Last Thursday, I made a run to pick up supplies for Jai’s birthday party:
Total spent: $68.33
Total before coupons: $97.20
View receipt
The menu for this party consisted of Jai’s favorite foods: PB&J sandwiches and cheesecake! I always do a big spread for parties, so after working out the number of servings per cheesecake, I decided that I would need to make five. I listed out all the extra ingredients that I would need to buy, and I decided that going to Fred Meyer would be my best bet. As I mentioned in my article Five Strategies for Shopping Success, Fred Meyer has lower shelf prices than Safeway, but whether I shop there depends on the coupon deals at Safeway and the cost of gas vs. savings. In this instance, I needed many items which I had no coupons for, making the trip to Fred Meyer well worth my while.
And after all that careful price-checking of ingredients? I got to Fred Meyer and discovered pre-made, no-bake cheesecake mixes – including the crust, filling, and fruit topping – for a fraction of the price. I had no idea there was such a thing, and I was surprised to find a pre-made cheesecake so much cheaper. As a comparison, the seven no-bake mixes that I bought (I added two more because the serving size was different from my recipes) cost a total of $24.65, whereas the cost for the cream cheese by itself alone was $19.00.
So here’s the full list of what I picked up:
Five 1 pint, 9.36 fl. oz bottles of Star olive oil – on sale for $4.99 (originally priced at $9+), used five $4.00/1 coupons that I received for taking a survey – final price: .99 cents each, grand total $4.95 for five bottles. I got these coupons a while ago from a special limited-time survey promotion on Star’s website. I’ve been hanging on to them until I could find a good olive oil deal, and this was it. These generous bottles will last me a long time – and perfect timing too, since I just ran out of olive oil!
1 32 oz jar of grape jelly – gotta have this for PB&J! Price: $1.69
1 32 oz jar of Raspberry preserves – price: $3.29
1 32oz jar of Strawberry preserves – price: $3.29
3.16 lbs of bananas – we were running low on fruit. Price: $1.86
1.05 lbs of Braeburn apples – price: .82 cents
.99 lbs of Granny Smith apples – price: .77 cents
6 grapefruit – price: $2.00
1 gallon of skim milk – on clearance for $1.49. I used about a gallon of milk just in making the bread and cheesecakes!
1 gallon of 2% milk – on clearance for $1.49
Half gallon of half & half – price: $4.19 (.20 cents more expensive than Safeway, but wouldn’t be worth the gas and time for a separate trip)
1 bottle of Seventh Generation dish soap – on sale for $3.49, used one free coupon that I earned through Recycle Bank – final cost: Free
7 boxes of no-bake cheesecake mix – total cost: $24.65
4 lbs of margarine – need this for baking – .79 cents each, final price: $3.16
5 lb bag of sugar – price: $2.39
1 package of Styrofoam cups – price: $1.49
Four 8-oz bags of cheese – $1.25 each, total price: $5.00
1 box of plastic spoons – price: $1.50
1 box of plastic forks – price: $1.50
1 tub of cat food – regularly priced at $1.49, used one free coupon found in the Fred Meyer coupon booklet – final price: Free
1 box of Green Giant “Just For One” frozen vegetables – on sale for $3.69, used one free coupon that I got through Psst… Network. Final price: Free
2 dozen eggs – on sale for $1.50 each, final price: $3.00
I also received a .20 cent credit for bringing my own bags.
Here’s how the party turned out:
Beverage station
Cheesecake table #1
Cheesecake table #2
PB&J table – I made five loaves of bread for the party, half of which I used for sandwiches, and half of which I set out as a “Self-serve” station for anyone who wanted to make their own creations.
We sent some food home with guests, and still had a huge plate of sandwiches left over. I’ve found that these are quite good toasted!
I spent $14.92 on the party decorations, $3.00 on plastic knives, and also $5.45 on an emergency bag of coffee – I hadn’t realized we were almost out when I went to Fred Meyer! So altogether, that’s $91.70 – which bought all the supplies for this party, as well as stocking the kitchen with some needed items. Given than this was a special event, provided more than enough food and drinks for 16 people and gave us leftovers en masse, I’m satisfied with how I budgeted it. We had so much fun and will always remember this party!
impressive! i've learned that taking 10 minutes out of my day to organize coupons and where to shop for specific items saves me a good chunk of money.
love your table for cheesecake #1. we used to live in seattle and reading about your shopping trip to fred meyer makes me miss that place :). they don't have one over here.
thanks for stopping by for a visit!
Hi Prasti! Absolutely, organizing your trip beforehand saves so much money. Thanks for writing!
What a good job you did! I love all the pics too. At least you discovered it was cheaper to go with the premade cheesecake mix before you spent your money!!
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