No, this isn't a post about how sexy Drew Carey is. Or how Drew has breathed new life into a once tired game show. Or how I used to hate the Price is Right but now find myself yearning to fly to California just so I can make myself a shirt to wear there. Or how Drew is a fellow Ohioan and is my homeboy.
Don't get me wrong: Bob Barker is a legend. He can sway you spay and neuter your pets like no other. But Drew Carey really is so freakin' awesome and funny, don't you think?
No, folks. This post is about price books. Talk to me. Do you use them? Have you tried them? Have you ever even heard of them?
What you do is take a notebook with you while you shop for groceries. You take note of prices and jot them down into your book. You begin to notice patterns of prices so you can see what is a good deal and what isn't. It helps you determine whether a price is too high, okay, or stock-up, smokin' hot
I've never used one. I do have some price limits stored up in the ole noggin though. I thought I'd share some prices with you (in US dollars, sorry chicas in Australia and the UK!). What do you think about these prices? Do you have any more to add?
Light Bread (35 calories a slice): I buy bread and buns for 89c because I live near the Schwebels outlet.
Spaghetti Sauce: I never buy it if it's more than a dollar a jar. The other day with coupons, I got three jars for $2.10.
Cereal: I can get it for about a dollar a box when there's a good stock-up sale, however I will go as high as two bucks a box.
Bananas: I hate paying 49cents/lb. Aldi carries them cheaper though their bananas tend to go bad more quickly.
Apples, Peaches, Pears: No more than 99c/ lb.
Packs of Bratwurst: only buy when they're $2.50 or less. The other day I had coupons, and they were BOGO. Woot, woot!
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast: $1.88/lb
One Lb. Ground Turkey: I used to be able to get it for 99c however now they're everyday price went up to $1.19.
2 cups of Shredded Cheese: no more than two dollars
Milk: Aldi carries a gallon for less than $1.70
Eggs: Once again, Aldi is my BFF. Their eggs are usually between 65-75c for a dozen.
Jars of Baby Food: found at Big Lots for a quarter apiece. As I'm making my own baby food, I only bought about ten jars for times when we're out and about. Hopefully they last me for several months.
Large container of Formula: I buy the generic brand that compares to Similac Advance. I've gotten two containers for four dollars apiece on clearance, and two containers on sale for $9.99 each. I've decided to never go higher than ten bucks. As I'm pumping breast milk, a can lasts me almost a month.
Diapers 13c apiece seems to be a pretty good deal. Have you found them cheaper than that?
Ok some of those prices are right for me, those are the sale prices, eggs are not that cheap anymore around here!
ReplyDeleteceareal for a dollar is cheap and that bread is way to cheap for here, 99 cents is the cheapest!
i didn't know he hosted price is right--that's so cool! i miss aldi--i used to go there all the time when we lived in IL
ReplyDeletenice prices! and you should totally go to california and be on the price is right! What would you put on your shirt? he he
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried the price comparison book. And sadly, I'm not good at remembering prices either. My mother-in-law remembers what she pays for EVERYTHING... puts me to shame. I tend to have instincts about prices, probably right most of the time.
ReplyDeleteHere in Australia, current affairs shows run programs about how we pay too much here for groceries all the time and the inflation on food is ridiculous. Woolworths and Coles have a duopoly and they aggressively try to force out smaller independents with petrol (gas) coupons as their big bait. Aldi is slowly getting a toehold.
Some of my 'instincts' or approximations about the examples you've given:
I hadn't heard of 'light' bread. Cheap bread here is a couple of dollars. Whiz bang grainy loaves with brand names can be up around $4.
I buy passata (pureed tomatoes in a bottle) and add my own stuff to make pasta sauce. I'm sure it was just over a dollar a year or two back, now its over $2 on special maybe $3 regular.
Our brand name cereals here start at about $4 for a small box. The multigrainy, fruity one I like is $5-$7 depending on specials, but its a big 750g box. Still hurts to pay that much.
Bananas go up and down, especially if there are cyclones in our tropics. $1.99/kilo is cheap bananas these days but they can go much higher. The days of any fruit or veg under $1 a kilo here are long gone, unless you find a little independent grocer who does no-frills. They have good specials but the quality is patchy.
Apples hardly ever go below $3 or $4 a kilo in the big supermarkets. And they seriously suck. Old stock that's been in cold storage.
You'd think with all the chooks in Aus (chickens) we could get them for a lot less than $8 to $12 per kilo, skinless breast. But nope. Chicken is not a cheap meal in the land of Oz. In fact we don't get any meat that cheap. Lamb is a killer. Beef is okay at the moment but nothing like your prices.
Eggs are just under $3 a dozen, for caged. (Even at Aldi). Free range & organic, closer to $5.
Baby food, formula and diapers (nappies :-)) I thankfully have long forgotten.
So, you wanna come live in Australia? I don't even want to know how the AUD/USD exchange and the imperial/metric would translate those figures.
Okay, I'm depressed. I'm going to find a nice crafty blog to look at.
Post script on my previous comment. Being the conversion dummy that I am, I got a second opinion from my DH. There are 2.2 pounds to a kilogram. So with current exchange rates, he reckons your $2 per pound is roughly equal to $10.00 a kilo here. So maybe we're not so badly off as I thought, in comparison.
ReplyDeleteI live overseas on a military base and you would cry if you knew how much I've paid for strawberries or apples or bread....
ReplyDelete