Deals for this week, I have included produce that is $1 or less per pound, otherwise see below for changes to store deals posts:
Gala or granny smith apples 10 lbs/10 OR 5 lb bag of gala apples 3.99
Kroger butter 2/5 (an ok price for butter at a grocery store-Sams club is better priced though)
Kroger 24 pk water 2.99 (gotta have water storage!)
California Bartlett pears .88/lb
Kelloggs Special K B1G1 (4.41)
Nature’s own bread B1G1 (3.07) (great deal if the dollar store doesn’t have it)
Skippy Peanut butter 1.99 (not the best price ever, but still good price for a name-brand PB)
Iceburg lettuce .88/head
4 ct hot house tomatoes .88
eggplant .88/lb
Fl tangerines 3 lb 2.88
Jif peanut butter 28 oz 2/7 (Sams is cheaper per ounce)
green bell peppers 2/1
sweet onions 5 lb 3.99
SH canned tomatoes 14.5 oz .49 (a pretty good deal for canned tomatoes!!!--this deal is only available Fri-Sun 10/21-10/23--Sams turns out to be around .75/can)
green cabbage .69/head
McIntosh or empire apples .99/lb
Muellers pasta 13.. oz B1G1 (1.79) (Sam’s is cheaper per pound than this deal)
I am revamping how I do store deals. I will occasionally add my own remarks on the deals (see above for examples) and I will try to include the link to the store ads so that anyone can see what all the deals are, rather than just the ones I have listed. The ones I do list, will be shelf-stable food items that can be used for 72 hour kits, 1-3 month or long-term food storage. Basically the more you can stock up when things are on sale, the less over-time you will be spending on groceries. Stock up ONLY on things your family will eat and be able to use before the items go bad. If you are going to use coupons, try to use them on sale priced items--so you are saving even more! Occasionally, if meat or produce is a great deal, I will list that, but otherwise I will no longer be including those items.
My own tips for meats and produce (and other perishables): I hardly ever buy meat that is more than $2/lb, but usually (almost every week), there is a sale on meat that goes for $1-1.50 or less per pound, when this happens stock up and freeze so that when it isn’t on sale, you still have some and don’t have to pay full price. Produce: I try to keep my fruit and veggies cost to $1.50/lb or less. Dairy--stock up when on sale is all I can say--when eggs go less than $1/dozen buy as many as you can and will be able to eat before they would go bad. When milk is cheap, buy and freeze if you have room, same with butter. The only way to bring down the costs here, when there isn’t a sale, is to use dry milk powder (from the cannery--it makes a gallon of milk for about 1.70ish) to make your own milk. Sometimes eggs are better priced per dozen at the store, other times, it may be cheaper to use dry egg powder. Other grocery tips--I try to not pay over 2-2.50 a for a box of cereal. Breads--homemade is generally cheaper, but to buy store-bought--sometimes the dollar store has loaves of bread; but otherwise, generic brands are usually the cheapest if not buying bread on sale (often there are B1G1 deals on breads)
Sams Club and Costco--perishable food items are often cheaper per pound at these stores, but not always, so compare prices.
Produce Specifics: Apples--I love it when they come on sale for less than a $1/lb, but, lately, usual sales only bring the price down to around 1.30/lb; oranges or grapefruit--most of the year, these are a pretty cheap option per lb--often cheaper per pound than apples. Grapes--this year hasn’t been that great of a year for good prices on grapes, it used to be they’d dip below $1/lb periodically, but rarely have I seen the price that low this year--or at least since I started this blog, most of this year, the best price was right around my 1.50/lb mark. Strawberries--this year hasn’t been that great for getting them below 1.50/lb. With strawberries, as well as other berries, if they aren’t on sale, I often buy frozen, because the frozen is often cheaper per pound than fresh, it is only when fresh is cheaper per pound that I will get them. The best deals on strawberries this year that I recall was about 1.50-1.66/lb. Blueberries--uggh, so expensive, but they do occasionally come on sale--not a 1.50/lb sale, but still a sale. Leaf veggies: In general it is much cheaper to buy the individual components rather than the premade salad mixes--but that depends on the amounts you will actually eat!!! If you will only eat a small amount of salad, and buying the individual components will mean tossing a lot of food out in a few days, then a premade salad mix is the better choice. Sam’s Club is generally the cheaper option for salad mixes & spinach. Other veggies: squashes--I try for less than 1.30/lb at most; cucumbers--2/1 or less; corn on the cob--.25/ea or less; peppers--1/ea or less; Root veggies: carrots are a pretty cheap option, especially when on sale. Potatoes--also a pretty cheap option, when on sale they can be a great price!
I hope these reflections on prices and sales help! I try to get the best deal I can, but also the quality that I can use--sometimes things are on sale, but because of tastes or normal usage, I don’t buy them or only buy a little. Just because something is on sale doesn’t mean it is a good deal--if my family won’t eat it, doesn’t like it or otherwise won’t use it before its expiration, I don’t get it. A bargain still costs money, plain and simple, but it is a real bargain when it is something I would otherwise need or use and will use, but at a better price.
WOW! Long post. In the future hopefully the store deals posts won’t be quite so long!
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