There are certain things I still buy brand name on but Kroger has had some incredible deals on cereals and oatmeal that are store brand. Kroger has a gurantee if you do not like it you can bring it back for a full refund. I have slashed our budget and can no longer afford the $3 to $4 a box cereals and $3 a box Quaker Oats Oatmeal. I found Kroger Raisen Bran for $1.88 for a 20 oz box and $1.98 for Kroger brand instant oatmeal. The girls love it and now my extended family is buying store brand cereals too. They see no difference. I would consider my girls fairly picky on some items but they eat whatever I put in front of them. Now they don’t recognize the Quaker Oats because we only buy store brand. So save a buck and buy store brand!

I was running some errands and I heard my favorite morning show on the radio. They were saying the Washington Post did an article that people are bragging about what deals they got instead of what riches they bought. It is a new definition to keeping up with Jones. Can you clip more coupons, save more money, what cool deal did you get? Also, do you judge those who spend money on Starbucks coffee instead of brewing it at home now or buying a QT coffee for $0.89 as opposed to $3.95 for a small at Starbucks.

I say buy it where you want it! I love starbucks but I am not a starbucks snob. I really want to try McDonald’s specialty coffee. My hubby said it was good.

I do clip coupons,  and I do search for deals. I recently got toothpaste for free because the store marked it down to a $1 and I had a dollar coupon off.  We dropped our grocery budget by a lot so we can pay down some debt and I am trying to be as frugal as possible. I found our laundry detergent and dryer sheets in larger quantities for cheaper price at Target. I will go to several stores in the area if it saves me money. Kroger is doing the best at having those awesome deals. Right now a bunch of items are 88 cents. You just cannot beat that!

I think some of this is funny because my friends and I have been sharing deals and tips for saving money for a long time.  My husband has also been brown bagging his lunch for many years, but to people who have suddenly found themselves in a tight spot,  you have to prioritize.

Here is the article from the Washington Post I was talking about.

This month with all the birthdays, mother’s day and extra doctor bills we are on a very limited grocery budget. God totally provided. Kroger had some awesome deals such as $1.99 a lb chicken, tooth paste for $1 then I had a $1 coupon so it was free. They had name brand deodorant marked down to $1. Their own brand of cereals are actually cheaper than Wal-mart and the cereals taste good. We got a box of cereal for $1.77. It tastes just like the brand name ones. Wal-mart had their brand for $2.98.  I also buy store brand oatmeal for my girls. They eat it every morning for breakfast. It is $1.94 at Kroger and Wal-mart. Kroger has also marked their bread down from $1.69 to $1.49 also cheaper than Wal-mart. Right now we switched to store brand peanut butter and saved some money. The fruits, veggies and lunch meat I wanted were on sale. I bought Kroger eggs for $0.88 cents a dozen. I usually like Egg lands Best but they have gone way up in price so this time I bought store brand. This is also cheaper than Wal-mart. Kroger had their 100% juice on sale for $1.69 and their Nutra Grain bars were $2.15 as opposed to Wal-mart for $2.50.

I support those who are doing their part to help lower prices during these hard economic times. We also switched to Kroger Gas. We used to only use Chevron because we had a gas card but for no reason at all they lowered our limit to $140. They deduct money out of our account so we always pay on time and have no balance on our card. I guess with people defaulting on their payments we all suffrer. Anyway the final straw was my card was declined on Mother’s day because they had not taken the payment out yet and it was close to the new limit they set. It put me in a bind to take money out of our account that had not been budgeted for, so I pulled some cash from our savings to give us a cushion and we will no longer be using Chevron or their card. I take my business else where when we have been excellent customers for over 10 years and you just lower out limit with no warning. We are saving money in the process.

I encourage you to shop around, clip coupons and I will continue passing on these great deals.

Ok so the average person does not shop at three grocery stores but I never said I was average. I am always looking for ways to save money and this is it. Walmart has great deals on some things; while, Publix has our soy milk in stock and better prices on fruit. Kroger carries my diapers and steamer bags along with a few other things. All in all it was a good day. I accomplished this in 2 1/2 hours since I was by myself. Peanut got strep sometime last week and since she could have easily gotten it from the store she stayed home today. I need her and all of us well.

Here were a couple of my deals for the day: tiny boxes of Russell stover candy for $1 and little M and M hearts for the same price. We are on a really tight budget so a dollar I can do for my daughter’s teacher.  My other deal is Kroger has it’s cheerios on sale for $1.67 and I had a coupon for $0.50 off well Kroger doubles their coupons up to a $1 so I bought a box of cheerios for $0.67.  I was excited!  I noticed some prices have gone up again so every little bit of savings helps.

I made chili this morning and put it in the crock pot to simmer all day. I dished out two bowls, one for each of my girls and since it was still a little hot I gave them a corn bread muffin to eat. Peanut said, “mommy, I love cupcakes.” I told her it was corn bread. “No mommy, cupcake. I like chili and cupcake.”  So cute! She did like it. She ate all of her chili and all of her corn bread muffin. Chili is great on really cold days like today!

My chili recipe:

ground beef (browned)

Chili mix (walmart brand)

Kidney beans (dark)

Tomato sauce

Mix all together and simmer in the crock pot. It is delicious!

I am so sick of the news and I felt like watching a movie so I popped one of my favorite movies in, 27 Dresses. By the end my head was rolling because I had taken two Benedryl cold right before it started. I love this movie. I even talked my husband into watching it and I think he was pleasantly surprised.

It was a nice way to spend a Friday night. We enjoyed some microwave popcorn. Kroger brand has microwave popcorn for $1 and we buy the natural so the girls can eat it. It is awesome. It does not need butter. I think they use soybean oil or something to flavor it. It does not need salt either. It is very tasty!

Here is the is article written by Dan Sewell from the Associate Press. He had found a post I did on my blog called generic vs brand name and conducted an interview with me back during the spring. I thought he decided not do run the article because I could not find it but my mom’s friend came accross it and emailed it to her. This was a great morning! It is neat to see your name in print!

After speaking with Mr. Sewell, I remembered several other products grocery and others that we buy generic on. I buy Natural peanut butter for the girls so I use Kroger brand it is $1.99 compared to smuckers natural at $4 and some change. I also use Walmart squeeze jellies and Kroger jellies. My girls like them just as much and we cannot tell the difference. Those are usually $1.25-$1.50 compared to the $2-$3 brand name jellies. I also use generic chili seasoning at $.50 wal-mart brand compared to $1. and some change McCormick brand. I use generic hand soap. I also use generic Advil for us. I use gas meds for us and the girls that are wal-mart brand and it saves tons of money. The infant gas drops are now $11.88 or something like that and I can get the big bottle of wal-mart brand for $6.97. Some other products that I use that are generic are toilet paper, sandwich bags, garbage bags and aluminum foil.

We buy Office Depot brand printer ink cartridges and paper. They used to have a deal where you could trade in your old cartridges for a free ream of paper now you just get $2 off but every little bit helps.

Since the rising gas prices, I have also switched to generic BBQ sauce, Ketchup, mustard and oatmeal. For the items I simply want to buy brand name such as granola bars, cereals etc. I try to find coupons.  We also use Kroger brand microwave natural popcorn and it is delicious. My girls can have it because it does not have butter or milk products like some of the other brands.

I hope this helps you save a few extra pennies or even dollars. I have tried a lot of generics out there and some are better than others. I don’t buy Publix brand too often because they are so much higher than Kroger and Wal-mart even on generics. We also use generic prescriptions such as antibiotics, nose sprays,  creams and  other drugs from the pharmacy including cough drops. Our prescription card makes it cheaper plus in most cases where there is a generic they will not cover the brand name so you have to at least try it.

We have found it is the same. I think a lot of the brand named products make the generic brands too. Look at the recall on Sarah Lee bread a while back this also included publix bread too.  Cheaper is not always better. I check the ingredients on everything but if they are similar and there is a considerable price difference I will definitely buy generic.

Finally, my girls can experience pudding. I found a soy pudding at wal-mart. I think it is organic. Pookie loves it. Both of my girls have dairy allergy/lactose issues. If they eat or drink milk, ice cream, yogurt or cheese they will get really sick or start screaming in pain with their stomachs. They both did this as early as a week after being born. It took us almost two months to figure out what was going on with Pookie and we knew right away with Peanut. They both took Alimentum formula which did not constipate as soy formula did. I discovered soy yogurts when Pookie was a toddler and now they have pudding. You have to watch the soy products though because the veggie cheese actually uses milk proteins which is what I think my girls have sensitivity too. I am just glad they are starting to offer alternatives. There are more and more people becoming intolerant to milk.

Well I have changed so much since my husband and I first got married. I used to only buy brand name and never cared about prices. I was in for a rude awakening when Pookie was born and we really had to pinch pennies since I was staying home.

I started slow and would buy one or two generic then I started shopping at Wal-mart then I added more and more generics to my list. There are still some things I only buy name brand but I may wait and get that as a treat or something. I now buy generic diapers and pull ups. Kroger brand is my favorite. The training pants are great and their Kroger Complete are wonderful because the sides stretch. I typically buy generic cheese and bread, canned items, etc.

Cereals I buy brand name because we do eat organic cereals and they have not come out with generic on that yet. We buy Kashi or Cascadian Farms. I like the pure sugar cane and whole grains Instead of all the sugary things they have. Pookie and Peanut eat them too. Pookie also loves multigrain Cheerios or Blueberry cereal from Kashi. I also buy Eggland eggs. They do taste better. Spaghetti sauce I also buy brand name because Prego Garden Combination tastes so much better than the generics I have tried. I also buy All free and clear and bounce no fragrance because of the girls allergies and Peanut’s extremely sensitive skin. I also use a fragrance free organic shampoo for the girls too. Other than that it generic for us. we save so much money. I shop at three stores though. Publix for lunch meat because it does not have nitrates and artificial stuff and Kroger for things that are cheaper than Wal-mart and Wal-mart for 90% of my stuff. I always buy chicken at Kroger when it is $1.99 per lb. I will never buy it at full price it is just too expensive. Usually in the summer it is on sale more, so I stock up. My favorite store would be Publix for their customer service. They are so nice. I also get my fruit from Kroger or Publix because they have nicer stuff than our Wal-mart. I had to just stand up and try things. If I don’t like them or the girls did not care for something then I will take it back or not buy it again.

I also clip coupons. I think I had close to $10 or more dollars in coupons yesterday at wal-mart. This was a great day. Kroger doubles there so sometimes if I know the price is a tad higher but they will double the coupon I will buy that item at Kroger. I know this sounds crazy shopping at three stores but this works for us and we get everything we like and need while at the same time saving money. I just make sure I have errands in the area so I am not wasting gas.