Meal planning is KEY to saving money on groceries. The farther out you plan, the better your savings because you are empowered to purchase items when they are on sale, instead of forced to pay full price last minute. Planning your meals around the weekly ad is an important piece of this – eating what’s on sale and what’s in season helps a ton. BUT when you find those treasures – those clearance deals in the store – take advantage of them and figure out a way to incorporate them into your meals! Here’s my example. . .
I stopped by Safeway last weekend to pick up some orzo for my Greek Orzo recipe, which I was making for company coming over for dinner. I was scoping out the cheese section when my internal clearance cheese radar (yes, I have one) detected clearance fresh mozzarella – 50% off. Score! Regularly priced at $5.99, on sale for $4.49 but 50% off because it was set to expire in a couple days. Plus, I found $1/1 cheese coupons. Final price? $1.20 each
Mozzarella cheese – $5.99 regular price on sale for $4.49
50% off coupon = $2.25
Plus $1/1 mozzarella cheese coupon
Final price = $1.24 each!
So what did I do? I needed some kind of side dish or appetizer to go with my meal, so I figured out a way to incorporate this DEAL into our MEAL. I picked up couple baguettes at $1.69 each. And some basil for $3.49. Put it all together for some amazing baked mozzarella, tomato, garlic, basil bread. It was almost as much of a hit as the main menu item AND we had enough fresh mozzarella for this amazing marinated balsamic chicken, with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella (recipe coming Friday!)
Look for this display at your local Safeway. From what I can tell these are “store” coupons – they don’t have redemption information on them and they say “retailer coupon” NOT manufacturer coupon. They have had this display for a couple years now and they just update it with new coupons every few months. It’s located in the deli/cheese section of the store.
Now sometimes incorporating the deal into your meal doesn’t make financial sense. Like finding an amazing price on green peppers but realizing that to make fajitas you have to spend $20 on tortillas, chicken, cheese and salsa. But if you have ingredients in your stockpile or you can find additional ingredients inexpensively on the spot – you can make it work! Just don’t try to “force” the deal into a meal or you may find yourself spending more in the long run, make sense?
What do you think about this? What was the last awesome in-store clearance deal that you found and turned into a meal?
Robin says
I used to have a website for freezing. I cannot find it, but I can tell you what we regularly freeze? hope this helps.
I freeze peppers. When I see them for sale 3/ .99 I will buy a bunch and cut them into strips and freeze them in quart size zip-lock bags. They work great for stir fry later on.
I also freeze soups. When I buy a LOT of something (like when winco had the potatoes for .49 a bag) I make soup (made a delicious potato soup) and freeze that in a quart size bag. I just lay it flat in the freezer. My soups usually last for about 3 months. (we usually eat them by then) I have also made broccoli soup, 17 bean soup, and chili VERY cheap, and froze the leftovers.
I freeze Meat and bread of course. Also, I just found out you can freeze avocado. it comes out mushy, but if you are using it for guacamole or anything like that, its fine. I just made and froze some home made creamy salsa verde.
I also freeze fruit. Strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. They get washed, I pat them dry, and put them into a zip-lock bag.
I have heard you can freeze cheese and Milk. Never tried it though. I KNOW you have to let the milk completely thaw out before using, or it will taste bad. (friends have told me)
AND, when I find a great butter deal (I bake A LOT) I will keep the extra butter in the freezer. as long as I let it thaw completely before using it, Never have had a problem.
I hope this helps. It is off the top of my head, but its some stuff that I keep in the freezer.
Kim B says
And yet, those peppers in your “not a deal” example could be sliced or chopped and frozen so that you have them on hand when the other fajita stuff is available. Remember that the freezer is a useful tool for getting some of those deals to work well another day.
Heather says
Kim – Good point! I need to find a good resource on what items I can freeze and how best to freeze them. Any suggestions?
Carrie says
Just curious what Safeway this is?? I’ve never seen any display like this at my Safeway 🙁
Heather says
This was Safeway in Lacey, Washington (Hawks Prairie) but I’ve seen this at most Safeway stores. It’s near the wine/bread/cheese section. It’s kind of boring and doesn’t really jump out at you – so look for it next time you’re there. Hope you find it.
Sugar Baby says
That looks so good! I love fresh mozzarella and only buy fresh now unless its for cooking. But hubby did grab a “vat” of supposedly fresh mozzarella at Costco. They were small balls about an inch, and they were a little rubbery like most aged mozzarella I’ve had. I stick to the fist sized individually packed fresh mozzarella. Super tender and refreshing for those that haven’t tried it.