Tips and a Recipe or 2 on saving some $ at Jeff's Market

I got tons of feedback based on my TOP 10 post for reasons I love to shop at Jeff's Market.

So much so, that I could probably make it a TOP 20.

Maybe another time I will make a new TOP 10.

One of the common themes behind some of the messages I got regarding this post was people asking me how I really did save money shopping here.

The answer is sort of simple:

1) I shop for and cook meals around the sale flier.

2)  I have ADD.

The two may seem unrelated.  But I assure you they are.

Let's start with #1....the sale flier:

I plan my shopping list around this.  This is not money-saving, late-breaking news to anyone who shops the sales.  But it may be something you didn't consider doing at your small-town grocery store.

But I do...and this is how:
The next time you pop in for a gallon of milk, pick up the sale flier.
Go home and circle the things that you or your family would eat or use.  This includes things like toilet paper and laundry soap.
Go back to the store and buy these things.

Take your savings up a notch:
Once you circle the things you eat/use, go to magnifythesavings dot com
Print off any coupons that coincide with the items in the sale flier that you circled.
Take them to the store with you and get an even better deal.
(not to mention impress the people that you are holding up in the line behind you.....i call this "extreme couponing--Jeff's Market-style. People that just came for a gallon of milk will ask you how you saved that much money.  Every. Time.)

Give Back:
So maybe you won't circle everything on the sale flier because not everybody in your house likes everything. But it is just too good of a deal.  (sale + magnify the savings coupon)
Get it anyway.
Give it to the food bank.
Or a food drive.
Or a college student you know who would love the gift of ravioli or mac-n-cheese.

#2:  I have ADD:
I have ADD.  True story.
Which is why the Jeff's Market sale flier works really well for my personality (disorder?).
Each week I get the flier.
It is a folded newspaper sized flier.  With no inserts.
I circle the things I like, get the coupons, and buy these items.
I may not use everything I buy each week I buy it....but it stores in my cupboard.
The sale fliers from super-stores in town have too many pages for my personality (disorder).
I spend too much because too much is on sale and I like lots of stuff so it is hard to stop.....

I admit it would be different if I only needed to shop once a month.
But I have kids.  This is not the case.
I need a sale every week that doesn't push me too close to the edge of a phone call from my bank.  (another fabulous thing about living in a small town!)

RECIPE based on LAST Week: 
Mini-Muffin Pizzas:

Please note that not all of these items were on sale last week.  But all items were made or purchased when they were on sale.

English muffins (last week)
Mozzarella (last week)
sausage/pepperoni (in my freezer from when they were on sale)
sauce (i made it and froze it because i like it)

There you go.

If you want to take another step to "magnify the savings"....you could

buy the english muffins that were on sale for $1 a package.
Fry some eggs that were in the coupons last week or the week before
pick up the kraft cheese slices on sale last week

and then:

fry some hard-cooked eggs
toast some english muffins.
put the fried egg on an english muffin and top with a slice of cheese
wrap it up in aluminum foil and store all of these in a freezer bag in the freezer.

THEN:
When your kid needs a breakfast-to-go:

Take what you need out of the freezer and heat it up in the oven while your wildcat is getting ready for school.  
It will be ready as he walks out the door.  


So...I realize that you may need an idea for next week's sale flier since this one is about over.
Here you go:   French Dip Sandwhiches

buy-
Go get a rump or bottom round roast.  $3.29 a pound.
And a loaf of french bread located on the table or in the shelves right next to the regular loaves of bread.

on hand-
onion soup mix
beef bullion cube or can of beef broth
can of beer

cook in a crockpot-
roast  with a pack of onion soup mix, beef cube or can of broth and a can of beer.

serve
meat sort of shredded up on the loaf of bread that is sliced to use as sandwhiches.  use the broth in the crockpot as a dipping sauce.