'essentials' are rarely put on deep discount sales. manufacturers and retailers know you're gonna buy regardless. even the discount retailers like walmart and target don't put a lot of 'essentials' on black friday deals anymore. used to get a pair of jeans, some socks, shorts and tees, a new hoodie, and a few other things every year, to replace what's worn out or been eaten by the dryer monster, and they were always cheap af--always some kind or another of those were on sale. but i haven't been able to the last 5-6 years.
Look for stores similar to TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Citi Trends (look over, this is irregulars often), etc. They’re my go-to for things like that, assuming they’re in your area.
i'm in a small town, away from everything. any money saved by driving to a large city to shop is spent on fuel to make the drive there and back. even the nearest 'outlet mall' is a joke, because it's in a tourist trap town--and it, itself, is one, too.
Black Friday is dead. Retailers realized they don't actually have to give you a discount but can just sell you crap they were having trouble getting out of their warehouses with some percentage off a price they never sold it for.
Grocery stores already have their own versions of Black Friday they just don’t get advertised. Go in a couple days before and a couple days after major holidays and you. An always get good stuff for cheap. I bought a ham a couple weeks ago around Canadian thanksgiving and the price was at least 1/3 of what they would normally charge. After Indian festivals, I usually go to the store and can get desserts like ras malai for $1-$2 instead of $13.
The only thing that usually doesn’t get a big discount that is brought in for the holidays is turkey, since the price is already almost at a loss and they can stay frozen until Christmas if the store has room (and a good manager would make sure they can keep an order until Christmas frozen in the back to alleviate order issues during that time.)
Many stores in my area give you a free turkey if you spend enough money. I think the one I go to will give you one if you spend $150. Which really isn't hard to spend on groceries anymore, especially if you're buying all the other Thanksgiving staples for a big family.
Show me lamb, oxtails, shell fish. We’re over turkey, here. While hams are out on sale here, and I like it, it’s not great in large quantities for my body and shellfish are prohibitively priced enough to keep me properly constrained.
They haven’t even replaced the sign for them in a couple stores near me, but the prices are pretty cheap already. I’m considering buying one of the bigger whole turkeys and just butchering it at home to make a bunch of different meals. The $16 ham I got ended up lasting me and my fiancé about 10 meals between the ham and the soup from the ham bones.
They have a super mega UW monitor on sale for $250 off right now. Unfortunately that still puts it at $750. I go stare at it every time I'm there and imagine how cool it would be to have. Some day...
Agreed, or WinCo if you have that in your area is nearly as cheap.
The $60 you pay for Costco membership pays for itself in 6 months for me just in cheaper gas. Let alone the savings on food. The only problem with Costco is the size of the products for people living by themselves, which I get around by getting mostly frozen or non-perishable goods.
That's how ALDI works. They fluctuate with the market prices. But many of the larger chains sell things at a fixed price because that's what lots people want. They will make more money when the market prices are low and less or none when they are high. Many even sell staples like eggs and milk as loss leaders and neve make money off them. Of course things like the avian flu cause exceptions because they're not going to go bankrupt selling you eggs for half what they paid.
Surprisingly the laundry pods were cheaper per load than the powder last time we were at Costco. We always get whatever option is cheapest per load, and for some reason the pods were the best value. Value and convenience? I'm in!
honestly, I want to share this because it's a super relatable sentiment... but tide pods and coffee creamer aren't exactly the most relatable groceries to use for it lol
someone pls photoshop this tweet with bread or chicken or something so I can send it to my friends 😅
I don't drink coffee. I eat dirt and then swallow a coffee sapling whole. It makes the caffeine my body requires. I do this once a year and I'm hopped up on coffee the entire year.
I don't pay attention to anything that's not the actual price of the item at the moment. Sometimes the 2+1 for free deals are nice if it's some consumable like socks which is something I will always need, but I noticed that stores where I live don't do this anymore (I guess when I put a dozen pairs of socks in my cart, manager realized that was a bad idea because for that one time, it was actually slightly cheaper) except for garbage like chips and shitty sodas, and 3rd one isn't even free, you will pay more than 50% of its price for sure...
I pay attention to the normal price that's displayed most of the time while shopping so I know when it changes. Like around Black Friday when shit that was $3 goes up to $5 and the label says it was reduced from $10 so I know damn good and well it's bullshit.
Also, sidenote: If you consider socks a consumable item, consider spending more on better quality socks.