pricematching.

I have to admit something that truly pains me a little bit. It's hard to believe, but Walmart actually made me a tiny bit happy this week. I know, hard to believe.

But one word sums it up: pricematching.

You've probably seen their commercials over the past few months and may have even figured that, like many advertisements, there was a lot of fine print involved. So I've been giving it a try once in a while over the past few months........and well, I must say, I've been very pleasantly surprised. Not one hassle. Not one argument. They simply adjust the price.

Their marketing technique may even work brilliantly if it continues.

I was one who being fed up with such horrible customer service & long lines had said

see ya Wally's and hello Trader Joe's & Target.

And I love my TJ's & Target there is no doubt.

But I also have this thing called the Bottom Line and for us right now, every single penny counts.

So I save the ads that come in the weekly circulars and write down all the best prices I see. (It works easiest for me to write them all down in a list so I can easily tell them at the register instead of digging through 4 circulars.)  

Aldi's & Bottom Dollar are the ones that work best for me. Aldi's doesn't have brand names, Bottom Dollar has some....but where I have scored so big is in the produce!

We seriously go through the produce. I have paid close to $20 a week sometimes.

Produce can be so expensive, but A & BD throw out some really great deals.

(btw, I was also able to do deals on bacon, sausage, toilet paper & sugar as well)

Here's some of my happy produce deals:

 cantaloupe & pineapple: 99 cents each

3 lb. bag of onions: 89 cents/bag (yes, that's 7 onions!)

5 lb. bag of potatoes: 1.68

sweet potatoes: 29 cents/lb.

4 lb. bag of oranges: 1.97

strawberries: 1.68

bananas: 39 cents/lb

baby carrots: 97 cents

All in all, my total for produce was 11.66.

Without pricematching, it would have been 23.37.

And so that, my friends, is significant enough in my book to occasionally drag myself back. =)

So now you know why my shopping day essentially takes up my entire day {around taking care of the kiddos}. I do my 2-week meal plan, write my list, plan my pricematching, manage coupons.....thankfully I only have to do this every 2 weeks. :)

Here's what we'll be eating the next 2 weeks:

{I'll let it go without saying that fruit/veggies will be obvious sides.}

T: sweet & sour chicken/rice - 'cept changing the sauce

W: Ham/Cheese Sliders - trying this for the first time!

Th: Carbonara Pizza

F: doing a restaurant review for the Momtourage

{Bd's Mongolian Grill!}

S: Hamburgers on the grill/potato wedges

S: dinner at friends for Easter

(making homemade crescent rolls & dessert)

M: Omelets/Bacon

T: Ricotta/Tomato/Basil Pasta

W: Chicken fajitas

Th: homemade bbq meatballs/mac & cheese

F: tuna sandwiches/sweet potato fries

S: chicken/bacon/tomato/avacado quesadillas

S: Sloppy joes

M: Quick Quiche

T: Chicken parm/pasta

Also going to try some homemade ranch dressing, since Graham goes through it like it's going out of style.

And now, I think I need a snack. =)

A fresh buttermilk oatmeal muffin should do!