N.F.F.F

No Frills Friday Fun

I LOVE No Frills -  If you are not familiar with No Frills - it is a relatively new grocery store in our area (well in Coquitlam - which is 14 min down the road for me) and it lives up to it's name.  No Frills - no fancy displays, no fancy lighting, no in store bakery or butcher (those things are EXPENSIVE to operate) what it lacks in those fancy things it makes up for in deals!  They are a member of the Loblaw family (as is Extra foods & Real Canadian Super Store) so they are no stranger to the grocery shopper and the grocery shopper who loves to get value and quality without the high price. Every week, there are new deals to be had.  I do not get the flyer delivered to my home so Thursday night at midnight it is No Frills flyer check time I check out their current flyer and start making a list.  Then I go check my coupons and double check my list.

 Just a F.Y.I. side note; Flyer Land is an awesome place to be able to see all those fliers that you do not get to your door.

I especially love the No Frills sale this week. 
It's their $1, $2, & $3 sale!  ( I like easy math )
I was hoping that cake mix would be on as we are running low, sadly it is not but there were other great sales to take advantage of. 

Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice  950 ml $1  or FREE with coupon printed from here
http://www.oceanspray.ca/coupon.aspx?id=2331

Select zip lock bags $2 each or get 2 FREE with the coupon printed  from here
http://rightathome.ca/default.aspx?sC=1   Note: you will need to take a moment to register at this site,  then follow the link in the upper right hand corner of the home page then you can print the coupon.

Seasoned boneless skinless chicken breasts $2 lb.  These are frozen and in small packages which is great, no having to break up a big block of frozen chicken to get a meal sized portion.

Those are the items that caught my eye.  Though I did not end up buying the juice as I had forgotten my coupon at home on the printer.. sigh I really should have double checked that thing in the morning. 

Here is a quick rundown of my purchase

Milk  1 x 4L, (1 x 1L not in pic as it was for my mom)

3 pkgs chicken breast (each around 3.50 per pkg)

6 boxes assorted zip lock bags (coupons used = FREE)

1 loaf of bread

2 lean cuisine (1 for us 1 for my mom to try - if we like it will be buying more)

1 package frozen cubes

HST     1.44

Total   24.36

Less $20.00  (gift card received in mail a couple of weeks ago for a Proctor and Gamble mail in rebate)

Total out of pocket $4.36 -  Yippee!

Which was covered with the $5.00 my mom gave me to pick up milk for her. 

MY PERSONAL OPP....0 Dollars and 00 Cents. 

Total coupon savings this order $12.00!

Free Groceries make my day!

Way back when....

in 1988 when we first said I Do a new life was ahead of us.  A life of promise, a life of hope, a new adventure.  Like every newlywed couple, we were going to do things right.  A  budget was set up, envelopes were labled, life would be paid for on a cash basis where ever possible, when the envelope was empty it was empty! We purchased a freezer with our wedding gift money, some of the wisest $$ ever spent.  Debt was going to be eliminated and we would have a nice next egg one day. 

This is how things looked...

Combinded Take home pay  1600.00

 

Rent:                                       395.00
Giving                                      180.00

Car loan:                                 225.05  

Home expeses:                          41.00

    (hydro, phone etc.)

Debt reduction:                           60.00   

    (credit card, wedding etc)                      

Groceries:                               150.00     
    (including paper & cleaing products etc.)

Gas:                                          45.00    
    (Oh how the 2011 version of me wishes!)

Running car                              295.00   
    (insurance, repair nest egg) 
Entertainment                           175.00   
                                                             (Sports, crafts, eating out, gifts, and long term holidays & vacation savings.  Only $50.00 was put into the envelope)


Which left 33.95 at the end that was tagged for savings, sometimes it made it others it did not.

We went shopping together,(date nights were exciting here) calculator & list in hand, coupons ready - we knew with in a few dollars exactly what our total would be when we reached the check out.  It worked!

Then life got away from us, hubby went school, we were a single income family, kids arrived thankfully after college graduation - shopping together stopped, calulator gave way to speed shoping, list was made but rarely followed. Our cash envelopes went by the way side as we tried groceries on credit card to gain air miles, then debit card. And the budget... well for lack of a better term, went to hell in a hand basket, Sigh.. not totally but it was certainly not as well laid out, bills were paid, there was food on the table, and a roof over our head. 

Fast froward to 2010 and I realized that I needed to get our 700.00 plus dollars a month grocery spending under control. I thought it was skyrocketing food prices and feeding 3 growing girls - in truth it was lack of planning on several levels. I started looking into saving money on groceries, I knew something would be changing and SOON.  Google was my friend, I found sites like save.ca, and websaver.ca I ordered coupons, and waited.  Then a friend invited me to a Mrs. Smith class on couponing.  It was just the kick start I needed to motivate me. 

So here we are in 2011, a family of 5,  driving one car, looking towards college/university educations,  living on one full time, and a smattering of other random incomes, in a suburb of the second largest city in Canada trying to make ends meet as best we can.  This blog is a journey of what we are learning, the changes we are making and a way of sharing some of it.  Thank you for joining in the fun... Let the blogging begin.