It’s actually been almost 2 weeks since I did this grocery shop, but it actually was the last “big” shop I did, and I still have much of this in my house, and since it was such a terrific shop, I had to share what I bought and why.
So firstly, I went to the city to shop for two reasons- one, because I’d heard about a new scratch and dent store and I just had to go check it out, and because I needed produce and knew the cheapest place I can get it is at the market. I got such terrific deals- for the entire shop I paid only $69.04!
The scratch and dent store was one I’d never have known existed if it hadn’t been for my friend, Charlene posting about it in a local frugality Facebook group. Even passing it from the outside, I had no idea what treasures were inside, since it just looked like a candy store on the outside, but walking in, I saw bins and bins and shelves and shelves of goodies that are usually a fortune, but there were dirt cheap! Best of all, most of what I saw was actually either healthy or mostly healthy, not full of junk, and most was gluten free as well. Gluten free packaged foods are usually a fortune round these parts, so finding them for cheaper than gluten packaged foods was really exciting.
So here’s what I got:
Canned hearts of palm were sold 3 for $3.40, or $1.14 each, when they usually go for $2.30 per piece, and I sometimes can find them on same for about $1.50 per piece. So I bought 3, because as much as I like them and as much as they were at a great price compared to their usual price, they still aren’t super cheap.
They had gluten free onion crackers, made with potatoes and egg and palm oil mainly- all ingredients I am happy to use in my house. The only ingredients I wasn’t thrilled about was the sugar and the maltodextrin, but other than that, no objectionable ingredients, and at 3 packages for $2.85 or 95 cents each, when I usually see them in the store for $5.70- $7.14 each, they were a terrific price, so I got three boxes. My only regrets- I should have bought another 6.
Peanut butter was being sold, 2 ~1 lb jars for $4.28, or $2.14 per jar, when usually I see it being sold in ~2 lb containers for $6-$6.85, so that was a terrific price since peanut butter is relatively expensive and we use it a lot in our house. Oh- and I forgot to mention- they were 100% peanuts, so no objectionable ingredients either! I bought 6 jars, but should have bought many more- I plan on going back and buying at least 10.
Chocolate chips were sold for 3 packages for $2.85, or 95 cents each, which was an amazing price, given that they are usually at least $2 per package, and the only objectionable ingredients were sugar and artificial vanilla, so I bought 6. In retrospect I should have bought lots more.
Grape juice was being sold, 2 bottles for $4.28 or $2.14 each. Not an amazing price, but decent enough, since usually the cheapest I can find it for locally is $2.85 each or $3.42 not on sale, and we use grape juice regularly. I bought 4 bottles, and need to go back and buy more.
There’s these local mini oyster cracker type things for soup that my family loves. They are not something I always buy, because they are typically expensive and not so healthy, especially when they are gluten free, but my family loves them, and when I serve soup with them, even soups that my family isn’t always willing to eat happily, such as cheaper legume based soups (lentil soups, split pea soups, etc), become a real treat. Essentially- they make my family more willing to eat cheap dishes, but when these mini oyster crackers are a $2.50 per bag like they usually are gluten free, they aren’t exactly worth it… So when I saw these gluten free oyster type cracker, without a single objectionable ingredient for 10 for $2.85, or 28 cents a bag, it was really exciting, and I bought 20.
This whole visit to the scratch and dent store cost me $39.05… and my only regrets about that shop was that I didn’t buy enough. I need to go back and hope that they still have more of everything I bought and at those prices (since these stores are kind of hit or miss)- and I especially want to buy a ton more chocolate chips, soup nuts, peanut butter, and grape juice.
After the scratch and dent store, I went to market and visited my favorite reduced rack stalls.
I went to one of them, run by G, and saw sweet potatoes for 26 cents a pound- usually 65 cents is a good price but I’ve been generally finding them for $1.15 per pound, so I stocked up and bought a ton of sweet potatoes, about 3 shopping bags full.
I was convinced to buy some seedless super sweet clementines for 39 cents a pound. First he wanted to sell them to me for 60 cents a pound, but I bargained him down to 39 cents a pound. I got a very large shopping bag of clementines.
Total for that shop was $10, and the stall owner threw in a punnet of hot peppers for free.
Right next to G’s shop I discovered a new reduced rack stall, run by Y, with some terrific prices!
Radishes were being sold for 29 cents per pound; usually when I see then at 75 cents per pound I buy them since I love them and consider that to be cheap, so at 29 cents a pound I bought 5 pounds.
Celery is typically expensive found these parts, one bunch of celery for $1.42, so its not something I buy often… but Y was selling them in packages of 2, and the packages were being sold 3 for $1.42 or 47 cents a package, or 23 cents a bunch… I was so excited by those prices that I bought 6 packages.
Cute little round stuffing zucchinis were 19 cents a pound, so I bought 7.5 lbs. Altogether, the shop a Y’s stall cost me $5.71.
At R’s stall, where he doesn’t tell you prices in advance, but just tells you the total cost of your shop, and you just have to trust it’s a good deal- I got 2 shopping bags of carrots, a few bunches of bananas, 3 small cabbages, and a leek for $7.14.
And then, as a treat, since I hadn’t had broccoli in a while and we really love it, I splurged and bought 2 bunches for $2.28 per bunch, or $4.57 at that stall. (If I had known that the next week I would have gotten a ton of broccoli gifted to me, I wouldn’t have bothered, but since I didn’t know that then, no regrets.)
Total at the farmer’s market- $29.99.
I think these were really amazing shops, especially given the amount of food it was, and the prices I got for them- I still haven’t needed to do another grocery shop (other than to pick up cereal and milk for breakfasts)…
But next time I need to do some grocery shopping, I know exactly where I’m going to go to get the best bargains!
Have you gotten any amazing deals lately? What were they? How much would a shop like what I did cost you?
