Four Frugal Things -- Judy Garland & a Retail Rant!
1) I walked my plastic "clamshell" recycling to New Seasons Market and actually plunked down some money, as I was putting together a "bangers and mash" dinner. Normally I steer clear of New Seasons as they're ridiculously expensive, but I do splurge on their $7.99/lb house made sausages a couple times per year.
I passed a neighbor on my way over and asked if there was anything I could pick up for her, which is how I ended up buying an on sale $11 bag of grapes. Of course she reimbursed me, but I still had a moment of shock when the cashier rang them up.
2) I then walked over to Fred Meyer for milk, as it was buy-one-get-one-free. I noticed that Land-O-Lakes butter was on sale for $3.99, with an additional $1-off with digital coupon. Of course I tapped into their app to load the coupon.
Sometimes I'm reminded of my father when stores present convoluted savings method as a positive thing for shoppers. Why can't the sale price just be the sale price?! This kind of nonsense drove my father mad. (He'd get so frustrated whenever he took us shopping.) Mind you, he understood marketing from the inside, as his father was in the retail fur business. Although my dad was an English professor, his undergraduate degree was actually in advertising.
What's my point? Grocery store conglomerates like to keep shoppers loyal and engaged by presenting BOGOs and coupons, when they actually could choose straightforward pricing. I play the game from my end, but I really wish I didn't have to. It shouldn't be so complicated to feed our families.
As a palate cleanser to my rant, please enjoy this photo of my grandfather selling a fur coat to a 15-year-old Judy Garland:
The story is that Judy was to try on the coat for publicity, but ended up buying it. She was tiny and it was a child size coat.
3) I walked by the amazing free pile house from the other day, in case they'd set out more stuff. The owner was out front and gave me a cucumber from her garden, as well as a dozen or so green beans.
I added the green beans to stir-fried cabbage and I'll likely slice the cucumber into chips, to serve with hummus. I'm lucky to have successful gardeners as neighbors!
4) I finished up the last of the pumpkin bread and yellow zucchini rattatou-ish. Not a standard lunch, but still tasty. The baked zucchini will never make the cover of Martha Stewart Living magazine, but food doesn't have to be aesthetic to taste good.
Luckily I cook food that I actually like to eat, so leftovers are a favor to my future self. Doesn't mean that I don't give myself a hearty pat on the back when they don't go to waste.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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I will just add to the rant. There are a lot of elderly patrons that frequent the library where work. One patron who is 90 asked me to help her get Kroger coupons right after Kroger went paperless. She has a smart phone but does understand apps or using it for email. I downloaded the app and showed her how it worked. I could see she was lost. She never asked again. She doesn't want to be a bother to anyone. I had a second patron, an elderly gentleman who bought a new Ford from a local dealership, and he went for his free oil change that was included, and they told him he had to have the app to get it. He didn't even have an email, so of course trying to explain an app was almost impossible. These businesses are really excluding the elderly. The very people who often need it the most. It makes my blood boil every time I think about or try to assist one of these patrons.
Having to have a login.gov or ID.me account to get Social Security, which means taking a photo with a smart phone and using it to create an account with facial ID, and have the phone available to text the code to every time, is also wrong.
If you wait for someone in a surgical waiting room, they want a cell number to call you when the patient is done. Again, that's an elderly issue.
I get tired of correcting the health info system on line that keeps switching my landline to my cell phone. And telling gmail EVERY TIME I LOG IN that I do not want to take a quick video of my face for identification purposes. They say "later"; I say "never."
I agree with you and your Dad. Buying an onsale product shouldn't be hard. I think the corporations track us through their digital coupons and member cards. That's why I do my grocery shopping almost exclusively at Market Basket which has neither. Also no BOGOs. Consistently lower prices than other large grocery stores. Just solid sales I don't have to jump through hoops to buy. I wish they would expand to other parts of the country. Right now it's a New England chain. With Massachusetts new category of being the most expensive state to live in, I shudder to think what I would do without them.
1. I donated the beautiful dress I wore to DS's wedding 4 1/5 years ago to a chapter of Eastern Star my friend belongs to. They do a $5 a dress sale every year to raise funds and help people who otherwise could not afford a prom dress/mother of the bride or groom dress/event dress, etc.
2. I made us Filet-o-fish sandwiches for lunch using frozen beer battered fish fillets, American cheese, homemade tartar sauce and leftover hamburger buns. DH declared them better than McDonald's but maybe that's not saying much. Lol.
3. I received a digital coupon (again, just put the product on sale please) for 20% off at a nearby Pet Supply Plus that needs to be used by the end of the month. I will use it for catfood because like everything else, it's gone up in price.
4. DH and I have decided we will try to keep the house set at 60 degrees this winter with the help of sweaters, sweatshirts and slippers. Our monthly budget payment already jumped almost $100 above what it was last winter.
Also Katy, that is such a cool picture of your grandfather and Judy Garland. I love the expressions on each of their faces.
I agree with the rant. We put so much effort into saving on groceries.
I recently had a conversation with the manager of the Kroger where I shop (I shop there pretty much exclusively because they pay their employees well). I told him one of my relatives doesn't shop there anymore because the coupon game is too complicated. He told me that they have recently started putting sheets with the weekly digital coupons by the door with the print ads. This can be used to save on the weekly deals without having the coupons loaded on your card. There is a bar code on the sheet and after you scan the groceries you can scan the bar code if you have bought any of the special and the coupon price is what you are charged. That helps but it is still a game we shouldn't have to play. Your Dad was right.
A few online sales that keep me motivated. Used coupon and online gift cards to get a free hand cream and a kitchen counter hand soap dispenser for $8.23.
I’m reminded of the words of Madea. “I’m not on a fixed income. I’m on a broke income. I’m broke!”