Frugally prepping for possible COVID19 Delta variant lockdown

[Kaleva]

It's not looking good and the lockdown may be government mandated or self imposed. Either way, I thought it best to spend time doing an inventory and plan a shopping trip to bring stocks and supplies back to norm here just in case.

Being on SSDI, I don't have extra cash to just go out and buy what's needed. I needed to do work for a neighbor to get the money and then look at sales and using coupons to get the most with the money I had.

I do much of my shopping at Dollar General and they usually give a $5 off for $25 or more spent coupon good the the following Saturday when you purchase something during the week. They also offer this as a single digital coupon at their website. Earlier last week when I was in town, I stopped at the store and asked the teller, the place was empty, if I could do 5 transactions to get 5 coupons at one time. He said yes and so I got 5 1 gallon purified water bottles for a dollar each. I bought them individually and got my 5 coupons good for Saturday.

Later, at the DG website, i added a digital coupon, giving me 6 all together, and some digital coupons for products I needed. I then made up my shopping list. With 6 coupons, I was going to making 6 trips into the store keeping the amount spent each trip to just over $25 to maximize savings. Your savings are greater getting $5 off when you spend the minimum $25 then if you get $5 off and you had spent $40. It took awhile to break down my shopping list into 6 segments as I had to look up the prices on line and the working that with the quantity of each item needed.

Below are the results of the 6 trips:

$34.62 - $9.75 in total coupons for $24.87 (includes $3.60 for deposits on pop cans)

$25.55 - $5 coupon for $20.55 actual cost

$25.00 - $5.00 coupon for $20.00 actual cost

$25.33 - $5 coupon for $20.33 actual cost

$25.68 - $5 coupon for $20.68 actual cost

$26.60 - $5.90 in total coupons for $20.70 in actual cost

Instead of spending $162.78, I spent $127.13. A savings of $35.65.

I also got 6 more $5 coupons good for next Saturday.

[Sherman A1]

1. Do what ever you need to do

Understand however that many of the $1 items you are purchasing at DG are often of less value (smaller sizes, less in the package, etc) than what you would find at a traditional grocery store.

Yes, it’s all a buck, but that can ultimately be more expensive per ounce or per foot.

[Kaleva]

2. A 15.5 oz can of cut beans at DG is the same as a 15.5 oz can of cut beans at other places.

Dollar General is not the same as Dollar Tree which you may be thinking about. At Dollar Tree, everything is $1.

[Sherman A1]

4. Granted a the can of beans maybe the same size

It might even be the same quality as other store brands, but many other items are not. Yes, I do know the difference between DG and DT and Family Dollar. Generally Dollar Trees are better maintained and cleaner at least in my area.

[Rorey]

10. Dollar Generals seem to be well-maintained here

I rarely go in them, but the few times I have, they've seemed fine.

Around here they seem to be located within walking distance for a lot of people, whereas with the chain stores transportation can be an issue. There are pluses and minuses for everything.

[Kaleva]

12. Which items are you talking about then?

[Sherman A1]

15. Aluminum foil comes to mind

As one other items of that type. Just be sure that you are getting a good value and don’t go by the price only.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I was just going to point that out as well.

[brewens]

5. I went on a diet and lost a lot of weight the last three years. The diet turned me into a whole

food, home cooking fanatic. I make all kinds of stuff myself now that I would never have imagined. English muffins, freezer jam, refried beans, just to name a few. That has my food bill down to about seven bucks a day. It was six before prices went up.

My use of coupons isn't much. I use the Walmart online order and pickup. I watch the Costco ads and get what I can use there too.

I sure picked the right time to lose all the weight and change my diet.

[Rorey]

7. What you make yourself is SO much better

I don't eat meat, so $7 a day would be extravagant for me.

When I was getting a divorce a couple of years ago, we each had to submit budgets of our monthly expenses. The now-ex-husband listed his food costs at $900 a month!!! I definitely objected to that. I guess he was counting what he was spending on his co-cheater when he took her out to eat.

[brewens]

11. Oh yeah, the meat is the huge expense. I hold that to seven ounces a day, which didn't seem

like much at first, but I got used to it. One half of a chicken breast where I used to eat a half chicken.

[Rorey]

8. Oh, and congrats on the weight loss

[Scrivener7]

9. I would love to see your weekly menu some time.

Home cooking, losing weight and saving money - al the things I want to do.

[brewens]

17. It's pretty basic so far. I try and limit carbs. Lots of baked or grilled meat. Salads, omelets

and tacos. I had to learn to make omelets to use up all the veggies I like to have around for salads. Bell peppers, onion, mushrooms and tomato's.

I make my own chili and honey corn muffins. Homemade English muffins are easy and awesome. About once a month I get a quart of buttermilk and make a big batch of biscuits. I but a 5lb bag of potatoes and make a big batch of mashed potatoes to portion out and freeze.

I started baking and make pies and other goodies. Most lately I've worked on a variety of cannabis treats. No buying any of that anymore either.

https://www.yeprecipes.com/img-homemade-english-muffins-1171.htm

[Scrivener7]

21. I am DEFINITELY going to try a lot of this. That english muffin recipe looks fabulous.

And I always make mashed potatoes ahead for holidays and freeze them and am surprised at how well they freeze, but it never occurred to me to freeze individual portions.

And the homemade cannabis treats are a great idea.

Thank you!

[Kaleva]

14. Love refried beans

I buy dried pinto beans and cook what's needed in the quick cooker and use that as the basis for refried beans.

Just used our last pint of homemade salsa in making our last meal.

[brewens]

18. Mine are pretty basic. No harder than making mashed potatoes. I like to throw a can of green

chilis in too. Other than that, beans, onions, chili powder, cumin and garlic. I use almost all of mine in tacos so I bump up the spices a little more than I would if I was serving it with Mexican rice.

[Rorey]

6. I feel like I learned a lot last year

Some of the things I bought I ultimately ended up giving to food banks and such, which was fine. I'm going to go through things again today, and make another donation tomorrow.

I really did have a panic situation last year, in which I was laying awake at night worried about my family having enough food. It wasn't logical, but we were in such a weird situation and I felt very insecure. Because of fairly severe poverty in my young adult years, I've long been a stocker-upper. I haven't gone hungry in decades, but I haven't forgotten what it felt like.

[Kaleva]

13. I stock items I use on a regular basis so it gets rotated.

I try and keep enough food and other essentials on hand to last my wife and I about 45 days.

[Rorey]

16. That's a good plan.

I do that too, mostly. I just overestimated how much and how often I wanted to eat this or that, and I wanted to make sure it got used by someone before the expiration dates.

[brewens]

19. I think we came a lot closer to actual food shortages than most people realize. I over did it

on a few things, but I have mostly replaced what I used. I'm going to try and keep a good four months worth of non perishable stuff on hand from now on. If I had to, I could survive being trapped in here for four months. I wouldn't be very happy, but i wouldn't go hungry.

[Rorey]

20. Maybe just two months for me right now

Like you, I wouldn't be happy. No milk in my coffee. Eventually it wouldn't matter, because I'd run out of coffee. No fresh produce. But I'd survive.

When we were in the thick of it last year, I probably had twice as much food as I have now.

I have the advantage of having what some might think is a very boring palate. I can eat the same thing for days, and lots of times that's what I do.

It's not that I don't enjoy delicious food. I just don't think it's worth the effort on a regular basis. Besides that, I tend to eat a lot more if it's too delicious.

I think what happened last year was a good lesson that we shouldn't be too complacent about our lifestyles.