.99999 cent store

Inspired by the .99 cent chef, I headed out to my local .99 cent store in search of the wonderful items he had used in his cooking. I was pleasantly surprised by the great variety of both fresh produce - fresh I said, not ripe or over ripe and the cold-foods selections.

I have to come clean and tell you before I go on, that I have always had a bad feeling about buying groceries at any discount store. I always felt that maybe they were not the same quality or inferior in some way because they were so cheap. That and also, when i was a child, I went to the .99 cent store and bought a candy - a chocolate. When i opened the wrapper, I was sad and sickened to see that the candy was spoiled. Perhaps it is that memory that has kept me from shopping there for so long.

So, I have to thank Mr. .99 cent chef for reintroducing me!

So, when i left there, my shopping cart was filled! Here is an abbreivated list of what i picked up there:

- Wheat bread: this was a great buy since I paid $2.89 a week ago for a similar whole-wheat bread!
- Arizona Iced Tea: made in USA, does not expire until 2011.
- Dole fresh strawberries - looked and smelled delicious, I picked up two baskets.
- Dole Salad bag
- Kraft Jet puff marshmallows
- Diet Coke 4 cans for .99 cents
- Spices: lemon garlic rub and ground bbq spice rub - Sam bought similar rubs for over $6 each at BBQ galore!
- Post trail mix granola cereal with cranberries - this was $4.79 at Albertsons!
- Organic Sugar: I stopped myself (OK, Sam did) from buying yesterday at Trader Joe's for $3.99 - I am glad I didn't buy it!!

I also picked up great things like paper plates, gift bags for mother's day gifts, plastic storage bags and such...

Overall, I am very happy! I think I will start going there more now, even though they raised their prices a little. LOL

There was all of this fuss about them raising their prices a few months ago. Turns out they went from .99 cents to .999999 cents per item, effectively making each item $1.00, but they can still get away with the .99 cent store name.

Not bad. Everyone needs to make more money, right? Just like everyone needs to save money, especially now.

Happy Shopping!