frugal underground

Quick question; how many grocery store discount cards do you have in your wallet?  Or on your key-ring if you’re like me and carry them there?

I have three on my key-ring: also a drugstore cared and two bookstore cards.  We’ve joined other discount clubs, too; these are just the ones I keep with me all the time. In case you haven’t guessed, I believe in membership discounts.

As we all know, membership discounts come in two kinds:  free and paid.  The biggest difference (apart from the annual fee) is that companies that offer paid memberships may not sell your data, and those that offer free memberships almost certainly will.

So, before you sign up for one of these cards that’s one thing may want to consider.  Do you mind having your data out there?  It doesn’t bother me, but there are some people who refuse those cards on principle, just because of the data collection.  One thing you can look into is seeing if they will issue an anonymous card without you revealing personal information.  Not all stores will do this, but I was able to sign up for a card at Albertson’s in Washington State without providing any personal information.  Wegmans in Virginia went to the other extreme and wanted a drivers license number.

Personally I would recommend signing up for every free discount card you can find.  It only takes a few minutes and the savings more than outweigh the effort.  My most recent receipt from one of our local supermarkets (not where we do most of our shopping) shows that we’ve saved over $220 this year at that store alone.

They also offer gas discounts:  every hundred dollars you spend there earns you a $0.10 per gallon discount on fuel at their gas pump.   You earn points over a period of six weeks or so, and can redeem them any time up to about two weeks after that period ends.  It works for us.

Paid cards are a different story:  Any time you think about signing up for one of those you should sit down and to the math first.  For example, a Books-A-Million membership costs $20 a year and gives 10% off everything in the store (and an additional 10% off the already discounted price on their website.)  If you spend less than $200 a year on books it’s probably not worth it.  I belong to a group that meets there every Wednesday morning, so I’ve probably saved the price of the membership on coffee alone.

As a reward for anyone who has read all the way to the bottom of the this post I’m posting a couple of links for Borders members.

First this coupon offers 25% off your entire purchase.

Second this one offers $100 off a Sony Reader.

Both coupons expire on June 14th and the Reader coupon is only valid in stores, not on the website.  I used the Reader one Tuesday night, so stay tuned for a post on saving money with eBooks.  There’s also a 20% off your entire purchase coupon floating around out there, but I didn’t see the point of posting it when there’s a better one.

Happy Frugaling.

Popularity: 10% [?]

I was making a pasta salad yesterday and decided to go all out… I bought sun-dried red bell peppers.  (I know, I’m really living large here!)  The salad was quite tasty, and the peppers were a delicious touch, so this morning I was thinking about the logistic of the peppers.

I have a dehydrator that doesn’t get used as much as it could, and while I imagine it wouldn’t be exactly the same as sun-drying, it seems like it would be a passable imitation.  “Think how much money I’ll save by doing it myself!” I thought gleefully.  Until I actually double-checked my receipt, that is!

Turns out that for me (at this time of year, at the store where I do most of my shopping), buying the sun-dried peppers is less expensive than buying fresh bell peppers and dehydrating them myself (not to mention the extra labor involved!).  The sun-dried peppers were $1.50 for what appears to be about two peppers; the fresh were the same cost per pepper!  Later in the season I expect that the fresh peppers will drop to about $.88 each, but it’s still cheaper to buy them already dried.

Just goes to show that the pricebook can reveal even the surprising deals!

Popularity: 33% [?]

A while ago, I came across a store on eBay that interested me: The Organic Vanilla Bean Company. I added them to my favorite eBay sellers, and that was the extent of our relationship… until now.

In case you don’t know, vanilla beans are expensive. I thought the prices were kind of outrageous until I read about what’s actually involved in raising and harvesting vanilla beans… it involves precise timing and hand pollinating, if that give you any idea, so the cost is reflecting the work involved. I have a single vanilla bean stored in my pantry right now (a cool, dark place, you know). I’m afraid to use it. I keep thinking, “What if I use it and the recipe turns out lousy? I’ll have squandered my one vanilla bean.” Because at $8/bean or whatever, it’s not like I’m going to be buying more on a regular basis.

Last week I received the periodic eBay email featuring “Your Favorite Sellers”… and saw that The Organic Vanilla Bean Company had just listed some beans. I was feeling adventurous, so I thought, what the heck, and bid on one lot. It was a quarter-pound of 6-7″ grade A Tahitian vanilla beans, and the shipping was $3. A quarter-pound of that size is about 30 beans. I decided to bid something so ridiculously low that if I won the auction, it would be clear that God Himself wanted me to have those vanilla beans. So I bid a very random $6.38, and left for the weekend.

Imagine my surprise when I returned and found that I’d been offered a “Second Chance Offer” at my bid price! I didn’t hesitate. 30 vanilla beans for less than $10, shipped? Sign me up!

The point of this entry? Consider buying your gourmet food on eBay. You might save a bundle.

Popularity: 26% [?]