Grocery shopping

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paradox3 said:
What rules do you have about coyotes? Those things worry me quite a bit. A school in Brampton is keeping kids inside right now because a coyote has been hanging around the yard.
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In my town an elementary school near our local mountain kept the kids after school because of a report of a cougar prowling the back lanes near the school. Cougars are attracted to the large herds of deer that roam through town. Once a moose cow even led her calf down a main street!
 
Mystic said:
In my town an elementary school near our local mountain kept the kids after school because of a report of a cougar prowling the back lanes near the school. Cougars are attracted to the large herds of deer that roam through town. Once a moose cow even led her calf down a main street!
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Yeah, a cougar is a different story. A few weeks ago there was a warning to one of the bedroom communities.
 
Has anyone else changed their shopping habits due to price increases?
I find myself passing up certain things now and substituting something else or just not buying it. An example was celery. I went quite awhile without it and just left it out of soups etc. Surprised it didn't make much difference. I found not-so-fresh last time for $4. This was the lowest. I passed on eggs too.
 
We wanted to go more vegan meals and meat prices provide an incentive. Pass up fruits and vegetables that are more expensive than we care to pay. We buy much less lettuce, cauliflower, and some other vegetables. We try to be more attentive to eating what we do buy before it goes bad. There are expensive items we do buy because they are essentials for us like goat and vegan dairy products.
 
I do a Costco shopping trip every six weeks or so ( or if I have to go to the city anyway). Produce is much less expensive there. I make a point to watch more closely to use things up before they go bad.
My son’s chickens, which are laying extra large eggs, are paying off his loan ( from BOM-Bank of Mom). I don’t eat that much meat anyway. Costco has less expensive cheese, so I stock up on it, too.
 
We have never done the Costco thing. Honestly the location near us must be ridiculously crowded. Any time I have driven by there are cars backed up onto the streets around it. Pretty much the same scenario as when gas prices drop.
 
I spent almost $200 today. I try to do a big shopping about every third week. Adding to my expenses, though, is the fact that I buy junky things the grandkids would like (pizza pockets, chicken nuggets). And I try to buy sale items: coffee was on sale today. I also buy according to the points I'll get at NoFrills. Today I also bought a few new items because my husband has finally decided to cut down on sugar, and white bread.
 
Are pizza pockets products of the unconscious mind as desires are implanted there ... brainlessly? Maybe just graft ...
 
My husband asked me to pick up frozen Pink Lemonade last week. They didn't have any so he ended picking some up.

We talked about prices. Anywhere from $1.59 to $1.89 for normal brand. A bit less for no name.

Today's Giant Tiger flyer has it for $.77. great sale.

The challenge is only those with freezer capacity can take full advantage

I find Giant Tiger has great sales. We take advantage of them, but i have storage. A privilege
 
Giant Tiger is on the other side of town for me, whereas NoFrills is a 10 minute walk away, or on my way to and from driving anywhere. However...a Giant Tiger is moving into the neighbourhood by summer. Oh happy day!
 
We definitely have changed what we buy. A lot less fresh fruit, it used to be we would buy what was a good price unless we really had something specific in mind, now I find for fresh fruit it's often nothing. Walmart has started selling limited time frozen fruit. Enjoyed dragon fruit for a while, more recently it's been a mix of fairly sour berries. I put them in drinks and eat the berries with a spoon.

I never really really bothered to hit the grocery stores on the 1 day a month there was a discount. Save On yesterday had that along with their $1.49 day. People in the community were really happy with the $1.49 day they had last week, so I decided to go. I didn't hit the $50 minimum to get the 15% off. I was happy with what I did get but couldn't find the pork tenderloin they had included in the sale. Going during the day the store was quiet enough too, even with the sale. What was startling to me though was the prices of things not included and some things that were. Many items were $9-10 that I think of as being $5 or less, The grapes as an example were $13 without a card (under $4 with). Being in the store inflation really became more obvious, last time I was in that particular location was when things first started shutting down, 2020 during the immunocompromised hour when I went to get a bottle of a cleaning product - couldn't buy them online at the time.

I might start shopping there a bit more, they do curbside too but I never bothered because the regular priced items are typically more so the few cheaper items didn't seem worthwhile. Now though with prices varying so much I might start, I need to figure out their curbside pricing though, I know the 15% discount once a month doesn't apply sadly. I might need to go in person for the sales.

Costco we go to so rarely now. Wasn't a super regular trip prior to 2020 about once or twice a month. A agree they usually have good produce, but it's always busy. Again with what grocery prices are though something like instacart may make sense, a few years ago it was cheaper just to use other places curbside.
 
I shop mostly at the IGA. They are the smallest grocery store in town but they have the basics most of the time. Our meals are usually pretty basic so it works for us. We do a big shop monthly when they have a 10% off day. Yesterday we saved over $30 so we find it worthwhile. Frugality is the norm for us. Occasional extras get picked up as needed -sometimes from the Co-Op or No Frills.
 
Is anyone finding there are a lot of discontinued products lately? Some are highly processed foods, but I'm finding a number of staples too. Canned veggies that are no longer available under a particular brand for one. Canned beets that are not pickled - I tried a few stores, couldn't find them in any brand. Amazon does carry some, but pricy..
 
I get no name canned beets at NF all the time. I use them to make a borscht-themed jellied salad.

Dog food has really increased in price.
 
BetteTheRed said:
I get no name canned beets at NF all the time. I use them to make a borscht-themed jellied salad.

Dog food has really increased in price.
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Thanks, NF is further away than superstore but I will give them a try sometime.
Wait - are they pickled? That's all that came up doing a search and that picked up stores across Canada.
 
JayneWonders said:
hey chemgal, i was interested, as when i searched i found similar challenges.

I tried sliced beets and got hits.

here is an example: Save-On-Foods

Hope you got some.
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Thanks, no luck with my usual grocery order places. I plan on going shopping in-store at least one place this week though, and it looks like there are other likely options if that doesn't pan out for the beets.
 
We made it through the winter, and now, we will soon be having fresh local produce.
Spring eats include rhubarb, fiddleheads and asparagus.

Do you do any u-pick? Where do you buy your produce.

I've found lately that I am using Loblaws 50% off products more & more. I review the vegies, and see what is marked down that I can buy to cook with, or put into a salad. I buy almost all my meat at 50% off, ditto for break/baking.
 
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