Saving on Produce
some discounted produce amongst some other deals
When I buy bagged salad, I almost always buy it at Bi-Lo for 99 cents (or less, if I have coupon overage). How do I do this? By buying it on Produce Manager’s special. Look for the orange tag in the produce section. This means the food is getting close to its expiration date. I have bought bagged fresh spinach, brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, salads, grapes, mushrooms, peaches, tomatoes, and cucumbers this way. I once even got a full fruit tray that was originally over $10 for just $1.49.
So keep an eye out for those orange stickers at Bi-Lo! The best times to find them are on weekday mornings.
What about you? Do you know of any other grocery stores that offer markdowns for produce about to go bad? (The Tomato Vine also does this, but I wouldn’t consider it to be a grocery store.)
October 13th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Ingles does this too.
October 13th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
just curious, how often do you go grocery shopping? how many are in your family, and how much do you spend per month on groceries? does your grocery budget include toiletries and personal items?
October 13th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Carrie:
At present, I’ve been grocery shopping every week because of the great deals at Publix (and recently, it’s sometimes twice a week, or even two!). However, my typical schedule is to grocery shop once a week, but if I can plan a menu without going (and there are no super deals that necessitate me going shopping), we’ll skip a week. We also occasionally go to the Sav Mor sidewalk sale, but try to include that in our budget.
Our grocery budget right now is $20 a week, and includes toiletries, diapers, and most household needs (trash bags, etc…).
We are currently a family of 3, though our 8 month old doesn’t really use much of our food budget.
We stock up whenever we can get things free or near free, and try to be flexible in what we use.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Betsey,
How do they do the markdowns at Ingle’s? Do you know what prices normal markdowns run?
October 17th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I have a hard time keeping produce long anyways (not to mention produce close to expiration. How do you keep your produce fresh?
October 17th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
For lettuce and salads, you can moisten a paper towel (wring dry, but still damp) and put it in with the lettuce or bagged salad. (I wish you could freeze salad!) Also try to keep it in the coldest part of your fridge and in the fridge as much as possible. But for these close to expiring, you generally have to use them within about 3 days.
If I purchase broccoli or another similar item, I can always freeze it or put it in soups.
Anyone else have tips on extending the life of a salad?
October 20th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I found that my bagged spinach from ALDI, though not about to expire, sometimes got “slimy” before I used it all. Putting the spinach in a ziploc bag lined with paper towel seemed to considerably extend its “fridge life.”
I’ve not tried this with other veggies but I imagine it would work for anything that becomes wet/slimy as it gets older.