Meet the bargain hunters

**homesteadmamma** · 01-16-2005, 12:56 PM

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...rsavers07.html

**Hollyhandi** · 01-16-2005, 01:13 PM

Thanks that was very interesting,
I agree with everything except the browned meat close to experation. I am scared of that .

**Telephus44** · 01-16-2005, 01:22 PM

I agree with a lot of the methods these three women use, but it does seem to me that they buy a lot of things they might not need - an $800 sofa for $300 is a great deal, but I don't have a spare $300 in my budget right now. I have no where to wear a beaded cocktail dress, even if it was $4.99.

And I do buy marked down meats - I just take them home and freeze them, or cook them that night - but I am conscious of how it looks. If it should be red and its brown, it stays at the grocery store. I have never had a problem with anything I've bought. I also buy marked-down bread and dented cans (soup, veggies, etc.) and I've never had a problem with those.

**homesteadmamma** · 01-16-2005, 02:50 PM

I also noticced the 3rd lady bought a lot of groceries - $150 per week. Seems pretty high to me.

For me when it comes to a bargain, it isn't a bargain if you don't need it, kwim. To purchase something just because its a bargain makes no sense to the frugal side of me.

btw - I use to buy marked down meat. As soon as I got it home, I took it out of the package and rewrapped it, twice. I never ever had any problems with it. We don't eat beef or pork now, so I haven't done it for quite some time. I will not buy marked down chicken.

**QuilterMom** · 01-16-2005, 03:11 PM

She stocked up at a recent Albertsons sale, leaving with 10 bags of groceries for $49 and change, impressing even the checker.

Her Albertson's must be a heck of a lot cheaper than the one here! It's the most expensive place to shop here and the 'loss leaders' aren't all that great most of the time.

"My husband rolls his eyes and says, 'Do you know we have 12 cans of tuna?'"

Gee, I wonder what he would think about the 29 cans of tuna sitting in my pantry? LOL

The well-stocked shelves would put a survivalist to shame: two dozen cans of green beans, eight boxes of brownie mix, three bottles of laundry detergent and more.

Sounds a little 'under'stocked to me. LOL

Phipps writes the date of purchase on cake mixes or canned goods so she remembers to use the oldest items first.

I do this as well - it makes it so much easier to rotate everything out.

Overall, interesting article. Thanks!

**MelinaG** · 01-16-2005, 04:26 PM

Thank you for this post!!! I read it and eventhough I don't agree/follow all the advice it did help me save!

My dh recieve a christmas bonus. I popped on this site and read this post just before I planned to dash off and purchase new pants and shoes with some of his bonus. After reading this post I decided to put some of the money in groceries. We usually can't use the coupns that say $8 off a purchase off $50 or more do to the fact that money is pretty tight. So, I took some of the bonus and used the $8 coupon! But it gets better, because this post motived me so much. I made sure to stock up on staple foods and especially the ones on sale.

After all the sales, coupons and rebates I ended up getting around $60 in food for around $40. I stuck to my guns and as a results have about 4 months supply of potatoes, apple juice and meat amongst other things that won't last as long such as cheese and onions. Not one bottle of soda, not one chocolate bar. ALL STAPLE ITEMS!

They did mess up my bill a little bit though, they over charged me three dollars and guess what, I stood in the store for 5 minutes trying to figure out my bill then went back to customer service to get refunded!

Thank you so much for posting this!!! It really did motivate me in the right direction.

Melina

**Shell** · 01-16-2005, 04:29 PM

Thanks for sharing CJ.

**PrairieRose** · 01-16-2005, 04:55 PM

I was looking at the gift closet thinking that looks a little too stocked to me... I'll bet there's wasted money there. Otherwise a good article, inspiring whether or not I agree with it all or not. Thanks for posting it.

**AmyBoz** · 01-16-2005, 05:16 PM

Very interesting!!!

**gkp1031** · 01-16-2005, 06:54 PM

interesting article!

**guest2** · 01-17-2005, 01:06 PM

CJ,

I was reading this article and just gasped! Mara Phipps, the second lady they show a picture of is an old friend of mine from Hawaii!!!! She and I grew up together!!!:

OMG!!!! Small world!!!!