It's no surprise that food is getting more expensive
It doesn't matter what country you live in, I am certain that food is getting more expensive. It has gotten bad enough in Canada that some people are boycotting a major grocer (Superstore) and finding good ways to feed the family is becoming increasingly challenging.
Luckily grocery stores can make mistakes and that can lead to opportunities for savvy shoppers. One thing I ALWAYS advocate is understanding the cost of foods and doing the math to figure out if something is a good deal. Keeping an eye out for grocer errors or loopholes in their pricing system can lead to some excellent deals.
This 20kg haul of rice is an excellent example.
If you were to read prior posts of mine you would find that the typical price on an 18kg bag of rice is about $37 CAD ($27HBD or about 37,000 Naira) and doing the math that is considerably more expensive than some other forms of carbohydrate (like flour for bread). Now Superstore is trying to soften their image by having a "deal of the month". This months deal is:
Which is actually quite a good deal
and also
Which is actually not a good deal at all on the Cheerios and since I can't eat aluminum foil I'll just leave that out of the discussion.
Last months deal.
Now the deal last month was the rice that I purchased today. It's regular price if $4.79 for 2kg. not a good deal
Last months price was $3.00 for 2kg. a very reasonable price
However, I don't think the grocer realized that many people are "rice snobs" and will only purchase their preferred brand of rice. As a result they were left with a lot of rice at the end of the month. What is their solution? They mark it down even further.
Today's price was only $2.00 for 2kg. My 20kg of rice was only $20 or just under $15HBD (20,000 Naira) which is actually about the cheapest food I can buy on a cost per calorie basis. A very good price on an item which has an expiry sometime over two years from now.
Time to stock up!
Now rice isn't my preferred food. However, I don't dislike it and at a price that cheap I'll stock up and make more rice dishes! However, will I be able to go through 10 bags of rice..considering I already have 3 x 18kg bags at home?
Honestly, I probably won't be able to. So, why do I bother buying it? Well, with a few changes in meals I might go through that much rice but even if I don't it makes an excellent item to give to others or the local food bank.
It is the perfect size to give away to others. It is a very acceptable and long lasting food. If my family eats it then great, If I can give it away to keep someone else from hunger, well, that's great too!
Indeed, I believe @monica-ene, @rare-gem and @jjmusa2004 will share how they bought, used, and gave away some rice with funds from this community. Looking forward to that!
But sometimes the best deals don't get the big banners. They just sit on the shelf without any adornment.
Or in this case they are put on a bottom shelf with a little sign that says sale but certainly no fanfare like the "Deal of the Month"
That's why I always do the math!
That's why I always break down foods into price per gram, cost per calorie, cost per nutrition and look at all the best solutions.
I never know where a deal will hit!
It may be a hidden gem in the grocery store. It may not have a big end cap, a big sale price, or glossy advertising. Instead it might be sitting on the bottom shelf with a little sticker...or sometimes even no price tag at all.
Being a savvy shopper means knowing a good deal when you see one, then taking advantage of a grocer's mistake in ordering too much, having a bunch left over with poor dating, or even just a stockboy putting on the wrong price.
Whatever the reason.... Their loss is my gain and in these days of high food prices I'll take whatever deals I can find!.
Thanks for reading.
And as always, if you want to add to the discussion please feel free to drop a comment..or even better, write an article about how you combat the high prices of food!
Until next time
PS : I hope to get to my article on Vitamin B1 sooner than later, but I've been busy with other articles :(
