Planning out your meals does not mean you’re on a cafeteria schedule without flexibility. It just means that you have an idea of how many meals per week you’ll be preparing at home, and the shopping list to complete the prep.
Stockpiling main meal ingredients will help take care of a couple meal staples per week. If you stock up chicken breast, you can have that for a meal 10 weeks in a row, and never get tired of chicken. Same with brats, hamburger, or Illini Pork cuts.
My meal prep does not include 7 dinners per week. I actually plan to fix 6 and have one super duper left over night. Since I shop on Thursdays after coupon club that night is one of our big meal nights. Usually, just because it looks so good and I want to eat it right away. So this meal includes a meat selection, and two sides. Usually some type of dessert.
Then I purposely plan two meals per week that my kids want. My middle child I call the “Carb-anator.” He likes pizza, spaghetti, and macaroni bake. These nights are good times to cut the meat portion of the meal and bring down my weekly grocery cost. Spaghetti needs a nice bread stick or garlic bread addition, and pizza night can have some pizza sticks.
After these 4 meal plans, I only need 3 more. That’s easy! One Chicken, one Beef, one Pork. Done. Then I take a look at the sides. What can I pick up this week that is on special, or has a coupon that will accompany these meals? This week we have bagged salad mixes on sale, and we all just stocked up on dressing last week. Perfect! This is a great way to add a fresh addition without a lot of expense.
Stock up on Flavorite Pudding mixes for future desserts, and Hungry Jack mix and syrup to cover breakfast for several weeks. Oscar Mayer bacon is $3.99 and an easy breakfast addition.
That leaves the snacks. Sometimes the majority of the budget! My budget includes a Meal plan for snacks. I know that my kids graze during the summer. So I need 2 snacks per kid per day. Or 42 small snacks per week. Fruit cups, pizza, even frozen egg rolls will satisfy them. So I need to find stockable snacks with high serving counts. I generally will not stock an item with a per unit count over $.50 each. The $.20 threshold for snacks is my stockpile indicator. Normally, I need a coupon to get in this range.
For additions Print N Save Coupons:
Print N Save Section of this Blog
County Market
CouponNetwork.com
Coupons.com
Coupon Clipping Services:
Lynn’s Coupons and Refunding Service Put COUNTY MARKET FREE SHIPPING in check out for free shipping on your first order. This offer must be for a purchase greater than $5, and can not be combined with any other offer. She provides newspaper, non newspaper, coupons and rebate forms.
Kuntry Klippers This service specializes in newspaper coupons. Their fees vary but are between 10% and 15% of face value. They also run specials on products. They ship a bit slower, allow for 3-4 days in Illinois. All coupons are sold in sets of 20 like coupons. County Market shoppers also get Free Shipping with “First Time County Market” in check out box.
Coupons by Dede
This site sells full inserts, and clipped coupons. All of these coupons are newspaper coupons. The price is generally 15% of the face value of the coupon. You can buy 1 coupon, or 100 coupons. Shipping from this site is fairly fast. Very reliable service. She will run “Specials” on coupons when they get within 10 days of expiration.
The Coupon Clippers
is the largest clipping service in the country. They provide newspaper, non newspaper, coupons and rebate forms. They have good service, and a large selection. Being the largest, the hottest coupons disappear fast. However, they do get LOTS of coupons.
The Coupon Master has a mix of newspaper and non newspaper coupons. They ship quickly. Their handling fees are 10%-12% of face value. Shipping is quick, usually arrives in 3 days. They do carry rebate forms on the site.
All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!
