I have a questions about stocking food. I currently have the “drugstore” game mastered and have a great stock on personal/household items. I currently am working very hard at lowering the grocery bill at the same time eating more whole foods. I have in the past read your post about your weekly shopping and notice that most grocery items are for the week. Do you stockpile food? I know kinda hard to do with eating more whole food. But things like meat, pasta, frozen veggies, etc. -Melissa
I get asked this question a lot and the truth is, I’m always “buying ahead” — just not usually in vast quantities since I’m more of a minimalist and typically don’t like to store more than what I’ll be able to use in the next three to six months. We also have a smaller family so food lasts longer around here than it would if we had five teenagers. 🙂
For instance, last week I stopped by the health food store to check on their markdowns. I ended buying four loaves of bread, two packages of hot dog buns, two packages of chicken hot dogs and a gallon of milk. These were all marked down to less than I can get at Aldi or on sale with coupons so I bought them and put them all in the freezer since we don’t need any of them for our menu last week. I’ll incorporate them into our menus over the four to six weeks or so.
In addition, last week I purchased three bags of turbinado from the bulk food store. This will likely last us for the next four to five months, since I try use sugar rather sparingly.
I had the extra cash to purchase these items and I knew they were all things we’d use, so I went ahead and purchased them. This is typically the way I stockpile: in small quantities here and there as I come across great deals or opportunities to buy food in bulk and have the cash to purchase them.
While we might not have rooms stuffed to the ceiling with cans and boxes of food, we always have quite a variety of food on hand, we are able to keep our grocery budget lowered since we aren’t paying full price for most items and I have a number of different options on hand to use as the basis for planning our weekly menus.
If I have the time and coupons, I also occasionally will do a major stock-up of something — such as the 31 tubes of toothpaste I got for free last year! — but by and large, I usually just buy ahead in small quantities as part of my weekly grocery shopping trips.
In all honesty, as we’ve shifted more to a whole foods diet, I’m using coupons less and focusing more on buying markdowns at the health food store and loss leaders at the grocery stores. This has simplified my shopping routine a great deal — I clip and organize fewer coupons, don’t have to spend a lot of time planning out my shopping trips and I make fewer trips to the store.
This method of shopping and stockpiling is working well for our family right now, but I can see as my children grow older and their appetites increase, we’ll likely be tweaking this in order to accommodate the need to buy more groceries. For now, though, I’m enjoying keeping it simple!
I got into coupons almost 2 yrs ago and recently taught a coupon class for some friends. Whenever I come across a great deal I will take a picture (like Crystal does) and post it on Facebook. My friends would always say “I don’t know how you do it” so I taught a class and showed them. I am always stocking up on the travel size HBC stuff for FREE and don’t use most of it, because I have so much. I put it out for them to take. They were so excited because it was going to save them atleast $20-$30 for the month.
When I started stocking up on things my husband thought I had gone crazy. He even makes fun of me to his friends, but then I remind him of how much we have saved over the past few years. I have tried getting my family to eat better, but it is hard because my husband is the type who would rather eat out, because we don’t have the mess at home then. It really gets frsutrating. Plus because my husband won’t eat vegetables (other then corn or potatoes) my children won’t eat them either.
Great Post! Thanks Crystal! I love you blog and I also enjoy the recipes you post. I have tried several of them and they are always great. We also tend to eat more whole and organic foods. I have gotten some things on Amazon and stock up on natural cereals, pasta, etc. I have gotten some good deals at Whole Foods with coupons but have never seen mark downs there. We do have a local health food store so I should check. Is the one you shop at a small local place or a chain?
It’s a local place with only one location. 🙁 I wish it were nationwide!
Great post! We too have switched to eating more whole foods and are using coupons less and less. I love hearing about other people who are doing the same thing. I am finding more and more great deals at Costco too. They have a nice selection of organic and all natural foods, and I would rather spend more money on those items, then to be buying processed foods for free or very cheap prices. We spend easily 30% of our budget on produce every week. We eat a lot of smoothies in our house and go through a ton of frozen fruits too. I love knowing that I am feeding my family with the freshest and most nutritious ingredients out there by shopping the perimeter of the store.
I do pretty much the same as everyone else. I stockup on items we use a lot of and attempt to get enough to get me through to the next sale. I have enough whole grain pasta I picked up for free to last me a year :)By getting items free or almost free I’m able to purchase more natural and organic foods that would otherwise put me over budget.
For instance, my kids are now only drinking organic milk. At over $5 per gallon and needing 2 gallons per week, that alone eats up alot of our money.
It doesn’t involve whole foods but I wrote a post on stockpiling
http://www.thecouponchallenge.com/2010/09/thrifty-thursday-how-to-build-stockpile.html
wow….its so weird because i’ve taken the exact same swing over the past year. i am using mostly whole foods so it is easier as you don’t have to worry about the coupon or a bunch of ingredients. i still cut and organize coupons to play the drugstore game but i will be honest, if my life gets more hectic i will just do a monthly shopping trip to the dollar tree and stock up on the beauty stuff there:)
After the recent Extreme Couponing show on TLC, I got a lot of questions and comments from my readers about the excessive stockpiling on the show. I worte up my opinions and how I think it works best at http://www.saveathomemommy.com/2011/01/when-is-stockpiling-too-much/. I try to stock up on items that I use on a regular basis anytime I see a really great deal on them. I pretty much know what I use for most meals and I keep a list of regular items that I need to be on the lookout for. This has saved us tons of money for sure and I love having items on hand to make meals without having to plan too much in advance!
Thanks so much for your answer. Like you, I clip very little coupons anymore. I only clip what I need for my toiletry/household pantry and try to keep about 6-9 months there. And with the food I’m pretty much already doing what you are. I just need to find a health food store that has mark downs like yours.
I created 30 or so simple but complete meals, one for each day of the month. Then when I see ingredients for these meals like pasta and sauce for example, I buy 12 boxes or bottles, one for each month of the year. This way I build my year supply of food one meal at a time and one deal at a time!
Care to share any of these meals? I’m so stumped for meal ideas anymore!
I would love to see the meals you’ve included in this list. I seem to get all stumped when it comes to stockpiling and menus! I’m worried that I won’t use what I buy.
Try coming at it from the other direction. Make what you love to cook (if you love to cook!) or what you love to eat and build your stockpile based on the ingredients that consistently pop up. For me, that’s broth, canned tomatoes, paste, and sauce, pasta, cheese (freeze the overflow), tortillas, tuna, salsa, and so forth.
I would love to see more tips from you or guest posts about saving on groceries at non-traditional stores. I have a lot of luck at Big Lots of all places I often find organic items very cheap- but granted not fresh produce. I agree with finding little local stores like ethnic stores or health food store- ours around here look like “dives” but you can find some amazing prices. I am staying away from the big chain grocery stores more and more. Today I bought my eggs and chicken from a local farmer. Love your blog!!!
I have also had great luck at Big Lots with many food items. It’s hit or miss, but sometimes you can get great deals. I once found our favorite (what I would call) “gourmet” rosemary crackers there for less than 1/3 of the price at Kroger. I bought several but wished later that I had picked them all up.
Crystal- I’ve never heard of turbinado? How is it better for you? Also are things like Truvia or Splendid bad for you? I had heard Agave was suppose to be healthier and there was big hype over it and then it turns out that the process they use to make it is horrible so in the end it’s not really better?
I encourage everyone to do their own research and decide what works for their own family, don’t just do what someone else does. But we’re just trying to focus on less-processed foods and, from the research I’ve done, I believe that turbinado is a step in a more wholesome direction than using regular sugar.
Is turbinado an artificial sweetner? I’ve never heard of it either. I can’t use artificial sweetners because they give me headaches. Just wondering if this would be an alternative.
Turbinado is just brown sugar. If you want a sugar free, natural sweetener, try Stevia. (I would avoid Purevia and Truvia because of the are processed.)
Actually, depending upon which kind you buy, it’s usually unprocessed or much less processed sugar. But yes, it’s still sugar.
We try to completely avoid artificial sweeteners for a variety of reasons. Turbinado is a much less-processed sugar.
I think this is a good article on the whole processed/unprocessed sugar issue: http://www.raisehealthyeaters.com/2011/01/managing-sweets-part-5-the-myth-that-keeps-you-eating-too-much-sugar/. Moderation is everything in the end.
I typically buy 5-6 newspapers every week for the coupons as well as printing many off the internet, thanks to all the sites who help us do that. I had quite a bit of overstock until Christmas and this past weekend. Three of my grown children shopped for their families from my stockpile and went home with a lot of things they would not have otherwise been able to buy–they appreciated the food, but they really liked the drugstore stuff. What a great feeling to be sharing with family who have needs.
We try to keep at least a year’s worth of food–and I’m so grateful that we have done that. In 2007, my husband went 8 months without any income at all. We are self-employed, so we don’t collect unemployment if there is no work. In 2010, my husband put in 10-14 hour days, 6 days a week, but because of declining home prices and sales, he made less in 2010 than he did in 2007!
Despite that, we managed to feed our family of 8 last year, and restock our pantryas well, which is a good thing, since I haven’t been able to do much shopping this month, nor do I anticipate being able to do much this year, at this point. (I am keeping a watch out for good coupons for free items, though; thank you for posting all of them! )
I have lots of canned fruits and vegetables, and our garden should give us more as well.
Last year I was able to continue stocking our pantry, despite our low income, by many different ways, some of which were extremely miraculous. Our family was blessed in so many ways, by so many people.
There are many reasons to keep food and tolietries and clothing on hand, but the economic reason alone (one which our ancestors understood in preparing food for winter) is a pretty good one. I’m so grateful that as we face very little income right now, I don’t have to worry if my children will go hungry or not.
Sending a prayer heavenward that our Father who owns everything continues to meet your family’s needs and shows His mighty power.
Thank you Amy. We continue to see marvelous blessings each and every day.
I’m just curious, wouldn’t it all work out the same even if you hadn’t bought up all of that food ahead of time? Then you would have the money that you spent on the food then, and could use it for food now. Not that it makes a whole lot of difference, but money takes up less space than groceries, and groceries can’t earn interest while you’re waiting to use them.
It’s a fair question.
However, I stocked up on things when prices were lower. Interest rates are at less than 1% in a savings account and food inflation is going up MUCH higher than that (some things have doubled in price in the last year).
I fed my family last year for about .70 per person per day. AND–I filled my pantry (a lot of times with free items). I don’t have a year’s worth of everything (I know I’m short on oil and tomato sauce), but I could make do, if I have to go a year without buying food again.
Some things I still have left from before as well; in 2005, I bought several hundred pounds of wheat (vaccuum sealed in mylar bags inside sealed food grade buckets), powdered milk, beans, etc. These things can be good for 30 years. We are continuing to eat these things. If I were to buy them now, compared to then, it would be a lot more money now than it cost in 2005. Food prices have risen so much, and in the last little while, they have risen quite a bit.
Here are some articles about food inflation costs if you are interested:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/fed-policy-sinks-dollar-commodity-prices-soar/19701878/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,281197,00.html?mep
“food price increases can now be found in almost every aisle: eggs are up 18 percent from a year ago; bread, eight percent; milk, 13 percent; and orange juice, 33 percent. With food accounting for about 15 percent of the average household budget — compared with just seven percent for gasoline — food inflation packs quite a punch.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2010/10/21/general-mills-will-hike-cereal-prices.html “Wheat prices have risen 34 percent per bushel from a year ago, the Journal reported; corn is up 34 percent a bushel.”
There isn’t always money for groceries, but we can still build our pantry. This month, for example, I was able to get 3 reach floss, 8 yogurts, 2 boxes of hot cocoa mix, and 4 packages of guacamole (great on rice and beans!) for free with internet coupons (I don’t get the paper).
Our savings ran out 4 years ago, and though our income has been cut by 70% since 2006, we’re still able to eat. It has been a great source of peace to me to be able to feed my family.
We have a large family to feed so by most family’s terms, we stockpile weekly……..but we don’t keep it in stock for very long ; ) I really need an entire building dedicated to storing things if we were to really stockpile!
Coupons have never been of much value to me because most of the time, they are for things we just don’t eat or use…..processed foods, toothpastes with fluoride, skin or hair care with cancer causing parabens or other ingredients, etc. Occasionally I will run across a coupon that we would use, but I don’t spend my time hunting them down anymore…..just too many other things to do!
The way I save $$ is to buy what is on sale as much as I can, to buy in bulk, and buy where I know is usually cheapest.
I always look where each store has historically had their sale bins. If I find something that I know we will use, I buy it all. Like the time I purchased 50+ cans or pumpkin for .25 each. A few weeks ago I bought approx 20 boxes of whole grain noodles that were on a sale shelf. I paid pennies on the dollar and now we have healthy whole grain noodles in our pantry for cheaper than white flour noodles.
I purchase nonperishables in bulk, like 50# bags of rice, wheat, oats, oat groats, 7 grain cereal, etc. and store them in 5g buckets. I purchase local honey by the gallon as well as molasses and vinegars by the gallon.
I keep tabs on what Costco’s prices are on items vs the local restaurant store vs the local grocery stores and I buy where each item is cheapest if that is at all possible. I drive an hour to town, go armed with 3-4 ice chests and make as many stops in one day as possible gathering supplies from the best sources.
I also shop online at Vitacost.com and purchase healthier toothpastes and shampoos there that do not include parabens and fluorides, etc. And, I shop a food coop that has the organics and bulks that we use for much cheaper than I can find them locally.
Recently I found natural turkeys on sale for .49/# at our market! I bought as many as we could cook and/or freeze in the next few days. I now have cooked turkey in the freezer, lots of stock, have eaten lots of warm soup on these cold winter days and saved tons of $ by doing so. Having precooked food in the freezer is always a bonus in a large hungry family when life gets hectic. And I still have 2 frozen turkeys for cooking later.
This week, I ordered 70# of organic apples that were on sale through our food coop. We will be canning roughly 30 qts of applesauce for so much less than I can buy organic applesauce or even just applesauce that doesn’t have hfcs in it. Our family can go through tons of applesauce on ww biscuits and pancakes for breakfasts. I’m wondering if I should have order 2 or 3x more than I did!
Watching for the sales of things that we use and stocking up then has saved me more money than couponing for things that we don’t use or like. My experience is that most coupon items are items that have ingredients in them that we try to avoid. And, couponing really made my going to town day logistically difficult as most coupons were sending me to places I normally didn’t shop because their prices were usually higher.
Really, it boils down to becoming an educator consumer, knowing the prices different stores set for items that you use and shop accordingly.
Oh…….and pray that the Lord would guide you to the deals that will supply your needs!
This is just what I do. We buy a lot from country life natural foods, cnlf.org They do free delivery all the way from Michigan to Arkansas and other states on orders over $500. It took some real maneuvering for me to use 2 months of grocery budget all in one go- but the savings were phenomenal. Less than half the cost of the same goods at our local co-op store. If you had a friend to split the shipping with you’d be in good shape.
I do the same thing you do with meat 🙂 I pressure can it into soups so in case we are without power, new baby, whatever, I just open a jar of real food. 🙂
What a timely post! I have started a series on stockpiling, because we personally feel it is something that our grandparents did and we need to utilize the ‘pantry’ more. Efficient stockpiling and eating is a good thing to check into too. I notice Chrystal doesn’t eat meat at every meal, something much easier to buy for. Right now we don’t have bread, hot dog buns, and tons of waffles, but we have over 100lbs of flour and a ton (not literally ) of wheat berries. Some people think it’s more for hoarders, but there can be many reasons you choose to do this. Did you know many if not most grocery stores carry 3 days supply of food? We had an ice storm and lots of people found that out fast! I also loved theprudenthomemaker.com ‘s testimonial about how they used their pantry when her husband had a major cut in income. It’s not always because you want to hole up for a year!:)
Crystal, not Chrystal! I always spell that incorrectly! Sorry:)!
So true. I have been in a hurricane, as well as ice storm situations. Our Cat. 1 hurricane barely was a blip on the national news I’m sure (at least my area), but it wasn’t pretty in the aftermath. Stores (which didn’t open for a while) were emptied in minutes. All perishables were gone (ruined in the heat). When roads are covered with trees, trucks can’t get in quickly to replenish. I always feel more comfortable with the staples on hand in my house – and stockpiling usually saves money anyway.
For example, in December Target had unbleached white flour on sale for $1.50 a 5lb bag. The others stores were on sale for $2. So I bought about 75 lb. Sounds like a lot, but that’s only $22.50. Not much money for an important staple. With my growing kids, and the amount of baking that I do, it won’t even last the year. But at least it will last a while. And I do use whole wheat flour as much as possible – I just like to mix it in with white, for tastier results. I get 50 lb sacks of wheat at a local Mennonite store for $28ish. Grind it at home. Having some basic food stored at home makes me feel about as good as money in the bank. Can’t eat money.
Your post makes a lot of sense!
So true. We always have tornadoes that never do much, but there was one ice storm.. we were without power for 14 days in freezing temps. Thanks to my mother-in-law, we were able to grill and griddle food to bring to the local church turned shelter. We only brought some desserts and sides, but without, there was some slim pickings for a while. It grows too after a few days. Most people have enough for 3-5 days, maybe a week, but after that…I really never thought in this day and age that was even a possibility for us in the middle of the country. So glad MIL had enough for her and 3 other families!
This just recently happened to me in North Dakota, too, right before a blizzard. Wal-mart was completely sold out of milk!
Hi Crystal, I’m in the same boat as the reader who asked the question. I have mastered the drugstore game and now mostly focus on looking for sales on grocery items and buying fresh food for our family of three. Appreciate your tips on keeping things simple…seems to really make a difference for us! I know you’ve said before that your family doesn’t use paper towels anymore, but I don’t recall seeing toilet paper, napkins or much other than food in your posts recently. Is that because you have a stockpile of those items or because you don’t include them in your posts on the blog? Thanks for everything you do to inspire your readers and help us to simplify and streamline our lives. I am so blessed by it!
Funny you should mention the tp, because I always wonder about that, too!
Would anyone who shops at a health foods store mind saying what the name of it is? Or how they found it? I do not know of any in the near vicinity that has markdowns like Crystal mentions. I live north of Austin and while I’m sure there are probably great ones in Austin and south Austin it doesn’t make sense for me to load up kids and drive 20 miles to *maybe* score a deal on marked down items. We have Sprouts but their prices are not at all competitive. HELP! 🙂
Have you tried calling around to your local store to see if they do markdowns? At the same time, though, markdowns are always a hit and miss thing, so I’d only stop by the store if you are already going to be in the area. Otherwise, you don’t want to waste time and gas in order to be disappointed.
After moving from a large city in TX to a much smaller town several states away,with honestly not one single health food store within 25 minutes, I have started using online sites for various items. Even with the shipping, it is cheaper for me to buy Bob’s Mill products (I get wheat bran and other flours) as well as protein powder, etc…from netrition.com (I’m sure there are many other sites that offer similar items). Obviously, I can’t get fresh produce this way, but I have found it helpful for various whole foods.
Hope that helps someone! 😉
I occasionaly buy food from amazon.com. I think that is where I got yeast from to make our bread. It has gone up from $3/jar to $6/jar so I checked online. For one pound of Red Star yeast it cost $10 including shipping. I can probably find it cheaper, but I was in a bind and that worked for me for the time being.
If you have a Sam’s Club or even a small wholesaler that sells primarily to restaurants, you can get a much better deal on yeast.
I buy yeast at Sam’s Club where it is only $6-$8 for (2) 1 pound packages. It is instant yeast and will keep in the freezer for a very long time. I keep the opened portion in a canning jar in the freezer and the unopened bag stays in the cupboard until I’m ready to open it. If you don’t have a membership, or don’t want to buy one, see if you can find a friend/relative who would pick up this item for you when they are shopping.
I find lovely produce markdowns at a nice Italian grocery–I don’t normally shop there because its too expensive, but I make a quick run in for their produce. There is a clearance table, and also the on-sale items are often buys. Plus, the quality is extremely good.
Check out farmers markets, Hispanic, international grocery stores. Produce and spices are super cheap at these places. At your grocery, it never hurts to mention to the produce manager that something is very ripe and to ask for a discount. I’ve learned that the more familiar you are with the people at your grocery, the more they will do for you.
I buy quite a bit of my healthier items from HEB (I live just south of Houston.). Here all of the HEBs have the Central Market products as well as their regular store brand items so you can get really cheap organic products.
We also have just 1 small health food/organic market and I have NEVER seen the kind of mark-downs Crystal reports. I learned that this is because when items get marked down, the employees snatch them up! There’s basically no chance shoppers will ever see truly fantastic deals because the workers get first dibs.
I’ve never thought to check an ethnic market – we have 1 hispanic market (but that’s it) so I’m going to check it out now!
And, honestly, I’d rather pay a little bit more from a local bricks & mortar business than order online anyway. I like to support the ‘little guys’ and I hope they’ll support my family’s business the same way!
Amy,
I’m in south Austin but I feel your pain. Here’s what I do:
Watch the sales and stack coupons at Sprouts (especially their quarterly gluten-free jubilee if you are gf), stock up when you can, and grab any decent loss-leads.
Do the same with Randall’s if you have one nearby, and look for loss-leads at HEB (they actually have good everyday prices on bagged organic potatoes, for example). Whole Foods lets you stack one mfg and one WF coupon per deal, and their house brands are relatively competitive (there is a WF in North Austin). I also hit Costco (there is one northish) once a month or so for organic and whole foods. I’ve joined a buying co-op for Bob’s Red Mill, Frontier, and other products available online. I also use our farmers’ market; this is the heart of grass-fed animal country so if you’re a carnivore, consider a cow-share, lamb-share, bulk bison, or other bulk meat purchase.
Good luck: Austin metro area is expensive. Cheapest store for produce is Fiesta, but there isn’t one near me.
I have recently decided to cut my shopping trips down to every two weeks. I currently work 4 days/wk and we live 30 minutes from the nearest (affordable) grocery stores, so a weekly shopping trip on my day off was taking more time than I wanted to spend. I’d rather spend an entire morning every other week and have the opposite week to be at home! I also started out with a lot of coupons but have cut back since now I mostly shop at Aldi’s and WalMart (using more price matches). My husband and I both have very busy schedules and we have a 5 year-old, so we still need convenience meals. I’m always on the lookout for meals that use more whole foods but are still fairly fast and easy to prepare. Any suggestions or websites you all use would be appreciated! Including toiletries, household items, and dog food our grocery budget is about $70-75 per week.
I have done the same thing this year. In the past, I have been able to find great deals. I was saving tons of money, but it was taking a lot more time than I wanted to spend. I started just trying to go shopping one day a week and no more. I buy healthier foods and my kids like it when I shop and cook this way. I am still trying to spend only $50 per week, and I do get some good deals but I limit my stocking up to $5 per week and just let the other deals go because I know there will always be more out there. Some weeks I may get more food than others, but it doesn’t take as much time. In the past I have stocked up on cereal that was 25 cents a box or other processed foods, but my family doesn’t like to eat packaged meals that you add meat to or even frozen stuff is not something they want. They are happy, I am happy and I have much more time.
We too have stopped using a lot of coupons for food. usually we try to buy mostly fruits and veggies and that is half of our weekly/monthly budget. I buy most of them at Costco or the local farmers market. I noticed that while I couponed more I got great deals on food, but our waste lines expanded and we were not eating great food. So now we eat better and buy shopping sales we still keep our budget low.
I still use coupons for things like cereal, pastas, and other good foods…mostly I coupon for household items. And we don’t use cleaning supplies as I make most of them.
I do the exact same thing! I usually only buy 1-2 papers a week so I never have multiple copies of coupons to stockpile a year’s worth. However, since household items often go on sale, I have a stockpile of about 3-4 per item of toothpaste, dishsoap, etc. I start looking out for deals when I’m down to 2 usually. I also buy these things if I absolutely need them with my extra bucks or up rewards.
For fruits and vegetables, I go to the ethnic grocery stores (we’re in Los Angeles so there are a lot of Hispanic and Armenian markets to choose from). The produce is SOOO cheap (6 pounds of bananas for $1 anyone?) so I’ll usually only pay around $8-10 for 2-3 weeks worth of produce. I usually cut up fruits and vegetables and freeze them in individual bags. This way, they’re ready to go and like my own personal stash of frozen fruits and veggies! Markdown bread is also a great buy because you can pop it right into the freezer!
I second this! I loved buying at ethnic food stores when I lived in Indianapolis and Philadelphia – the prices could not be beat. Also, these stores are often owned by first or second generation immigrant families and I like to support them with my business.
What ethnic markets did you frequent in Indy? I live just west and haven’t ever tried any of the ethnic markets.
I do this too. I also live in So Cal and do almost all of my produce shopping at the local hispanic market….so much cheaper than the other grocery stores and they have a one day produce sale every week that is amazing! Like 10lbs of onions for a $1 or 7lbs of cabbage!
I find similar deals at our year round farmer’s market (Bill’s Produce) in Pa. I can get 5lbs of bananas for 1.00. Last week I was able to get 10lbs bananas for 1.5o and 10lbs potatoes for 1.49. The only problem is trying to use all that food before it goes bad or attracts fruit flies.
@Jolene, where in Pa is Bills Market? I’m about 10miles east of Pittsburgh.
Schuylkill Haven, about 4 hours east of you. It’s a very small community market but man do they have good deals.
Just a tad out of my way lol 🙂 We usually find awesome prices at the ethnic stores downtown, but I’d love to find a local place like that, everything in our community is so darn commercialized!
I find a lot of good deals for produce at Amelia’s. Also, I don’t know if you’re close to a Sharp Shopper (sharpshopper.net), but I hear that’s a good one. My cousins buy their wheat berries in bulk there and say it’s a good sized bulk section. I’m hoping to check them out soon.