Third Week of April - Saved $272.45!!

Making the Switch to Organic Milk Affordably

This week we made the switch over to organic milk!! I was able to find very reasonable mark down prices on both regular organic milk and lactose free organic milk. My new goal every week is to try and find mark downs on organic milk so that we can afford to stick with making the switch! The mark downs I found gave us about 5 days till the sell by date on the milks, but that does not mean it goes bad on day 5! Technically, my milk expired yesterday, but it still tastes perfectly fine and I plan to have it finished by tomorrow (which will be a week from when I bought it).

Buying milk that is marked down may not work for every family because it all depends upon how quickly you consume it. I typically go through a 1/2 gallon per week of my lactose free milk, where as my husband, who drinks regular milk, can easily polish off 2-3 gallons in a week! During this switch to organic, we're trying to start off by buying only 1, maaaaaybe 2, gallons of organic milk per week for him so that we can keep the cost low.

I decided to make the switch now for a couple of reasons. I did some more research about organics and organic milk to try and find out just what we were dealing with. And what I found out made me feel kind of queasy! I will be sharing some of this information in my next organics post within a few days. The other reason I went for the organic milk this week: I found it on mark down! I hadn't thought to look for organic milk on mark down until I spotted it last week at the grocery store! With the mark down price, we can afford to make the switch. Where as at the regular price, we can't, so I thought we were going to have to wait. Anyways, on to this week's shopping trip!

This was by far my best shopping trip to date, savings rate wise!

Food Items

10 bags of Bird's Eye Steam Fresh Brown & Wild Rice with Veggies (all free! 4 aren't picture because we gave them to family)

5 jars of McCormick Grill Mates seasonings (all free!)

4 Starburst Jelly Bean Easter Eggs (all free!)

2 chocolate covered peeps (both free!)

2 dozen large eggs (both free!)

2 boxes of American Beauty Quick Cook pasta (both free!)

2 boxes of Ritz Munchables ($.49 each!)

2 half gallons of Newman's Own Virgin Lemonade ($.49 each!! first time we've tried this and it sooo good!!)

7 box of Wheat Thin Stix (.49 each! great for Donald's lunches!)

1 – 59 oz bottle of Tropicana Premium Orange Juice ($.50!)

2 – 5 oz bags of Kettle Chips ($.50 each – not pictured, already eaten)

4 – 20 oz boxes of Bisquick ($.50 each!)

5 Michelina's Budget Gourmet frozen meals ($.60 each – for finals week food when there is no time to cook or we need late night snacks!)

5 Michelina's Lean Gourmet frozen meals ($.60 each – for finals week food when there is no time to cook or we need late night snacks!)

2 packages of Buitoni Linguine pasta ($.69 each!)

4 bags of Kraft Touch of Philadelphia 5 cheese Italian shredded cheese ($.99 each!!)

4 jars of Peanut butter ($1 each!)

1 – 5 lb bag Bob's Redmill 100% Whole Wheat Flour ($2.50!)

1 - ½ gallon of Organic Valley lactose free milk ($2.79 on mark down!!! Normal price for non-organic ½ gallons of lactose free milk start at $4, so this was an amazing find!)

1 gallon of organic milk ($3.39 on mark down!)

1 box of Baking Soda

1 gallon of milk (not picture, already drank)

Non-Food Items

2 packages of Carefree liners (made $.50 each!)

6 – 5 count boxes of Allegra allergy medicine (a month's worth of allergy meds for free!)

3 – 5 packs of Schick disposable razors (all free!)

3 Oral-B Cavity Defense toothbrushes (all free!)

6 travel size Degree women's deodorant (all free!)

1 box of Biore Pore Strips ($.49!)

1 bottle of Biore Pore Cleansing Scrub ($.49!)

4 tubes of Colgate toothpaste ($.50 each)

1 – 24 count box of Zantac Maximum Strength ($.59! - normally $7.59!)

2 boxes of Garnier Herbashine Hair Color ($1.49 each!!)

1 can of got2be Kinky Curling Mousse ($1.50!)

1 bottle of got2be Ultra Glued Invincible Styling Gel ($1.50! Donald was in desperate need so this was a great deal!)

1 – 12 double roll package of Marcal Bath Tissue

Shelf cost: $315.15

What I paid: $42.70 (plus I have a $3 Target card left)
Saved 86%

This week I shopped Walgreens, Fred Meyer, QFC, and Albertsons (to which I made multiple trips at 2 locations because it was a double coupon week!)