Lists

Back before refrigerators were made from recycled aluminum pop cans, they were made from m - e - t - a - l. Most common metals possess unpaired electrons and are therefore highly reactive with magnets. People used these fridge magnets to stick shopping lists to their fridges. This was done for all sorts of lists with the exception of Mom's Christmas present list. That was squirrelled away somewhere mysterious. By the time, you were eight, you knew where those hiding places were and could track her Christmas purchases by seeing what was crossed off the list. You could also subtly alter the course of history, if she had not successfully recognized how important that you receive the Corgi Thunderbirds 2 transporters with the Thunderbird 4 submarine in the internal bay!!

OK, we've got that cleared up. What I call the NOW list is your old fridge list with one modification. It is your running record of things you must buy next time you find yourself near a grocery store. We need MILK!  The cereal box is nearly empty!  I have no bread for lunches tomorrow. When driving back from the grocery store, you will pull off the highway, turn around and go back and get this item. Pretzels would never be on that list, or tomato soup or ice cream.  Don't worry about meat or veggies, that will take care it itself when you combine this list with the one I give you.

Now lets' jump over the middle list, the SOON list and talk about your third list. The SOMEDAY list.  Steaks for the summer BBQ season, toilet paper, laundry detergent, Bounce sheets might be on this list.  Cans of soup, Kraft dinner & all of your cleaning products would be on this list. You should never pay full price for any of these items unless you have really messed up? If fact, in a perfect world, all of these would all be obtained for "free" with points during a Redemption Event. A carload, three or four times per year. These things should always be in your cupboards, in your pantry, in your basement.  You will never cash in your points during your weekly shopping.  They will ask you, every time.  Do you want to use your points?  Just say #*%K ... no.

The SOON list is from the netherworld in between your first and third list.  It is the hardest to manage and the one I spend the most time on for myself and on your behalf. SALE SALE SALE, the headlines scream. Ya, not so much. Thanks for knocking a dime of a can of soup that cost $2.79 That's four percent. To manage this list, we are looking through the flyers, then the specific item offers, then the overall continuity offers to find the purchases that you have been delaying. They had not been incentivized but now we are hoping to garner all three layers of discounts when we pull the trigger on that purchase. Now your FRIDGE list and your SOON list can be brought together. You get what you must buy even if you have to pay full price. You get the things you have been waiting to buy ... at ahefty discount while collecting the maximum point available. Then when you have the million points, you just wait for an event. You stock up on all those Someday items that will never go bad, that you will always need. That will never go to waste.

I'll leave you with one thought. All the large grocery chains are buying their meat from Cargill. They get their cereal from General Mills and Kellogs. They are all getting their fruits and vegetables from Gambles or Bondi or from the Ontario Food Terminal. The giant chains might get slightly better pricing than your local Seven Eleven (based on volume) but they are all ordering from the same menu. The only place, they can make a difference in margins is the quality of the stores and the competence of the staff. One chain might have high school students working for a minimum wage on concrete floors (No Frills, Giant Tiger). Down the road, that chain location may have a Bento booth, flower department, deli counter and full-time staff (who know things), who get paid a living wage and have health benefits. They might. that landscape is changing, and not for the better. It all affects the price you pay for a can of soup, but we are talking pennies. All the major chains are working on about 4 points of profit. Look it up. What car Galen Weston drives or how many mansions the Walton family maintains really has a miniscule effect on your grocery bill.

So, I have an buddy who's wife has a pretty big job for a big company, but he is old school. He doesn't cook, or clean (inside) or go grocery shopping. She walks the aisles, throws in what appeals to her, goes down the meat aisle, frozen burgers, pork chops, steaks, milk eggs, normal shit. She goes home and all the meat goes into a big old chest freezer. Once a year, my buddy takes a couple of green garbage bags downstairs, empties the freezer contents on the floor and throws out everything that is freezer burnt or that you can't see what the meat is any more due to frost. At the top of this article, I questioned whether your spending on groceries is discretionary? Here is my answer. It is (discretionary) to the extent that you can follow the herd, believe the advertising, bleat about the high prices and line up to be slaughtered with the rest of them .... or late every week, after the new flyers and offers come out, you can read my stuff. Add my list to your list and get the highest quality foodstuffs at the lowest possible price. You can reap the maximum benefit from the Optimum Loyalty Program. You can have a million points, ready to redeem at the best possible time ... all the time. If you decide to do the latter, I can help.

This Weeks' List

Well, to start, they can stuff those Product of USA cherries up their ass. They even have a little stem in case you change your mind? Nectarines for $8, nah. They do have a deal from the RTE department which I gave you. 20 piece chicken bucket, wedges, two dips, twenty bucks? Have that watching Canada sneak past Mexico? After boycotting AndyBoy romaine all winter, my Zehr's had a Product of Quebec three pack of romain lettuce. Made SWMBO her first scratch Ceasar salad of the season. That was a hit. Lastly, the Moredays deals were not as good as some previous versions but I gave you all three snack options. 40% back in points, buy all eight, you will have junk to put in front of company on Canada Day. Campbell's spicy tomato and chicken soup for 75 cents off so that might be worth a try and a Redemption Event at Shopers. I will not be playing as you may noticed , I have redeemed 1.7 million points this past couple of months. That has effectively zeroed my grocery bill for May and June. Those funds went into garden project and my new man cave. Here is your list:

Mitch & Maddie