I hit the local stores for loss leader last night. I got:

24 rolls of Scott tissue for 7.00!!!!

2 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats for 1.19!!!

1 package of Toll House cookie dough for .50!!!

Dannon yogurt-- 8 @ .25 and 2 @ .09!

I am doing my big shopping trip tomorrow or Sunday and will have MORE good deals! I live for deals:toothy:

:party: You did great!!!!

You all seem to know about "loss leaders" and I am unfamiliar with the term - what are they and where do you find them??

Loss leaders are the items a store puts on sale for less than they paid for them. They lose money on them as a lure to get you into the store to buy higher priced items. This works for most shoppers as their impulses get the best of them. However, WE are not normal shoppers! We hit the stores all over town and get ONLY those deals. This way, we can fill our pantries for pennies on the dollar.

OK - how do you discern wht is a loss leader- is it usually a common purchase or a pre-fab meal or what?

It depends on the time of year. Loss leaders are seasonal, just like everything else. For example, hot dogs, buns, pop and condiments are on sale around Memorial Day and the 4th of July. Turkeys are low cost around Thnaksgiving.

In the fall, when it traditionally used to be pork butchering time, we still (at least in my part of the country) have pork sales. Right now, a local store has pork chops for .99/lb! That's MUCH cheaper than hamburger right now. Also, the canned goods sale is in the fall. People used to harvest in the fall (still do--just fewer of us do it now!) so it's often called a harvest sale.

I buy as many loss leaders as I can afford. I have a huge freezer that I can store meat, bread and veggies in. I also have a large pantry and also store stuff in other places around the house. I have an unheated sun room that becomes sort of a walk in cooler in the winter time where I keep bags of potatoes, onions and fruit. I have boxes of cereal and a case of ramen stored under the bed.

To give you an idea of how much this saves our family, I feed nine of us (two adults, two almost teenagers with prodigous appetites, a dog, two cats and two Guinea Pigs) on about $325.00 a month. This includes all of our HABA stuff and kitty litter, paper goods, etc. If I paid full price for most of the items I buy, I would spend about $500.00 a month JUST on food!:eek: