Dollar Store Alert!

Many of you are "dollar store" shoppers already and then there are the many that have never crossed the threshold of one!

I've been a dollar store shopper for a very long time... I even used to attend the trade shows in Las Vegas where a lot of them do their buying! I've watched the stores and their products change dramatically over the years.

I was just shopping in one of my local dollar stores this evening (not my favorite one though)... and made some mental notes to share with you... I've noticed a sharp increase of inventory in their products as well as an extensive diversity in the past few months...

For one... I've never seen so many Disney products except in the Disney stores! And for a dollar! Being the avid researcher that I am, I've found these very same products in other retail outlets and online for 3 to 8 times the amount at the dollar store... Can you do the math on that one? LOL!

And since the "science" behind dollar stores is that they buy bulk surplus inventories that don't sell (yes, I admit that they do have some product manufactured in China specifically for them)... their inventories do speak loudly of what is going on in our economy today.

Now let me share with you some of the products that I found this evening... Mrs. Field's Cookies! The individual packets with all their shiny wrapping were only 59-cents! The bags of cookies were a dollar.... well, 99-cents! I found Del Monte canned fruits and veggies... Campbell's soups! And Campbell's stock went UP today... one of the very, very few! There was Sara Lee bread... various kinds I might add... Stokley's tomatoes! And, one that really knocked my socks off was Gilroy Garlic in a jar! Oh my....

And this particular dollar store has a "fresh produce department." Prices of bananas in grocery stores have been up to a dollar a pound (in CA anyway) of late... you get a whole "bunch" of bananas for a dollar. And their produce is fresh and crisp looking... better than some of the grocery stores actually! And there was a big bag of red grapes... probably a pound... where else can you buy a pound of fresh grapes for a dollar these days?

This list is just skimming the surface... I encourage you to put the closest dollar store on your map on a day you run your errands... just check it out and don't give yourself too much time in there... those dollars add up and the impulse buying in those stores is one reason they do so well! By the same token, take advantage of this opportunity of "surplus selling" to start your "new life" of penny pinching... start stacking up those pennies! You CAN do it... we will do it, together!

Happy Shopping!
Frugally,
Jan McCracken

Too Much Month at the End of the Money?

Are you, like so many of us, experiencing the dreaded affliction of "too much month at the end of the money?"

That's why I created this blog! I'm an avid researcher and a freelance writer by trade and there are ways that we can turn this very challenging situation of living life in today's seemingly daily crisis mode into a more positive existence.

I grew up in the Midwest in a small farming community. I was raised by my grandparents and as of late I did some extensive research on the Great Depression which, of course, my grandparents lived through... I realized that many of the foods that were staples of the Great Depression were what I grew up eating!

We were very poor folks but you would have never known it from the "bounty of the table!" We ate very, very well... and, I might add... extremely healthy!

But that was THEN and this is NOW, so let's fast forward to 2008 to the time that Congress is trying to decide at the very moment of this writing whether to pass a $700 BILLION Bill that will bailout Wall Street. You think just maybe that IF that Bill passes it might change all of our lives just a tad? Or, do you think that just maybe IF that Bill doesn't pass it might change all of our lives just a tad?

On top of all this... right now in the midst of the 2008 Presidential election, and to be remembered in the history books of all time, the keyword is "CHANGE!" As we all know, change is not always easy.

In my writing career, I've written quite a few books about nutrition and healthy lifestyles. My mantra through the years has been.... "Change Your Mind... Change Your Heart... Lose Weight for Life!" This mantra can be applied to our changing lifestyles of today in our pockets with just a bit of tweaking. In order to get through these tough times, here's a new roadmap...

"Change Your Mind... Change Your Heart... Live Life Well!"

If you've never "pinched pennies" before you can learn! I know you know how to count "dollars"... we're going to "count pennies!"

So bookmark this blog and come back often to check for helpful penny pinching hints for just plain ol' folks like myself... we're all in this together so let's stick together. I welcome posts that are working for you on cutbacks and shortcuts.

Remember... if you start stacking up pennies... the stack soon becomes a dollar... and then...

Frugally yours,
Jan McCracken