CHA-CHING!

 

Yesterday we voted YES! for my lost & found idea. Mark has a related story and will blog about it later.

 

I was driving by Aldi's on the way home from work and thought that I spotted an abandoned shopping cart in the parking lot (which = $.25). But it was too late because I was already in the process of passing up the entrance and someone was following closely behind me. The next driveway is for a car wash with drive up vaccuum areas. I figured I would pull in there and get out and see if anyone had dropped any change (I have found money at this car wash in the past). So I pulled in and got out and there was a penny on the ground - YAY! Then I walked around to the other side, looking at the ground. When I was about to get back in my car,  I looked over to the left there was a pile of pennies sitting on the cement wall by the vaccuum.  $.22 pennies in that pile plus the one I found on the ground! I turned back around and went to Aldi's but there weren't any abandoned shopping carts. Feeling lucky when I got home, I went over to the next building to see if there was any lost $$ in the laundry room. As I opened the door to the building a shiny little dime was staring up at me in the doorway (no lost money in the laundry room though).

 



BIG!!

And by BIG I mean portion sizes today....

Yesterday I was at Whole Foods and over heard a lady choosing a beverage say "Everything is so big these days." (she was obviously referring to the jumbo bottled beverages)

After that I stopped at a Bistro/Juice Bar in the area and picked up a juice and hummus with veggies to go. The owner of this restaturant is very health conscsious and uses high quality organic ingredients. Looking at my to go order, I thought, this is a small portion; however, it was very delicious, healthy and satisfying.

Then again today, I went to a vegetarian cafe and ordered a large soup to go. Thinking they would bring out a quart (the size that is served in Chinese restaurants), I was mistaken. The cup held 12 ounces of soup.

That got me thinking - what was the average portion size in the 30's? If it was smaller - can I adjust my portions as a strategy in the challenge? What if a 14.5 ounce can of lentil soup is 3 servings instead of 2? Have we been programmed to eat much more than we really need to?

There are plenty of interesting articles on how portion sizes have increased. Without doing a ton of research, I came across this article: http://www.rodale.com/recipes-and-calories.  Based on the research by Dr. Wansink, there has been a 45%  increase in the number of calories in the recipes in the Joy of Cooking cookbook since the 1930's. That's enough evidence for me! I may just have to get his book and see what he else he has to say!

Lost and Found

So last week I found 2 dimes, 1 outside on the ground on my way to my car and 1 in the laundry room on one of the dryers in my apt. complex. Can I start a lost and found change jar and use the found money towards food purchases? This will be for money found outside the home.

Gross? or Net?

By gross, I don't mean the roadkill idea from the previous post ;)

Question is: Will tallying $$$ spent be based on net or gross? So if I get 10 cans of soup for $1, will I tally the $.10 once I consume it or do I count the whole dollar? What if I want to eat 5 cans pre-challenge and only use 5 during the challenge, would I just count $.50?

Also, we need to rule if gas/mileage is exempt (pre-challenge and during challenge).

Strategies

Mark, Kathy, Todd, Mom and I had a discussion on Thursday evening about some of the strategies that we can use for the challenge. Extreme couponing came up and I agreed to post some information.  I am by far not a coupon extremist. I see the value with saving money, get enthusiastic, clip coupons and for some reason don't use most of them before they expire.

I haven't used all these websites/tips but got this information while I was taking a financial class. The guest speaker, a coupon queen, shops for a family of 4 and spends only $250 mo on groceries.

Websites:

www.hip2save.com
www.gianteagle.com
www.sistersshoppingonashoestring.com
http://joethecouponguy.com/ (sign up for weekly emails)
www.bzzagent.com (try new products for free)

Tips:

Giant Eagle - doubles coupons up to $.99
CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Target - accepts mfg coupons and store coupons for the same item
Walmart - will price match with local ads and will give you money back if the coupon makes the item free

Note: I would double check with the stores to make sure that they are still offering these deals. For example, Giant Eagle is eliminating their food perks program, which I did not list above.

And here are some of my personal tips:
Nature's Bin - earn one point for every dollar you spend when you use your shoppers card. Once you get 500 points, you get $10 towards groceries
Earth Fare - sign up online for their Tomato Bank program and you get weekly coupons/freebies. If you give them your cell phone # you get 500 points which equals $5!

We need to clarify the coupon rules. For example Kathy asked if you are at Giant  Eagle and the deal is BOGO, can you use the free one for the challenge? Mark replied no.  My question is, does that apply to other deals? For example, the Earth Fare coupon that I printed today is for a free chicken or veggie burger if you spend $10.  How will that work if I'm gathering items pre-challenge?  If I'm accumulating points while doing ordinary shopping (ie, Nature's Bin), can I use those points during the challenge?

If anyone else has any tips, please post!