Friday, October 31, 2008

Food Product Packaging Getting Chintzy! Tips For Saving A Buck!

Today I picked out a snack pack of Peanut M & M's from the treat bowl for our Trick or Treater's tonight, to find only five M & M"s. I've always had the notion you get what you pay for, but now you pay more and get much less! I have to say truthfully the other snack packs of M & M's contain a couple more between 7 & 8. The candy bars are now bite size, which takes only two bites to eat one!

Back in my day, we couldn't wait to get home Holloween night to count our stash of Hershey Bars. Our Halloween bags almost ripping or tearing from the weight of the precious cargo within. My two sisters and I would stretch our candy loot, covering most of the living room carpet. We usually ended up having about the same amount of Hershey bars! The average size of a Hershey bar then around 1.2 oz, running about 10 - 15 cents a bar! A 1.55 oz Hershey bar is running about 60 - 99 cents now, and the majority of Trick or Treaters are getting the snack size, which is at least a quarter of the big bar size! So now with the modern day snack size, the kids will need to hit another couple blocks of lighted houses to accumulate a nice stash!

Through the years I've become a devout dark chocolate fan, and at the top of my list is Lindt Dark Chocolate Truffles TO DIE FOR, with Dove dark chocolate coming in second! I guess the snack size is perfect for us weight consious parents. We don't feel too guilty munching on two bites of chocolate to relieve our chocolate fix!

Talk about food prices and packaging, I ran to the local supermarket as I always do every week for my small family. I see lettuce is up to $2.49, celery $3.49, chicken breasts going from 5lbs to 3bls per bag and rising at least $2.00 -$4.00 in price. The price of meat and fruit is sky high, I hope my husband gets a deer this season! Salad is a main course in my household, so these items are a must on my list! I know the price of things, so I've been forced out to other food outlets who are charging less for produce.

No more one stop shopping, I'm spreading my buck around to save a buck. You have to be careful even the dollar stores have higher prices on some items. I know what I buy, and I know the price, so I know first hand if I'm getting a deal or not. These days you have to be a smart comparison shopper. I do prefer to buy cuts of meat at my local supermaket, I just don't like all the meat recalls from other food chainstores. I stock up on every meat sale. Look at different ads from different food stores, and compare prices. I'll travel an extra couple miles for a bargain to stock up on an item! I also stock up on store brand name merchandise, which is sometimes half the price of brand name products.

As a consumer, I hate paying more, and getting less. Businesses are hurting and competing for our buck too. This is the reason I won't mention any names, we need all the businesses we can get. Otherwise we won't be able to comparison shop! Big and small businesses are what drive the economy. My husband has a small business which has been slow too. I've seen too many good companies fall, including one I worked for years ago, which is an internet only store now!

Every penny counts in our struggling economy! Gas in our area is down to $2.65. Should we be happy I'm not sure! They always find another reason for gas to go back up! We are learning valuable lessons on how to survive on less, and coming up with new and using old ideas to make our buck go even futher.

Talk about Loot ~ HAPPY HOLLOWEEN!

6 comments:

Jo Janoski said...

I hear ya! About the gas, hubby and I always marvel at how the psychology of it works. As soon as it went below $3 a gallon, people were overjoyed, calling it cheap. Did we ever before think $2.65/gallon was cheap! Short term memory loss? It's all relative, I guess.

Jo A. T.B. said...

Yeah, the news says gas is lower than it was a year ago, and that's supposed to make us happy. Don't think so! I've got a wait and see attitude, ain't gettin my hopes up!
I'm marvleling at what a buck will buy these days! We must keep our chins up Jo!

Dan said...

On years when I'm successful at harvesting a deer or sometimes two, it saves us significant pain at the meat counter. You also can't argue with the quality of venison. 2% fat content right off the hoof! I wish your husband good luck!

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hi Dan,

Seems with the economy the way it's been there has been many a poacher our way. Last year me and Delilah came upon a pile of carcasses. There was even a bambi one, not even used for meat just sitting dead on the pile! Upset me!

Deer are sparse in our area, many hunters! Did you ever grill deer tips, to die for! I agree the least fat of all meats! I also like the hamburger! Good luck to you too on your hunting ventures!

ochikeron said...

Hi jo! I really understand you!!!
I do travel & compare to pay less, too!!!
Sometimes when I see some people at the cashier paying too much for their products, I wonder why...

I was just going to write about the content reduced packages on my diary!!! I had the same experience recently, which was hard to realize until you open... :(

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hello Ochi,

Some folks just don't want to shop around. Now I see no other way, that is if you want to save money. I found the produce is no different in other food outlets, and I'm paying much less! Every little bit helps!

Sad how much less we're getting for our money! The cost is always passed down to the consumer!

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