Tuesday, November 18, 2014

A Deal or Not a Deal?

(Actual receipt. I spent $53.88 and saved $39.49! Yes this is typical of my shopping trips.)

It is virtually impossible to know what a rock-bottom price is on every single item produced. I am going to try and list a lot of the products I buy and what I consider to be staple items (or just random products that I happen to know the price on lol). Hopefully this helps someone out there to know how to spot a good deal versus a bad deal. Did you know that stores like to put fancy signs that say "SALE" on items that are not good deals at all? Yeah, I was surprised too.

All these prices are prices that I won't-pay-more-than 99% of the time, and when the sale price drops below it then I do a happy dance and stock up. Now there are times when I HAVE to have something and will pay some ridiculous price for it. When that happens you can find me muttering curses under my breath for a good day until my husband has to tell me to stop. That is just me though! Please don't feel any condemnation if you're not a super extreme couponer yet! I am the queen of self-condemnation so if I beat myself up, know I am NEVER beating you up.

Without further ado...

Meat
Ground beef $3.68 per pound (If this goes up in price much more I'm buying cattle. The price is kind of a weird number on this, but that is solely because Sam's Club sells it at this price for 90/10 consistently whereas everywhere else is a minimum of $4 per pound. You can get 73/27 for cheaper, but that is A LOT of extra fat.)
Boneless Chicken $1.99 per pound
Bone-In Chicken 99 cents per pound
Ground turkey $2.50 per pound
Salmon (whole) $2 per pound
Salmon filets $6 per pound

Dairy
Eggs 99 cents per dozen (Yeah I know they're not dairy, but they're next to all the dairy in the store so I'm giving them honorary dairy status for simplicity's sake of this list.)
Milk $1.99 per gallon
Cheese $3 per pound
Yogurt 25-50 cents per 6 ounce cup. Bulk containers of it can run cheaper than this, but it just depends on the sales.
Butter $2.50 per pound (Again, I'm going to raise cows here soon if this doesn't stop skyrocketing. I used to buy this for $1.50 per pound or less just a year ago. Sheesh!)
Sour Cream $1 per pound

Dry Goods
Flour 28 cents per pound
Pasta 50-75 cents per 12-16 ounce box
Oatmeal 69 cents per pound
Bread $2 per loaf (I buy the multi-grain, nut and oat, and wheat varieties at this price.)
Dried Beans 69-99 cents per pound (all varieties)
Rice 35-99 cents per pound (all varieties)
Canned tomatoes 50-70 cents per 14.5 ounce can
Canned Tuna 75 cents per can
Applesauce 4 cents per ounce
Peanut Butter 10 cents per ounce
Canola Oil 6 cents per ounce
Juice (bottled) $2 per half gallon

Toiletries/Home Goods
Toothpaste FREE
Diapers 10-15 cents per diaper
Baby Wipes 1.5 cents per wipe
Toilet Paper 33 cents per roll
Paper Towels 50 cents per roll
Vinegar $1.94 per gallon
Baking Soda 43 cents per pound

Produce- This is tricky because a lot of produce varies drastically based on when it's in season. I try to always buy produce when it's in season because it tastes way better and is cheapest- aka don't buy watermelon in January! :)
Apples 99 cents per pound
Bananas 40-60 cents per pound
Lettuce 99 cents per each
Tomatoes 49-90 cents per pound
Celery 99 cents per pound
Carrots 60 cents per pound
Onions 33-50 cents per pound
Garlic (whole cloves) $2.50 per pound
Bell peppers 33-50 cents per each

Yes I do pay this prices quite frequently. 100% of the time? No, but if I pay a few more cents than these numbers it still ends up being WAY less than a normal retail price. Shoot for the moon, land among the stars!

How I do all this is a completely other blog post, but it boils down to weekly sales and matching coupons to the sales. This should just give you an idea what to look for in the store so you know if you're paying crazy amounts or not.

Questions? Ask away!

P.S. I'm so sorry if I overwhelmed anyone! This has taken me 3 years to master (well, kinda-sorta master). Don't be discouraged!

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