The Price of Milk

For Christmas last year, Tee gave me a subscription to Real Simple magazine. It was a magazine that I really enjoyed in my pre-Hoot years. I loved to read it cover to cover. The subscription was initially hung up and I didn't receive my first issue until almost three weeks ago. I get so little time to devote to it (yes, I know, log off and read!) that I am just now finishing off the issue.

On the cover is what seems to be the ever present "Save on Groceries" tag line. It's getting as much cover time as Brittany Spears and Harrison Ford these days. Hey, guess what, we all know groceries have gone up lately. Hey, guess what, we all want to know how to save. Hey, guess what, I bet we all knew the six tips Real Simple printed to save you money on groceries!

For those of you who don't know:

• buy cheese in the dairy aisle, avoid the deli counter
• go to a discounter like WallyWorld for shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste
• buy frozen, not fresh, fish
• buy meat in bigger family packs
• buy produce in bulk bags
• look at the shelf sticker

Wow, really? That's amazing. Hey, and I bet if I don't drive my car, I'll save on gas, too! Yes, I know, I know it's just an article. It's just that it's the same old tired advice that has been rehashed and rehashed and rehashed. And, it has been rehashed by every magazine out there. I still love my Real Simple and I enjoyed reading it. I can't wait for the new issue, which will probably be out before I truly finish this one. But, I wish they had run an article that had some real information.

You want to save on your grocery bills? Get a Sunday paper. If you live in a small city, try to get the nearest large city's paper, as the coupons will be better. (Our local paper's coupons are full of tomato trees and old lady stretch pants ads.) Clip your coupons. Go to The Grocery Game and spend $1. That will buy you four weeks to learn how to match to ads. If you love the savings, but don't have time to match ads, at the end of your four weeks, get a real membership. It really will save you money. Heck, before the Grocery Game, I didn't know that our local Kroger tripled coupons up to thirty nine cents! I only thought they doubled to fifty! And if you do it, remember I sent you! My referral email is Siouxstone@gmail.com. (You can also use the email if you just want to drop me a line as well!)

One tidbit out of the May issue has stuck with me for over a week now. I just keep pondering it! In 1958, the average price of milk was $1.01 a gallon. But, that wasn't the WOW part. If you adjusted that amount for inflation, in today's dollars, it would mean $7.40 a gallon! That makes my Hoot's organic look cheap! Of course, a man in white doesn't leave it on my doorstep either!

Oh, and if you ever see The Price of Milk on any indy film channels or the like, I love that movie. It's quirky and from New Zealand. The Jacksons always seem to have something of mine! If it wasn't for the No Buy thing, I'd probably be searching for the DVD online since I just thought about it!

Current Reading:

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Pick it up, check it out! I've enjoyed it far more than I would've ever thought.