Check your Hy-Vee

I have searched both the print ad and the online ad for this week, and can't find it, so I'm not sure if it's a Hy-Vee wide unadvertised special or just a markdown at the store I was at, but a whole end cap in the meat dept. today for whole chickens at $.45 a pound! GREAT PRICE! I bought 3 hehehe. Thank goodness for the deep freeze, which is starting to get really full. I was able to grab a lot of meat on my Hy-Vee trip today-the chickens, half a ham, free roll of sausage, 2 packages of bacon. Good for stocking up!

I didn't take any pictures today,

But I think I'm starting to get the hang of this coupon thing. I stopped at Baker's to take one last round at the Mega Event. All starting prices are the Mega Event price, figuring in the $5 off. Here's how I did:

Dark Chocolate Chex Mix- $1.69, .50/1 MF, .60/1 cfire= .59
Steam Fresh Broc & Cheese- $1.00, .50/1 MF, .50/1 scuts= FREE
Steam Fresh Broc & Cheese-$1.00, .50/1 MF= .50
2 Wheat Thins @ $1.89/ea, $2/2 MF= .89 each
4 Coffee Mate FF Vanilla Creamers @ $2.49/ea, 1.50/1 FF= .99 each
Fiber One Bars @ $2.09, .50/1 MF, .50/1 scuts= $1.09
5lb. bag of Russet potatoes @ $1.49

Total vendor coupon savings= $17.60
Total store savings=$9.16
Total savings= $26.76
OOP= $8.41 (a 76% savings!)

Plus I snagged 2 of the .75 Kraft cheese coupons from the feeder in the dairy dept. and will use those at another store that is having the $1.49 sale this week, without the 10 item requirement.

WOOT!

Precooking can help you with the budget

I am finding more and more that precooking certain foods can help you save substantial money. It also gives you the "convenience" foods that you would spend more money on if you bought in that form in the store. Here are some ideas that you can do on the weekend that could save you $$$ and time in the long run:

Beans- Canned beans are convenient, but cost more money than dried beans, and they have a LOT more sodium. Dried beans can take a lot of time, so cooking in advance and then freezing into separate servings give you a more economical, and healthier convenience food.

You can find suggestions on how best to cook dried beans at http://www.centralbean.com/cooking.html. Once cooked, portioning about 2 cups of beans per bag will give you the equivalent of 1 can of beans. For a LOT less.

Meats- For certain dishes, like tacos, or dishes that require cubed, cooked chicken, I find that if I just keep pre-cooked portions in my freezer, I save time and money. When I cook ground beef a pound at a time, I end up using a pound, whether I really needed that much or not. These days, I find it easier to cook 4 or 5 pounds of meat in the pan, then I portion it up into ziplocs. Reality is that I can probably get about 7 or 8 meals this way, which I wouldn't have gotten the other way.

For poultry, same rule applies. If you're doing a baked or grilled chicken dish, throw in a few extra, then chop and bag for the freezer. You can make that meat stretch a lot further. The other perk I've found is that pre-cooked meats take a lot less time to defrost, which gives you another go-to item when you're pressed for time.

Happy cooking, and happy savings!