That is exactly the reason why there’s no Black Friday at grocery stores.
They also have smaller margins to start with.
I’m not sure about that these days
They do
Tell that to Loblaws with it’s multi-billion dollars a year in profits since lockdowns.
Someone should sue them, then! Let’s see how he feels when someone lobs a law bomb at Loblaws’ Bob Loblaw.
It doesn’t matter what their profit is if their margin is only 2%.
It’s 4% for Loblaws, and when the profit is billions it does matter.
It doesn’t, because you still have a tiny margin. Get one bad year and your business will be wiped out.
Black Friday is dead. Retailers realized they don’t actually have to give you a discount but can just sell you crap they were having trouble getting out of their warehouses with some percentage off a price they never sold it for.
‘essentials’ are rarely put on deep discount sales. manufacturers and retailers know you’re gonna buy regardless. even the discount retailers like walmart and target don’t put a lot of ‘essentials’ on black friday deals anymore. used to get a pair of jeans, some socks, shorts and tees, a new hoodie, and a few other things every year, to replace what’s worn out or been eaten by the dryer monster, and they were always cheap af–always some kind or another of those were on sale. but i haven’t been able to the last 5-6 years.
Look for stores similar to TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Citi Trends (look over, this is irregulars often), etc. They’re my go-to for things like that, assuming they’re in your area.
i’m in a small town, away from everything. any money saved by driving to a large city to shop is spent on fuel to make the drive there and back. even the nearest ‘outlet mall’ is a joke, because it’s in a tourist trap town–and it, itself, is one, too.
I’m in similar circumstances. Except for bread, milk, fresh produce wrt groceries, I try to save up enough to buy at discount/big box, it’s usually worth the cost of driving. Probably anything I’d need to pick up, I’d try to do it on other errands. It’s not a great situation always, but I’m currently paying for rides or catching them by luck. What about online? I really dk but if you’re interested in talking more, maybe we can brainstorm something suitable.
Grocery stores already have their own versions of Black Friday they just don’t get advertised. Go in a couple days before and a couple days after major holidays and you. An always get good stuff for cheap. I bought a ham a couple weeks ago around Canadian thanksgiving and the price was at least 1/3 of what they would normally charge. After Indian festivals, I usually go to the store and can get desserts like ras malai for $1-$2 instead of $13.
The only thing that usually doesn’t get a big discount that is brought in for the holidays is turkey, since the price is already almost at a loss and they can stay frozen until Christmas if the store has room (and a good manager would make sure they can keep an order until Christmas frozen in the back to alleviate order issues during that time.)
yeah. There will be some whole turkey deals in the next week or two in the us that are just insane.
Many stores in my area give you a free turkey if you spend enough money. I think the one I go to will give you one if you spend $150. Which really isn’t hard to spend on groceries anymore, especially if you’re buying all the other Thanksgiving staples for a big family.
Show me lamb, oxtails, shell fish. We’re over turkey, here. While hams are out on sale here, and I like it, it’s not great in large quantities for my body and shellfish are prohibitively priced enough to keep me properly constrained.
Also show me great produce for decent prices.
Problem with produce is how quickly it goes bad. There’s such a large amount of shrink already that it’s hard to also cull out the less good stuff… if all of one item looks bad though, mention it to a clerk in the department and ask if they have any in the back. When I worked at Sprouts, I would also go check and then refresh that item after if possible
Well that’s mostly why I want it pierced less, you have to buy it more often.
They haven’t even replaced the sign for them in a couple stores near me, but the prices are pretty cheap already. I’m considering buying one of the bigger whole turkeys and just butchering it at home to make a bunch of different meals. The $16 ham I got ended up lasting me and my fiancé about 10 meals between the ham and the soup from the ham bones.
I have a seperate freezer and we stock it up and it lasts till spring.
We plan on getting a small chest freezer for exactly this. And Costco full pork loins.
are they like the sams ones where its like 3ft because if so ssshhh. we don’t want folks to know.
No clue, we don’t have Sams Club. But I could usually get a middle roast, and about 6 chops from each side.
Don’t buy either of those things at the grocery store. Go to Costco and you’ve got black Friday pricing all year round.
LPT: Don’t buy Tide Pods at all.
Any liquid or powder detergent will get cleaner clothes and be far cheaper.
Powder is the way.
Otherwise you’re paying for the water, its storage and shipping.I bought a big bucket of the stuff which has lasted me for several years.
I actually tried the laundry sheets. They are just detergent that’s been processed into load sized sheets. A tiny tissue box sized cardboard box is 50 loads. They work great, and like you said, I’m not paying for extra water and packaging.
Yea, I think the bucket I got was good for 1200 loads or something.
I use the laundry sheets too, and they are great!
Yeah, can’t believe people think those things are economical. And they’re terrible for the environment. A lose/lose.
They’re not even that convenient, are they? Like, how hard is it to scoop some detergent?
My nearest Costco is 8 km from me, and I don’t have a car.
Easy walk
Especially while carrying all the shit I buy at Costco.
That’s what wagon bikes are for
Ah yes, I will spend a bunch of money n a cargo bike, and then try and cycle 9 km through my cities horrible streets with very few bike lanes, in the cold of winter, just to save a few dollars at Costco.
Great idea.
Or better idea, I can walk 3 blocks to the massive grocery store by my condo.
You seem really dedicated to shooting down solutions people are giving you. You’re giving reasons people would have had no way to know (because you didn’t mention it) and acting like they should have known. Ebikes are a great solution to a lot of people. Maybe not you though – you can still appreciate the advice even if it doesn’t apply to your specific situation. I hope in life you don’t take this attitude towards helpful people.
Good luck with your groceries.
Well if that was a solution I would have mentioned it myself. Costco is not an option for everyone, myself included. That was the only point I was trying to make with my original comment.
The cargo bike would also help at the closest grocery store (:
But is entirely unnecessary for such a thing.
My nearest costco is an hour away by car.
Same, and my car gets about 30mpg so it costs me roughly $15 to make the trip there and back, which I immediately save at Costco by buying 2 flats of yogurt.
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https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-electric-cargo-bikes/
I love my E bike, and am definitely getting one of these in the next year or so.
$8,000 for a vehicle that replaces 99% of my car needs, and doesn’t have insurance, fuel, or much maintenance? Yes, please.
E-bikes are awesome but to go to Costco? Are you gonna pull a little e-trailer too? Ridiculous.
Yes, I’m going to absolutely use an expensive e-bike on roads with no bike lanes and heavy traffic, to try and save a couple dollars at Costco. Great idea.
It’s even better when they put stuff I want on sale.
They have a super mega UW monitor on sale for $250 off right now. Unfortunately that still puts it at $750. I go stare at it every time I’m there and imagine how cool it would be to have. Some day…
That’s stunning! If you can dream if you can achieve it! 😝 When my membership was active, since I’m rural and an hour -ish away, I tried to get the more expensive membership for free shipping. Two percent adds up at the end of the year.
Agreed, or WinCo if you have that in your area is nearly as cheap. The $60 you pay for Costco membership pays for itself in 6 months for me just in cheaper gas. Let alone the savings on food. The only problem with Costco is the size of the products for people living by themselves, which I get around by getting mostly frozen or non-perishable goods.
Because they know you’re gonna buy the groceries either way lol
while we’re at it, why don’t groceries fluctuate like fuel prices? those go up and down. food only goes up.
That’s how ALDI works. They fluctuate with the market prices. But many of the larger chains sell things at a fixed price because that’s what lots people want. They will make more money when the market prices are low and less or none when they are high. Many even sell staples like eggs and milk as loss leaders and neve make money off them. Of course things like the avian flu cause exceptions because they’re not going to go bankrupt selling you eggs for half what they paid.
People don’t like fluctuating food prices.
Maybe a regional thing, but the only thing I stock up on Prime Day every year are dishwasher tabs.
Buy powder. Cheaper and will give better results, it’s what most dish washers are actually made for. (See https://youtu.be/_rBO8neWw04)
Surprisingly the laundry pods were cheaper per load than the powder last time we were at Costco. We always get whatever option is cheapest per load, and for some reason the pods were the best value. Value and convenience? I’m in!
If you calculate it to be cheaper for you, awesome! I hope you get a good deal! For me where I buy my stuff online the box of powder and glass shine liquid and salt is rated at 160 uses for €15. The same brand has 80 pods for €18. And I adjust the amount of powder to the amount of dishes and how dirty they are. And if there’s no glasses I don’t use the program so the liquid isn’t used. So I’m getting more than 160 uses out of it too.
You still want the prewash, so grab some powder to supplement the tabs. That’s what I do when the tabs are cheaper. A tab in the closed cup and a little powder in the open one and my loud old dishwasher produces perfect results every time.
Don’t even think about it. There’s this international grocery chain near where I am that has gamefied grocery shopping to such an extent that if you aren’t doing everything to get the cheapest 2x3 or 50% or free such and such for purchases over $50€ you are getting ripped off, they don’t need ideas.
It sound like just my chain shop around the corner
Oh no, it has spread!
Pods and creamer? No wonder you are poor, stop wasting money.
honestly, I want to share this because it’s a super relatable sentiment… but tide pods and coffee creamer aren’t exactly the most relatable groceries to use for it lol
someone pls photoshop this tweet with bread or chicken or something so I can send it to my friends 😅
Amen. I just realized I don’t miss much since leaving reddit but now I miss /r/frugal
What do you put in your coffee? Black coffee tastes disgusting to me.
I don’t drink coffee. I eat dirt and then swallow a coffee sapling whole. It makes the caffeine my body requires. I do this once a year and I’m hopped up on coffee the entire year.
It’s not creamer, but I mix in off brand nesquik powder. Put enough in and it’s just caffeinated hot chocolate.
It’s nesquik just sugar and bad cocoa powder? Just buy cocoa powder, why overpay for the sugar?
Definitely a possibility, but one must be prepared that it is not as simple as mixing cocoa powder directly in the drink. It does not dissolve like Nesquik. However, making some chocolate sauce or a slurry is fairly simple and yields good results.
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/8274/dissolving-cocoa-powder-in-milk
Hot chocolate powder is a great coffee ingredient if you aren’t gonna drink it black
Reminds me of what people do with the coffee and chocolate drink in MREs.
I prefer my coffee black, so I’ll say I think the easiest to enjoy black coffee is made in a french press.
There’s only one coffee - espresso.
Black and by the cup?
Milk? Cream? The rule is simple: if something exist only in the usa is probably bad for you, the environment or simply good taste.
i mean… i’m pretty sure milk and cream and coffee exist outside the us? and i think there might even be some non-americans who combine them?! but i dunno, i might be wrong. 🤔
It’s the creamer that doesn’t exist, it’s even banned in some european countries.
Aren’t we talking about saving money?
There’s powdered milk, still cheaper and way better then a creamer.
skim milk
I dont now the equivalent of my fav coffee there, but I also dont drink black. Disgusting.
Mine is Coffeemix. Cheap, simple, flavorful.
Instant coffee is criminal, no wonder you don’t drink it black
Criminal your ass 😜
Then U don’t like coffee. Drink something else.
I like caffeine. Coffee is the easiest way to get it.
It’s the easiest way to get it without excessive sugar or sweeteners.
I hate coffee flavor. So I drink milk with some coffee added.
I don’t pay attention to anything that’s not the actual price of the item at the moment. Sometimes the 2+1 for free deals are nice if it’s some consumable like socks which is something I will always need, but I noticed that stores where I live don’t do this anymore (I guess when I put a dozen pairs of socks in my cart, manager realized that was a bad idea because for that one time, it was actually slightly cheaper) except for garbage like chips and shitty sodas, and 3rd one isn’t even free, you will pay more than 50% of its price for sure…
I pay attention to the normal price that’s displayed most of the time while shopping so I know when it changes. Like around Black Friday when shit that was $3 goes up to $5 and the label says it was reduced from $10 so I know damn good and well it’s bullshit.
Also, sidenote: If you consider socks a consumable item, consider spending more on better quality socks.
Socks are consumable because they grind on your legs and holes start appearing in less than a month unless all you do is put them on and sit at home on couch.
For me moat sales are a waste of time, as its not a sale if I’m wasn’t going to buy it any way
But to the point as others have said there’s no margin on food and essentials. They’d be loosing money, or the suppliers would
Moat sales are also a waste of time for me as I don’t have a castle to protect.
My landlord is pretty chill and let me install one around my apartment building. Sometimes you just gotta ask
No. In the lockdowns, nonpartisan epi published their research showing most price increases * was due to plain old price-gouging.
Edited word
They’re not talking about price increases, just a lack of discounts
It’s all the same game. Eff the players,more that don’t play, quicker it goes away. Or play as little as possible.
