Sneaky Supermarket Tactics To Get You To Spend More Money

 Yesterday, Safeway's new sales ad came out. They advertised 5 pounds of russet potatoes for 47 cents as a digital deal with their Just For U program. I knew I wanted to partake of that deal and I wanted to get some other things that would finish up my holiday shopping for Thanksgiving. I can just sit back now and start cooking ahead of next Thursday. No stress. I like that.

I noticed a few things that gave me pause yesterday. The first thing is that Safeway no longer sells their onions by the pound. They sell them by the unit. I used to pay 69 cents per pound for their medium yellow onions. It's now 69 cents each. I haven't bought onions for a while, as I grew a lot of them in my garden and was simply using those. But, I ran out. I knew I would. I know I want to plant a lot more next year, but that's a different blog post.

The tags in the store still look as though onions are 69 cents per pound, if you don't read the fine print. I think it's sort of sneaky on the part of Safeway, too. They could have just been on the up and up and put a sign on their website that they were no longer selling by the pound. They didn't do that. So much for transparency.

So, for a week's worth of onions, it cost me $5.52. I used to pay around $3 for that amount. The cashier said that they implemented this just a few short weeks ago.

Next, I noticed the eggs. I haven't bought eggs for several months because we have awesome friends who gift them to us. Bob does handyman type stuff for 3 or so people who love to send eggs home with him. I'm completely grateful for them, as well. But, with all good things, that has come to an end for this year as chickens do take a break from laying. We are on our last dozen and decided to buy some more to stock up a bit.
Yikes.
That's all I can say about that.
Yikes.

Normally, if I purchase eggs from the supermarket, I buy them by the 18-pack. At Safeway, large eggs are $3.69 per 18-pack. I buy eggs 3 dozen at a time. I don't like to run out of them. Three dozen eggs, if I purchased them by the 18-pack, would have cost me $7.38!
Holy Expensive, Batman!!
I glanced over at the large 12-packs. They were $1.89 each.
Hold up!
If I buy 3 of those vs. buying 2 18-packs, it would be cheaper. It's like almost $2 cheaper. To be exact, it's $1.71 cheaper.

Here is the link to view yellow onions being 69 cents each on Safeway's website.
Here is the link to view the cost of buying an 18-pack of Lucerne eggs.

The moral of this blog post is to make sure you're doing the math. Use a calculator, if you must. There's no shame in it.If you have a smartphone, you have a calculator.  Read the fine print on the tags to make sure that they are selling by the pound or if it is the price each. Supermarkets are going to try to squeeze every cent from you that they can. If we remain vigilant, we can keep those extra bucks in our pockets and not into the coffers of non-transparent supermarkets, especially going into the holidays.
I hope this post helps you out and makes you aware. These supermarkets are, quite literally, banking on the fact that most people are rushed and not going to look that closely at what they are doing. Well, that rat race is going to have to make do with one less rat. I always take my time to get the best prices that I possibly can and, when I find something shady, I'll let you guys all know about it.
Take care!

Stocking Up On A Year's Worth Of Laundry Detergent

 I do not like going into stores. They are crowded. People don't respect personal space. I just have no love lost if I don't go into a grocery store again.

I do, however, like to stock up on items so that we are not constantly running to the store. I stock up on a lot of food items, but I don't stockpile them, if that makes sense.

I will mini-stockpile non-perishables that we use. I just did a toothpaste stock up today. I have enough Crest toothpaste to last me for a couple of years and I paid 87 cents per tube. Prices are going up. Costs are going through the roof. When I find a good deal, I take advantage of it. I bought 5 pounds of a butter at $2.47 per pound. I haven't seen a better deal than that for quite some time.

I am getting off track here, though.

I'm getting my washer and dryer hooked up and I wanted to make sure I was stocked up on laundry detergent.

I jumped onto Amazon to see what I could find. I ran into what I thought was a decent deal on Ecos laundry detergent. I could buy 2 100-ounce bottles for $19.47, if I wanted to do a subscribe and save. I always opt in to subscribe and save because it's a way to save some money on my Amazon order. I am also member of Prime. It's worth the money, for us, because we watch videos, I utilize Kindle Unlimited and we take advantage of free shipping.

I looked on Walmart's website and they just didn't have any decent deals worth mentioning, which is surprising because that is where I tend to find overall lower prices on cleaning supplies.

I jumped onto Fred Meyer's (Kroger) website and I found 75-ounce bottles of Purex Free & Clear laundry detergent, regularly $5.19, on sale for $4.99. There was also a coupon.

Here's what I viewed on Amazon. 200 loads of Ecos laundry detergent for $19.47, if I do subscribe and save. I don't look at the cost per ounce when I do these deals. It doesn't pertain to anything. I'm just trying to get the most bang for my buck. The less money that I have to pay out to a retailer, the happier I am about things.

Here's what I viewed on Fred Meyer's website. $4.99 for 57 loads. I was thinking at this time that I would be able to get a few more loads for a $20 bill if I bought these.

I looked at the coupon that was an option to use on the Fred Meyer Purex detergent. It states that I get $2.50 off of $4.99 (sale price), which brings each bottle of this particular size of detergent down to $2.49. Better still, I was able to use this coupon up to 5 times in a single transaction.

Some quick calculation and I placed my order for pickup this afternoon. I held my breath that they had them in stock.

So, I multiplied 57 x 5. That equals 285 loads. 5 bottles of this, using a $2.50 coupon on each one, is a total of $12.45. This versus 200 loads for $19,47. As far as I'm concerned, they are comparable detergents. I've never used Ecos brand, but I've definitely used Purex.

So, we got home a little while ago with my 5 75-ounce bottles of Purex laundry detergent that will definitely last me a year or more.
I'm good to do and we'll have clean clothes and I won't need to run to the store for laundry detergent unless I find another deal like this.


***I am not compensated by any of the companies or products mentioned above.

Meal Planning & Budgeting

 I thought I would try a bit of a different type of blog post today. I wanted to show you all how I go about meal planning, how I budget and how I shop for groceries each week.

What I do is allot us $100 per week for groceries and necessities. Necessities are things like shampoo, dish soap, laundry soap, toothpaste, etc. Whatever I don't use out of that $100, I roll it over to the following week. I try to buy a few items each week that will stock us up so that we don't have to buy that product for quite some time, like toothpaste, razors or shampoo. I did a toothpaste stock-up about 3 years ago and I still don't need to buy it. We just recently ran out of shampoo, so we did a minor stock-up yesterday at Rite-Aid. I watch sales. I read the ads. I figure out how to get the most bang for my buck. I like walking out of the store with 5 bags full of stuff and paying only $35 for it all. I find this to be one challenge that I'm always up for.

The very first thing I do is figure out a menu. I try to utilize what I have on hand, for the most part, but I usually do have to purchase chicken. We eat a ton of chicken.

Here's what my meal plan for next week looks like. I went heavy on the chicken to compensate the heavy ground beef menu that I have for this week.

My two main supermarkets are Safeway and Fred Meyer. I do the majority of shopping there because they both offer online grocery shopping and grocery pickup. I got used to grocery shopping this way. It's economical and it's easy to comparison shop with 4 different stores at the same time (Safeway, Fred Meyer, Walmart and Amazon).

First, I figure out what even sounds like it would be tasty. I generally just go with the main dish when I do these meal plans. Side dishes are easy enough and I have a fully stocked pantry, which includes many types of rice, pasta, etc. I always have potatoes on hand, as well. If worse came to worse, I can forage a nutritious veggie side dish out of my yard. I don't worry about those things. Side dishes are not written in stone and are subject to change, depending on what we feel like and what we can find. While I figure out what we'd like, I'm also jotting down what I will need from the store and any good deals that particular store has going on. I plan my meals between Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesdays are when I get an online sneak preview of Wednesday's sales items for Fred Meyer and Safeway. Wednesday is when I finalize what we will be dining on and that is when I start adding items into my grocery carts.
I usually purchase my groceries every Saturday for pickup on Sunday. However, Safeway has their $5 Friday specials, so I will venture into the store on those days to get the best deal, if it is something that I need. If it's just a bunch of bakery goods and chips on $5 Friday, I skip it. If it's $5 per pound good ground beef, I'll drop $25 stocking up on it. This Friday, they have 5 for $5 bags of shredded lettuce and shredded cabbage. I'll pick up 3-5 bags of the shredded cabbage because I can put it into my Ninja and blitz it up into small pieces that can be frozen and added into soups and stews and I have yet another stock up item that cost $5 or less and it will last for several months in my freezer. On my list, you'll see grocery items with an S that's circled. That simply means that those items are cheaper at Safeway this week, like half gallons of milk for 97 cents. I'll buy the limit of 4 of those because I'll be making my own yogurt.

Granted, a lot of this produce will not be purchased once my garden produces, but, for right now, I have to purchase it.
If you notice up at the top, I have tabs open for Fred Meyer, Safeway, Walmart and Amazon. It's super easy to go between them all and see where I will find the best deal. I do not buy anything fresh from Amazon. We don't have that option available to us. 

I leave specific instructions on how I'd like to have them pick out my produce. The way that I figure it is that these people are taking my place in the store, so it's up to them to shop as I would. It's my responsibility to be very precise on how I like to pick stuff out. 

I feel that if I'm not this precise with my special instructions, I wind up with half green oranges, like what happened last week when I was in too much of a hurry to specify that I like my oranges to be all orange all over.

I also opt to not substitute some of the items. I do not want low fat or fat free cottage cheese or sour cream. That's just my personal preference. Everyone has their own.

Anyhow, my grocery total this week, before they weight the chicken thighs, celery, chicken breast, etc. is approximately $85. It will, most likely, be a lower amount, but when I'm estimating, I'd rather estimate and budget for too much than have to scramble to take the money from another part of our monthly budget. That $85 amount is also before I figure in digital coupons I have added or the free dozen of eggs that Fred Meyer has.

So, in a nutshell, I budget $100 per week for the 2 of us. I make it a game/challenge to come in as low as I possibly can and spend as little as I can each week. I shop the sales. I comparison shop. I always find at least 2 or 3 items to stockpile a bit of. This week, it's rennet (for making cheese), pectin (for making jam) and cabbage to put in the freezer for meals another time.
Most of all, I make shopping fun because I can do this in my PJ's and I don't ever have to leave home. I can have Bob pick up the grocery order(s) whenever he's got something scheduled out in that area of town. We do not make special trips. We bunch errands, etc. up to maximize our gas. Washington state gas is close to $5 per gallon.

If you're interested in how someone else likes to save money, be sure to check out my friend, Patrick's blog, Southern Dreams Homestead. He's got great tips and tricks. Make sure to give Southern Dreams Homestead a follow, too.

Let me know if you found any of this information useful in the comments below or if you even like these types of blog posts.
Peace!