Have you ever taken a serving of mixed vegetables and sorted it by vegetable? Louis, annoyed at inaccurate depictions of food on labels, decided to sort, count, and weigh the vegetables in his can of Always Save brand canned vegetables. The results? Uh, not so mixed.
groceries
Amazon Releases July '09 Grocery Coupon Codes
By 7.15.09
Amazon.com has released the latest batch of special grocery coupon codes and Probargainhunter has the roundup. Among them, there’s 20% off Elegant Cheese Cakes that are shaped like burgers for some reason with coupon code ELEGANT7.
Here's A Simple Tutorial On Expiration Dates
By 7.10.09
Howcast has produced a quick video tutorial covering the basics of expiration and sell by dates. If you have questions about eggs, meat, canned goods, or storing things in the freezer, check it out.
Dear Kroger, Please Make Self Check-Out Suck Less
By 7.6.09
Self check-out is great if, say, you’ve got one of those supermarkets where the teenaged clerks hate you for choosing their lane and spend more time talking to each other than scanning your items. It’s not so great if you force all of your customers to use the system because you’ve decided to close down every other human-powered lane but one.
New Survey Says Less Than 20% Of Consumers Trust Food Supply
By 6.26.09
Is it any surprise that after the past few years of outbreaks and recalls, almost no one trusts products from food manufacturers anymore? IBM recently completed a survey of shoppers in the 10 largest cities, and found that a lot of consumers want more information than they currently can get about their food choices.
Kroger Won't Accept Coupons From …Kroger?
By 6.24.09
John printed out some coupons from grocery store Kroger’s Web site. That’s not where he went wrong, though. John had the audacity to try to exchange them for discounts. On Kroger brand products. At Kroger. Experienced coupon users can guess what happens next.
Oh, Popchips, Say It Isn't So!
By 6.22.09
A little over a week ago, we brought to you a heart-warming tale of good publicity, free stuff, and tasty snacks from PopChips. Lurking in our files, though, was evidence that Popchips have been savagely zapped by the Grocery Shrink Ray.
Self Check-Out At Supermarket Means Fewer Impulse Buys
By 6.3.09
Consumer Reports says that the supermarket self check-out line is better on your wallet and your gut. “You’ll find fewer snacks,” they write, “and because of the shorter wait time, you’ll have less time to contemplate a snack attack.” There’s even a study that shows impulse purchases dropped by nearly a third for women and a sixth for men when they chose the self check-out line. You also get to play with the scanner, touchscreen, and bag area, which is a lot more fun than just standing around. (That’s right, “bag area.”)
The Truth Behind Healthy Supermarket Foods
By 5.6.09
The Wall Street Journal takes a good look at items marketed as “healthier for you” on supermarket shelves, and as you can probably imagine, any actual health benefits vary greatly from product to product. Take all natural chicken, for example: if you buy “enhanced” or “plumped” chicken—it will say somewhere on the label that water, salt, and/or carrageenan has been added, but it will still be labeled natural—the sodium per 4 oz serving jumps from 45-60 mgs to 200-400 mgs.
By 5.4.09
../../../..//2009/05/04/as-of-may-1st-jewel-osco/
As of May 1st, Jewel-Osco, the Chicagoland grocery chain, no longer accepts expired coupons. “This practice is being phased out given the wide range of in-store money-saving opportunities, including the use of Jewel-Osco’s Preferred Card, regularly advertised sales, availability of online coupons, and special in-store promotions,” a spokesperson said. [Daily Herald]
Is It Cheaper To Make Or To Buy? Six Foods Tested
By 4.27.09
Jennifer Reese decided to make six common food items and then determine whether it was better to go the homemade route or to buy from the store. We briefly considered making our own crackers last month in a fit of anger over how expensive generic saltines have become, so we’re glad someone did the research for us.
Grocery Auctions: Going Once, Going Twice, Going Off!
By 4.14.09
Grocery auctions are sweeping the nation! The concept is simple: you bid on super-low-priced food items and paper goods, and walk away with a cart full of groceries for $100s less than you’d spend at your local supermarket. But the reality is that most of the food is expired, damaged, or past its promotion deadline. So are you really getting a good deal? And what do those “best before” dates really signify?
5 Big Retail Mark-Ups To Watch Out For
By 4.7.09
The Lansing State Journal has put together a list of 5 marked-up retail categories to be aware of when you’re making purchasing decisions, most of which you hopefully already know. If you can’t find wholesale sources or DIY replacements, then at least make sure you do a lot of comparison shopping to get the best deal.
This Pringles Super Stack Size Traps The Math Illiterate
By 3.12.09
The Super Stack can of Pringles on the right looks super big and super packed full of chips. It only has 12% more snack inside, though, while it costs 25% more of your money. Luckily, if you’re not handy with division or don’t have a calculator or phone with you, just look at the price per pound on the tags below. And never trust packaging!
Gas And Ingredients Are Cheap, So Why Are Grocery Prices Rising?
By 3.3.09
With the the cost of ingredients, gas prices, and interest rates dropping, why are food manufacturers continuing to hike prices and shrink products? According to the L.A. Times, supermarkets don’t know, but they’re as pissed as we are.
Passover Is Coming, And It's Your Chance To Buy Real Sugar Products
By 3.2.09
Passover is a holiday that has special meaning to everyone, regardless of faith, because it’s the time of year when some food and drink companies release products sweetened with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). If you want to stock up on real sugar Coca-cola or u-bet chocolate syrup (which I’ve never heard of, but John Hodgman seems to like), or if you just want to see whether you can really taste a difference between HFCS and cane or beet sugar, now’s your chance.
Grocery Growth Ray To Hit Ketchup, Chips
By 2.24.09
A grocery growth ray is set to hit a popular condiment and several kinds of baked corn with names ending “tos.” To push the brands as being good values, Heinz will be selling slightly larger ketchup bottles, and Frito-Lay is adding 20% to Tostitos, Fritos, Cheetos and Doritos – without raising the price. Unlike the grocery shrink ray, you can bet this change will be loudly trumpeted on the package.
Buy In Bulk With Friends From Warehouse Clubs
By 2.23.09
You can save big on groceries by forming a little warehous club buying collective with your friends:
