Sense to Save

A strategy for a $35/week food budget

I am inspired by Crystal at the blog Money Saving Mom to try my shopping and menu planning in a new way. She spends $35 per week on her groceries to feed two adults and two babies. Wow! I don’t know what part of the country she lives in, but I hope prices here in Pittsburgh will be kind to me on that endeavor.

What we eat:

Breakfasts are simple, usually a bowl of cereal or toast and milk.

I pack my husband’s lunches for him five days out of the week. For one thing, they’re way cheap, and another, I can make sure they’re healthy. He tells me every time he opens his lunchbox, he feels loved. Aww :)

These days, I eat lunch at home. I tend to be a grazer, so I don’t end up eating large meals–just lots of small meals and snacks.

I try to make more of a fuss about dinner since we eat it together. I usually make enough for leftovers or for freezing for another time.

Here’s my strategy:

• I’m taking a careful inventory of my pantry and refrigerator to find out what I already have and what I need.
• I have the weekly ads (in paper or online) for Giant Eagle, Kuhn’s and Shop n’ Save. I’ll also visit Aldi.
• I’m armed with my coupon file and price book (more on those later) to get the best deals. Oh, and a calculator for sure!

Using all the info I can gather, I’m going to hash out a shopping list and menu for seven days. I hope it will add up to $35 or less.

Searching for a new (or used) coat

I might be in the market for a winter coat. This will be our first winter in Pittsburgh, and I need to do some research to find out what that means weather-wise. This will also be the first winter where I don’t foresee needing to trudge more than a quarter-mile in cold or snow (from my car to a door, likely).

The old:

In the last, oh, 17 winters of my life, I was a student. And in the last four winters, I was a college student at a large university. That meant I often walked more than a mile in blustery weather, or stood for who knows how long waiting for a bus to come along.

My body temperature is generally on the cooler side, and I don’t do well in very cold weather.

I have three coats right now: A light jacket suitable for temperatures of, say 50-65 degrees comfortably. But, I could pair that with my superwarm vest and probably wear it on a 40-degree day if I wanted.

My second coat is several years old and well-worn. It’s wool and has a hood. Good for temperatures in the 30s-40s. Because it doesn’t look so great anymore, this would be the coat I’d replace for another nice wool coat.

Big Blue. That’s what I call coat No. 3. It’s a huge, puffy, bright-blue eyesore, but wow, is it warm! It’s lined in a thick fleece and stuffed with lots of keep-you-toasty things. I wear it when it gets bitter cold. I remember walking around on a 5-degree day, and feeling OK.

The new:

The best time to buy a coat is at the end of the season, naturally. I would have done that last year, but my budget was too tight for that. So now, I’m starting my quest for a new wool coat.

Said coat must:

• Fit well and look nice on me
• Have pockets
• Cover my rear end (Keeps you much warmer that way!)
• Keep me warm in 25 degree weather
• NOT be dry-clean only. I want a fabric that can get wet, so if I get rained or snowed on, my coat won’t be ruined
• Cost less than $40

Now. About that last item. I realize $40 is a lot. If I have to buy it this season, before it gets really cold, then I think that’s a reasonable price. If I can make it until early spring without it, then I’m going to look for something much cheaper.

The stores:

So far, I’ve visited several stores in the area to try things on and get a sense for what’s out there. I went to: Stein Mart, Value City, Marshall’s, Kohl’s, and Burlington Coat Factory.

-Stein Mart had a tiny, expensive selection right now.

-Value City was decent. I found a $40 coat similar to what I’m looking for, but it didn’t fit quite right. It was the first time I was in that store, and I think I’ll visit again to find deals on things.

-Marshall’s was a new store for me, too. They had a decent selection of wool coats, but they were a bit pricier (around $70+).

-Kohl’s. I hadn’t visited the Pittsburgh Kohl’s yet, and wanted to check it out. Way too expensive, but worth a shot for mark-downs if I can’t find anything now.

-Burlington Coat Factory was yet another store I hadn’t yet visited (are you seeing a trend? Actually, where I’m from, the shopping was pretty bad). B.C.F. is massive, and it took me a long walk to get to their coats. As you might expect from their name, they have a huge selection. I tried on one I liked, and it fit well, but it was $60. So, I’ll keep them in mind for when they have sales.

Luckily for me, it’s still very warm out. And, like I mentioned before, I might not buy a coat for awhile anyway.

Next up in my search: Thrift stores!

The picture is of the style I’m looking for. It’s from Burlington Coat Factory. Made by Anne Klein, $89.99. And, dry-clean only, boo. But, you get the idea.

The glowing lure of free TV

Sometimes, I really love television. It can feel so good to lounge around and watch its mind-numbing goodness. But, as you know, you can have access to hundreds of channels and there could still be nothing on TV.

We don’t have cable. I bought a set of rabbit ears to put atop our TV set, and we get what comes over the airwaves. This includes: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, some local channel, and home shopping (!?).

The shows are decent, and reception is reasonable. Not as good as it would be if we broke down and bought cable, but hey, for free, it’s fantastic.

PLUS–the networks now have select shows online for free (and in some cases, limited-commercial) viewing. Gotta love that!

I tried to find out how much basic cable would cost, but I don’t want to call a salesperson. Between installation charges and who knows what else, plus the monthly charge, I know it’s a lot.

Finally, with fewer channels to watch, if nothing on one of my seven channels interests me, I can turn it off, save electricity and find something else to do. Hurrah!