I'm Back!

So I'm back from my monthly shlep across the city to shop at the cheapest supermarket. Whenever I go I realize anew how much this saves me. Even with the 30 shekel delivery charge, and even with public transportation one way (we walked back) and 20 shekel to the babysitter, each item so significantly cheaper then in the local grocery, it's ridiculous.

I strongly suggest reviewing all your options before making a decision. Say you have a local grocery, a nearby supermarket chain and a faraway supermarket chain. There's nothing wrong with taking a day to walk up and down the aisles with a notebook and calculator, making columns of the the items you regularly buy. Sure, you may get some odd stares, but who cares? You're saving money! If someone is looking at your strangely just look right back and say something like, "Excuse me, have you seen my cat?" More often then not, they'll avoid you for the rest of your research excursion.

Two notes about supermarket sales. There's a large popular supermarket chain near my house that puts out regular advertisements. HOWEVER, if you read the fine print, there are ALWAYS conditions. You need to spend 75/100/200 shekel on non-sale items before you can take advantage of the advertised sale, and even then it's a limited amount per customer. Often, the sale is only available if you use their store credit card. Not club card, but their actual credit card. It's just not a sale when there are 5 catches and conditions.

Furthermore, if you buy something because it's on sale that you would never normally buy, it's not really a sale. Let's say I want to get crackers for the kids to snack on. If I was going to buy it at 5 shekel and I buy it on sale for 4 shekel, I saved money. But if I buy crackers and then I also pick up Prune Flavored Marzipan Macaroons With Marshmallow Bits because it's buy one get one free....that wasn't a sale. They just tricked me into buying something that I would never buy because I thought I was saving money. I didn't save money. I SPENT money I would have never spent.