Saving money on groceries

Last week I got about $75 in groceries for $4.

First. I had three bags of cans, bottles to take to the recycling center. I was at my mom and step-dad's house so I volunteered to take their's too. They had about 5 bags.

There are two ways to turn in plastic/glass/bottles at the recycling place. First, all must have a CRV (California Redemption Value). Second if they are not crushed it is better.

1- You sort them and put them in a trashcan and they are weighed and you are given the market value for them. First time I did this a few weeks before I received less then $5.00.

2- You stand in line (a much longer line then the first way) and you put the bottles in one at a time into a machine. It calculates 5 cents - 15 cents on each item depending on size and if glass or plastic or aluminum.

This trip I got over $49. and the line was short so the whole thing took about 20 minutes.

I went to Ralphs to get some groceries and turn in my recycling receipt (the recycling center does not have cash, they give you a paper to take to the grocery store and the store gives you cash at the register).

I had recently gone through my cupboards. Had some food items that were non-perishable and not expired that I wanted to return. Things we do not eat (peas, boxed mashed potatoes, stove-top stuffing, French green beans, etc).

The manager checked them and said that it would be fine for me to return them.

So, I did my shopping. Used my receipt from the recycling center and the cashier took my returns off too.

I paid only $4 and the total bill was over $75.

I gave my mom and step-dad 1/2 the money since 1/2 of the cans were theirs but they gave me some back because I had bought soda for them and Girl Scout cookies for them.

I had a separate bag of weird brands of food that I did not think were from Ralph's and I took these to Care and Share and dropped them off.

Great way to declutter my cupboards!

I know I can't do this every week but it was a nice treat! I even bought Lunchables for Little D and Baby K since they helped with the recycling!