Copycat Recipes Without The Price Tag Lure Consumers To Put On An Apron
One of the main reasons people eat out is convenience either because of time barriers or lack of meal planning at home.
If you don’t know it already eating out can drastically alter your monthly budget especially if you are spending more time at the restaurants then you are at the grocery store.
How many times have you seen an advert on the television or in a magazine for food and said, “I want to try that”, probably quite a few times?
I know because I do that quite often, the art of marketing does work.
Factor in the costs of tips and drinks for the meal and you’ve just spent enough for a weeks worth of groceries for one meal.
Consider how much it costs to make a batch of your favourite muffins, subs or take-out chili in comparison to a drive-thru.
What doesn’t work is prices which keep us at home working on ways to create mouth-watering meals in our kitchen.
Grocery shopping for some people is just B.O.R.I.N.G but I don’t know many people who shop to party.
Of course it’s not the most exciting chore but when it affects your finances it should be the smartest.
What is a copycat recipe?
Well, it’s a recipe you love but there is no recipe or if there is you aren’t going to get your hands on it because it’s a SECRET.
This means that if you want to enjoy your favourite foods at home to save money you’ll have to do your best to pick apart the ingredients used in the original recipe.
It’s easier to eat out then it is to make it- True and False?
For the home cook creating copycat recipes might be a fun way to get creative in the kitchen.
Not everyone likes to cook but sometimes it takes ‘effort’ to increase enthusiasm for it.
Too often we depend on others for our meals but I bet if you were alone you’d have to figure it out by yourself.
This is where eating outcomes in to play for lots of people who are alone and enjoy the atmosphere and conversation more than the savings.
Related: Eating out Vs. Eating in
Anyone influenced by co-workers, family or friends to frequent fast food and eat-in restaurant should ask themselves whether it’s impacting their financial goals.
The hardest thing to get out of your mouth might be no but if you’re running on credit card swipes for money it must be.
It’s not until someone creates and uses a budget for more than a month do they see the damage eating out can cause.
Related: The costs of coffee and lunch between co-workers- Take-out vs. Homemade
Overwhelming costs of eating out can become a DEBT TRAP
I can’t tell you the last time we went to a restaurant…oh wait yes I can in the UK and it cost me a fortune.
The reason for this was because I wanted to treat my family to dinner out. After all, they can’t afford to do so.
Why? It’s too expensive and they just don’t have the money.
With a family of 4 to feed my sister has limited funds in her grocery budget so she opts for making copycat recipes at home to satisfy cravings.
After our eating out treat we decided to go grocery shopping at Aldi’s to help off-set the extra food costs having us there.
Oddly enough Mrs. CBB and I have tried our hand at copycat recipes in the past with our favourite being the Starbucks Lemon Loaf that went what I considered viral for this blog.
Although eating out is nice doing it too often can lead to high grocery bills and even higher eating out expenses in your eating out budget category.
If you grocery shop and then eat out you are left with food at home that possibly could waste unless eaten on time or frozen (if it can be).
If you’re working on cutting out either you must balance both.
That means buying less food for home leaving more money to eat out or eating out less leaving more money for groceries.
Ideally, you’d want to eat more at home plus it WILL be cheaper-by a landslide.
Copycat Recipes Are An Eating Out Fix
I realized that people who are conscious of their grocery budget or want to eat out but can’t DO WANT to try copycat recipes to recreate the eating out satisfaction.
Kudos to you because you’re the winner enjoying all the benefits of cooking foods you love but can do without the extra “convenience” expenses.
To choose copycat recipes that pique your interest you may consider the following;
- I tried the product before but can’t or don’t want to keep buying it. Example: Tim Horton’s Chocolate Chip Muffins.
- The copy cat recipes looks mouth-watering
- Copycat recipes are easy to follow
- Copycat ingredients are inexpensive in comparison to eating out.
Some of our favourite copycat recipes that Nicola or myself have created are treats, sauces, appetizers, and condiments as opposed to meals. Now that I’m looking at this list and other copycat recipes I’m finding that people are recreating their favourite packaged foods at the grocery store. Oreo cookies, Twinkies, Ding-Dongs, etc.
- Dairy Queen Chocolate Dipped Bananas
- Just Like Starbucks Lemon Loaf
- Cherry Bakewell Cheesecake Blondies
- Copycat Tim Hortons Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Crispy Fresh Spring Rolls
- Copycat Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- Homemade Old Elpaso Taco Seasoning
- Copycat Twinkies
- Milk Toffee
- Nuts and Bolts Recipe Mix
- Dundurn Castle Shortbread
Most popular copycat recipes from restaurants
Amazingly, most copy-cat recipes come from fast-food joints or eat-in casual restaurants that offer a specific sauce, appetizer, drink, or dessert on the menu.
Most popular copycat recipes that consumers flock to.
- Cheesecake Factory recipes in the USA are to-die-for but the closest you’ll get is a copycat version or the real thing if you have a CF nearby.
- Kentucky Fried Chicken specifically the KFC secret recipe and KFC gravy and Classic KFC Macaroni Salad.
- Tim Horton’s recipes are popular especially the muffins, donuts, soup, chili, and bagels.
- Red Lobster recipes– You can buy a box of pre-made Red Lobster biscuits at Costco or make them yourself.
- Applebees recipes are all app ,and meal based like their popular burgers.
- Olive Garden is all about the salads and sauces
- McDonald’s recipes– Did you see the new Big Mac sauce offered in a squeeze bottle at the grocery store yet?
- Chinese restaurant food– This is popular for Canadians especially creating a healthier version.
Some of the best copycat recipes come from inside information which means you know someone who works at an establishment or you work(ed) there yourself.
Most restaurants won’t give up the recipe or leave out ingredients so food is not part of a copycat recipes community.
You might even try copycat recipes that come SO CLOSE to the real thing you consider it just that or better but more so for your pocketbook than your taste-buds.
Top 15 Copycat recipes on Pinterest
Below you will find the top 15 copycat recipes on Pinterest that are sought after from people like you and me who want to stay home and save money.
Do me a favour and if you try any of the copycat recipes in this blog post come back and leave me a comment and tell me what you thought about the recipe.
Here we go…
Copycat Cinnabons Cinnamon Rolls
McDonald’s BIG MAC Secret Sauce
Buffalo Wild Wings Copycat Wing Sauces
Cheesecake Factory Copycat Red Velvet Cheesecake
Auntie Anne’s Copycat Pretzel Bites
Discussion Question: What copycat recipes do you make at home or would like to make at home?
Leave your comments below.
August Grocery Game Challenge
Join in the 2017 Grocery Game Challenge (GGC) fun and post your grocery shop in the comment section of each GGC blog post.
Here are The Grocery Game Challenge rules to get you started and where you’ll also find a link for the 2017 GGC schedule.
Please feel free to download, save, and even print the schedule.
Post your shop and you can be next.
New monthly prize:
- Ditch these 6 Genius Grocery Shopping Distractions GGC #1
- How to pick Food Storage Containers The Right Way GGC #2
- The Ultimate Frugal Student Recipe Book GGC #3
Free Money Saving Tools
Click, Save, and Print. It’s that easy!
This is the budget that brought us to debt freedom back in 2013 and now I’m offering to all of you for FREE. We still use this budget every month as it helps us to see our overall financial picture.
Don’t pay someone for these services, I’ve done the work for you along with some help from other amazing bloggers.
You can download the FREE Canadian Budget Binder Budget Spreadsheet in Excel It’s FREE! We use it to budget and in large part a reason we could pay our mortgage off in 5 years, check it out!
Free Money Saving Downloads are awesome lists that were created to get us on track to work towards reaching our budgeting goals and now we are sharing them with you.
Get organized with a FREE freezer inventory, meal plan, shopping list, price comparison list, and much more all for FREE.
CLICK HERE to download all the free lists and even our family budget spreadsheet. So many free resources at your fingertips.
Ultimate Grocery Shopping Guide
Everything you want to know about grocery shopping in Canada is packed into this amazing FREE grocery shopping guide that has taken 5 years to create.
The Ultimate Grocery Shopping guide is ongoing with new informative money-saving posts added every month.
Even if you don’t live in Canada some amazing budget-saving tips will help put you on the path to more savings at the supermarket.
Share this guide with your friends and tell them about Canadian Budget Binder especially if they are struggling with their grocery budget.
The time is NOW to get started saving money on groceries so please enjoy the many money-saving posts in The Ultimate Grocery Shopping Guide.
2017 Grocery Shop Results
Yearly grocery budget for two + 1 Toddler 2017: $3180 or $265/month (The above total does not include the stockpile budget of $300/year or $25/month.Points Overview (add any other sections you need to show us your savings)
- Total Grocery Budget for this Month: $265
- Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $265
- Total Gift Cards used to date: $0
- Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $0
- Total Rewards Points used to date: $0
- PC Points Plus Earned to date: 632,000
- Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP) to date $0
- Shoppers Optimum: 983,000 O.M.G
Coupon Apps (add any other apps you use to save money)
- Zweet to cash out: $18.25… no idea where the money went but it seems we have $0.
- Checkout51 to cash out: $24.50 we cashed out so we’re back at O.
Our Grocery Shop This Week
Zehrs
- Big bag No Name Marshmallows $0.50
- 2 x No Name cream cheese $5.78
- 2 x dozen large eggs $3.94
- Milk $4.27
- Strawberries $3.99-50% plus 300 PC Plus Points
- Mild Italian Pork Sausage Fresh $7.03-50%= $3.52
- 3 x D’Italiano Bread $3.39 each -50% = $5.10
Total Out-of-pocket $25.11
All totals below already have tax factored into them.
- Total to spend this month: $265
- Stockpile budget 2016: $25.00/month
- Stockpile budget used this month: $25
- Total coupons used this week: $0
- Total coupons used to date: $1
- Total in-store discounts this week: $10.60
- Total in-store discounts to date: $652.80
- Total spent this week: $25.11
- Total spent so far this month: $237.53
- Total over/Under spend this shop:
- Total over/Under spend for the month: under $27.47
- Total left to spend for the month: $27.47
- Total Spent To Date 2017: (does not include stockpile budget) Jan $231.06+Feb $255.16+March ($5 budget increase) $263.60 + April $273.83+ May $257.15 + June $65.43+July $226.84+August $
Weekly Overview (your final thoughts)
With 5 weeks in August, it’s a good thing we have a small pot of money to use up which we might end up going over. We’ll see.
Maybe we hit the jackpot on fruits and vegetables when we go home to the in-laws this weekend which will help our budget.
I picked up a few loaves of bread to make a grilled cheese for the little guy as he is starting to warm up to them but only 1 slice at a time.
Boring week but on a good note, we still found some deals.
Coupons and Coupon Apps
Here are some great places you can find Canadian Coupons!
These are your latest Checkout 51 offers which you can use to help save money.
We’re finding fewer and fewer coupons in the stores these days.
What are your thoughts?
Are coupon apps taking over the paper coupons?
If you notice I’m missing a valuable link please message me and I’ll get it added to the savings list below.
Sign up for the Nielsen Canada Home Scan Program and you can earn rewards points fast to redeem for awesome products or gift cards. I did this in the UK and loved it!!
Where can I find Canadian Coupons?
Plus check out these other hidden areas online to get more coupons!!
If any of the links below don’t open properly please report them to my email address or use the comment form.
- Danone Coupons Get up to $25 in coupons
- Clorox CouponsSign up to print coupons in the Clorox family which include Greenworks, Glad, etc.
- Kraft CanadaSign up and receive recipes and coupons by email
- MySavings.comPrintable Smart Source Coupons
- Walmart CanadaPrintable Coupons
- Proctor and GamblePandG Sign up for a printable coupons
- Hidden Coupon PortalsYou Should know about – I found this over at Save a Loonie and you’ll want to sign up for notifications and check out the site so you get notified every time a hidden coupon is available from Save.ca, Brandsaver, Smart Source, etc.
Grocery Game Challenge FAQ’s
Read the rules first and if you have any questions email me or comment on this post with your question and someone will answer you as soon as possible.
The rules have been updated to reflect changes for the 2017 challenge year.
Do I have to be Canadian to post my Grocery Shop?
No, you don’t have to be Canadian to post your shops. We have fans who post their grocery shop who live all over the world.
What is the monthly prize and who can claim it?
The monthly prize is a $10-$20-$50 PC Loblaws Gift Card and for our out of country friends, it’s $CDN via PayPal. Please see the GGC rules.
When does the Grocery Game close each month?
The Grocery Game Challenge closes at midnight of the last Sunday of the last post for the month but you will still get a ballot when you post your shops even if they are late but I encourage you to stay on schedule.
If you choose to post monthly or bi-weekly you will only get 1 ballot for that shop.
It’s a proven fact the minute we stop doing something scheduled that we end up forgetting to do it altogether.
Don’t let that be you! You can post your shops all month-long.
Does your Grocery Budget include health and beauty and laundry products?
No, our Grocery Budget includes such items as shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap, fabric softener, dish soap, etc.
As of 2014-2015 we no longer include such items in our grocery budget so we can see actual food numbers at the end of the year to plan accordingly our budget.
Do you stockpile food?
We don’t mind stockpiling items that won’t be affected by expiry dates or have long expiry dates but not so much food any longer as we found we weren’t eating it fast enough.
Stockpiling is still great and just one way to help cut your budget to save money if you do find items that you can buy in bulk at a sale price.
- Canadian Coupons
Where can I find Canadian Coupons?
Here are your latest Checkout 51 offers that you can use to help you save money in the Grocery Game Challenge.
There are many great Canadian Couponing websites online that share weekly coupon match-ups so you can plan your grocery list.
Best Coupon Apps
Coupons are slowly fading with mobile coupon apps being the big rave these days.
Just recently the popular coupon site Save.ca that mailed coupons to households has gotten involved with the addition of a new mobile Save.ca app joining forces with the many other coupon apps available.
If you find an app that I don’t talk about please let me know as they are always being added and I’d like to review them.
What is the Best Flyer App?
We use Flipp on our iPhone so if you want to have all your flyers in one spot download Flipp from the Apple Store or get it on Google Play.
What is an FPC?
An FPC is a free product coupon which means you can get a free product as described on the coupon.
What is GGC?
The Grocery Game Challenge of course!
How Do I Know what stores accept coupons?
If you are not sure it’s always best to call the store and ask.
I can tell you about grocery shopping and what we do in terms of shopping to save money and how it works for us. There are no wrong or right answers, just smart choices.
Nobody is perfect, heck we struggle with this part of our budget as many people do.
This is why The Grocery Game Challenge is one of the most popular hangout spots for people who want to save money on groceries.
If you’ve just joined The Grocery Game Challenge 2017 get ready to look at your grocery budget by learning;
- Where you are spending money
- How much money you are spending
- How much money you are saving every month
If you want to learn everything I know about grocery shopping in Canada check out my Ultimate Grocery Shopping Guide!
Welcome to The Grocery Game Challenge!
-Mr.CBB
The only copycat recipe I have ever desired is for White Spot’s fried chicken “Chicken Pickin” or “Chicken in the Straw”. All the other things I can still buy but White Spot no longer sells this delicious chicken.
Hi Susan,
Is that an American company? I’ve never heard about it but now you make it sound delicious. I love chicken.
Week 32 – Aug 25 – 31, 2017
Name Your Store: Wholesale Club
Total Coupons Used: $
Total Points =
Total Out Of Pocket: $67.93
Human
1 Kg Honey Nut Cheerios = $7.97
2 Realemon Juice = $4.34
2 ICBINB Margarine = $1.94
2 NN Yogurts = $3.74
4.54 Kg Box Diced Chicken = $46.97
2 WW Wonder Bread = $2.97
Name Your Store: Food Basics
Total Coupons Used: $
Total Points =
Total Out Of Pocket: $5.88
Human
1 Case Kraft Dinner = $5.88
Name Your Store: SJFM Mennonite Vendor
Total Coupons Used: $
Total Points =
Total Out Of Pocket: $9.25
Human
24 Cookies, 6 Dates & Raspberry Turnovers, 2 Loaves of Bread (Herb & Garlic; Cheese) = $9.25
Name Your Store: Zehrs
Total Coupons Used: $
Total Points = (20,000)
Total Out Of Pocket: $2.60
Human
No Shop
Cats
5 Bags of Friskies -$5.00 = $22.60
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: $36.09
Left for the Month: $0
Total Human (Adults) to Date: $1,033.54 (minus Debt pymt & Gift Cards) = $907.15
Total Grocery Budget for the 3 Cats ($364, for the pay period – $14.00)
Total Cats this Week Period: $22.60
Total Cats to Date: $227.25
Total Grocery Budget for Stockpile ($507.69)
Total Stockpile this Week Period: $
Total Stockpile to Date: $163.05
Total Grocery Budget for the Personal Hygiene ($182)
Total Personal Hygiene this Week Period: $12.40
Total Personal Hygiene to Date: $180.13
Total Grocery Budget for Meat ($499.98)
Total Meat this Week Period: $46.97
Total Meat to Date: $315.53
Total Coupons Used this Week Period: $
Total Coupons Used To Date: $17.99
Total Grocery Savings for this Week Period: $
Total Grocery Savings to Date: $69.15
Total Price Match for this Week Period: $
Total Price Match to Date: $48.67
Total PC Points Received this Week Period:
Total PC Rewards Points Used this Week Period: 20,000
Total PC Rewards To Date: 2,174
Overview: Picked up a few things that was needed. Can’t say quick and painless but necessary.
Hi Dee,
That’s some nice stocking up you did. I like the cookies especially date cookies. Does the chicken you buy come pre-cooked? If yes how long does it take to cook once it’s defrosted? Well done… end of the month and you’re doing great!!! You get ballot #14. Mr.CBB… OMG> there’s only 4 months left until the end of the year. eesh.
Hubby’s cucumber sandwiches are piled high with paper thin pieces of cucumber with Miracle Whip on the bread and lightly sprinkled salt and pepper on the veggies themselves. I love cucumber sandwiches too! Hubby has the bread version, most of the time I slice an English cucumber lengthwise for me, put a little Miracle Whip schmeer on one side, salt and pepper on the other then put them back together and voila…my sandwich! 🙂
Week 31 – Aug 18 – 24, 2017
Name Your Store: Mary Maxim
Total Coupons Used: $
Total Points =
Total Out Of Pocket: $9.94
Human
2 – 500 mL Fruit Preserves = $9.94
Name Your Store: No Frills
Total Coupons Used: $
Total Points = 700
Total Out Of Pocket: $32.02
Human
2 – 500 mL Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauce = $1.94
24 Bottles Real Canadian Water = $1.47
Bugles = $2.23
2 – 454 g ICINB Margarine = $2.00
2 – 685 g NN Yogurt – (400 PC Points) = $3.98
4 L 2% Milk = $4.27
1.89 L Breyer’s Neapolition Ice Cream = $2.97
4 Michaelina’s = $4.00
10 lb Potatoes – (300 PC Points) = $2.97
Bananas – 1.620 Kg = $1.99
2 English Cucumbers = $1.74
2 WW Wonder Bread – (50% Pink Sticker) = $2.46
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: $41.96
Left for the Month: $35.00
Total Human (Adults) to Date: $997.45 (minus Debt pymt & Gift Cards) = $871.06
Total Grocery Budget for the 3 Cats ($364, for the pay period – $14.00)
Total Cats this Week Period: $
Total Cats to Date: $204.65
Total Grocery Budget for Stockpile ($507.69)
Total Stockpile this Week Period: $
Total Stockpile to Date: $163.05
Total Grocery Budget for the Personal Hygiene ($182)
Total Personal Hygiene this Week Period: $22.31
Total Personal Hygiene to Date: $167.73
Total Grocery Budget for Meat ($499.98)
Total Meat this Week Period: $
Total Meat to Date: $268.56
Total Coupons Used this Week Period: $
Total Coupons Used To Date: $17.99
Total Grocery Savings for this Week Period: $
Total Grocery Savings to Date: $69.15
Total Price Match for this Week Period: $
Total Price Match to Date: $48.67
Total PC Points Received this Week Period: 700
Total PC Rewards Points Used this Week Period:
Total PC Rewards To Date: 22,014
Overview: Quick and painless this past week.
Hi QUICK and PAINLESS,
haha!! Before I even read your shop I’m going to guess it’s either a no-shop week, a milk and cereal week or the cats win. Ok, I”m going to look now.
How do you know it’s Real CANADIAN water haha… is the name in reference to RCSS? Great deal on the potatoes and 50% off the bread. I always get bread on the rack when we do buy it. I don’t eat it often so we try to get a loaf for grilled cheese and french toast and raisin bread for the little guy. Works out great because there are always so many loaves of reduced bread. I got a nice haul of veg and pears from my Father-in-law this week. Red and yellow tomatoes different varieties, egg plants, garlic, beans. Going to be some fun eating this week. On the menu tonight is egg plant lasagna!! Yum. Great shop… Have a wonderful week Dee!!! You get ballot #10. Mr.CBB
AUGUST – Week #3 of 4- Aug 21-27, 2017
2017 GROCERY BUDGET / STOCKPILE BUDGET AND US RESERVE:
•Total Grocery Budgeted For Year: $190.00 x 12 = $2,280.00 for 2 adults
============================================================================================
REMARKS FOR THE MONTH:
This is the second of two shopping weeks in August…the question is can I stay on budget or will I even be motivated to do a proper shop beyond having hubby pick up a few deals?
And the answer is…NO BIG SHOP ‘cause I managed to create a decent meal plan without it! So check it out, we still have funds available that I can use to stock some picnic supplies for when hubby starts his vacation on Friday.
REMARKS FOR THE WEEK:
This week isn’t quite as insane as the first week back from vacation always is. Thank goodness! I really couldn’t handle such a frenetic pace as a regular diet! LOL
I am settling back in to a wonderful week of home cooking. Oh it’s nice to be home! Vacations are nice but I sure miss my homemade meals!
This week we’re having cucumber sandwiches with raw cauliflower & dip for a Meatless Monday & on Tuesday we’ll enjoy a slow cooked onion blade roast with nugget potatoes and a radish-green onion salad. On Wednesday I am planning to have grilled ham- cheese-tomato sandwiches with a side of coleslaw after I am finished having tests at the hospital in Port Moody and fighting with the rush hour traffic to get home! I am looking forward to Thursday when I make a homemade Slow Cooker Rich French Onion Soup and Apple Zucchini and Walnut Bread for our dessert. Friday will be our Triple Bean Bake with Bacon, a side of green & wax beans & a small green salad. Saturday I plan to throw on a Slow Cooker Potato Dill Soup as a starter for a Chicken Caesar Salad main dish. Sunday we are celebrating our friend’s birthday with her over a late lunch at Olive Garden…all you can eat green salad, here I come! 🙂
============================================================================================
OUR “CANADIAN” SHOPPING:
Meridian Farm Market – Maple Ridge –
4 Yellow Flesh Nectarines $1.73
3 lbs Warba New Nugget Potatoes $1.98
Total Regular Grocery OOP: $3.71
—————————————————————–
Thrifty Foods – Maple Ridge –
4 bunches radishes @ 4 for $3.00
Total Regular Grocery OOP: $3.00
** Earned 0 Air Miles on this shop **
** USED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
** SAVED $2.16 Loyalty Savings on this shop **
—————————————————————–
Walmart – Maple Ridge –
2 Boneless Inside Blade Steaks $3.97/lb ($4.65, $4.75)
TOTAL Stocking Up Budget OOP: $9.40
—————————————————————–
No Frills– Maple Ridge –
1 x 1lb Green Beans $1.97/lb = $1.43
1 x 1lb Yellow Beans $1.97/lb = $1.59
2 Mann’s Snap Peas $3.97 ea = $7.94
2 Navel Oranges $0.97/lb = $1.16
2 x 1 lb Blueberries $1.77 ea = $3.94
2 x 8-pack Mini Cukes @ $1.97 ea = $3.54
1 St. Hubert Family Size Chicken Pot Pie $5.97
Total Summer Reserve OOP: $25.57
** Earned 0 PC.Plus Points on this shop **
** SAVED $0.00 in Rain Check/ Coupons **
** SAVED $0.00 Loyalty Savings on this shop **
============================================================================================
OUR “US RESERVE” SHOPPING:
OUR NEXT USA SHOP IS SCHEDULED FOR MID-SEPT
============================================================================================
2017 Y-T-D GROCERY SAVINGS:
•Total Loyalty Card Price Reductions This Year: $141.70
•Total Coupons/Rain Checks Used This Year: $0.00
•Total Price Match Savings Used This Year: $0.00
•Total More Points Earned This Year: 308 Points
•Total Air Miles Earned This Year: 22 Air Miles
•Total PC PLUS Points Earned This Year: 20,000 Points
•Total Optimum Points Earned This Year: 4,100 Points
============================================================================================
• SUMMARY OF FUNDS Y-T-D:
$ 1,520.00 Grocery Budget JAN-AUG
($ 173.66) NET RESERVE SAVINGS
($1,308.33) Actual CASH SPENT
$ 38.01 AVAILABLE Y-T-D GGC SPENDING NOT INCL RESERVES
• RESERVES Y-T-D:
$ 234.84 Re-Stocking Fund
$ 140.70 Holiday Season Fund + $200 RCSS POINTS + $10 Dream Air Miles.
$ 619.59 Summer Season Fund
$ 453.37 US Shopping Reserve
$ 0.00 Points Redeemed Reserve
OUR CURRENT TOTAL UNUSED RESERVES ARE $1,448.50. This means the $1,274.44 that we carried forward from 2016 PLUS AN ADDITIONAL $924.38 that we have added in 2017, LESS $750.32 that we have drawn out for use in 2017.
============================================================================================
Good Morning Mary!
I agree with you about vacations and home cooked meals. Even though we had an amazing buffet that changed every day while we were on holidays it was nice to come home and cook.
I’m curious.. what do you put in your cucumber sandwich? Our son loves cucumbers and maybe just maybe he might eat a cucumber sandwich. Typically we would put butter and cucumbers back home on white bread. You certainly are going for it in the kitchen and I applaud you. I know you probably could eat out more but you don’t and opt to stay home and prepare meals. I find this inspiring even though we hardly eat out. The variety and change in recipes is what I find keeps me in the kitchen and out of the restaurants. Don’t forget that radishes magically turn into potatoes when you cook or grill them. I par-boil them if I grill them. YUM. What a refreshing post to wake up to Mary, thank-you. I hope you and Larry have something nice planned when he is off on holidays. You get ballot #9 Mr.CBB