It hard to beat the feeling of buying something at the lowest possible clearance price. In fact, one of the only things that come close to it, in my opinion anyway, is getting a great SALE price on an item. Now, I really don't look for sales on items like clothing or other necessities. If I need a pair of jeans, I buy them even if they are not on sale. My shirts that I wear to work everyday and usually purchased, in bulk, at the end of the season clearance sale or online. Usually, when I am talking about items On Sale I am referring to the Grocery Store. A place where most of us have to go at least once a week. With the high price of gasoline I have been forced to try to save money in other areas and that why I started what I have been calling Stock Shopping.
Stock Shopping refers to buying non-perishable or freeze-able items in bulk when they are on sale. That way you get more bang for your buck. There are a couple guidelines that need to be considered when Stock Shopping. Since this is the introduction, I will list them below.
1. A few items, like some lunch meats or fresh fruits and vegetables have a short shelf life, so stock shopping for these items are near impossible. You will have to purchase them on a weekly basis.
2. When you first start Stock Shopping your budget will be a little high, but in the course of a month you will see it decrease for the better.
3. Most items go on sale about once every month, so when you stock shop try to buy at least one months worth. If you and your family eat 2 cans of green beans per week, and they are on sale this week, make sure you pick up at least 8 cans.
4. It's a good idea to keep a journal of when the items were on sale so you know the frequency. Just a small flip notebook will do, write down the date, the items you bought that were on sale and the sale price. This will also help when the store put on an even bigger sale on the item, you know to buy at least a couple weeks supply more. It is also a good idea to put down the regular price of the item so you know how much you saved. You can even use this as your grocery list when going into the store.
5. Get the Sunday paper. Go through all the grocery and drug store advertisements to find the best sales.
6. Any coupons you can use on top of the sale price is that much more in your pocket.
So what did I find this week during my Stock Shopping?
I must admit I love spring water. I know it's much cheaper to just drink water from the tap, but I just love the taste of spring water. I usually buy it at Sam's Club because of the bulk prices. I can get a 32 pack for around $4.79 before sales tax. That's 2 cases for $9.58 or about 15¢ per bottle. This week at Food Fresh they had Spring Brand spring water for $3.00 per case of 24 (Advertised as 3 for $9.00). That breaks down to 12.5¢ per bottle. Not a huge saving, but the best price I've seen in a long time. I bought 6 cases.
While I was there I found that they also had Peter Pan No Sugar Added Peanut Butter for $2.00 per jar (Advertised as 2 for $4.00). I usually pay $3.89 a jar for this at Food Lion. I picked up 4 jars and saved close to 50%!
These were the best deals I found this week. More to come next week. The paper comes out tomorrow and we'll see what good sales are going on.
Thanks for reading,
The King
