We do have an embarrassment of riches at our city groceries, though I still choose specialty stores, stores for meat and stores for produce. Only one place stocks my laundry and dish soap. I only do Sam’s Club once a year for yeast an anything else I can find that we need in bulk. We’re urban, so don’t have storage facilities for six months of toilet paper and paper towels.
Right now, even in this economy, I have the luxury to buy steak once a week. A few weeks ago I was at a specialty store and ran across apples. Now, Jim likes to have an apple in his work bag and is fitted out with a cutting board and knife. He always likes trying different varieties, so Jazz was being promoted. I picked two large apples, printed out the price tag and it was $2.98! He didn’t even like them. And yes, I was not pleased with the price but it was a small experiment, $3 well spent.
Shopping in the light is great, given access to what to manufacturers call “downsizing,” yes that’s making your cereal box or candy bar smaller to keep the price the same to keep them making money.
Shopping in the dark is what this is becoming, unless consumers look at the volume of goods delivered. How many times do you look at that tag on the shelf? I’m buying white beans. The international brand is $.45. The store brand is $.38 and looks puny and old. I spend the extra seven cents. Now if I were to use them as pie weights, I’d buy the store brand, as they can never be used for food once they’ve blind-baked a crust.
Shopping in the dark after Hurricane Ike was creepy. I found myself loading up on things I didn’t need, just because they were there. I still checked out with under 15 items. It’s a very interesting experience I hope you won’t ever have to go through. Dee
Cooking with Dee 