Can you feed your family for $3 a day?

Grocery Outlet thinks so! (caution: their site is noisy at first). For those who have Aldi's, Grocery Outlet is similar. It's overstocks, close-to-expiration, and out of season foods. Everything is still technically good, even if it's up to or after the sell-by.

I was there the other day picking up some frozen meals for my sweetie to take to work for lunches when I noticed some placards they'd put up around the store. Each one had a day's menu using only items from a frugal Grocery Outlet shopping trip. At the register, they had little booklets with tips, recipes and a shopping list for a week's worth of meals for 4 at $3/day per person.

Could you do it? I'm going to try it and see how it goes. I'll have to make some modifications to accomodate my food allergies, but it shouldn't affect the cost much.

Key Bank iPod promotion

Here's the quick: open a new account at Key Bank (not available all over the U.S., only in select markets) and get a free iPod Nano or Touch.

This is the promotion that I used last year to get my iPod Nano, which I love.

Bargain Summer Camp...

if you don't mind a little bit of Jesus with your paper mache! This week, the kids are enjoying Vacation Bible School, essentially summer camp (crafts, outdoor activities, sing-a-longs and snacks) with a Christian twist. Many churches have them, some require you to volunteer at the camp, some only request a donation. I paid $7.50 per child for a week, 9-noon, of fun activities. I'm volunteering daily because of my younger one's age, but it is fun to help out. Today, I got covered in Elmer's glue.

Free Movie Ticket

Jonathan over at My Money Blog has a post about an Entenmann's Contest--you could win a free movie ticket.

Not Buying It

We've been keeping our non-essential shopping to a minimum. Food, gas, and sunscreen are the only recent purchases. I've continued avoiding the thrift stores (where temptation lurks). I've taken the kids to the park almost every day. Our local city parks offer free lunch for kids 1-18, so we've timed our visits for lunch time. Every bit helps, right?

Target

I've been encountering more and more negative stories about Target. The Consumerist is rife with them. First the return policy changed from generous and understanding to draconian. And now it's simply inane.

Anything I actually need I can find someplace else. It won't always be as cheap as Target, though I'll bet just as often the price I find will be lower.

Ending my Walgreens experiment

I've decided to end my experiment in the world of the Drugstore Game. Although I did get some good deals (shampoo, chocolate to give as teacher/library gifts, razors & shave gel), I also added some stress to my life. I will continue to check the Walgreens Easy Saver catalog each month, since I do have a Walgreens gift card now that has been reloaded twice thanks to rebates.

In our city, sales tax is now 9%. I know there are folks who do primarily the Free After Rebate (FAR) items each month, and because they choose to have their rebate loaded onto a Walgreens gift card, they get a bonus of 10% on top of the rebate amount. If your sales tax is less than that, there's a profit there. For me, a profit of 1% is not enough to overcome the hassle of remembering to enter my rebate receipt information.