Yesterday morning, I got myself pulled together early, printed out my shopping list, and headed to Fred Meyer. The store was surprisingly uncrowded, perhaps because this was a second bonus Senior Shopping Discount Day. And to be honest, I, myself, was beginning to tire of getting up and out early on Tuesdays to snag whatever discounts there were for the previous two Senior Shopping Discount Days.
You see, I share a car with my two adult daughters. They are both working and use my car to get to and from work as substitute teachers. Taking a city bus is not always convenient for their sub jobs, and in some cases, not even possible (as the buses don't even come close to a few of the schools where they can sub). On occasion, they find sub jobs at the same school or at a neighboring school. Other times, one will sub at one of two neighborhood schools that are within walking distance. And still other times, one will drop the other off at a school then travel on to their own school for subbing. Then there are the occasions where both of them find sub jobs along a city bus line.
Most days, I don't have a car between 8 AM and 4 PM. On those days, I try to get up and out early if I have errands, so I can bring the car back for them before 8. That usually means that I leave the house early enough to be standing there at the store's doors before official opening. Our Fred Meyer tends to open a few minutes before 7 AM, even though 7 is the official opening time. If I have a list with me, I can get in and out of the store in about 45 minutes or less, leaving me just enough time to pull into our driveway for my daughters to help me unload the trunk, so they can take the car for work. Sometime in this next year, my daughters will either each buy their own car or will buy one car to share.
Anyways, back to getting my turkey. I had my list finalized and ready to print. Too early for me to even think clearly, I dressed as quickly as I could, pulled my hair into a ponytail, and grabbed what I needed for shopping. This was no time for silly things, like you know, eating breakfast. I made a cup of coffee to go and booked it out the door. Everything went as planned. Absolutely everything on my list was available. How often does that happen? Not often for me. As planned, I bought very little food. Instead, I bought mostly consumable, non-food items, such as LED lightbulbs (including some of those pricer indoor floodlight-style can lights), copy paper, OTC meds and supplements, dish detergent, carpet cleaner, and hair color. I also bought 2 gifts and about $16 in food.
Absolutely everything that I bought either received a discount, was on sale, or both. In most cases, I bought a 6-month to 1-year supply of items. I spent $165, not including tax. On one of the gifts, if I find that item for less in the next 30 days, I will return this one to Fred Meyer and keep my free turkey, as I will still be beneath the $150 spending threshold.
I know that I've mentioned this before, the free turkey deal is one of the few "free major food item with a minimum purchase" deals available during the year. The stores near me never have similar promotions at Christmas or Easter. This is just a Thanksgiving deal. So, I work my long and short-range plans to take advantage of the deal without overspending to get there.
Since I can use non-food items to make the needed minimum purchase, it makes sense to allow our stock of non-food consumable items to be depleted during the late summer through fall months so that I can then restock during this free-turkey promotion.
One 21-pound turkey later, and I'm a pretty happy woman. In November's budget, I had allocated $12 to $14 for a turkey. Since the turkey was free, I put an additional $6 toward sparkling cider, which gives us enough sparkling cider now for Christmas, New Years, and Easter. That leaves me with $6 to $8 in surplus for the month's groceries, which I can "invest" in additional sale items as I see them.
You already know this -- these "deals" are only a deal if you don't overspend in order to meet the requirements. Stores wouldn't make these offers if enough people didn't do just that, go wild in their spending just to get that free item. Thanks to all of you who helped me stay on track with this!
