GSC: Grocery Store Confidential

I found this article about tricks to make you spend more at the grocery store interesting, and helpful! Now that I've confessed my displeasure with shopping and savings articles, I start finding ones that are actually... helpful!

1. Entrance, or "chill zone" - Stores place impulse buys, like DVDs and seasonal, promotional items here specifically to entice you. I think I knew this, subconsciously. The description reminds me of walking into the Food Lion we frequented in NC, and we rarely bought anything from that section because they weren't displaying brands or products we normally bought. The article recommends lingering a bit to see what is there and remind yourself that you don't need it. I see how that could work; you don't feel like you are denying yourself, instead, you are simply allowing yourself a choice. However, you can easily make the less frugal choice.

2. Produce at the front - This one was a bit of a surprise to me. Thinking about it though, I am hard pressed to remember a traditional grocery store [not a big box store] where produce wasn't right next to the entrance, on the right hand side, waiting for me to start my circuit. Selecting your produce first does go against the idea of gathering your perishable foods last, so they have less time at non-ideal temperatures and in less-than-ideal conditions. I may have been going about this all wrong! (But... what about the idea of shopping the exterior of the store only/first...?)

3. Specials - Just because it is on sale, doesn't mean it is a bargain, or going to save you money. If the product or brand isn't something you would have purchased anyway, then a sale price or coupon doesn't necessarily make it a bargain. In fact, if the only reason you would only consider a product is because of a coupon or sale, you are better off skipping it all together.

I'm going to divert a bit here, and also mention something that I've noticed Kroger here doing for a while; I'm sure other stores do it to - I just shop at Kroger more often. Kroger's sale price tag is yellow. Bright, you can see it from miles away yellow. This is very helpful when you are scanning the bread aisle or beans, or what-have-you for the cheapest price. However, what they started doing is mimicking their sale tags (color and size) for the regular price of their brand of a product. So, instead of a white tag, saying the X product is 2.99, there is an over-sized yellow tag, with 2.99 in big lettering, and something akin to "everyday low price" in much smaller lettering. I guess they figure they've trained us to associate the yellow tag with sales and savings, making us more inclined to just grab the product with the yellow tag. Who knew grocery selling/shopping could be so covert?

4. Buried Products - By moving the most popular products to the center of aisles, they are forcing us to walk past and look at more options. More expensive options, different product options, and so on. The more we see, the more likely we are to buy. Here is where a list, and sticking to it, can help. Or, as they suggest, skipping the impulse buy, and seeing if you really want or need it later. They are right, usually we forget about it, or decide we don't really need it. I'd say that shopping with a spouse or a partner can be helpful here, because there is another person present to help keep impulses in check. (This can backfire, too, but, really, what can't?) And again with the sneaky grocery selling!

5. Private labels - These used to be pretty bad. But now, they are actually quite good, and a number of people find themselves preferring some store brand items over name brand ones. Private label = store brand, therefore they are cheaper, right? Unfortunately, no. Usually, this is the case. However, name brands have gotten wise to the fact that people are buying store brands with wild abandon, and sometimes will offer sales (and even coupons) that make their product cheaper. So, as the article says, comparing prices and prices per unit each time is the only way to ensure you get the best price. Time consuming, yes. Worth it? Depends on your preference.

6. Samples - This is similar to my mom always telling me not to go to the store hungry. Sampling will trigger your body to expect a big meal, which, as they say, makes you a less discriminating shopper. Which is also what shopping when hungry does. The article recommends saving sampling until you are about the leave. If you are disciplined about your shopping, you could probably make it through the sampling gambit unscathed. Or, you could not shop when samples are offered. I've really only ever noticed lots of sampling stations on Saturday mornings. So many other people are shopping at that time, too, making it a crowded headache, which also makes it harder to really take your time and price-shop. So, avoid samples, and you avoid the rush!

I'm still in a bit of awe at just how sneaky those marketers are. They sure do know their stuff. But I know some of their stuff, too. So do you! What do you think about these tricks? Do they work, and do you  have your own tips for avoiding their carefully crafted traps?

We've been jammin'

I have memories of my mom making blueberry jam every summer from Michigan blueberries, bought while we were up at her family's cabin in the northern Lower Peninsula. [By cabin, I mean 4 room, plus pseudo-indoor bathroom, NON-winterized, former hunting cabin. It had been the first man-made structure on the lake, with few updates...]

I never helped. I never had the inclination to help or learn. Boy, am I kicking myself now!

Last winter, the desire to can or preserve produce started to really knock around my head. I researched a bit about it, but was overwhelmed with what needed to be done, and initial supply investment. Then, the husband and I visited some of his extended family in northeastern Tennessee. One morning for breakfast, he was insistent that I try his great aunt's strawberry freezer jam.

Wow. Let me tell you - it was like summer sunshine on a biscuit. I was amazed, and immediately asked her how she made it. She was adamant that it was easy, and gave me the run down.

Turns out, freezer jam is wonderful, tasty, and easy. It pretty much takes: fruit, sugar, water, and pectin. Since my husband's (great) aunt uses the yellow Sure-Jell pectin, that is what I have used. I'm not sure that there are differences in brands of pectin; I just wasn't about to try a recipe for the first time and wildly vary the ingredients.

Once you have the ingredients, you simply follow the directions that come with the box, taking care that you follow the Freezer Jam directions.

What takes the most time is preparing your fruit, and letting the jam set in the jars overnight. Here are a couple of things about the recipe I've learned:
- the first time I tried it, I mashed the fruit and had fruit pieces left. That batch did not set up well, and was not like his (great) aunt's at all. The taste was fine, but the texture wasn't quite there. The second time (and third, and all subsequent ones), I did run the strawberries through the blender, and got what was pretty much a puree. It set up beautifully. So... I recommend running the fruit through a blender or food processor. At least strawberries; at least for freezer jam.
- the recipe to which I linked says to use plastic containers. You can, but you can also use the regular glass canning jars.

I loved that I learned how to make this. Now, I can have that summer taste anytime, knowing that I made it. Plus, it is a great way to use fruit that is about to turn. Once, when I was in the grocery store, I noticed a big bag of strawberries and a smaller one of blackberries on sale (serious sale) because they were about to turn. I looked it over, saw that there was some unusable fruit, but that there'd be enough for a batch of jam, so I bought both bags. If I had not had a way to use or preserve that fruit immediately, I would not have been able to take advantage of the price reduction. I remember feeling a little thrill. And it lead to the strawberry-blackberry freezer jam experiment.

I made freezer jam several times last spring, and ended up giving away quite a few jars just before we moved from NC to IN. Aside from the strawberry-blackberry jar currently open in our fridge, I only have one jar of strawberry left in my freezer. I cannot wait for spring harvests! What about you?

A Game of Grocery Store Pick-Up

Recently, I had to make a quick run to the grocery store on my way home from work. I wanted to try a soup recipe for dinner that night (more on that later), and needed an onion. The recipe also called for smoked ham and a ham hock, which I didn’t have and didn’t want because neither of us are big fans, so… I ixnayed the ham and the hock.

Pondering the recipe further, because this is how I spend my down time, I considered replacing the flavor and fat the ixnayed ingredients would have lend the soup with bacon.

I also needed to get some vitamin E oil, to treat my poor, burned hand.

And, then, I also figured I would need to pick up some drinks for my husband. That is simply a part of most grocery runs for our little family. (Yes, I know that these are not the most economical or ecological choice, but we buy what he will drink.)

So, my list was, roughly in order of priority: onion, vitamin E oil, drinks, and bacon. I also knew that I had to keep the cost under ten dollars. This is not an impossible task, and if not for the vitamin E oil, probably could have been done for closer to five dollars. But, alas, I put the health of our skin high on the list of things that are important.

Into the Marsh I went. Why Marsh, because it is literally on the way home. No turning onto a side street, no minor detour, nothing. It is on Third Street, as I drive home. In general, I’ve noticed that Marsh and Kroger tend to have similar sale prices. The advantages Kroger has over Marsh are: larger store (by me), more store- brand items (more items at lower cost), a bulk section, and a massive wine/liquor section (gotta love Indiana). Advantages of Marsh over Kroger: literally on the way home, $20 meat variety packs, and occasionally, they have better sale prices.

I made a bee-line for the pharmacy section, to case the joint for vitamin E oil. I saw two brands of capsules and one bottle of straight oil. All of the choices, no matter the quantity, were pretty much going to blow my chances of buying the vitamin E and onion. I was crushed.

Deciding that the onion was more important this trip, I left the pharmacy section, questioning my choice of store. I made my way to the produce section, by way of the breakfast meats. A quick survey of the bacons told me that if I wanted something that wasn’t completely chemical-laden, I was going to be paying at least $2.50 for a package. Not a bad price over all, but bacon was last on my list, so the first thing to get cut. I made a mental note, and went on to the onions.

It was about $1.30 per pound for loose onions (I know!), while the three pound bags were about $2.50. The loose onions were larger than the bagged onions, but at $1.30 per pound, they were more expensive per unit than the bagged onions. Also, larger wasn’t necessarily better for me. I can always cut up two onions instead of one. Leftover onion, unfortunately, tends to go bad before it is used or frozen. (This is something that I am working to remedy.)

Bagged onions it was. Now, I had about $7 to spend on the rest of my list. I went back to the pharmacy section, to peruse my choices once more. (All of this back and forth/shopping the store is why I don’t like shopping with my husband, and why he is exasperated by shopping with me.) 

And that’s when I saw it. A display of a supplement brand that had not been on the shelves where I was looking before. They were on sale. I got a bottle of capsules (40, I believe) for about $3.50. Score!

At this point, I rethought the bacon entirely. The previous night, I did have the foresight to pull some ground beef down from the freezer, so I knew that I did have some meat to add to the soup, and that I could count on some fat from there for flavor. Considering my list and my budget, I decided that bacon was not necessary.

Resolved to my choices, I had about $3.50 to spend on drinks. Well, less than that, considering taxes. And ever since I left Kentucky, I’ve never been sure of the food tax rate. I think North Carolina had a weird, graduated system that depended on the type of food, and level of preparedness. As a result, I try to leave a substantial cushion for “The Attack of the Tax!”

The next item, drinks, is where I regret my choice of Marsh over Kroger. My location doesn’t have store brand soda. Unless Faygo is store brand. I just can’t stand spending $1.25 on a 2-liter of soda. Especially when that is the sale price. Curses.

I sped-walked past the sodas, and headed towards the bottles of Lipton Green Tea (Yes, I know that there are tons of additives and such in these, but this is for my husband, not me. He likes it. And, well, it is preferable to tons of soda.) In my speediness, though, I almost sped right past an actual sale on the 2-liters. 68 cents for a 2-liter of Faygo. I almost did a happy dance in the middle of the aisle. I got the lemon-lime. No caffeine.

All in all, I ended up spending about eight and a half dollars. Not my best shopping trip, but not my worst, either. The soup may have been tastier with bacon, but it was still yummy. The Faygo was happily drunk. And I’ve been able to use one capsule of vitamin E oil multiple times.  Plus, I have onions ready for when I need them.

How do you think I did? Would you have made different choices? Do you have any particularly gratifying grocery store stories?