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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Required Reading for the Frugal: Grocery Ads

As an English teacher, I love to read. In fact, the more difficult and arcane the better. So, though my students in Milton are grumping out ("Why is he so hard?" "He makes me feel dumb"), I just say Bring it on.

Though I wouldn't say Areopagitica should be required reading, I would say that developing your grocery ad skills is a good idea. Definitely an element of life-long learning, which is one of the catch phrases in educational goal-setting.

Since almost all groceries have closed or fled in my area, reading the ads has been a dispiriting affair. Even though my politics are far far left, I know that competition is needed so that consumers can get good prices. (Note: I am not talking about health care here. Don't get me started. Health care is NOT simply a consumer product.)

But Albertson's has returned to the next town. They advertised eggs at 50 cents! And cheap chicken! When I went into my local store, there I saw a sign by the eggs: Unadvertised Special 46 cents! Ditto for the chicken! This is great. It will only last a little while, of course.

All the food frugalites out there will urge you to
1. Know your prices
2. Stock up on sales
3. Plan your menu around the sales

Truly, this becomes a habit. This week, I will be buying grapes, chicken breasts, and shrimp. Everything else is in the freezer and pantry. Oh yeah, milk. I still have 42 pounds of coffee from the summer.

What are you stocking up on?

6 comments:

Suzy said...

I just stocked up on boneless skinless chicken breasts and top sirloin (both were on sale at Randalls) I think that's enough meat for a good while! Fruit this week will be bananas if I got by Foodarama and maybe a canteloupe from Randall's. I'm debating pork loin for the slowcooker but depends on how much I'd have to buy to get the price..I don't want 20 lbs of pork loin!

Suzy said...

oops meant 'go by' gosh typing in a professor's blog makes me all paranoid with spelling and stuff! :-)

Funny about Money said...

SDXB (Semi-Demi-ExBoyfriend) is a faithful shopping flyer reader. And he sure does better in the grocery store dept than I, who have no patience with the things. The side benefit of years of paying attention to grocery prices is that he knows what things cost around town, and he knows what they have cost historically. He can walk into a Safeway, look at the lemons, and tell you that they're three cents a pound cheaper at the Albertson's. And on any given day he can tell you how much above a fair market price the going price-rigged cost of milk is.

Duchesse said...

Hi from the land of universal health care, a beautiful thing.

Stocked up on fresh basil to make huge supply of pesto. May I add, buy a chest freezer so you CAN stock up!

My mother was like that Funny's Semi. Hated running all over her sprawling city to save 60 cents. Now I just shop the specials at the markets in my neighbourhood.

Frugal Scholar said...

@Suzy--Yeah--it's hard to buy just enough and not TOO MUCH. Please--feel free to add etra typos. I shoot these posts out quickly plus I'm a bad typist. I WELCOME and ENCOURAGE TYPOS.

@Funny--Thanks heavens SDXB and I didn't get togther. I have a computer in my head too. I can't turn it off.

@Duchesse--I told Frugal Son that, as long as he is in France, he should get a French girlfriend for language practice and--if true love follows--for health care.

I promise--I don't go all over town to save pennies. I have to hold yself back, it is true, but I don't do it.

Shelley said...

I go to the greenmarket for produce; it is always cheaper there than at the supermarket. Ditto for the butcher shop where chicken breasts in 20 pound packages are half the price of individual servings.