Do you engage in random chat at the grocery store? :The Grocery game challenge #5 May 26-June 1, 2014
FOOD IS A CONVERSATION PIECE
If you are a foodie the best random chat that you might ever get is while you grocery shop.
I’m pretty sure that if you think back you can say that you’ve either learned something from simple random chat at the grocery store or you’ve taught someone something that they didn’t know.
It’s amazing how people often look for someone to talk to while going up and down the aisles but it’s also apparently one of the best places to meet people and find true love.
I don’t know how true that is but my wife said if you want to find a single woman looking to date go to the grocery store or pharmacy (just stay away from the “woman section” if you know what I mean, ha-ha). That doesn’t make for a very good conversation starter.
If you are a woman looking for a date don’t miss out on dating opportunities with the best way to meet men being at Canadian Tire or any big box store. I had to laugh but maybe she is on to something.
When I grocery shop I don’t tend to talk with strangers because if you don’t know someone essentially they are a stranger to you but my wife is completely different from me. I’m not a shy person nor am I a grocery store snob I just don’t engage in random chat with people I don’t know if I don’t have to. I like to read my grocery list and although there are times I like to wander most times I get what I need and get out.
One of the worst places I get hit up is while I’m standing in the grocery line-up waiting to checkout. There always seems to be someone with a need to talk to someone and that usually is me. I must have that “talk to me” look that tells people he’s friendly.
I am really quite friendly, don’t get me wrong but I often wonder if food brings people together. It’s true that the “What’s for Dinner” thread is one of the most popular threads on the CBB Facebook page.
People love to talk about food and it’s no surprise that I do too because I’m a guy who loves to cook. I love to cook for my wife, family and friends and share recipes with fans that I’ve never met before but the random chat is some of the best chat when I learn something new.
Random chat experience
I’ve had little grannies look in my shopping cart and ask me how to cook a certain vegetable or even ask me what a certain product is. Last week a granny from the UK who has been in Canada for many years asked me to get her a jar of mint sauce from the top shelf. She was a tiny lady and as soon as I opened my mouth we ended up talking for about 20 minutes about living in the UK.
I found out she was from Lancashire and had lived in Canada for many years now. She had lost a bit of her accent but she asked me how long I’d been in Canada as my accent was very strong. No, granny was not trying to pick me up ha-ha, but was simply looking for someone to talk to and help her get her mint sauce.
Turns out I’d been in grannies neck of the woods back home and she reminisced about the good times she had growing up and how lamb was very popular for her. She was a bit shocked about the price of lamb in Canada and said it was very dear (not deer, ha-ha).
I didn’t disagree because lamb is pricey although she said something to me that really made sense, “If it’s a product that is good and worth it to me I’ll pay the money”. Interesting I thought because many people would just say, I’m not paying that much.
She told me that if she had to go to a restaurant to eat a lovely rack of lamb dinner it would cost her much more so it’s worth for her to pay a bit extra and make a lamb dish at home. Smart girl! Eating out does cost more than eating at home, all us grocery game fans know that much.
Not only that she gave me her full recipe rundown on how to cook lamb properly and why mint sauce was better than mint jelly. The best part was she told me where to get the best lamb that wasn’t too pricey in our area. My wife doesn’t fancy lamb but I would never turn my nose up to it. I grew up on lamb.
I know many seniors especially in our neighbourhood who no longer work and are home all day pop around to chat to us. It gets lonely sometimes when no one calls or comes to visit. That’s what one of our neighbours says of the retired life she leads now.
Food is love
So, there are good things that come from random chat in the grocery store from helping someone out. Most times it’s the grannies that like to strike up random chat with me sometimes but like my wife says the grocery store is a great place to find a date.
I will be honest and say that many women have stopped to chat to me although I think it’s my accent that gets them going. One girl just went nuts over my accent saying how sexy accents were and I think I turned a few shades of red.
I’m not used to that kind of treatment although it’s nice to know that the ladies fancy it. My wife just has a laugh at it all but tells me that if picking up a date at the grocery store is where it’s at engaging in random chat with someone is simple because food is love.
How many times does food come up in random chat conversations for you? Almost daily for me and that’s because people enjoy talking about food. Even my co-workers chat to me about food because I enjoy bringing in treats once in a while for the team. If you don’t have anything to say to someone talk to someone about food and I can almost guarantee you that the conversation will turn around fast.
Do you engage in random chat at the grocery store?
Have you learned something from someone from random chat at the grocery store?
Have you ever dated someone you met at the grocery store from random chat?
May grocery game challenge posts
If you missed any grocery game posts for the month I will post the line-up for the month each week here in this section for you. 
Check back next week when I post the May 2014 Grocery Game WINNER!!
- Do food pictures tempt you to buy the product? The grocery game challenge #1 April 28-May 4
- Does your meal plan include a new recipe each week?: The grocery game challenge #2 May 5-11, 2014
- Product strategy change may equal grocery savings: The grocery game challenge #3 May 12-18, 2014
- How a cooking skillet caused a customer to argue: The grocery game challenge #4 May 19-25, 2014
Grocery saving tips
Click, Save and Print. It’s that easy!
Free Money Saving Downloads are awesome lists that were created to get us on track to work towards reaching our budgeting goals and now we are sharing them with you.
I hope you take the time to get back on track and start the savings process in your grocery budget today.
Get organized with a FREE freezer inventory, meal plan, shopping list, price comparison list and much more all for FREE. CLICK HERE to download all the free lists and even our family budget spreadsheet for FREE.
NEW!! You can now download the FREE Canadian Budget Binder Budget Spreadsheet in Excel…Grab it while you can… It’s FREE! We use it to budget and in large part a reason we were able to pay our mortgage off in 5 years, check it out!
Ultimate grocery shopping guide
Everything you want to know about grocery shopping in Canada is below with new information added monthly.
If you missed a Grocery Game Challenge post some of the most popular posts are listed below or you can now find the posts listed on their own page called The Ultimate Grocery Shopping Guide.
If you know a topic that should be discussed send me an email and let me know.
Food food and more food
No Frills
- 2 x Watermelons Sale $2.97 each
- 2 x Romaine heart packs of 2 sale $1.47 each
Total out-of-pocket $8.88
Metro
- Tomatoes on the vine $3.01
- Organic Bananas reduced $0.29
- Sweet corn 2/$5.00 packs of 5
- White mushrooms $1.98
Total out-of-pocket $10.34
Food Basics
- Fresh ginger $0.66
- Burnbrae eggs large $1.97 dozen
Total out-of-pocket $2.63
Grocery shop results
Yearly grocery budget for two: $2820
(The above total does not include the stockpile budget of $240 per year or $20 per month.)
- Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $235.00 or $78.33 week with potentially one no-shop week per month or $58.75 for 4 weeks per month. (During the months with 5 weeks we just make it work)
- Total Budget for May $235.00-$20.89=$214.11/4=$53.52
- Total Coupons Used this Week : $0
- Total Coupons Used to date: $35.75
- Total Discounts this Week: $0
- Total Discounts Used to date: $5.54
- Total Gift Cards Used to date: $33.18
- Total Rewards Points Used: $0
- Total Rewards Points Used to date: $20.00
- Stockpile Budget ($20.00): $15.10 (extra lean beef)
- Stockpile Budget Used to Date: $20.00+$19.08+$17.94+ $2.06+$20.00+$15.10 (May)
- Total Spent This Week: $21.85
- Total Spent So Far May: $109.16+$76.59+ $16.02+$21.85=$223.62
- Total Over/Under spend this shop: over $9.51
- Total Over/Under spend for the month: over $9.51
- Total Left to Spend for the Month: $0
- Total to Carry Over Next Month: $-9.51
- Total Spent To Date This Year: (does not include stockpile budget) Jan $242.66+ Feb $191.74+ March $255.82+April $235.07+May $223.62
- Weekly Overview: We went over this month even though we tried not to. Notice that I didn’t put anything into the stockpiling budget this week as we really didn’t buy anything to stockpile. I didn’t want to use stockpile money to pay for regular groceries so I’ll be carrying over the money that we spent over budget to June. Not too bad I’m sure I can catch up. 🙂
Coupon Sleuth
Did you find any coupons? If so share the details in the comment section of this post where you found it and what the coupon is for with expiry.
We found a few coupons this week but not as many as usual so I don’t know with all the new coupon saving apps available if coupons are slowing down in Canadian supermarkets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Read the rules first and if you have any questions email me or comment on this post with your question and someone will answer you as soon as possible.
- Do I have to be Canadian to post my Grocery Shop?
No, you don’t have to be Canadian to post your shops only to win a monthly prize. We have fans who post their grocery shop who live all over the world.
- When does the Grocery Game close each month?
The Grocery Game Challenge closes at midnight of the last Sunday of the last post for the month. You can post your shops all month-long.
- Does your Grocery Budget include health and beauty and laundry products?
Yes our Grocery Budget includes such items as shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap, fabric softener, dish soap etc. We don’t mind stockpiling items that won’t be affected by expiry dates or have long expiry dates but not so much food any more. It’s just one way to help cut your budget to save money.
Here are your latest Coupon Match-ups of the week and your weekly Checkout 51 offers from 25 Newspaper Inserts around Canada compliments of Save Big Live Better that you can use to help you save money in the Grocery Game Challenge.
- What is an FPC?
An FPC is a free product coupon which means you can get a free product as described on the coupon.
You can find all your store coupon policies here. If you are not sure it’s always best to call the store and ask.
I can tell you about grocery shopping and what we do in terms of shopping to save money and how it works for us. There are no wrong or right answers, just smart choices.
Over time you will gradually learn where you should and shouldn’t go in the grocery store or at least how to say no, I’m on a budget I need to buy this or that.
You may also substitute items in order to stick to your grocery budget to make it work. Nobody is perfect, heck we struggle with this part of our budget like many people do.
This is why the grocery game challenge was created to not only show you that we are like everyone else but to bring us all together to work as a team to get our budgets on track.
If you have just joined The Grocery Game Challenge 2014 get ready to dive deep into your grocery budget and learn just where you are spending, how much you are spending and what you are saving.
Feel free to read all the above posts that I linked to above which I feel are relevant to learning about the grocery budget and grocery shopping in general.
You’ve made a wise decision to take control of your grocery budget now show me your shops and let’s get saving!
Welcome to The Grocery Game Challenge Canada 2014!
-Mr.CBB
Are You New To Canadian Budget Binder?
- Follow Me on Social Media: Twitter, Facebook , Pinterest , Stumble Upon, Reddit and Google+
- Check out my new Free Recipe Index
- If you like FREE then click this link for my FREE Excel Budget Spreadsheet and all my Free Money Saving Lists!
Photo Credit: Freedigitalphotos.net/Ambro
Hey Mr.CBB
Even though our laptop crashed and I wasn’t posting our shops I still kept track of what we spent and saved. I think I will always keep track! Then I can look back at the year and see how we did and if we can improve on anything or make adjustments as needed.
Our weekly budget is $125 a week making this month $500.
Costco
$10.99×2 60L soil
$7.59 Ziploc 4pk
$6.99 2pk 400g spray
$11.79 3pk large cheese rainbow tortellini
$5.31 4L homo milk
$55.15 total oop
Sobeys
$1×4 mushrooms
$3×2-$1Cx2 novelties
$1.31×2 2L ginger ale
$10.75 total oop
$2 total coupons
London Drugs
$4.99-$2C berio evoo
$3 total oop
$2 total coupons
Bulk Barn
$1.28 montreal steak spice
.47 chicken gravy mix
$1.64 taco seasoning mix
$1.16 garlic powder
.56 Italian seasoning
.87 Cajun seasoning
$1.64 ground nutmeg
.53 ground cinnamon
$3.48 gelatin powder
$1.27 sliced almonds
$1.06 hickory smoked almonds
.39 oregano
$11.40 total oop
$3 total coupons
Walmart
$3×3 400g cream cheese
$3.87 batteries
$9.97 8kg white rice
$1.94-$1C French’s onion salad topper
$2.97 3piece sponges
$27.10 total oop
$1 total coupons
Superstore
$2×2 vh teriyaki sauce
.99×2-.50CZC spicy KD
$1.49 sour gummies
$6.99×2 mexi mac and cheese bites
$25 BBQ bundle box
$1.67×3 granola bars
$44.50 total oop
$2 total coupons
$151.90 weekly total oop
$10 weekly total coupons
$499.71 monthly total oop
$55.75 monthly total coupons
yes soil isn’t part of the grocery budget but we had just enough to buy it so we did
Horray for being just under budget!!
Hi Juanita,
WOW you had some GGC catching up to do I see lol. That’s good though as I’m glad that you haven’t given up. The minute we stop it’s so much harder to get back on track. I’m proud of you. That’s great news you came in under budget for the month. It’s nice when that happens especially when you work so hard to make it happen. Did you mean to post this shop in a different GGC post as this one goes back to May and June? It seems so far away from your other shops. Have a look for me please. You get ballot 25. Mr.CBB Well done!
Yes! I totally engage in random conversation at the grocery store! I have et some of the most interesting people at the grocery store. I love talking to people about new dishes that they cook and ingredients that i may have no idea how to use. I also talk to a lot of people about coupons and price matching. Here is my shop for this week!
Sobeys
Pizza sauce 1.85
pepperoni 2.27
celery 2.99
romaine lettuce 3.00
red peppers 1.84
lean ground beef 7.21
total=19.16
no frills
apples 2.00
strawberries 2.00
raspberries 2.00
blueberries 2.00
bananas 1.48
total=9.48
walmart
milk 3.97
mayo 2.94
almond milk 2.97-1.25=1.72
gain laundry sheets (PM FB) 3.88X4=15.52-4X1.00 coupons=11.52
total=22.17
superstore
mousse 2.98-1.50 coupon=1.48 (1500 PC points)
conditioner 2.98-1.50 coupon=1.48 (1500 PC points)
shampoo 2.98-1.50=1.48 (1500 PC points)
conditioner 2.98-1.50=1.48 (1500 PC points)
total=6.65 (gained 6.00 worth of points)
target
huggies diapers 9.79X3=29.37-2.00X3=23.37-3.00X3=14.37 ( i also got 6.00 both on snapsaves!)
total=15.54
The diapers were such a fantastic deal!
Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $700
•Total Coupons Used this Week : $26.25
•Total Coupons Used This Month : $150.19
• Total Coupons Used this Year: $318.49
• Total Checkout 51 rebates this week: 1.00
• Total Checkout 51 rebates this month: 1.00
• Total Checkout 51 rebates this year: 2.00
Total snapsaves this week=6.00
• Total SCOP this week: $0
• Total SCOP this month: $4.28
• Total SCOP this year: $4.28
•Total Gift Cards Given Used this Week: 20.00
•Total Spent This Week: $=73.00
•Total Spent So Far for may: $619.96
•Total Left to Spend for the Month: $80.04
•Total to Carry over Next Month: I have 80 left from this month and 175 from last month! 🙂
Hi Joanne,
Wow, you are a little chatter box aren’t you. I often talk to people as well but if they ask me questions I will chat to them. The price of beef and celery sure is high. I remember seeing beef at Zehrs at it last week and the price was shocking. We don’t eat much beef though unless we score a great deal. Awesome score on the shampoo and conditioner… plus the PC Points!! 🙂 Could you explain the diaper deal to me what coupons you used please? Awesome shop this week… can’t wait to see how the rest of your month goes!! You get ballot 2. Mr.CBB
I work in customer service. So i love talking to people! And the celery i picked up that day was the organic celery which is why it was a bit higher….i find celery to be such a hit and miss so there are sometimes i will spend more because it just looks so much better than the stuff on sale somewhere else. Yes the shampoo and conditioner was a great deal! I actually plan on donating it as i use an organic shampoo for my hair. For the diaper deal i used a target coupon and a manufacturer coupon as you can use both! There were on clearance for 9.79. I had 3.00 manufacturer coupons and then from the target coupon booklet i had 2.00 coupons. I was then able to claim the diapers on snapsaves!
Where do you get Target booklets, in store? I’ve never seen one.I agree about the celery too and my wife is very picky about celery and fennel.It has to be big and worth the price or she won’t bother.
The big thing with the discounts is I counted when I got those two saucepans with the stickers I had saved. That makes it look so much more than the usual. The knives that were on offer for the stickers last year did the same thing. I lump the coupons and discounts together but if you look at things item by item you can see which is which.
Yes we shall see how the strawberries affect the budget but even if I go over for the month it will be worth it just for the taste. I worked it out one year roughly (we ate a couple of big bowls of the berries) and it came out between $1.50 and $1.75 per 500 ml jar for the jam. I added the cost of the berries, the bags of sugar, packs of Certo Light plus the new snap lids I used all together and divided by the number of jars I had.
Hubby has made wine in the past and he used to make his own beer too but doesn’t anymore as he shouldn’t be drinking it what with his health and such. The younger boy made dandelion wine last year, just a small batch but it was very labour intensive!!! We will see how it tastes next month….I’ll get back to you on that one!!
That’s pretty darn good for price since you are making homemade jam if you ask me. Does your son eat the dandelions? My wife loves them in a salad with oil and vinegar.. salt and pepper.
So here is the last week of shops for the month of May. Sorry it took so long but that’s the way it goes here sometimes.i think you will be pleased with how I managed. The older boy had an appointment in Stratford so I was able to sneak a fast run through No Frills and do a little price matching.
Foodland, May 23
8 tomato soup @2/1.00 -4.00
1 12pack water -1.00
1 can pineapple slices -1.19
2 Powerade @1.66 -3.32
Bananas -1.03
1 anniversary card -1.75
1 lb margarine -1.79
1 jar pickles -1.79
2 W/W bread @2.00 -4.00
1 sour cream -2.00
1 bagel -2.99
3 lb ground pork @3.00, 3X50% stickers -4.50
1 Oktoberfest sausage -3.00
Grated Parmesan cheese -3.62
1 lb butter -4.19
1 taco kit -4.25
2 4l milk @4.79- 9.54
Tax -.76
Total -$57.25, 4.50 discounts
Foodland, May 25
2 Alcan foil @2.00 -4.00
Tomatoes -1.22
1 yogurt -3.99
1 4l milk -4.79
1 jug water -5.49
Tax -.52
Total $20.01
No Frills, May 27
1 10kg flour -7.49
1 6 pack Powerade -3.97
1 chocolate bar -2.19
1 pack SOS pads -1.00, PM to FB
1 Ziplock freezer bags -3.27
2 4l milk @3.97- 7.94
2 frozen stir fry veggies @2/5.00- 5.00, PM to Sobey’s
1 taco kit -3.00, PM to FB
2 tomato paste @.40- .80
1 pack pasta -1.99
6 KD @3/2.00- 4.00
1 cranberry cocktail -2.97
2 lb butter @3.87 -7.74
2 bagels &1.97- 3.94
2 W/W bread @3.28- 6.56, 50% stickers -3.28
2 ham steaks @2.00- 4.00
2 green onions &.57- 1.14
1 celery -1.47
Bananas -1.00
2 tortellini @2.00- 4.00
2 shaving cream @2.00- 4.00, 3X1.00 coupons
2 dental floss @2.99- 5.98
1 body lotion -4.99
Tax -3.30
Total -$86.16, 2.00 coupons
Total budget for month -$650.00, $162.50 week
Total coupons/discounts for week -$9.78
Total spent this week -$163.72
Total spent for month -102.53+191.54+189.91+163.72=$647.70
Total over/under for week -over 1.22
Total over/under for month – under 2.20
Left for month -N/A
Total coupons/discounts for month -3.50+96.98+3.00+9.78=$113.26
Total carry over to next month -N/A
Total YTD -J$653.06+F$594.21+M$633.19+A$672.42+M$647.70=$3684.56
Stockpile -$25.00, $13.98 spent
So there we are. I was over very slightly for the week but under for the month! That first week was a big help as I was under quite a bit that week. I managed a couple of trips in to No Frills and still came in under. There is still stockpile funds there too. All in all it was a good month and I’m happy to come in under budget for the month by however little! Next month will be the next challenge as the strawberries will be ripe soon enough and I will buy a lot so I can make jam to get us through the winter. The stuff you make is always better than the jars to buy…. The boys will be helping to pick as always do they get to eat the berries as well. They want the jam they help pick..simple as that. Hubby wanted to make strawberry wine one year and actually thought I would be the strawberries for him, didn’t happen. I told him flat out you want the berries you pick them. He didn’t care for that one!!
Hi Christine,
You seem to like those trips to No Frills and I can understand why. It’s too bad your town only has the one grocery store. You went over slightly but under for the month which is what I thought would happen for you. You were left with a good amount of money for your last shop and I would have been shocked if you used it up because I know the way you shop now. Your coupons and discounts for the month were huge. I had a look at ours for the year and we are not doing as well as we have in recent years although I’m not tracking pink sticker discounts etc just coupons and in-store coupons although. I look forward to seeing how you make out in June with the strawberries. I’m sure you will make it work somehow. We make our own apple spice jam/jelly every year although we didn’t last year because we were well stocked up. You are right it tastes 100% better. Ha, good call. You want the berries, you pick them. Making wine is a process in itself and not for me. You can see the price differences between the two stores with your tomato paste and taco kits. Did your taco kits come with any promos on them? Keep up the great work!! You get ballot 28. Mr.CBB 🙂 Happy June shopping.
I shop for 2 adults and a 3 ½ year old boy. Our budget is $85/week or $425 for this month and includes laundry, health/beauty, etc.
RCSS
Campbell’s soup (PM GT) 4 x $.50
Kraft BBQ sauce (PM FB) 4 x $.88 – 2 x $1.00 wub2
Smucker’s jam (PM Metro) 6 x $2.00 – 6 x $1.00 coupons
Frosted Flakes $3.98 – $.50 coupon (earned 1000 bonus PC plus points)
Sugar Crisp cereal (PM Target) $2.44
Milk $3.97
Almond milk (PM WM) 4 x $2.97 – 4 x $1.25 coupons
Uncle Ben’s wild rice $3.00
Potato Thins 2 x $1.67
Premium plus crackers $2.50
Gay Lea butter (PM) $2.88 – $2.00 coupon
Bagels $3.37 – 50% pink sticker (-$1.69)
Bread (PM NF) 2 x $2.00 – $.25 CO51
Grapes (PM) $.65
Cucumber (PM) $.77
Asparagus (2) (PM) $3.33
Romaine salad $1.99 – $.75 coupon
Baby carrots (PM) $.99 – $.50 Zweet
Potatoes $3.49 (earned 600 bonus PC plus points)
Bananas $1.27 – $.50 Zweet
Magazine $3.49
Coupons $16.25
Rebates $1.25
OOP $57.06
Total Grocery Amount Budgeted For the Year: $4,420 ($85/week) + Meat order $172.85/month for 9 months $1555.65=$5975.65 for the year including the meat order.
• Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $425 – $50.43 (over from last month) =$374.57
• Total Coupons Used this Week: $16.25
• Total Coupons Used This Month: $62.93
• Total Coupons Used this Year: $534.85
• Total rebates this week (Checkout 51, Snapsaves, CartSmart, zweet): $1.25
• Total rebates this month (Checkout 51, Snapsaves, CartSmart, zweet): $12.00
• Total rebates this year (Checkout 51, Snapsaves, CartSmart, zweet): $108.50
• Total SCOP this week: $0
• Total SCOP this month: $1.50
• Total SCOP this year: $6.50
• Total Gift Cards Given Used this Week: $0
• Total Gift Cards Used this year: $270.84
• Total Reward Points Used this week: 0
• Total Reward Points Used this year: 0
• Total tax free day this week: $0
• Total tax free day this month: $14.00
• Total tax free day this year: $46.29
• Colleague Discount (this year): $11.08
• Total Spent This Week: $57.06
• Total Spent So Far for this month: $384.95
• Total Over/Under spent for the month: Over $10.38
• Total Left to Spend for the Month: N/A
• Total to Carry over Next Month: N/A
• Total Spent To Date This Year: $1826.36
Weekly overview: I did well this week and this month considering I was trying to make up a $50 deficit. This month I am only over $10.38 which I think is pretty darn good considering 🙂 lol. My dad in the last 2 weeks has earned me 27,000 bonus PC plus points (that’s $27.00 in free groceries)! He uses my key tag card when he goes as he does not collect the points. I have $212.00 worth of points saved up right now and I just used $20 worth a few days ago to buy a gift card for someone as a “thank you” 🙂 My dad also has a petro points card in my name and earns those for me as well 🙂
Wow you’re lucky your dad helps you out like that and doesn’t want the points lol. My parents likely would keep the points for themselves lol. Where were the BBQ Sauce coupons from? Great deal on them. You had a coupon for romaine lettuce too, wow. I’ve never heard of that one. You did well this month. Now you have to keep up the pace for June and see if you can keep it going. Well done Jen! You get ballot 26. You’re on your way.. don’t give up.
Dad wouldn’t collect them on his own so I always just ask him to do it for me. He also saves all of his grocery receipts for me and I check them over to see if I can use them for any of my cash rebate apps 🙂 BBQ sauce coupons were from kraftcanada.com, the romaine coupon was from Dole from a product complaint a while back 🙂
Does Kraft Canada send out coupons?
Stay away from the women’s section – Hilarious mate, and I couldn’t agree more.
I can picture it now – So how are those lady items going for you?
Oh yeah.
I like them too…
lol, i’m still laughing.
Your response made me literally LOL!
And ah, okay about the pharmacy thing. I think of like those street corner pharmacy’s where you go when you’re sick to run in/run out.
I thought that’s what you thought i meant. Ya, that’s not the best place to “find love” haha while you’re picking up your meds lol.
Sometimes we stop quickly to pick up a few things at the grocery store and I stay in the car because it’s literally 3 – 4 things we need. But I always have to remind hubster, no eye contact. He always meets people he knows and chats away, but if we’re in a hurry to get somewhere or get home, we don’t want to be social then. Otherwise, If I’m in not hurry, I have a little chin wag in the aisle, no problem. Of course, people are always having to go around you or you have to back up your cart. Sometimes I feel like some people don’t like you being social in the grocery aisle!
That’s hilarious, no eye contact lol. A friend of ours is like him. She chats to everyone and anyone and it drives her husband nuts. lol.
I find that when I go shopping women really liked knowing everything about kiwi fruit. 🙂
Why hangout at the pharmacy though?
So you are the kiwi fruit man haha…. women love shopping at our local Shoppers Drug Mart and other Pharmacies that offer food and health and beauty pretty much everything. I didn’t mean just a pharmacy with medications. I probably should have made that clear.
I engaged in a random chat with a woman at Safeway this week… she initiated it. We were both picking up the Lucerne eggs that were on sale and she commented on the fact that they had a long expiry date but were still on sale. She had a fistful of flyers and we got talking about the only way to control the cost of groceries was to shop the “loss leaders”. That brought me to tell her about the horrible state of the cantelopes on sale at RCSS. I told her that she could save herself a trip if that’s what she was going for because they looked like they had been recycled from the dumpster! I shared that I did get 3 loaves of Old Mill bread there for $5 though. I also shared that the asparagus and green onions at IGA, notorious for being the most expensive store in town, were very nice & were the best price in town this week. We agreed that we both used to be die hard Save On Foods shoppers but that we simply could not afford to shop there exclusively anymore. I also mentioned that I found the quality of the Save On Foods meat department had gone down hill but by the same token that since the Sobey’s buy-out… the fruit and veggies at Safeway were falling down too in terms of quality. I didn’t learn anything new but it’s nice to know that others have to work just as hard as I do in order to control the grocery budget! 🙂
You know Mary now that you mention it we have been watching the sales at Metro lately because they have what we feel is the best produce of the grocery stores in our area but very pricey. We would rather spend a few more cents to get an A grade produce over something like those cantelopes you talk about. I know what you are getting at. We are really watching those loss leaders but some of them could cost more if they end up in the trash.
MAY – Week #4 of 4- May 26-June 1, 2014
2014 GROCERY BUDGET / STOCKPILE BUDGET AND US RESERVE:
•Total Grocery Budgeted For Year: $142.50 x 12 = $1,710.00 for 2 adults
•Total Stockpile Budgeted For Year: $47.50 x 12 = $570.00 for 2 adults
•Combined Grocery Budget for 2013: $190.00 x 12 = $2,280.00
=============================================================================================
REMARKS FOR THE WEEK:
Hubby and I chatted this past weekend and have decided to hold off on our next American grocery shop until our weekend away in June.
Our reasoning:
First of all, I don’t urgently NEED anything but even more important, I can bring back twice the dairy products if I have hubby is me…we are each entitled to bring back $20.00 worth.
Secondly, I have oodles of coupons for 6 cents off per litre for gasoline at the Safeway in Mission… so we’ll still get “somewhat” less expensive gas until our trip across the line.
The third reason is that the weather is supposed to be raining on the day I had planned to go. I don’t know about you but the thought of humping groceries out to the car in pouring rain is not my idea of a good time. Hubby teases me that I am just a sugar cube… sweet but I melt in the rain! LOL
The fourth reason… and probably the biggest contributing factor is that there were a few sales this week that I just couldn’t pass on… so we are going to reduce our funds available for US shopping by $90.00 to cover our over-spending in Canada this month.
We also talked about holding off on the “borscht run” until 2015 and making it the final leg of a summer vacation. As a result, we’ll easily be able to top up the US Reserves in our June budget, before our trip, by redirecting some of the other reserves to the US shopping. 🙂
Good news on the grocery front…we nabbed another rain check at Safeway this week! I got hubby a rain check for some nice Italian sausage buns that he can use for his hot dogs. When we do get the Hebrew National hot dogs in the US… he’s got rain checks for his green relish and his buns to use with them. It will be break out the barbecue time at our house! Ha ha ha!!!
=============================================================================================
OUR “CANADIAN” SHOPPING THIS WEEK:
RCSS – Pitt Meadows
3 x Old Mill Whole Wheat Bread (3 for $5.00) = $5.00
4 x Clubhouse Italian Dip pkg (4 for $3.87) = $3.87
2 x Purex Double 24 rolls TP @9.48 ea = $18.96
GST $0.95
PST $1.33
•Total OOP: $30.11
• Grocery Budget OOP: $30.11
• Stockpile Budget OOP: $0.00
• Cash Hiding Spot: $0.00
** Earned 4,000 PC.Plus Points on this shop **
—————————————————————-
IGA – Pitt Meadows
1 x bunch Asparagus $2.49
2 x bunches Green Onions (2 for $0.88) = $0.88
•Total OOP: $3.37
• Grocery Budget OOP: $3.37
• Stockpile Budget OOP: $0.00
• Cash Hiding Spot: $0.00
——————————————————–
Safeway – Maple Ridge
3 Barilla GF Pasta ($8.97-$3.99 L. Svgs)=$4.98 –(3 x .50 Cpn)=$3.48
2 x Lucerne Large Eggs ($6.78-$2.78 Loyalty Savings) – $4.00
2 x 907g peeled carrots ($7.78 – $2.78 Loyalty Svgs) = $5.00
•Total OOP: $12.48
• Grocery Budget OOP: $12.48
• Stockpile Budget OOP: $0.00
** Earned 2 Air Miles on this shop **
** USED $1.50 in Tear Pad Coupons **
** SAVED $9.55 Loyalty Savings on this shop **
=============================================================================================
OUR “US RESERVE” SHOPPING THIS WEEK:
NO USA SHOPS UNTIL JUNE 29th
=============================================================================================
2014 Y-T-D GROCERY SAVINGS:
•Total Loyalty Card Price Reductions This Year:
Jan $81.89 + Feb $48.32 +Mar $0.00 +April $22.88 +May $44.18 = $197.27
•Total Coupons Used This Year:
Jan $2.58 + Feb $7.18 +Mar $0.00 + April $9.20 +May $20.19 = $39.15
•Total Price Match Savings Used This Year:
Jan $0.00 + Feb $0.00 +Mar $0.00 + April $0.00 +May $5.31 = $5.31
•Total More Points Earned This Year:
Jan 0 + Feb 0 +Mar 11 + April 0 + May 5 = 16 Points
•Total Air Miles Earned This Year:
Jan 456 + Feb 584 +Mar 0 + April 4 + May 125 = 1,169 Air Miles
•Total Thrifty’s Points Earned This Year:
Jan 25 + Feb 15 +Mar 0 + April 0 + May 39 = 79 Points
•Total PC PLUS Points Earned This Year:
Jan 0 + Feb 0 +Mar 650 + April 0 + May 5400 = 6,050 Points
•Total Optimum Points Earned This Year:
Jan 0 + Feb 0 +Mar 0 + April 0 + May 30 = 30 Points
=============================================================================================
2014 Y-T-D GROCERY SPENDING:
•Total OOP Year-To-Date:
Jan $167.06 + Feb $155.74+ Mar $105.76 + April $145.56 + May ($12.50 borscht+$20.00 Xmas+$15.88 to US Reserve+$17.50 to re-stocking $14.00+$16.96+$43.97+2.92+7.99+10.95+4.58+$5.96+$3.76+$2.49 +$2.96+$30.11+$3.37+$12.48= $228.38) = $802.50
•Total Year-To-Date Grocery Budget:
Jan $142.50+ Feb $142.50+ Mar $142.50 + April $142.50 + May ($142.50+$90.00) = $802.50
•Total Over/Under on Year-To-Date Grocery Budget: $0.00 AVAILABLE
=============================================================================================
2014 Y-T-D STOCKPILE SPENDING:
•Total Stockpile OOP Year-To-Date:
Jan $47.50+ Feb $47.50+ Mar $47.50 + April $47.50 + May $47.50 = $237.50
•Total Year-To-Date Stockpile Budget:
Jan $47.50 + Feb $47.50 + Mar $47.50 + April $47.50 + May $47.50= $237.50
•Total Over/Under Year-To-Date Stockpile Budget: $0.00 AVAILABLE
=============================================================================================
2014 RE-STOCKING RESERVE:
•Total 2014 Re-Stocking Budget:
2013 Fwd $125.00+Jan $17.50+Feb $17.50+Mar $17.50 + April $17.50 +May $17.50= $212.50 AVAILABLE
=============================================================================================
2014 Y-T-D BORSCHT RESERVE:
•Total 2014 Borscht Stockpile Budget:
2013 Fwd $275.00+Jan $12.50+Feb $12.50+Mar $12.50 + April $12.50 +May $12.50= $337.50 AVAILABLE
=============================================================================================
2014 Y-T-D HOLIDAY SEASON RESERVE:
•Total 2014 Borscht Stockpile Budget:
2013 Fwd $0.00+Jan $20.00+Feb $20.00+Mar $20.00 + April $20.00 +May $20.00= $100.00 AVAILABLE
=============================================================================================
• TOTAL SPENT Year-To-Date:
$802.50 Grocery Budget
$10.00 Safeway Cash Card
$237.50 Stockpile Budget
$80.00 Cash Repayment from neighbor
$24.27 Costco Rebate Cheque
$250.00 Safeway Gift Card =
$1,404.27
$950 may have been budgeted for JAN to MAY ‘2014 but we have these funds already accounted for and not yet spent:
$212.50 Freezer Re-Stocking Fund
$337.50 Borscht Fund
$100.00 Holiday Season Fund
TOTAL UNUSED RESERVES $650.00 … that is a $400.00 carry-forward from 2013 and $250.00 in NEW 2014 savings.
So, if you look at the $1,404.27 calculation that we have spent in 2014 and subtract the $250.00 we have actually saved in our “reserves” and the $59.42 we have recorded as spent but is actually set aside for future USA grocery shopping… we have actually spent $1,094.85!! That is $144.85 over the $950.00 we budgeted for January through May.
Fortunately we have 6 weeks of vacation time still coming in 2014 when I use our “vacation funds” instead of the “grocery budget”. That’s a dollar value of $285.00 so that $144.85 will easily be absorbed and we’ll get back on track so long as I really watch the spending over the next 7 months!
=============================================================================================
REMAINING GROCERY FUNDS FOR MAY:
CANADIAN $’s
Groceries: $0.00
Stockpile: $0.00
Cash Hiding Spot: $0.00
Safeway Cash Card $0.00
US $’s
Our Reserve: $149.42 – $90.00 = $59.42
US Cash Hiding Spot: $0.00
=============================================================================================
The valid rain checks I hold are as follows:
Thrifty Foods:
6 loaves 100% WW bread @ $1.00 (Good until July 28th)
4 Compliments Sweet Green Relish @ $1.00 each (Good until July 28th)
12 Heinz 1.36 L Can of Tomato Juice @ $1.99 each (Good until Aug 9th)
Safeway:
1 Schwartz’s Smoked Sliced Meat Pouches 500 g $8.99
(Good until Aug 17th)
1 Schwartz’s Smoked Sliced Meat Pouches 500 g $8.99
(Good until Aug 18th)
2 Coast-to-Coast Italian Sausage Buns – 8 pack $2.49
(Good until Aug 24th)
=============================================================================================
Hi Mary,
No I don’t fancy grocery shopping when it’s raining out either and making a trip over in the rain is less than desirable I’d imagine. I think it’s smart that you wait especially since you clearly have many reasons to. If the deals aren’t worth the trip there’s no point going. I think you picked up some great deals this week and some awesome PC Points were put in your account. We are really starting to like the PC Points plus program which is based off the Shoppers Optimum program. Since they bought SDM they figured they keep the programs similar in nature I guess. Well done on the rain checks. I need to pick up some tomato juice next time it’s on sale too so I can make more tomato soup.. (risotto lol) I’ll keep the rice out next time but it really was good.
So, the Borscht is going to happen in 2015 now which seems to work for the both of you. We went over as we thought we would this month but we didn’t use the entire stockpile budget. I really want to try harder next month. I was saying to Jen it’s great when sales pop up but if we are going overboard on sales every month and the budget goes over we have to either up the budget or say no we don’t need 4 of something because it’s on sale. Sticking to the budget is what it’s all about and there will always be another sale down the road. I know easier said than done but I hope we can make some changes to reach our goals instead of being over because we feel we are missing out on a great deal. You get ballot 25. Keep up the awesome shopping! Mr.CBB