oh yeah, I'm Scots also and practice limited frugality.
Our Safeway has a meat 'Clearance' section. It's usually day before or day of 'sell by' date -- 30 to 50% off. I snap it up ... repackage using the Food Saver and put it in the freezer. I haven't paid full price for a steak in ages.

kay

I'd be elbowing you aside for the CHEAP chicken and probably planning on getting there AHEAD of you in the produce aisle.
Linda C

Oh yeah baby, I'm there! Randall's grocery stores here have a "whoops we butchered too much" section. Well, THEY call it clearance but I like my name better, based on the "whoops we baked too much" stickers I sometimes see in the bakery areas. And yes, "whoops we picked too much" in the produce section.

I once bought several bags of tomatoes which were JUST about on the edge, along with a couple of bags of onions & green peppers. Each bag was $1. I think I bought like 5 bags total so $5. Went home and made a ton of salsa. How can you beat that?!?!

Last time I was at Spec's Liquor Warehouse, a fabulously large liquor store which not only has great prices, they also have a mini sort of grocery store with cheeses, meats, lots of specialty items and limited produce, they had bags of limes for $1 each. Inside each bag was around 15 limes. I bought them all -- 6 bags I think. Went home, juiced them all, and froze the juice. What a DEAL!

And like I said, I always shop the "whoops we butchered too much" section at Randall's and recently discovered the "whoops we caught too much" section in the seafood area. The deals are so good that when I'm stuck buying something at the "regular" price I reel at the prices!

I had a German-Canadian grandfather who made so-called thrifty Scots look like spendthrifts, so I probably have him to thank for my extreme frugality.

I'd have to say WAY-TO-GO on your purchasing prowess, and your sister-in-law could learn a thing or two (LOL).

-Grainlady

I love to find bargains at the grocery store! I still remember the morel mushrooms that I found mispriced one time. My latest find is a box of detergent for $1.25 that lasts me at least 3-4 weeks - and that is the price all the time! Cleans my clothes just fine too! The same store has great little chickens for high heat roasting that usually run me about $2 each.

Teresa

Ya'll are so lucky my "butt" of a grocery store never does this and will even sell things past it's due date for full-price. I really have to watch dates on everything I buy from there.

I'm lucky though that we have a grocery store in town and that does carry a variety of things in general, but sure wish their quality control was better.

Last year, I could regularly pick up half price fish and chicken at my supermarket, since I was always there bright and early every Monday morning. Lately, I haven't seen any of those bright orange stickers. I guess they are doing a better job (from their perspective) of predicting demand and sales.

The best I've done lately is a few $1 off packs of slightly-past-their-prime mushrooms.

I have to admit that I am "way" extravagant with my "lack of" food budget..... but I'm not stupid.

When I want something for a recipe or a meal... I want it and I never look at the price yet I always shop the specials.

I'm an early bird at the meat counter to grab all the 30% - 50% discounts on the "day before" meats...but I do pass on chicken and fish. I never pay full price for flour, sugar, OJ, broths, tin foil, plastic wrap, toilet paper, paper towels, etc... they are always on sale somewhere. So I wait for a good deal and then load up.

Yep! I'm there too!
Dairy is probably my largest purchase in a regular grocery store and I wish there were more deals there.
I have purchased 1/2 n 1/2 for $.99/quart.
I coupon, I shop sales, I stock up on what I can.

But, I don't really need much at the grocery with a freezer full of meat purchased 1/2 an animal at a time, my own butchered chickens, eggs, veggies, etc.
I hit local farms for some fresh stuff.
My favorite farm has a 1/2 price deal on closing days (Nov. 1 & 2). I stock up on apples, winter squash, potatoes, onions, etc. that I may not have grown enough of to see us through the winter (just cooked my last butternut about a week ago).
I shop liquidation stores. Sealed panty items that are near or just past the expiration date are fine with me.
Fat free Miracle Whip for $1.25. Salad dressings $.25 to $.1.25. Fiber One bars $1.25.

I am also fortunate that my DH works for a discount drug store and we get a "cost plus" pricing for a lot of our basics (i.e. toilet paper, napkins, toothpaste, etc.).

I LOVE a great bargain.

Deanna

One of my first jobs was as a cashier at Byerly's, a grocery store. If I worked the 11pm to 7am shift on weekends there were two cashiers. One of us was expected to help stock candy, or wrap the pastries that they made in their bakery.

One night a butcher called in sick. The other butcher on duty asked me to help wrap meat. The trays of meat were fed into this machine that would weigh the meat and print a label. As they came out the other side you would pull down a piece of plastic wrap and wrap the tray as it came out. Then you would grab the label and stick it to the top of the package. Sometimes the machine still had "pork chops"and that price in the memory when you went on to package another meat product. I still find packages in meat departments today where this error occurred. Most recently I found large scallops labeled catfish nuggets $2.99/lb. And prior to that I was buying ground pork. The NY Strips next to the pork section had 6 packages labeled ground pork $1.99/lb. I really lucked out one day last winter. I wanted to buy fresh turkey legs. Next to the legs were fresh, boneless turkey tenderloins - labeled turkey legs at $1.29 a pound.

Teresa

I look to see if there is any bargain meat but I only buy it if it's something we use regularly.
I check the ad for weekly specials but otherwise I just buy what looks the best or what I might want for a recipe.

At one time I was a good shopper, not so much of one these days. Good thing I don't have a budget to worry about.

Nancy

My store marks their meat as managers special and I'm all over it if I'm lucky enough to be shopping there when they have. Same with produce but that seems to a rare thing at my store. I love finding bargains like that on a normal shopping trip.

Like Sharon, I shop and stock up when something is on sale. Often it is cheaper than what I can get it for at Sam's.

David

Scots/Irish here and I love bargains. My Mother got on to me for "peeling the potato away" every time I ever peeled one. Said that was bad waste.

I don't know where you live but it sure isn't like that here. Only one store puts meats/poultry marked down and that's only when it's on the "sell by" date, never before. Produce usually isn't marked down here no matter what. If it is marked down it is past way past usable. About the only savings I can get here is getting a coupon doubled. What's worse, since I mainly use fresh produce and meats/poultry, there aren't many coupons I can use.

As much as I love a good bargain, I would not be able to purchase something that I knew was mislabeled in error.
I do however jump at croissants that are a day old.

I don't like buying meat/poultry that has a best by or before date. I prefer meat to be marked with the date that it is packaged. I want to know how long it has been for sale, not what the grocery store decides is the best before date.

Ann

What do the Scots/Irish/Whatever have to do with any of this?

Around here the stores do the markdowns early in the morning but you have to be fast and early. The folks who "attend" that early are like the kids in the special class on free pudding day.

Those walkers aren't for support, they are for blocking you out.

I save a lot of money buying meats in bulk that need some effort on my part to trim, cut etc. A local grocery store sells chicken leg quarters in ten pound bags for example at between fifty and sixty-nine cents a pound. I section the quarters into legs and thighs, with the section of back reserved for making stock/soups. Then I freeze the pieces, sometimes with bone, sometimes boned for later use. The same store regularly runs whole chickens on sale for between seventy & eighty cent a pound, and I usually have a couple whole in the freezer for rotisserie use. Then I cut a few more up so I have chicken breast for much, much less than it costs per pound to buy it, plus some more chicken parts and bones for stock/soups.

The same store runs specials on various meats, "untrimmed" in large bags. Having bought, trimmed, weighed the trimmings & done the math, it is well worth buying these bags of tri tip roasts, pork roasts,ribs, NY strips etc. Again, it means a bit more work for me, but it helps the budget and I'm used to coming home from grocery store trips and spending a little time "processing" my purchases.

We save money by buying our meats in bulk, trimming and cutting it ourselves and then Food Saving them into the freezer too. For veggies we try and shop local stands and farmers. Same with lobster and fish. Buy as much local products as we can. Excellent fresh quality and it keeps the people in business. So we buy very little veggies and meats/seafood from the grocery store. NancyLouise

When shopping I first check the reduced price carts for baked goods and vegetables (although at this season most of my vegetables are from the garden). Then I check the deli for "ham ends", which can be any lunch meats or cheeses packed up and priced cheaply. After that I shop the sales. I don't have many items on my shopping list when I go to the store. I consider it a challenge to see how well I can eat on the cheap.

Jim

' don't like buying meat/poultry that has a best by or before date. I prefer meat to be marked with the date that it is packaged'

I agree AnnT, but all the chains marks it 'sell by' and there's not a real butcher shop within 25 miles. We do have sme pretty good seafood place (I'm in Maryland).

The store I buy my packaged meats at uses a "packaged on" date but they mark it down the day before they want it sold.

I like that because I get to judge whether I think the elapsed time is acceptable to me.

Mind you the local butcher up here at the cottage just repackages and changes the date.......needles to say I don't buy meat from him.

Metaxa, Scots and Irish are known for their thriftyness, that's all. Sure others are thrify too, but probably not as well known for it. That's why I told the tale of being sure not to get a thick peel on the potatoes. Waste of money, peeling away a little of the potato according to the Irish. And that was a very true story. Kathleen can vouch for her mother doing that too.

Me too! I'm FRUGAL and proud of it! I drive DH crazy when we grocery shop together. I stalk the meat counters in the early AM, make friends with the butchers to get the markdowns, DS friend is in charge of produce where DS works so I get the best selection on produce markdowns. DD works at a butcher shop in the summer so she grabs the bargain markdowns. Yes my kids are frugal too.

When I shop for other items, I always look for items with superficially damage then ask the manager for a markdown. I lost 4 sections of vinyl garden fence last winter (a tree came down on them in an ice storm). In early spring, I went to get replacements. All they had were some dirty, scuffed ones so I asked the Manager for a markdown. I got them for 50% off. DH was with me and he was mortified I had the nerve to ask for a discount. He hates being with me when I do this but he always sends me shopping for the big ticket items.

For those who are interested, there is a 'Money Saving Tips' forum on GW, link below. Lots of familiar names.

Here is a link that might be useful: Money Saving Tips

Living on a rather low fixed income means one has to be frugal.
Yes, I shop for bargains in food.
We have only 2 grocery stores here.
One is a Texas chain, the other is a Super Walmart.
Not a lot of choices.
Walmart used to mark down their meats 2 to 3 days before the 'sell by' date.
I found them to always be still very good.
One day while shopping I overheard a customer asking about one of the employees in the meat department.
Turns out she is a friend of the employee and wanted him to save all the mark downs for her.
I have not seen a marked down package of meat since.
Good for her,
Bad for me!
Seems like that ought to be against store policy.
But I guess they need to sell it.

I also try to buy all our groceries, and other things, too,
only when they are on sale.
Baked goods, not so much.
But then I don't buy many baked goods.
I bake our own.
And it seems the stores here are not nearly as good about marking things down in the produce section as some of you have mentioned.
I do envy those if you that have such choices!
Unfortunately, sales don't always coincide with when we need something.
Or when I have funds to buy.

Rusty

A bargain ended up being a bit of work today. Had 2-3 things I needed at market. In reduced produce... several packs of tomatoes, peppers and onions... I'm thinkin' SALSA!! Did have to buy cilantro and a few hot-ish peppers. Just pulled last jar outta hot water bath and will NOT have to buy salsa for a LONG time... 4 pints, 6 half pints, and over a dozen 4 oz jars. Spent less than $10 for the whole lot. A very few of the tomatoes were a little squishy. A few of the peppers were starting to get a little wrinkly. Could find nothing wrong with onions!?!

went to the farmers market today and they had 3 racks of reduced items....

6 lbs of plum tomatoes $1.50
10 lb potatoes $1.50
5 lb broccoli $1.50

Just finished roasting the tomatoes with garlic, EVOO and S&P...the kitchen smells so delish!