3-store comparison shopping in a nutshell. Furthest distance traveled 8 miles, where the 2 main grocery stores are. I visited Wal-Mart, Dollar General, and UGO (United Grocers Outlet). Following are some of the items and prices I discovered.
Dollar General is very clean, well organized, and most important, their food items rotate frequently. Albacore tuna $1.15 (Wal-Mart $1.14), Rice-A-Roni value size 7.9 oz (regular is 6.9 oz) - cost $1.00; light brown sugar $1.25 (Wal-mart $1.14); 1 lb. box of Barilla macaroni $1.00 (Wal-Mart $1.12). So the best deal I got here was the Rice-A-Roni and the pasta. Wal-Mart was very busy due to the many vacationers in town. However, I did manage to have a lovely conversation with the gentleman working in seafood. I explained that I was looking for shrimp from America. (A friend recently informed me how shrimp was raised in certain countries and to avoid it.) The kindly gentleman directed me towards USA raised gulf shrimp in 2 lb. packages on sale for $7.50, a $2.48 savings. (I can turn 1 lb. of shrimp into 4-8 meals, but more on that later.) So I bought 3 packages.
My receipt from May 25, shows I bought a 10-pound package of chicken (legs and thighs) for $4.98. Yesterday, June 14, the price was $5.58. (Am I paying attention yet, you betcha!) I bought 2 packages, de-skined, cleaned, and vacuum sealed 48 pieces of chicken, which took me about 45 minutes. (Cost per piece about 23 cents.)
Probably due to the holiday weekend, many items were marked down. Celery, which had been $1.58 three weeks ago was 98 cents. I bought 2. Did you know you can freeze celery? Did you know you can clean it, cut it in to sections for snacking, place in a glass container with cold water and it will stay fresher longer? I'll chop one up for the freezer and place the second in cold water.
You can also freeze onions, peppers, and cabbage (which works well in vegetable soup). I've never tried freezing zuchini, but I'm thinking about it. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? And I know you can freeze tomatoes by simply washing, coring, and popping in a Zip-lock. Then, when they start to thaw, they are much easier to peel.
It's time for me to do some cleaning, but I'll post more on food savings in the next few days.
Please leave a comment and let us know how you found ways to shop and save this week.
Until then, keep stitchin' . . .
10 comments:
Do you visit hillbillyhousewife.com? Its the best :) She has REAL advice for shopping and cooking on the SUPER CHEAP. I love your articles like this...you have a gift! I'm going to look around your blog more you are a very versatile blogger and those are my faves :D
I shopped today..went to 3 different stores to get bargains. Probably spent more in gas than if I had just shopped all in one place but I'm not sure. I need to get better organized to save more money. have a great day xoxo melzie
oh and can you re-label these posts under frugal living or something? ;) not asking much I know LOL
I freeze zucchini for making zucchini bread. I freeze it already shredded (watery part drained)and put into small freezer bags. It has worked out fine.
We par boil the tomatoes & peel them before freezing them. One of my grannies cheapie meals is to pull out one of those bag of tomatoes (cook it on the stove top or just thaw it - depending on if you want a hot or cold meal - we usually do hot)& add them to cooked macaroni - that it, but you can add onions peppers ground meat, italian or mexican spices, etc.
Do you have a "big lots?" (Close-out store) It is hot or miss as to what they have, but I have gotten some great deals in their grocery section. (Shampoo, lotion, etc. sections too.)
Like Connie, I freeze zucchini after it is shredded. I tried freezing chopped zucchini once. Way too watery. Shredded works in soups, stews and even z.bread.
Great post.
Zucchini is definitely good for freezing.
Love Amy's idea on the frozen tomatoes and then adding to it. Killer cheapie idea.
;)
Again, thanks for sharing. This is a good one.
I froze a LOT of zucchini last summer, so much that I don't need to process any this year. I shredded them in the Cuisinart and stuffed them into small freezer bags. They go well in vegetable soup and chili. You could also use them in zucchini bread. If you don't want to use the whole bag, you can quite easily break off half and put the rest back in the freezer.
The biggest savings of all is out in the back yard garden, and then in the winter in the freezer. We also grow all our own onions and potatoes. Takes a little effort but then you know what you've got!
We freeze tomatoes all the time - washed and then whole in a ziplock bag. I don't even core them. We grow the tomatoes this time of year and can never eat all we grow. I usually thaw them a bit in the microwave to peel the skin.
It is good to keep track and get the best buys. I usually just go to my local Safeway and buy what is on sale because I know where everything is in the store.
I don't have any big grocery stores like Walmart to shop at. I love to go to Fred Meyer when we go to the U.S. I love American Grocery stores!!
THanks for the tip on the celery- just made chicken/dill salad for dd and chicken soup for me :)
I hate buying all that celery and it gets yucky before we use it. I'm going to give the water a try- think it would work with carrots too???
Post a Comment