Hi, my name is Cassie & I'm a convenienceaholic.
I used to be the queen of a great deal! I never bought ANYTHING at full price. I searched out the best deals & bought only the things on my list. If I ever did add a "want" to my cart, I usually thought my way out of buying it by the end of the shopping trip. In those days I found it appalling to think that ANYONE would shop at a store like IGA or Harps. You know the kind of store I'm talking about...that small town grocery store where a $3 package of toilet paper sells for $5.95...ON SALE! Admit it, you've all shopped there. You think if you walk fast and don't make eye contact no one will ever know you were there!
That was then...
I must admit, over the last 6 months or so I became one of "those" people. To be fair to myself, my "habit" grew more out of necessity than convenience. Sometimes walking to the back wall of Wal-Mart for a gallon of milk and a pound of deli meat was just to much for my chemo riddled body to take. Well, I'm 3 months cancer free, and that excuse just won't fly anymore!
That's why I've decided to join CSA. (Convenience Shoppers Anonymous) Step 1...admit that I have a problem & admit to myself (and others...you) that my problem has made my budget unmanageable.
So, a few days ago I went to Wal-Mart to pick up the ingredients for taco soup.
2 pounds ground beef - $3.04
1 can of GV black beans - $1.12
1 can ranch style beans - .87
1 can GV chili beans - .59
1 can rotel - .87
1 pkg GV taco season - .33
1 package Hidden Valley dressing mix - .89
1 bag Frito's - $2.00
1 8oz block cheese - $1.87
If you can't add as you go...that's a grand total of $11.58 for a giant pot of taco soup. Not bad at all. Well, today I had to run into Harps for the preschool. While I was there I decided to use my Wal-Mart receipt to compare prices. I knew in my head how things would come out, I just needed to see it on paper (you know...step 1) Here's how it shook down...
2 Pounds Ground beef - $6.01
1 can black beans - $1.69
1 can ranch style beans - $1.29
1 can chili beans - .87
1 can rotel - $1.18
1 pkg taco season - .69
1 pkg dressing mix - $1.79 (OMG!)
1 bag Frito's - $3.99
1 8oz block cheese - $2.59
That's a grand total of $20 dollars and 10 cents! Can you believe that! A full 100% mark up! To be honest I had to re-add it after I saw the first total...I thought there was no way the mark-up could be that much. WRONG!
To tell the truth, I can skip the other 11 steps...I am a changed woman! No amount of convenience is worth those prices!
I've been a bargain hunter my whole life and still am--why throw our hard earned money away? Loved your blog posting--made me laugh all the way through it!
ReplyDeleteWow! That is a huge difference! Good job! =)
ReplyDeleteok so you just ruined my whole day. We just moved into Farmington and now IGA is just two blocks away from our house, we thought "oh its going to be so nice to just run down there when we need something." I knew it was a little more expensive but have never added it up. I have probably spent a ton of money there in the last year without realizing just how much less I could have spent. Of course if I would plan ahead for meals it wouldn't be a problem because I do my planned shoping at Walmart. oh well, Thanks for opening my eyes!
ReplyDeleteNow you gotta go compare it to Aldi! It'll probably be half the price of Walmart. I've cut our grocery budget in half in the past year by shopping at Aldi weekly and only going to Wally world once a month and Sam's every two or three months. Go me!
ReplyDeleteI shop at Harp's purely for convenience. A few things here and there "never major shopping". For me I feel like I'm sticking it to Walmart in my own little way, I guess I'm just really sticking it to me. I don't think they raise their prices so much, but that walmart really has the ability to get stuff soooo much lower. They are "the" place to shop!
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