to have the support of this site. My next goal is to play the Grocery Game Challenge on a regular basis.

   Happy Bargain Shopping,

   Valerie

   v

   Reply

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