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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2014 7:04:15 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2014 7:36:15 GMT -5
With the BIG increases in price of some items and the increased price of perimeter shopping items (produce, dairy, meat, fish, bread.....) I have had to drop some items I used to buy and quite a few are on my may go soon list.
GONE soda, red meat, shrimp, bacon, nuts, ice cream, crackers
Limited/soon to go: cheese, bakery and pkg sweets, chips, pretzels
how has your grocery shopping changed? What do you foresee as changing? I can't think of anything we eat that I would eliminate because of cost. soda (buy very rarely for the kids), red meat (buy grass fed - $5.99/lb ground beef, about $14/lb for sirloin), shrimp (eat at least once a week - I buy the peeled, cooked, deveined 2 lb bag), bacon (buy rarely, will buy if I go to the Amish market), nuts (occasionally buy almonds for me), ice cream (rarely although probably more in the summer), crackers (buy Ritz for the kids, wheat thins when my daughter is home) cheese (love cheese - american for the kids to snack on/use for sandwiches, youngest likes goat cheese on crackers, shredded for pizza, tacos, etc), bakery and pkg sweets (I buy cookies for their lunches), chips (rarely), pretzels (rarely)
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on May 7, 2014 8:45:53 GMT -5
The major things that come to mind are ground beef, apples, and eggs. Milk was already over $4 a gallon so $4.65 wasn't quite a shock. Ground beef almost never goes below $4 a lb. Regular price is about $6. I can actually normally get a decent cut of beef for that so why is hamburger so expensive? My kids always had a pretty expensive fruit habit. It has gotten out of hand lately though. Apples haven't been much under $2 a lb in a while. My son eats at least one a day. For a while there Shoprite had coupons for carrots and apples that made them both 99cents a lb. I used to get 4 lbs a week that way. Now a bag of 5 apples costs close to $10 bucks. The apples are big but I would rather get smaller ones the stores don't seem to have them anymore though. Eggs have been about $2.50 a doz for a while. This week the store I work at pt has them on BOGOF. So with 2 doz for 2.69 I got six dozen. Eggs do freeze well though so I may go back and get 4 more. My only problem with not buying food because it is too expensive is money doesn't taste good to my family.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 7, 2014 12:00:40 GMT -5
Coffee - I couldn't believe people choose to switch to the Kuerig thing. What could possible make coffee MORE expensive than this? Also, IMO doesn't taste very good. A LOT depends upon what cups you buy. My dad has a Keurig and they had a 'sample' pack. The best of the lot was the Green Mountain, Black Magic so I wound up ordering that specifically for me. The rest of the ones they bought didn't taste like coffee to me. It's still a very expensive way to go.
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on May 7, 2014 13:15:53 GMT -5
I eliminated coffee just to get away from something I HAD to have.
I dropped sodas years ago. DH recently stopped sodas. Not because of the cost but he traced his indigestion to sugars.
Bacon has usually been an argument with us. Not because of the price but the odor of cooking bacon gets into every nook and granny of a house. Same with frying onions.
Someone mentioned venison for the red meat. Not everyone is capable of harvesting their own meat. A novice would have a steep learning curve that relied on a friends who know how. In this state, there is a lottery draw in hunting licenses. One for an elk or a moose is once in a lifetime.
Fishing is time consuming and can create a high food cost. The best set up is a friend with a boat where everyone chips in for gas and someone has knowledge of where the fish are biting.
My son buys a whole cow from a local farmer and it's cut and wrapped.
Cheese slices and shredded cheese are staples for DH. It is bought in quantity when on sale and frozen. Just like most of the rest of our food.
I had to give up whole eggs for egg whites. That increased my cost but I can still get it at reduced price. One of our staple foods was egg salad sandwiches. I make them for DH.
The economy is giving us a new normal in food shopping. I sometimes get shopper fatigue from chasing the bargains.
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momoftwo
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Post by momoftwo on May 7, 2014 18:45:30 GMT -5
Admittedly I am not a great cook so I traditionally have relied on prepackaged foods. I am working on trying to get better about making potatoes from scratch instead of boxes, making hot dishes instead of preboxed meals, etc. I went to the local grocery store on Monday and a pound of 90% ground beef was $5.99 a pound. I almost had a heart attack. So I called a local meat locker (some may know it as a butcher shop). They told me 92% lean ground beef is $4.29 a pound. While still high, that's $1.70 a pound less and it has 2% less fat.
I plan on taking a trip to the meat locker on Friday and not only buying ground beef but also looking at the other meats they sell. This is one way I am trying to fight the high prices. I am cringing at the thought on June rolling around when my 19 year old athletic son comes home from college for the summer. I suspect the money we've been giving him for rent will now go to our food bill!
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on May 8, 2014 5:24:44 GMT -5
A new to me butcher shop in the city advertised in one of our local flyers 3.5 months ago. I have not been in that area but will be somewhat nearby on 5/15 and plan to check them out. they had really good prices on some in-house prepared eastern EU dishes I happen to LOVE. Also, ground beef was VERY cheap.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2014 6:43:00 GMT -5
When ground beef is very cheap, I get suspicious. Just my nature.
What Eastern European dishes?
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kadee79
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Post by kadee79 on May 8, 2014 18:04:23 GMT -5
Those of you having sticker shock at ground beef prices....I've posted this before but not recently! I buy whole sirloin tips when they are on sale...in my area, usually around $3.49-3.99 lb.! I have the store grind it for me and I repackage at home into sizes for different dishes like meat loaf, spaghetti, burgers, etc. I smash it flat in zip lock bags and freeze it. I normally get at least 2 loins when it is on sale....and mine comes out between 3%-7% fat!...so better than ground round!!!! By buying the whole loin, you know you are getting meat from only one animal and you can see what it looks like before you decide! I also buy whole boston butts when they are on sale...normally a 2 pk....and roast them and make my own pulled pork bbq and do the same with it....in zip bags smashed flat. Makes for easy meals in a hurry!
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2014 23:17:03 GMT -5
I am mostly a perimeter shopper and yikes, yes, I have noticed the increases in price.
Bacon has been cut down to once every 3 months. Used to be every other week.
Apples have gotten really expensive. 3 years ago we were loving them at under $1/lb. Now it is hard to find them at less than $2 in season. I also had the misfortune to fall in love with HoneyCrisp Apples, so I have been paying $3-$4/lb for them.
I used to have hamburger meals as a staple, but it has gotten so high priced I don't bother with it now. I'll pay more for nice steaks and just buy them less often.
Coffee is now mostly at work since it is free. They have the industrial size Keurig and some really good brand K-Cups, so I am all set there.
Bread is becoming a problem. I fell in taste-bud-love with the Essential Baking Co breads at $6/loaf.
I am buying more of the grocery store prepared foods, which is counter intuitive, but I buy less so my bill seems to be lower. I think I waste a lot when I do the cooking.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on May 9, 2014 5:39:58 GMT -5
What Eastern European dishes?
Pierogi, cabbage rolls, polish sausage. nearby place does pierogi but at about $7/lb vs 2.99 here. Also had GREAt price on chicken leg quarters (soup + meat for stir frys, fajitas.....), meatloaf,chopped liver
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Blonde Granny
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Post by Blonde Granny on May 10, 2014 7:22:19 GMT -5
Pat, I finally tossed the meat grinder for my KitchenAid, what a mess it made. I bought 5# of ground chuck at the Fresh Market when it was BOGO, so I still have 9 packages left. As for the Keurig....we love it!!! Yes, it's expensive, and we both really like the Starbucks Kcups. We only drink 1 C per day each, so it's not really that noticeable.
My Dh seems to be cutting down on the soda he dearly loves, and I don't drink any at all. Bacon? oh we love it!. But I buy the already cooked one at Sams Club. It's sliced really thin and easy to microwave. If I have regular bacon in the house, DH will cook the whole package at once and within 1 day it's gone, so I'm just not letting it into my cart.
I check the Harps Food ad every week and make a trip if their BOGO is something we use on a regular basis. Otherwise, it's Walmart for staples with occasional trip to Sams.
I think what helps too is that we don't do the traditional "dinner" menu every day. It's as likely as not to be sandwiches and soup as a big sit down one. It seems the older we get, the easier it is to have a light dinner.....especially if we've gone out for lunch.
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kadee79
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Post by kadee79 on May 10, 2014 9:44:09 GMT -5
Wow. Shocked at the price of bacon at Costco. Did a double take. Around $4.50 a lb. Just a word of warning....it's going to get worse before it gets better for pork prices. So if you have a freezer and there are sales STOCK UP if you use pork products. There is a disease going through the breeding herds of hogs right now. Some farmers/growers have lost nearly their entire herds and/or all the young that would be coming to market soon.
And I just saw something yesterday...the national average price for 1# of bacon was $5.55!
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Ombud
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Post by Ombud on May 10, 2014 10:41:44 GMT -5
Tiny, Hi other flexitarian!! I went to primarily raw produce as a cost saving measure. Juice is off the back tree. Haven't had red meat more than a half dozen times in the last 25 yrs. Discovered cheese sticks are 33c each whereas a package of 8 are $4. Ice cream bars last a lot long than a tub. So I'm changing the way I shop but not what I shop for
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on May 10, 2014 15:47:28 GMT -5
I will buy roasts or other cuts and I have a meat grinder on my Kitchen Aid so can grind my own hamburger.
But I have been buying 10 pounds at a time from the local farmer, he has it processed from his cattle, its not cheap though.
We are not eating as much meat as we used to. But when we do have it, its good. What are the best cuts or mix of cuts to grind your own hamburger?
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ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ
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Post by ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ on May 10, 2014 16:24:34 GMT -5
You can use almost any cut - Grinding will tenderize it - it all depends on how lean you want it. A cut of beef with less fat would be best, but you can do a ground chuck, round, rump, etc. My personal preference is a sirloin cut of beef for roasting or grinding into hamburger meat.
But even for the cheaper cuts, you can trim off any excess fat before grinding.
You can also do fresh-ground pork from a pork loin, or ground chicken or turkey breasts.
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on May 10, 2014 17:25:11 GMT -5
I buy a quarter cow once a year, or sometimes a half and split it two or three ways. It is not very expensive, it more than gets me through an entire year of "beef" and it tastes better than any meat I've ever purchased in a grocery store. I haven't bought beef in a store in probably 7 years. I still get b/s chicken breast regularly on sale for 1.79-1.88/lb. Bacon is expensive but I don't buy it often anyway, cuz I'll just eat the whole package anyway and I'm working on eating healthier. Price Rite usually has some brand for $3ish, so does Aldi. Milk, I pay about 1.59 a half gallon. Don't use it much. I actually just tried Silk Coconut milk and really liked it, $3 half gallon. I just bought a bag of Lays chips at my local chain store for 1.88.
I have lived on such a small grocery budget for so many years, because I HAD to, that I now don't mind paying a bit more for something I want. I mean, I still wait for a sale, and compare prices. I'm not going to just walk through a store and buy whatever I feel like, but, I'm not seeing any huge increase in stuff I buy. Regular prices are insane, but as long as you pay attention and wait for sales, it's not that bad.
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Ombud
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Post by Ombud on May 11, 2014 1:02:37 GMT -5
@patstab, it's hard to go to cheap stores if you're used to farmers markets or home grown. Fortunately Safeway is still good
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2014 9:10:12 GMT -5
I haven't compared prices lately. Are fruit and veggie prices going up? I now that meat is. How about junk foods?
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Blonde Granny
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Post by Blonde Granny on May 11, 2014 9:31:46 GMT -5
I don't use a price book because I've never figured out how to do it. Some prices I just remember, i.e Gala apples at one time were $1.34 #. I haven't bought them recently because they started being mushy, but I do think they are much more than that now. Same with chicken breasts @ 1.99#...not anymore even on a special.
We have a day old bread store close to us so we buy bread products there. The same bread that is over $3 at Walmart is usually $1.50 or so. Knock off twinkies, hostess cupcakes etc. go for $1 box.
There were 3 coupons in the paper today for things we use, I'll be making a trip to WMT soon to buy those items. Rest of the coupons went into the recycle bin.
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on May 11, 2014 10:13:49 GMT -5
I don't use a price book because I've never figured out how to do it. Some prices I just remember
It is an ongoing process. I just keep a list on my computer of the items that I have purchased at rock bottom prices - the size of the product and what I paid. It gives me a price point so that in the future I know when something is available at a great price (which means buy more) vs. an "okay" price. I do a lot from memory too. The only negative is that manufacturers seem to be decreasing the size/weight/volume of their products so rapidly that remembering prices alone without knowing price per oz. can be deceiving.
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on May 11, 2014 10:31:05 GMT -5
I haven't compared prices lately. Are fruit and veggie prices going up? I now that meat is. How about junk foods? From what I've seen in my Safeway ads, everything seems to be going up. Since I have a Grocery Outlet and a 99 Cent Store, I rarely shop at Safeway anymore. If they don't give me a $5/$20 in my J4U account chances are slim to none that I'll walk through the doors and even then, if I can't make the $5/$20 work for me, I'll just let it go. As an example, last week 38 oz. Pace picante was on clearance @ the Grocery Outlet for $.94 ($.025/oz.). At Safeway this week 24 oz. Pace picante was on sale (Friday only) 3/$5 or $.07/oz. At the 99 Cent Store I snagged a 5# container of cottage cheese for $1. I checked for the expiration date and it was 5/15 - perfect!! To be honest with you, if it weren't for the Grocery Outlet and the 99 Cent Store (where I get a lot of produce very cheaply) our grocery bill would probably double or triple.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2014 10:44:57 GMT -5
I have a filter for my keurig so I can get the regular can of coffee and use it. A lot cheaper than the cups and way less waste than doing a whole pot.
About the only things I have cut out of the grocery budget are pop and flavoured creams. My biggest food saving trick is to cut down on the waste and don't eat out as much. I have actually started going to the more expensive food market in town. Everything is fresher and better done. That combined with Costco for meats and other bulk items keep my food costs sensible. Lately we have been picking up boxes of ice cream sandwiches and such that work out to about $0.40 each. And I buy whatever meat is on sale a given week with a few extra to go in the freezer.
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Iggy aka IG
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Post by Iggy aka IG on May 12, 2014 12:19:58 GMT -5
Referencing discussion on the prior page, our local farmers market has been MIA for several years, and is due to come back this year. All I remember is the prices aren't cheap! Went shopping last Friday. It seems I save more on my overall bill when my items don't include processed foods. I bought a few things for an event here at the office, which includes PB pretzels, a few Reese's items, etc. Total overall savings was 17%, even with a coupon for the Reese's. I usually average a 20% savings. Butter has noticeably gone up since last month. And a 30 pack of eggs is over $5 now. I managed to find 93% ground beef on manager's special for $3.19, and 1lb ground turkey for $1.99. ETA: I did NOT buy bacon because it was not on sale at $4.49, and I didn't have a coupon.
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on May 12, 2014 15:08:27 GMT -5
I got a big savings the other day. Apparently at Sam's Club you get a $10 credit for every $100 you spend. Last year we bought a bunch of shelving for the garage. The card came up with a $110 credit on it, they said it wasn't starting yet but we tried it anyway. The total sale was $153 and I got a $110 off so I only paid $43!! Now that was a big surprise savings. I don't think this is the case with a regular membership. I think it's only the Premiere membership, which costs more.
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pepperdoo
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Post by pepperdoo on May 12, 2014 15:38:26 GMT -5
I can't post now?
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Iggy aka IG
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Post by Iggy aka IG on May 12, 2014 15:47:01 GMT -5
I see you.
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donnafreedman
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Post by donnafreedman on May 12, 2014 19:11:11 GMT -5
We were just discussing this the other day. Neither DF nor I can figure out how lower income or even middle-class families with children are managing. We keep our food bills fairly low thanks to many frugal hacks, some of which have already been mentioned (e.g., gardening and shopping the "manager's special" bins). It also helps that it's just us two and that neither of us is a picky eater. But the people who don't know how to shop the specials, cook at home, rely on meatless or mostly meatless entrees, garden, glean and just generally stretch the food dollars are getting squeezed tighter and tighter. Like the old song says: "Five-cent cotton and forty-cent meat/How in the world can a po' man eat?" As for treats: I hit the post-holiday clearance bins for chocolate to freeze, make tapioca and rice puddings, bake oatmeal cookies and from-scratch cupcakes, and make my own yogurt to which we add compote made from fruit that we grew or gleaned. (The yogurt in particular is really delicious. I prefer it to ice cream.) Yesterday I was at the supermarket to buy several things (all on sale) and checked the price on a bag of Rold Gold pretzel sticks, thinking I'd treat myself. It cost $4.19 -- so I put it back, knowing that I would be aggravated by every bite. While DF will do without many things, there will always be coffee in our home. One thing he does is buy the cheaper stuff (Maxwell House, Yuban, whatever's on sale) and mix it with the stuff he buys at Costco. Since he also has half-and-half in the first cup of the day, we're always watching for cartons close to their sell-by dates; we freeze it in ice-cube trays and then store the cubes in plastic bags. the other day he got half a gallon of the stuff for $1.79, which is normally what a pint costs.
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donnafreedman
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Post by donnafreedman on May 12, 2014 19:28:36 GMT -5
I'd definitely suggest bread outlets. DF and I have seen Dave's Killer Bread for as little as 50 cents a loaf (although normally it's $2 there). We also buy tortillas, hamburger rolls and $1 multigrain bread for sandwiches. My best buy recently was an 18-pack of "Crustini" burger rolls for 50 cents. We try always to have rolls in the freezer; if neither of us wants to cook or we're in a hurry we'll just have turkey burgers, which he gets when they go on sale for $5 a package. Lately he's been finding turkey sausage in the "used meat" bin, generally with Italian seasoning. (He made a lovely frittata out of some of it on Mother's Day.) His go-to meat price is $4 a pound for beef and $3 a pound for sausage products. Lots of eggs, when they go on sale (which here in Alaska means "less than $2.19 a dozen"). We both love bacon and are sad to hear of that disease killing off so many young swine. Close to Easter we bought a couple of extra hams on sale and put them in the freezer. One lovely recipe that uses relatively little pork is ham and sweet potato hash (which we call "ham and yam"); look for recipes online, and don't feel you need to use as much ham as the recipe indicates. We also add some of the kale we dehydrated last summer. I just had the last little bit of the most recent H&Y for my lunch, reheated in a small skillet with a poached egg on top. We save the ham bone and a little bit of meat to make nice pots of pinto beans, which we eat with homemade cornbread. Very filling and especially tasty on a cold winter night. I eat a lot of lentil-based lunches: marinated in the vinegar left over from our homemade pickled red cabbage and with whatever vegetables I have on hand (usually diced carrots, onion and some of the cabbage), or heated in a skillet with a little bit of ham and some mustard vinegar with another of those poached eggs on top. ("Mustard vinegar" means that we pour some vinegar into a nearly empty mustard bottle and give it a good shake. Very nice condiment and a way to get the last little bit of mustard from the bottle.) I've also learned to love vegetables roasted with olive oil. But I only make these when broccoli or cauliflower are on sale. This week broccoli crowns are $1.28 a pound, which is about as cheap it gets here; I'll roast them tonight with carrots, onions and a few potatoes. Everything but the spuds will be served over rice; the potatoes I'll slice and fry briefly (to get them hot and a little crispy) and serve them with scrambled eggs for supper. Re bacon: Since I had my gall bladder removed I don't push the too-fatty stuff. So I limit myself to one or two slices (usually one). But I sure do savor the taste.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on May 13, 2014 5:50:47 GMT -5
Donna I have to say, everytime I grocery shop I wonder how people with kids can afford to eat let alone feeding friends and nearly live in bottomless pit boyfriends. SOOO glad mine are grown & gone. IF I treat myself to a salty snack its either fron the $1 store or Aldi ($1.19). I LOVE my bread/bakery outlet stores – too bad both Sara Lee & Pepperidge Farm have closed down. Have no clue where the over runs & end of date code stuff is these days for those brands.
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