For the best produce prices, there is one place to shop — and that’s stores aimed at the Hispanic market. Want proof? On Friday, I ran into my produce guy from Vons at Vallarta! We laughed, but he was aiming right to the produce area, too! What does that tell you?

You see all the produce (and rice and beans) pictured here? Total cost $11.60! Subtract out the rice and beans, and the total cost is $8.22 for easily two weeks produce!

Here is just a sample of the prices:

• 10 pounds potatoes (99 cents)
• 1 pound Strawberries (99 cents)
• 1 green onion (33 cents)
• 1 cilantro (18 cents!)
• 1.75 pounds of peaches - 86 cents (50 cents a pound!)
• 5 pounds Valencia oranges - $1.65 (33 cents a pound!)
• 2.5 pounds of white onion - 80 cents (33 cents a pound!)
• 1.51 pounds of broccoli *crowns* - $1.49 (99 cents a pound)
• Celery - 50 cents!
• 5.14 pounds rice — $1.71 (39 cents a pound!)
• 4.25 pounds of pinto beans - $1.67 (39 cents a pound!)

Compare those prices to what you normally pay! I would say on average they are more than 50 percent off. Don’t worry. Most produce is grown in the United States.

There is a little culture shock. At Vallarta — a wonderfully clean, large store — I stick out as a 6-foot-4 balding Anglo man, but you know what? I see a lot of seniors from the nearby mobile home parks there, too. Also, most announcements are in Spanish, and you will learn the Hispanic Top 40 music selections.

But for 50 percent off plus, I will adapt!

A warning — the prices for other grocery products are notoriously high at Hispanic markets. So I draw up a list of the produce deals, or any other items that may be loss leaders, and do my wham-bam shopping. Literally, I am in and out in 15 minutes or less! Most times, I don’t even get a cart, and just load items in my reuseable grocery totes.

Do a test run this week and see how much you can save. If it’s good enough for my Vons produce guy, the savings is good enough for me! 

I was doing my grocery list for this week, and realized I don’t think like most people when doing the same task — I don’t ask myself, “What do I need?” I ask, “Is this the lowest price?” Of course, I only buy what I will use (or can donate), but I don’t look at immediate needs, I look at price and stock up.

This coming week is Fourth of July, so every condiment is on super-duper special. But, by combining with coupons, I am going to stock up on free mustard, BBQ sauce, and 99 cent Best Foods mayo and Heintz ketchup. I don’t need any of these right now, but in three months when other people are paying $3.99 for mayo, $1.50 for mustard, $1.99 for BBQ sauce and $2 for ketchup, I will have paid $1.99 for the same $9.50 in products that they waited to buy until they ran out.

This is using grocery store marketing to your benefit. The stores this week are luring people in with great deals on all the extras they may need for barbecues, but the meat is not that great of a price. They know you will buy the meat, but they are using the condiments as the loss leader.

But you can be smart, skip the meat (’cause you have enough in your freezer, if you’ve been following the 12-week cycle), and just hit the loss leaders now.

I can guarantee you, you will not see such good prices on the condiments until Labor Day in September. In the winter, these deals will be non-existent.

So, the lesson today is don’t think of this week what you need; instead, buy now when you know it’s the lowest price.

Thankfully, we have never been big meat eaters, but in these lean times (ar-ar), there are two types that are in the budget — ground beef and London Broil. When I get a hankering for steak, it’s the latter to my rescue — and still only less than $1 a serving!

Farmer’s Wife has been asking me for months to post how I cook London Broil, so after I just prepped mine for tomorrow night’s dinner, I was inspired to share.

First, the stores will call it “London Broil,” but that’s actually a cooking method. Most times, it’s flank steak, so you may look for that term when seeking recipes. My “buy” price is $1.77 a pound for the “family size” packages. Now, let me tell you for two-person households, it may seem intimidating when buying those large packages, but I finally figured it out a couple years ago — you cut the meat in half and freeze the other. Normally you are left with a neat 1-1.25 pound of meat. Perfect for one or two people (and with a little leftover). A 2+ pound cut I think is perfect for four people.

Another secret? I use it for beef stew meat. I normally cut it into pieces, and then freeze it. It’s ready to go later and it’s much cheaper than traditional beef stew meat, which is usually $2.99 a pound plus. I’ve also pre-cut it very thinly and used for stir-frys. It’s fantastic!

Now here’s the dirty secret about London Broil — it’s a tough piece of meat. This is not rib eye. But if you treat it right, you can get your steak fix for a fraction of the cost.

I did some research tonight on how to cook London Broil. The big warning is not to poke or stab it (because it lets the juices out). You can massage it or hit it with a mallet. But I’ve never been one to beat my meat (heh-heh).

It really comes down to three tips:

I normally broil mine (on foil to make cleanup easy) for 7 minutes on the first side and 6 minutes on the second — this is medium/medium rare. Then I remove it to the serving platter and wrap it in a blanket of foil to rest for 5-7 minutes. This helps keep it juicy (and continues the cooking process). For rare, about 6 minutes on the first side, and then 5 minutes on the other side. And for medium, I would suggest cooking it medium rare, and then microwaving till medium (about a minute or two).

After cutting it very thinly with a sharp knife, serve. I like A1 steak sauce, Worcestershire or horseradish sauce on the side. Add smashed potatoes and a veggie, and you have a great, inexpensive dinner.

Try London Broil — it’s a great budget saver and delicious, too.

I love recipes that are simple but end up with delicious results. But they are made all the more attractive when they are quick, cheap and include ingredients that most anyone has on-hand. Tonight I found a great one — Bacon Cheese Frittata.

I found the entree on Allrecipes.com, and as I always recommend, I read the reviews. There weren’t many changes offered (which is always a good sign), but I still tweaked it a bit, and it turned out perfectly. I was in a rush tonight to make dinner, and I had this one in the oven from start to finish in 15 minutes. To make it seem less “breakfasty,” I served with steamed broccoli and sliced fresh tomatoes topped with a drizzle of salad dressing. It was a colorful dinner — and cheap! I made the entire dinner for $4! Also, very healthy, in my opinion, and low, low (or even non-existent) on carbs.

Try it next time your stock is low in the fridge and you need a quick dinner.

Bacon Cheese Frittata

Ingredients

Directions:

In a bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Add onion, bell pepper, crumbled bacon and cheese, and stir. Pour into a greased 9 inch pie plate, cake pan or 8X8 square dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Notes:

The headline is facetious, but I thought I got everything for free in the photo. But when I did the math, I got $25.47 in merchandise at Rite Aid tonight for 44 cents. Still a dang good week.

This shop illustrates the power of blogs. I don’t come up with all these coupon and Single Check Rebates scenarios to work Rite Aid. I use blogs.

The best for Rite Aid is For The Mommas.com. Every week, she not only tells you the deals, but beginning Sunday, she posts scenarios on how to net the most for free. Read the comments, too, for even more deals. To just go to the Rite Aid deals and the ones I used this week, use this link.

Yes, it was a good week at Rite Aid, and, before, I stopped at Walgreens to net me Listerine in which I will make $7 with a rebate and also a free 8X10 enlargement. I learned of these deals at This Frugal Life.

Both web sites you may “like” on Facebook, and I highly recommend you do so. They religiously tell you every deal they find as soon as they come available.

(By the way, if you wonder why I bought the popcorn. This is called a “filler” item — I was at $24.93 for the deals, but needed to hit $25 before coupons to use the Rite Aid coupon for $5 off $25. That little bag of popcorn for 50 cents saved me $4.50.)

All I can say today is the knowledge I gained from reading blogs netted me $25+ in merchandise for 44 cents! With tax, I paid $2.18 (you pay tax on the purchase price before coupons). That was cheaper than the shampoo alone! By the way, the power razor, alone, was normally priced at $12.99! Who says you can’t live better with coupons?

I was watching a new show on VH1 about OCD, when I decided that I needed to clean out the pantry. (Surprise, surprise, because I am an “arranger.”) But as I straightened everything, I thought of a Prohomemaker Challenge: “Eat out of your pantry/freezer/fridge for one week.” And I am going to do it this week, and I want you to join me.

I think this is important because, first, it makes you take stock of what you have. And second, it saves money. The only allowable purchases for one week are produce and dairy. That’s it.

People spend so much on groceries, without using the 12-week cycle, which means everything hits its lowest price every three months. You’re wasting money if you wait and buy until you need it — use the cycle and save in the long run. I am in need for ground beef due to a stock of Hamburger Helper bought at its lowest price, but I know ground beef is about to hit my buy price of $1.47 a pound. This week was close at $1.77, but I know patience will pay off. Mark my words.

That’s the importance of having a well-stocked pantry and freezer. You’re not at the whim of what grocery stores decide to charge that week. You can hang out and wait for the stock-up price. But do take stock of what you have — you will be surprised what you can make. Yep, that’s the “M” word — menu planning. But here’s a helpful hint: Have a few things, go to Allrecipes.com and use its ingredients search, you’ll surely find something to make.

Won’t you join me in this challenge? Let’s see what we can do this week with what we have.

This became more imperative to me this week when I did our budget using this tool and realized that my income had dropped dramatically since my Dad became sick and passed away. The host of “Til Debt Do Us Part” was kind enough to email me back and advised ramping up my business and cutting the budget wherever I could. And that’s what I am doing. Believe it or not, by eating out of the pantry/fridge and freezer once a month for a year, we can save $1,000+ a year! Do the math, and figure out what you can save, too, just by being creative.

I will post a blog every day on how I am doing — and my challenges with meeting the challenge.

But for now, here is what I am going to make tomorrow night. Just need a bell pepper (allowed-produce) tomorrow, and the rest is in the pantry/fridge/freezer.

Oh, and the pantry is clean — and arranged. 
 

I’ve become enamored with a Canadian show on CNBC — “Til Debt Do Us Part,” and I recommend you watch it, too. It’s part advice, part intervention and part reality show. So, bottom line, you get great information, some dirt and can judge people — who could ask for anything more?

The host, Gail Vaz-Oxlade, is a financial author who does interventions on couples who are not making their bills, or just driving themselves further into debt — one of the biggest causes of divorce.

It’s voyeurism at its best, watching how others feel entitled to spend thousands on Christmas, or keep a truck that is bleeding them dry. The advice is good, and I always pick up a tip or two.

It’s also a wakeup call — but surprisingly for me! I was feeling smug as I watched the pregnant bride plan two weddings and eye spending $8,000 on two gowns. But then I used one of the online tools from Gail’s web site — the budget calculator.

I happily — and truthfully — entered our monthly income and expenses, taking pride in all our budget cuts that I detailed in this post, including no car payments, $4 a month on eating out, and a total credit card debt of $1,400, which should be paid off within three months.

But it was the income that gave me a wakeup call - mine dropped dramatically over the past six months due to paying more attention to my parents’ health and welfare, and dealing with the ultimate passing of my Dad in March.

Seeing it on paper made me realize I had successfully cut expenses to deal with the downturn of the real estate market as an agent with RE/MAX, but I had not dealt with the further drop in my income from trying to manage with personal issues.

Thankfully, I have 10 months of the difference in my checking account to make up for the deficit before hitting my savings, but it was clear that I need to ramp up my business in hopes I won’t have to hit my “no touchy money,” as I call it.

That’s what I love about this show — it has you take a hard look at your finances so you can see what you need to do.

I also love Gail’s style — she is blunt, and her blog with Monday morning quarter-backing on each episode is a hoot (and offers even more tips).

I highly recommend you watch ”Til Debt Do Us Part” – and best part, you can view the episodes online at the web site if you don’t have cable.

Let me know what you think about it — I love this show!

This evening I did what I call “wham bam” grocery shopping. That’s when I run in one store, snag the sales and walk out with great deals. Tonight $23 in products at Vons turned into a final price of $2 — 91 percent off! Across the street at Ralphs, $37 in merchandise ended up being $7 — 81 percent off!

Here is the secret: You are not there to shop, you are there to buy. That means you don’t wander the aisles, you hit every deal and leave. That’s how I could turn $60 in merchandise into a total of $9.

Believe it or not, I also hit a third market — our local Hispanic store, Vallarta, which has great produce prices. This week I got 5.50 pounds of oranges for 92 cents! I had five items to buy and I was out in less than 10 minutes.

With drive time, I was done in less than 75 minutes. I think that’s reasonable for a weekly shop.

Now, some tips:

Yes, coupon shopping does take a small amount of time. I would say it takes about an hour to 90 minutes a week. But I just got $70+ in groceries for $12.50 tonight, and you can do it, too!

Thanks to This Frugal Life for tipping me off on this great deal — $10 in free merchandise at Medco with only 99 cents shipping! I just scored $9 in generic sleeping pills for only 99 cents — shipped!

They have lots of products — vitamins, lotions, soap, bath wash — load the cart on up. If you go over $10, they will take $10 off your total. If you’re $10 or under, everything is free!

Here’s all you do — go shop at Medco Health Store. Shop (and you can buy less than $10), then checkout and on the last screen apply this coupon code — FIRST10 (Updated code as of 6/5).

Now I don’t know how long they will offer this, so best to order quickly.

Thanks again to This Frugal Life – an excellent blog, especially for Southern California, and you can also fan her on Facebook.

Wee! This was a sweet deal!