Comments on: Costco Is Expensive – Day 41: Eating Well On $1 A Day

By: jeffrey

jeffrey — Fri, 06 May 2011 14:47:00 +0000

Happy to hear the challenge provided some inspiration

By: Ranelle

Ranelle — Fri, 06 May 2011 10:36:46 +0000

I’m re-reading your blog and loving it again. Your blog is what got me into couponing and I have been able to save alot of money! So many thanks. I make smoothies almost everyday and one thing I love to do is freeze the bananas. They become super sweet and creamy! Looking forward to your next challenge!

By: Morfydd

Morfydd — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:46:44 +0000

I wouldn’t add the vegetables to avgolemono – it’s supposed to be just an easy rice/lemon/broth soup. And it is usually a bit sour, but I like that.

This is definitely inspiring. Time to go make avgolemono!

By: Eating Well On $1 A Day - Grocery Coupon Guide

Eating Well On $1 A Day - Grocery Coupon Guide — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:12:52 +0000

[...] Blackberries! Day Thirty-Eight Blahh – Day Thirty-Nine Being Hungry Sucks – Day Forty Costco Is Expensive – Day Forty-One Time Consuming – Day Forty-Two Balanced Diet – Day Forty-Three [...]

By: mclatchy

mclatchy — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:41:51 +0000

Just discovered your blog last night i must say i’m impressed! This is fascinating stuff, i live in the UK and we don’t have blinkies here or catalinas as far as i know, but i am interested in investigating whether something like this would be feasible in this country! Have a few cooking tips for you: Baked potatoes – Pierce the potato right through a few times with a skewer or fork, and if you can rub a little oil or salt into the skin before cooking. Microwave on full power for 4-5 minutes depending on the size of the potato and then put in a hot oven for 35-40 minutes. It should come out with thick crispy skin and lovely fluffy insides! If you cook the potato for a little less time in the oven it is possible to cut it into wedges and then shallow fry them in a pan with a little oil until they are golden brown. Presto you have nice perfectly cooked potato wedges! It has been mentioned before but making a simple dough out of flower salt water and yeast is a simple way of making flat breads and pizza bases, you can use wholewheat flower if you want to be healthy!. Also, a few tomatoes and a little onion and garlic and herbs (whatever you have) will give you a great sauce for pasta and pizzas for pennies too. I won’t post detailed recipes for the dough or sauce as there are millions of websites that will do a much better job than me! Good luck with your challenge you are doing a great job!

By: Dana

Dana — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:23:01 +0000

Rumor has it that Safeway has made some substantial changes to its coupon policy. One change that I find interesting is, “Safeway will accept valid Catalina manufacturer coupons that are issued to a customer by another retailer. ”

I’ve seen this change mentioned on several blogs, including here: http://www.savingcentswithsense.net/2010/06/safeway-new-coupon-policy-valid-6710/

I don’t know if it’s statewide or chain-wide, so everyone might want to contact their local Safeway to find out their latest policies.

By: jeffrey

jeffrey — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:03:06 +0000

@Dawn

I snacked a lot. I ate out a lot. I’d eat lots of leftovers when visiting family and friends. I also travel quite a bit so I did end up eating out most of the time on my trips. Not the healthiest way to eat (although I snacked on fruit and nuts quite a bit), but it’s the reality…

By: Tink

Tink — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 20:30:42 +0000

I like Sam’s Club more then Costco, the yearly fee is less and they have more of the things that althought not as cheap as sales with coupons, are a lot less then buying when you can’t find a great sale on them. Of course, with a family and a large freezer it is easy to use all of a container. But, they still have a number of things that are worth it even if you cann’t eat them all like 16 servings of salad mix for what 4 servings (i.e. small bag) cost in grocery stores. Even with sales and coupons in a grocery store it would cost more 90% of the time in my area, and any that doesn’t get ate goes to be composted.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 18:16:12 +0000

I love the $3 crushed tomatoes at Costco. I also bought the HUGE bag of bread flour, the gallon of olive oil, the huge bag of pepperoni and the largest loaf of mozzarella we can find. There’s a Costco Business Center near our house, and I splurged for the restaurant-sized parchment paper as well.

I make pizza from scratch, and Costco brings my total cost per medium pizza right into the $1 each range. If we leave off the pepperoni, the cheese pizza is somewhere like 60 cents each. Now, there’s a bit of time sunk into making pizza from scratch, but I’ve gotten it down to the point that my active time is ranging right around an hour to make a week’s worth of crusts for us (I par-bake them in batches, so it’s like home-made Boboli that we just pull out of the fridge).

I know, I know – pepperoni pizza is not the healthiest meal around! We don’t stick to pepperoni though (I like to repeat meals over and over, but not to that extreme). In the winter, we add winter squash, frozen spinach, mushrooms, etc. In the spring and summer, we go crazy with fresh items on the pizza. Whatever we get in our CSA or at the farmer’s market generally makes its way onto my home-made crusts. My current favorite is to skip the normal toppings, brush a crust with olive oil and then add washed spinach and goat cheese. The spinach wilts down in the oven and you’ve got a great, fresh, healthy pizza going on!

I’ve thought about writing up a cost breakdown for the pizza I do, and you’ve inspired me to post that on my blog this week!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 13:26:58 +0000

You can get a #10 can of tomatoes for around $3 at Costco (this is like the huge coffee can size). If you saute an onion then add the whole can to a large pot then add any seasonings you have you can easily get a month’s worth of tomato sauce to add to pasta or any number of things. Costco’s Italian seasonings are around $2.50 I think. Garlic & fresh basil would make it even better.