Well, I was prepared and ready to shop today. First stop, The Real Canadian Superstore. Picked up some nan and a pizza crust for 50% off from the bakery, got a price match on the expensive razor blades my hubby prefers (from $24.99 down to $16.99!) - and even managed to use a $3.00 coupon on them. Also picked up Woolite laundry soap on sale and with a $2.00 coupon. Once again - did my usual quick scan of the receipt when I finished loading the bags into the car... And promptly went back inside the store to point out the quinoa that had rung in for $2.79 instead of $2.29. Yes, it's only a few dollars. Yes, it took about 5 minutes of my time.
Scanning Code of Practice indicates that if the marked or advertized price of an item does NOT ring up, consumers are entitled to receive the first item that has incorrectly rung in for free, provided it's value is $10 or less. If it's more than $10 then you are entitled to $10 off the purchase price. So for 5 minutes of waiting for a price check I got back $2.79 - or $33.48 / hour.
Almost every week I will catch something not ringing up properly and receive an item for free. In the course of a year it probably saves me over $100 which isn't too shabby!
Once I picked up most of the items from there, I headed to Sobeys. There are a few things that don't work well with price matching, especially bakery things and produce that the store doesn't have! I wanted to get the kaiser buns 6 pk for $1.00. Sobeys here opens at 8:00. I arrived at the store at 8:15. I head to the bakery where there are no buns. So I ask the bakery lady for the buns. She returns from the back to inform me that 'they are still proofing'. What the ....? They aren't even in the oven, cooling, or waiting to be priced - THEY AREN'T EVEN READY FOR THE OVEN?!?!
Ok, I realize that they are a loss leader. Which was exactly why I was there to get them. Did someone forget to tell the bakery that the store opened at 8:00? Hmph... Alright, on to the deli for some meat ends sliced. Wha? The price went from $9.90 / kg two weeks ago up to $12.90 / kg this week??? No thanks, I didn't notice any of the deli meat prices going up...
When I paid for my items I complained to the cashier - and was met with a blank look. I then went to customer service - and didn't get much better "oh, I'm sorry - they will be ready this afternoon". Somehow, no one seems to recognize that I go shopping as soon as the stores open so I can avoid the crowds and get in and out quickly. Sobeys is seriously loosing a customer in me, the service sucks, the prices are exorbitant, and they certainly don't seem to care about the customer.
Well, that about sums up my rant... have so far spent $200.18 of the $200.00 budget so far. Will have to really watch for the rest of the month, need bathroom tissue still....
This week spent more on razor blades and laundry soap.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
January Grocery Budget Update (albeit late)
Ok, I started to get curious about how much I have really spent in groceries so far this year.
Januarys total for groceries is $330.36 Under budget by $69.64.
February's budget is $400.00
Total spent February $130.54 leaving $269.46 for the rest of the month.
In order to pay for the beef purchase in late fall, if we could keep the monthly budget to about $330 - $350 a month we would save enough money for the beef.
Januarys total for groceries is $330.36 Under budget by $69.64.
February's budget is $400.00
Total spent February $130.54 leaving $269.46 for the rest of the month.
In order to pay for the beef purchase in late fall, if we could keep the monthly budget to about $330 - $350 a month we would save enough money for the beef.
February 5th, 2013
Well on the weight front... not so good. But back on track - up 1.7 pounds in 3 weeks of not paying much attention.
Upcoming soon, birthday + anniversary + valentines day. Sadly, pretty much all just excuses as we never do much to recognize any of them, or if we do recognize them - we just do something for all three.
The grocery budget has been going very well, provided I'm using cash. I don't really want to use cash, so I tried to go back to using the credit card with a budget. I stuck to the budget for two weeks and last week spent so far $30 over. And still forgot salad. In my defense I did buy 4 meals worth of chicken and a nice rack of pork ribs for my hubby to play with on the BBQ.
Back in November we went in with my sister/brother in law to share a side of grass fed, organic beef with them. We spent $510 for half of the side (or 1/4 of a cow). Our 'side' of cow was 300 pounds - I estimate that we got 150 pounds of nice beef for $510. That included brisket (to smoke), several roasts, steaks, ribs, packages of hamburger, stew meat, stirfry strips, and soup bones. I also got a box of burger patties and some of the organ meat.
So far we have had beef about twice a week and have not even used nearly 1/2 the meat. At about $3.40 a pound for all the meat (and of course prime rib or new york strip steaks are a pricier meat than burger or stirfry strips), we are spending more than I would pay at the grocery store by about $0.50 a pound. Sometimes I could find a really good sale, or even mark down meat, but I am so happy with this purchase that I am not worried about hormones, antibiotics or any type of salmonella, e-coli or listeria that I think the price difference is worth it.
We have set a weekly food budget at $100 per week. This also includes all personal care, cleaning and paper products. Mostly we are within reason on the budget - but I haven't included things like our bulk meat purchase, I buy chickens 10 at a time locally, spring/summer I buy eggs from a co-worker who keeps a small flock (is a group of chickens a flock? herd? swarm???).
These purchases probably average $25 per week (I don't think our 1/4 of cow will last us the whole year - next year we will try to buy 1/2 cow for ourselves).
This poses somewhat of a problem for our budget. To cut back on other food purchases, or to increase the budget?
Upcoming soon, birthday + anniversary + valentines day. Sadly, pretty much all just excuses as we never do much to recognize any of them, or if we do recognize them - we just do something for all three.
The grocery budget has been going very well, provided I'm using cash. I don't really want to use cash, so I tried to go back to using the credit card with a budget. I stuck to the budget for two weeks and last week spent so far $30 over. And still forgot salad. In my defense I did buy 4 meals worth of chicken and a nice rack of pork ribs for my hubby to play with on the BBQ.
Back in November we went in with my sister/brother in law to share a side of grass fed, organic beef with them. We spent $510 for half of the side (or 1/4 of a cow). Our 'side' of cow was 300 pounds - I estimate that we got 150 pounds of nice beef for $510. That included brisket (to smoke), several roasts, steaks, ribs, packages of hamburger, stew meat, stirfry strips, and soup bones. I also got a box of burger patties and some of the organ meat.
So far we have had beef about twice a week and have not even used nearly 1/2 the meat. At about $3.40 a pound for all the meat (and of course prime rib or new york strip steaks are a pricier meat than burger or stirfry strips), we are spending more than I would pay at the grocery store by about $0.50 a pound. Sometimes I could find a really good sale, or even mark down meat, but I am so happy with this purchase that I am not worried about hormones, antibiotics or any type of salmonella, e-coli or listeria that I think the price difference is worth it.
We have set a weekly food budget at $100 per week. This also includes all personal care, cleaning and paper products. Mostly we are within reason on the budget - but I haven't included things like our bulk meat purchase, I buy chickens 10 at a time locally, spring/summer I buy eggs from a co-worker who keeps a small flock (is a group of chickens a flock? herd? swarm???).
These purchases probably average $25 per week (I don't think our 1/4 of cow will last us the whole year - next year we will try to buy 1/2 cow for ourselves).
This poses somewhat of a problem for our budget. To cut back on other food purchases, or to increase the budget?
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