Low-country store deals

Store deals for this week:

Notes for this week:  Now is the time when cleaning products often come on sale, so watch for deals on your favorite products and stock up.

Sam's Club is offering evalues (a dollar amount off on certain items) from March 21-25, here are some of the deals being offered:  Clorox wipes (2.50 off), ground beef (2 off), energizer batteries (2 off), huggies (6 off).  

My opinion on being/becoming a plus member at Sam's Club:  If you have prescription medications, the plus member price may be significantly lower than other pharmacies and the extra cost of having a plus membership may pay for itself very quickly--I suggest calling around to get the best price for prescriptions.  Without prescription medications, the evalues can be an ok, good or great deal--they don't seem to be tied to things you normally buy--but rather just generic evalues on items that Sam's seems to simply want to encourage you to buy--but often these items include fresh produce, frozen and dry goods as well as bigger ticket items.

Kroger:  sales started on Sunday, runs till Saturday, customer card needed for deals.  Kroger’s sales on certain items often run for weeks at a time, look at the tag for sales dates listed to determine when a sale will end.  Kroger also often has many items on sale that are listed in the sales ad.

Buy 10 get $5 off:  Dannon/Activia yogurt (1.49 final price), Vitaminewater/Smart water (.49), Kraft salad dressing (1.49), Pringles (.99), 

Ragu pasta sauce 10/10

Kroger pasta 10/10 (ok price, depending on type of pasta, Sams is cheaper or Publix’s or Bi-lo’s B1G1 deals)

tuna .69

Publix:  sales run Thursday to Wednesday

B1G1 deals: Honey Bunches of Oats (4.23), Kraft BBQ sauce (1.91), Peter Pan PB (3.59--good for food storage), Quaker Granola bars (3.19--for 72 hour kits and car kits), Log Cabin syrup (3.89), Dove deodorant (2.99)

Cantaloupe 2/4 (this is a usual better sale price)

Piggly Wiggly:  sales run Wednesday to Tuesday

Meat sale:  assorted pork chops 1.29/lb, boneless pork chops 1.99/lb

PW cereal 2/4

Bi-Lo:  sales run Wednesday to Tuesday

grapes 1.29/lb

strawberries 3/5

Mueller’s pasta B1G1 (1.69)

Kelloggs raisin bran B1G1 (4.33)

V05 shampoo/conditioner .79

Food Lion:  sales run Wednesday to Tuesday

ME 24 pk water bottles 2.99

ME butter 2/5 (good price)

ME tuna .67

B1G1 deals:  chips ahoy, edy’s icecream, russet potatoes, Mccormick chili or taco seasoning mix

5/5 or 10/10 deals: knorr sides

Grocery Shopping Tips:  

--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.

--Know what the prices of products are at your favorite stores, so when you get the ads, you can compare the price.  Compare prices with Sams club, online prices, etc.  Stock up when the sale price is less than the cheapest price elsewhere.

--Write (or type) the prices down so you have them available.  Prices of produce can change quickly, but in general expect price changes every month or two on produce items that are seasonal.  Other products, the prices do change (and sometimes by quite a bit), but usually they stay close to the same price over a period of months.  As you keep a price list--both of regular prices and of sale prices, you’ll be able to see patterns in sales and prices--when things are cheapest, how often things come on sale, etc.  

--Sales ads:  some things are drastically on sale--called “loss leaders”--to get you in the store, other things aren’t necessarily marked down in price, they are simply “for sale” so just because it is in the ad does not mean it is on sale or even a good price.  Remember a bargain is only such if you can and will actually use the item, it still costs money, but less than full-price.

--Meats & produce:  set a per pound price that you are comfortable with paying and find deals that are at or below that price.  Example:  meats $2/lb or less; produce depends on the type, but in general $1.50/lb or less.  For some more examples of produce see this post.

--Cereals, breads:  set a price per unit (box, ounce, loaf) that you are willing to pay and then find the deals that are at or below that price.  Example:  cereal--$2/box or less; loaf of bread--$1.50/loaf or less.

--Menu Shop:  In a previous post I mentioned how to save on grocery bills by making menus, see that post here.  But in general, when making a menu follow these steps:

• First:  what perishables do you have on hand that need to be used
• Second:  what sales are available
• Third:  Food Storage items to rotate into meals
• Fourth:  Special Occasions--birthdays, holidays, potlucks, etc.

--Using coupons?  For some things combining a coupon with the sale price at pharmacies and stores is a great deal.  Buy one get one free sales are a great way to use coupons!  So are stores that offer double coupons:  Kroger and some other stores offer double coupons up to 50 cents.  (ex.  if you have a 50 cent off coupon on a cereal, you get the 50 cents then Kroger takes off another 50 cents automatically--yeah!)  Not always is the product with a coupon the cheapest option, but combined with sales or with double coupon deals, often the price of the brand product is much nearer or even less than the generic brands.

--Online shopping for food storage items:  there are many online resources to buy food storage items.  When shopping around, compare both the cost of the item along with shipping costs because sometimes the product itself may not cost much, but the shipping may be a lot and cancel out any savings compared to another company/website.  Use only those companies and websites you feel safe doing so, either from recommendation or from your own research on the company.  Two companies I have used and been satisfied with both the product(s) and the service and therefore would recommend:  Emergency Essentials (www.beprepared.com) and Honeyville Grain (http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/).  They both have reasonable prices and shipping costs (in fact honeyvillegrain has a flat rate shipping fee--very nice!).  Every month, Emergency essentials has group specials that qualify for free shipping in addition to the savings on the product.  Honeyville Grain does periodical sales of 5-20% off an order (plus the flat rate shipping).  It may be worth it to sign up for the free emails/catalog to these companies or other sites so you know when sales are happening.