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Monday, August 18, 2014

The Avocado Quest

Frugal Son and I both love to scan grocery ads. In fact, he sometimes gets annoyed when I send him a list of bargains, thereby depriving him of the pleasure of discovering them for himself (isn't that a continual problem for parents?? Doing too much for the kid? See below. I did it again).

Last week, I spotted a great sale at Savalot, a little discount grocery that does not have an outlet in my town. That doesn't stop me from looking. I noted that the New Orleans stores had a three day sale (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) that included avocados for 50 cents and grapes for 89 cents.

I alerted Frugal Son, for whom a trip to Savalot is a bit of a schlep, especially since he gets around by bike.

Emergency email Sunday morning! Frugal Son says he can't find the avocados in the ad!!! Oh no!!! They changed the ad! I told him I was sure it was till Sunday and--mom-like,  for my little guy--called Savalot to ask. Of course, no one answered the phone.

Frugal Son was unsure what to do. Later, I sent him this email:

How was the avocado quest?

This morning came the laconic reply:

Got a few. Only 30.

Newsflash: According to the experts, you can freeze avocados. The texture is compromised, but they are still ok for guacamole.

Image from Tate Gallery.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti ‘The Damsel of Sanct Grael’, 1857

5 comments:

Gam Kau said...

This post rings familiar with me because I do the same. I love looking at the grocery ads, both as a form of meditation as well as relaxation! Small pleasures. :)
I also ring my children and tell them what is on sale and sometimes they ring me to tell me the late night bargains they've scored at their local grocery store. Prices on expiring meat/produce get slashed at the end of the day and there are often ridiculous bargains to be had - I'm just not enough of a night owl to bother.

Shelley said...

Ads don't seem to work the same way here in Britain. They all seem to be full of candy bars, beer and convenience foods, not the simple ingredients I want to buy. I kept a price book for years and still know the good price for the pantry items I stock in bulk. Several chains now stock generic and 'basics' - almost sub-generics and those are sometimes amazing prices, though I plan to weigh up some drained tins of tomatoes to see if they are really that good a deal.

Idee Fixe said...

Wow what a great deal, I'm glad he was able to get "only a few"! Here our best value for produce is the farmers market. Grocery stores run specials, but we're very picky about everything & try to buy only organic which can be daunting and expensive. Thank goodness for Trader Joe's and the farmers market! BTW didn't know that avocados can be frozen thanks for the tip! I like to eat them mashed up on toast for breakfast, so texture-wise I don't really care.

Anonymous said...

I love scanning the grocery ads too! My child is far away with different grocery stores and a different diet, but my dad and I like to talk about grocery deals.

Frugal Scholar said...

@GK, Ex,Jet: Soul mates! Aren't we lucky that we find pleasure in such an activity??

@Shelley--Maybe there are not so many gimmicky sales in Britain? Love the groceries there--much nicer and cheaper produce than I can get.