Saturday Savings!

I got lots of errands crossed off my to do list today! Of course, I didn't get my house cleaned or do laundry, but I scored some great deals! Housework and laundry can wait, saving money can not! 

I took my sister to Safeway and worked out some great Frozen Foods deals. After some planning, she was able to purchase over $100 in frozen foods for a little over $5! She did great and I think I saw that couponing sparkle in her eye. Maybe I've helped convert her over to the couponing world. As payment for my help, she bought me 2 gallons of milk (1.19 each after these Real CA dairy IPQs) and some raisins for $1.

BED, BATH, & BEYOND

I have had a $50 Bed, Bath, & Beyond giftcard for almost 2 years and have never spent it on anything. I don't know about you, but I think B, B& B is kind of a strange store. It seems like a lot of weird odds and ends to me, so I've had a hard time deciding on something I needed and not just spending the money because I had it. We need new silverware, but I didn't find anything I like there. Then, I remembered how worn out our guest bathroom linens are, so I took my collection of 20% off mailers and headed over. I was able to get 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels, & 2 wash cloths for about $20. Then, I passed a Cuisinart Waffle Maker for $24. We've never had a waffle maker and I decided the price was right (after 20% mailer, of course), so I grabbed that too. All in all, my total was $48.xx paid with the giftcard, so no OOP. I can't wait to make waffles!

FARMER'S MARKET

With this perfect weather, I've been itching to go to the Farmer's Market and pick up some local, fresh produce. Don't you just feel healthier walking into the farmer's market? I do. I went to the Superstition Ranch Market on Meridian and Apache Trail (Apache Junction) and found lots of low priced produce. The BEST find BY FAR was the .50 cartons of strawberries - 50 CENTS! The only time I've seen a better price was last May when they had them priced 3 for $1.00. They were going by the flat so I grabbed a flat (8 cartons) for 4.00 total! At Safeway this week, one carton of strawberries is on sale for $3.00! The strawberries I bought today are huge, fully ripe, & delicious!

Here are some other pricing highlights:

.25 kiwis

.25 grapefruit

$1 for 5 lb. potatoes

.33 corn on the cob

I am in love with the Farmer's Market and cannot wait to really get into the summer season when they have all their berries priced at ridiculously low prices.

CANNING STRAWBERRY JAM

Well, after the strawberry treasure I found, I had to do something to preserve them. This strawberry sale came at a great time because we just used up our last jar of strawberry jam from last May. So, a friend & I made some more freezer jam to store up until next year.

It was a pretty frugal project considering I just reused the mason jars from last year's jam and got the strawberries so cheap. The only investment was another bag of sugar and some pectin. My friend and I canned 20 ounces of jam tonight - it only took a couple of hours start to finish. This is only half of it.

Just to compare, Safeway is currently selling Knott's jam for $4.29 each. Knott's, in my opinion, is the closest you can get to homemade without going organic or to Trader Joe's. So, when you break it down, if you buy Knott's jam at Safeway, you are paying 27 cents per ounce. But (factoring in all the costs incurred) when you make your own jam, you are only paying 3 cents per ounce! It is NINE times more expensive to buy jam at the grocery store and homemade tastes 100 times better than store bought! If you bought the same sized jar of homemade jam, you would only pay 48 cents! If you live near a Superstition Ranch Market, grab some strawberries and make yourself some jam for 3 cents per ounce. Freezer jam is easier than it looks. Here is the recipe I used - it's just the one inside the pectin box. So easy! I can't wait for the other berries to go on sale - blackberries, blueberries, raspberries... maybe I'll open a jam shop. :)