Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Minding my own business, not harming anything…..and as I walk into the local Albertson’s they have the usual stacks of cases of food piled up front. These are products that are on sale, usually part of their “10 for $10″ promotion. (For those of you who went to public school, that means $1 each.) Surprisingly, my favorite spaghetti sauce was on sale for $1 ea. Hmmmm….best price I can find is $1.50 on sale and the regular price is usually twice that. So…two cases later Im looking at the receipt:
Normal price: $3.19
Card savings: $2.19
Total savings: $52.56
So, what normally have cost $76.56 wound up costing $24. That, my friends, is significant savings. How significant? It means I can buy three times as many for the same amount. These are not savings to be trifled with, oh no…these are the types of savings that make a real difference.
Which is why, of course, Im heading back there later for another couple cases. Shelf life is 18 months and since I usually cook some form of pasta at least once a week I can get a years supply for about $50.
Moral of the story: watch for bargains!
(As an aside, yes, I could make my own spaghetti sauce from scratch and I often do. But I cant make it as cheaply. A 28 oz. can of tomatoes is a buck all on its own so right out of the gate we’re over the one dollar the bottled stuff is costing me. [28 oz. crushed tomatoes, 2 clove garlic, half a minced onion, oregano, basil, a little thyme, some salt. Simmer for an hour until thick.])
I figure canning tomatoes cost me $1/jar in stove electricity alone. I have to say, I’m glad to know how to do it. It was worth the effort to learn how. But it’s a hard thing to admit it didn’t save me money. It didn’t. (People who sew know the same thing.)
i really need to restock my spaghetti sauce, i’m horrifically low.
Just came back from picking up another 2 cases. Sale ends tomorrow so I’ll probably get one more.
Score! Buy it cheap and stack it deep. Bought their Oscar Meyer bologna for $1 each, and I dearly loves my bologna.
Local shop has Oscar meyer bacon marked down to $1/# a couple years ago. Still have ab out 12# of it in the deep freeze.
Just curious – do you have backup power for the freezer?
Not yet. Historically, our power outages occur in the winter when it would be a simple matter to put teh frozen stuff on the porch. The freezer is lined with scads of frozen water bottles on the inside so if power fails it should still be good for at least a couple days. A nice shiny Honda EU generator is on my wish list though.