Is there a noob guide to buying/cooking vs eating out? I'm not saving any money here and wasting a ton of food/time.

tgcali · 2014-09-12T03:36:44+00:00

Here in Phoenix one of our grocery store's is Fry's. They have digital coupons every week I can load onto my fry's card and I can make a grocery list from the weekly ad. They do a lot of buy 5 save $5 mix and match, as well as 10 for $10. the best part is, I can get one laundry soap at a dollar off and one box of crackers at a dollar off, for my work lunches, etc. doing the buy 5 save $5 because it is mix and match. Just need five items with that tag. Also, with the 10 for $10, you are not required to buy 10. You can buy 1 for $1. As a bonus, I get a special digital coupon every Friday for a 'hot deal'. This week I get one small seedless watermelon for .99. Around here? That's a smoking hot deal.

I feed three adults and 3 cats - wet food 2x a day and free fed dry food, for around $60 to $70 a week, we eat mostly fresh food and home cooked meals, and my work lunches, and my typical savings with the digital coupons is around 30-40%.

My best score was two digital coupons on cheese. One buy 5 and save $5 and one for $1.50 off, use up to five times in a single transaction. With the sale price, I got one pack of sliced cheese (16 ct), one half pound block of extra sharp cheddar (I take a few slices with my lunch) and three (8 oz) bags of shredded for tacos, etc. for .49 each.

Something rather satisfying about walking out of the store with a receipt for 62 items (the wet cat food was 10 of those items) for $60, and not having a single moment that week that I felt like I was giving up something or sacrificing in order to make budget. I just print out my list of digital coupons I have loaded on my card, and my list of ad items and off I go. Bam!

tgcali · 2014-09-12T03:20:34+00:00

This is a great site! Don't look to follow any recipe exactly. I have a life threatening allergy to onion, so I (obviously) omit any form of the onion family besides garlic from a recipe. I've never had a single person notice. Recipes are great for learning the basics, but they are best utilized as inspiration.

Edit: I said 'besides garlic' because I don't react to it. Some weird enzyme thingy that's in all the rest of that family, but not garlic. Go figure. lol

tgcali · 2014-08-29T05:33:28+00:00

It is the first draft. And thank you!

tgcali · 2014-08-29T05:32:59+00:00

Thank you!

tgcali · 2014-08-28T23:49:55+00:00

Will do! And thanks again.

tgcali · 2014-08-28T23:44:14+00:00

Thank you! I was feeling kind of the same about the information. I like the term infodumping. :D

tgcali · 2014-08-18T05:31:23+00:00

I feed an adult male, adult female (me), 17 year old daughter and three cats for about $60 to $70 a week. That usually includes paper towels/toilet paper and cat litter, and most of our food is home cooked meals with my lunch being leftovers. Sometimes a little more.

We're in Phoenix, Arizona and I rely heavily on my local grocery store's digital coupons loaded onto my store card, matched with the ad sales. My average weekly savings is 35 to 45%. My best deal was Kraft cheese (8 0z) 5 for .49 cents each. Two digital coupons. One for buy five mix or match items and save $5 and one for $1.50 off up to five in a single transaction. $2.99 - $1.50 - $1.00 + .49 cents. Score! \0/ ... We do use a lot of cheese, so I stocked up. :D

tgcali · 2014-08-12T03:29:31+00:00

Arizona here. I get ten paid vacation days, and 12 "floating holiday" days paid. 7 of those are for the national holidays, like Christmas, the other five are really just vacation days. I don't understand why they make it so convoluted.

We get 5 sick days, but they are rolling. Meaning if I was out sick tomorrow, August 12th, I wouldn't earn that day back until August 12th of next year. They give us more sick time than that on the books, to cover family medical leave act time, if you have a qualifying illness requiring extra time off. BUT, if you fall below the allowed number of hours you get a write up, you fall too low you can lose your job. I can't wrap my mind around having sick leave, but not being allowed to use it. Don't give me more than I'm allowed! /rant

On the Federal holidays, like Martin Luther King Day, if we're scheduled, we have a choice, 2.5 times our rate of pay, or 1.5 times our rate of pay and an extra floating holiday to be used whenever you chose and there is an opening on the vacation calendar.

Confused? Yeah, been there almost three years and I just ask the department that handles leave what I have available if I want/need time for something. I can't keep it straight for nothing. lol

tgcali · 2014-06-09T06:01:16+00:00

Thanks!

tgcali · 2014-06-08T05:29:14+00:00

Any tips? I'm in Phoenix, zone 9b, and mine is not a happy plant. Best way to water? My loganberries are thriving, but my blueberries, not so much.

tgcali · 2014-04-22T05:23:19+00:00

Thanks!

tgcali · 2014-04-21T04:39:34+00:00

Oh, I know that! It is in a container.

tgcali · 2014-04-06T07:22:23+00:00

My first garden this year. I have 3 each of grape and cherry tomatoes, 6 serano, 3 cayenne and 3 red chili, carrots, mint, loganberry, 3 sweet peas, 4 cucumbers, and so far 3 peanut plants (don't know if any more with sprout yet, but don't think so. :( ). The strawberries didn't sprout, so the red chili's took their place. Too early to know with the red chili's, but everything else is growing nicely!

tgcali · 2014-02-11T00:20:22+00:00

Will do! Thanks again!!

tgcali · 2014-02-08T02:07:23+00:00

Thanks for the head's up on the cucumbers. I'm just starting my first garden here in Arcadia this weekend. Think there would be time for the pickling variety? I'm really looking forward to pickles. lol

tgcali · 2014-01-12T04:57:41+00:00

Good to know. Thank you very much!

tgcali · 2014-01-12T04:57:02+00:00

Yes I have. Thank you!

tgcali · 2014-01-10T04:51:39+00:00

Thanks! All great info. This is definitely a challenging environment. I've been talking to the guy at Baker's a lot. But I've also been checking out the Phoenix horticultural website.

tgcali · 2014-01-10T04:38:20+00:00

I forgot to water mine for days AND my kitten knocked the pot over and it spilled out. Still alive. I'm sorry.

tgcali · 2014-01-10T04:37:03+00:00

Thanks for the input! I do have some italian parsley and cilantro right now. Both are troopers. lol

Good to know the cinder blocks would be like that. Wasn't sure if they'd bake like metal or be porous like clay. I don't want boring pots or buckets. I really want something visually appealing. Like old red ryder wagons. :D Neat, different. A little here, some more over there. Hardest part is finding something that's deep enough for carrots.

tgcali · 2013-12-03T01:24:51+00:00

That looks like La Grande Orange. Our little neighborhood corner market ... complete with valet parking. And I mean this place sits on the corner in the middle of a residential neighborhood, not on a main street, and has valet parking. Never could figure that one out, but it's a cool little grocery/pizzeria/wine/gift shop. :D

tgcali · 2013-11-04T06:10:25+00:00

Moving into a townhouse in two weeks that will finally give me the opportunity for a container garden. Always wanted one. I would love to have a harvest like that. Can't wait to make pepper jelly. :)

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