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  Bargain Gourmet: Finding Gourmet Quality Groceries at Bargain Prices

Living Gourmet on the Cheap

Besides being able to save anywhere from 25% to 300% on your groceries, shopping at surplus and outlet grocery stores gives you the "thrill of the hunt" experience without being frivolous... and allows you to be frivolous and indulge while coming in way under budget. Talk about win/win!

Here are some of the reasons people gave for shopping at grocery outlet stores:

  • Adventurous
  • Fun to see what is there
  • For treats
  • It's interesting
  • It's like a treasure hunt,
  • Never know what you are going to find
  • Bargains
  • New and unusual items
  • Unbelievable variety
  • To be surprised

Large Chains

Aldi is a limited assortment, deep discount retailer that sells only private-label products, and is of the world's largest grocers, with 580 U.S. stores and almost 3,000 worldwide.  Aldi keeps costs low by stocking only approximately 700 of the most popularly purchased items, displaying them on shipping pallets in the boxes in which they arrive. Totally bare bones. No baggers. Cash only. Customers bring their own bags or purchase them.

DollarTree.com A limited selection, all $1.00 or 2/$1. Found SunMaid raisins, luxury hand soap, pasta, olives. Store locator

Grocery Outlet. Over 135 stores in ten states and growing.
In order to provide its customers with “bargains only,” Grocery Outlet focuses on finding the best deals from food, beverage and consumer goods companies. Grocery Outlet receives the majority of its products from excess inventory in other distribution channels, including surpluses that arise due to product packaging changes, special promotions or overabundance. Grocery Outlet works with about 2,500 manufacturers to provide its customers with a wide variety of products, including frozen and refrigerated foods, dry groceries, beer and wine, health and beauty care, over-the-counter drugs and general merchandise.

National Wholesale Liquidators  Offers a wide variety of discounted groceries. Good buys on olive oil, pastas, balsamic vinegar, basmati rice, gourmet cookies, gourmet candies.  Online flyer shows weekly specials.

Sav-A-Lot A  "limited assortment" food store chain aims to save customers 25% to 40% on the basics.  1000 stores in 37 states. Lexington NE store weekly flyer

Trader Joe's is definitely worth checking out on a regular basis to uncover a few really good buys... including some outrageously low-priced wine ($2.99 a bottle). Trader Joe's has expanded to almost 200 stores in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

Also check Trader Joe'sฎ Bargain Raider "...is a crazy, hit-or-miss, USA-wide bargain gourmet store carrying lots of stuff you'll never find elsewhere. Most of it is dreadful, awful, swill. But there are great bargains there. We update regularly, to keep up with the inexplicable irregularity of when they change stock..."

And some posts re Trader Joe's.
 

Regional and Local Discount Grocery Stores

Valley Surplus and Groceries

District of Columbia

Penn Dollar Plus Dollar store selling groceries.

Missouri

Discount Groceries of the Ozarks  Mentions a number of small surplus grocery stores in Missouri Ozarks.

Where to find inexpensive groceries:

  • discount stores
  • outlet stores
  • weekly specials
  • dollar stores
  • flea markets
  • roadside veggie stands
  • canning plants
  • u-pick fields & orchards



David’s Freebie & Discount Club. Joining is absolutely free. There’s nothing you must buy, now or ever.

You see, because so many merchants know that David Rosengarten has a huge following in the foodie world, they offer him--and all members of his Freebie & Discount Club--significant discounts and free products to sample, on the house!

These discounts and freebies can be for almost anything--say, a 20% discount when you buy gourmet lamb from a famous mail-order vendor ... or a free bottle of Champagne and free upgrade when you stay at a world-class hotel ... or a free oyster knife with your order of fresh oysters ... or a free caviar spoon with your first caviar order ... 10% off everything in a famous food catalog ... and scores of other tempting offerings

 
More Money Saving Ideas from TheLivingweb.net

Save On Groceries  Shop ONLY weekly specials and stockpile.  Doing this can cut your grocery bill in half.

Weekly Sales at Department Stores, Variety Stores and Discounters.  Shop the Weekly Sales Flyers and Circulars from Home FIRST... THEN make a list... and THEN go shopping... or even shop from your computer ... to get the most value for your money.

Retail Store Clearance Sales  These are stores found in and around malls. Save on gas by shopping with your computer first.

Free Tickets  How to get free film and music festival tickets and passes by volunteering.  How to get free theatre tickets by ushering.

Learning is Fun... and FREE!  Wonderful interactive science courses.  Free course material for 500 MIT classes.

Free and Lowcost Prescription Drugs  Dozens of ways  to locate free and low cost prescription drugs. Plus a Directory of Low Cost Prescription Information and Resources

Free Tickets  How to get free film and music festival tickets and passes by volunteering.  How to get free theatre tickets by ushering.

Travel Cheap by Exchanging Homes.  You can travel anywhere in the world for the cost of your plane fare or gas ... by setting up a house exchange in advance.  You can even exchange an RV... or an apartment... or a yacht.

Travel for Free as a Tour Leader.  Organize a safari... or a scuba diving tour... or cruise the world. We have found travel agencies who are ACTIVELY seeking tour leaders.  Some of them even provide extensive promotional help... including brochures and websites. 

The "Great Soap Hunt" -- and the wonderfully scented $1 soap it unearthed that makes your skin feel like silk.

by Jacqueline Corbett

The Great Soap Hunt began when my favorite dollar store ran out of my favorite Pears glycerin soap. A good example of how a "bad thing" can turn out to be really good!  

Soap is one of those products that is both a luxury and a necessity. What could be more necessary than staying clean?  What could be more pampering than a nice long hot shower or tub bath with soap that not only cleans you, but has the added bonus of turning your skin into delightfully scented satin that you or anyone would love to touch!  Well, that is what a really good bar of soap can do -- and why some people seem willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money for a single cake of really good soap.

Well, I am writing this to tell you that you can find some really outstanding LUXURY soaps (great smell, great feeling skin) for less than $3 -- and if you're lucky enough to have some of the same sources in your backyard as I do -- for as little as a $1.00 a bar!

For the past 5 years I had been spoiled rotten by being able find Pears, the soap used by British Royalty, at a buck a bar wherever I lived.  First in Philadelphia at the National Wholesale Liquidators -- then at the Dollar Tree in Philly and Asheville NC.  To realize what a great price that is you need to know that the CHEAPEST I've seen it for online is around $2.25 a bar on eBay... plus shipping and handling of ?? 

A Pears bath followed by a soothing massage of organic coconut oil (found a large jar at Bargain Max, one of my favorite Asheville haunts for $2.50) is about as luxurious as it gets -- and a lot healthier for your skin (and you) than bars loaded with chemicals like propylene glycol.  In fact, Pears soap was one of my all-time favorite "bargain goodies" until I discovered Sheatex Shea Butter Soap (see below)... which turned my skin literally into "butta".

And so, when my last $1 bar of Pears was gone, and I had stopped kicking myself for not having stockpiled a ten year supply, the Great Soap Hunt began.

Why hunt for soap when you find it everywhere... and pretty cheap too?

I don't care for most of the standard brands you see in grocery stores with their chemicals. They tend to dry my skin, and I don't hear such wonderful things about some of the chemicals either.  I'm not phobic, but who needs them!  Your skin is a very absorbent (and large) organ -- so why put something on your skin that you wouldn't willingly put in your mouth.

There are many wonderful soaps in health food stores that have all natural ingredients, but cost $3 a bar and up.  And when you've been spoiled by wonderful dollar soap for as many years as I have, I simply was not willing to settle for anything less... or I should say, "more".

Photo to left shows some of my wonderful "soap hunt" discoveries... one with the TJ Maxx markdown labels still on the box.

Discovered: some wonderfully scented Sheatex Shea Butter Soap by FA International.  I've since found it online at Omololu International $ at $2.50 a bar, plus a $10 S&H charge.  But I discovered it in a Johnson City TN dollar store called The Silver Dollar for just $1 a bar. I love it so much... it makes one's skin feel delightfully soft and smooth... like silk! I'm going back the first chance I get and buy more.  Would make great stocking stuffer Christmas gifts too. 

What's Great About Glycerin and Shea Butter as Ingredients?

Both are pure vegetable products that humidify and soften the skin.  Glycerin soap actually attracts moisture from the air. Shea Butter is not only moisturizing, but is also purported to have some added healing qualities.

I love the way glycerin soap looks and feels -- and when you throw some shea butter into the mix, which is what Sheatex Shea Butter Soap does (although it does take away the wonderful transparency)  -- then you really have a winning combination.  Top it off with a coconut butter/oil massage, and you have skin that feels like the smoothest satin, without paying exorbitant prices.

The African Shea Butter Company has some excellent information on shea butter.

Eat and Drink the Right Oils to Have Great Skin.

If you want to have great skin from the "inside out", incorporate some essential fatty acids into your diet. Start with coconut oil.  It can actually help you lose weight!  Other important oils to look at are flax oil and hemp oil.  I use a product created by Udo Erasmus, author of Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill. It's called Udo's Choice and you can find at most health food stores. This is one place that I am willing to pay "full price".  It's that important and that good.  HINT: Do a Google search on "Udo's Choice". You may unearth some bargains. Too many to list in this brief mention.

I also bought a bar of plain citrus-scented glycerin soap for a $1... just in case the Sheatex bars didn't pan out. Okay in a pinch, but not nearly the sensuous experience as the Sheatex.

While I was in Johnson City, I stopped at my favorite TJ Maxx store and found a bar of Crabree and Evelyn Lily of the Valley soap that  retails for close to $5 in the deep mark down section for only a dollar.  If I don't use it first, this will make a great contribution to someone's Christmas stocking or basket.  Could also be used to scent one of my drawers.

While in TJ Maxx, I purchased two bars of wonderful-smelling soap from Ellen Morrow Apothecary... with the words "Live, Love, Laughter" in raised letters on the delicious-smelling ovals.  A real buy at $3 (the package said $8 and up). More stocking stuffers or drawer scenters.'

Bottom line, do I now regret having not stockpiled the Pears soap?

A resounding "NO!"  For if I had, I would have been stuck in a rut and never have found the other wonderful soaps that my "Great Soap Hunt" led me too.

A good case for ONLY stockpiling absolute basics -- and then only when it's a savings of 70% or more.

It's far better to "live in the moment" ... and without fear of lack than to stockpile out of fear of "running out".

Besides, stockpiling takes a way from the "thrill of the hunt" -- and could keep you from making your own wonderful and serendipitous discoveries along the "yellow brick road of life".

Resources

Where to locate some of soaps mentioned if you're not lucky enough to have a dollar store or a TJ Maxx with deep discounts.

Crabtree-Evelyn

Crabtree-Evelyn Clearance Sale Items... 25% to 50% off

Also check the "deep discount" sections of TJ Maxx very frequently as you'll find C-E products there with some very substantial savings over TJ Maxx's normally low prices.

African Shea Butter Company  Soaps, butter, lotions.  Wonderfully soothing and healing for your skin.  These products have been naturally extracted. 

Sheatex Shea Butter Soap

Sources: Omololu International $2.50 a bar. S&H $10.00

Pears Glycerin Soap

Incense Zone $2.59

Clearly Natural Glycerin Soap

Good Earth $1.29

National Wholesale Liquidators

Stores in:
New York
New Jersey
Connecticut
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Washington DC

 

 

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