Good shopping yesterday.

[MickinMD ★]

Little amounts add up.  I personally didn't pay much attention to that fact until my mother, in the 90's, handed me a book: The Millionaire Next Door by Stanley and Danko which provides the details and methods of people who had middle class earnings but accumulated significant wealth.  One of the millionaires they interviewed was asked his favorite beer and he replied, "Free then Bud."

I keep a Memo shopping list on my phone where, under the subheadings of the stores at which I shop, I list items that are usually priced best at each one.

The past year's inflation has thrown a lot of that off, but I'm adjusting.

Right now, Chi Chi's or Tostito's 15 oz. Salsa Con Queso is $4.99 or higher in my local supermarkets.  The virtually identical Walmart "Great Value" store brand version is $2.17.  Of course, it's almost always sold out in the Walmart closest to me.  Yesterday there were lots of them so I got three!

3 x ($4.99-$2.17) = $8.46 in savings.

Generally better tasting and chunkier than Tostitos, etc. 24 oz. chunky salsa ($5.98) is Aldi's Casa Mamita 24 oz salsa ($1.99), which is sometimes hard to find in "Mild."  I go through about one 24 oz. jar a week - using it on steak, in scrambled eggs, etc. The jars of thickest salsa have a few small air bubbles on the inside of the glass and I found 6 yesterday.

6 x ($5.98-$1.99) = $23.94 in savings.

Those items plus a bunch of other food stuff like Walmart's 12 oz. Whipped Cream Cheese for $2.94 instead of Philadelphia brand for $5.78 ended up saving me $57.49 over the normal prices of the name brands - not what the store receipt claims I'm saving but using the actual store shelf prices.

I also got 9.054 gal. of gas at Costco for $3.049/gal instead of $3.349/gal or higher elsewhere: another $2.72 in savings!

Additionally, I'll get 5% cash-back from Discover for my Aldi purchases, 2% back from other cards for my Walmart and Costco purchases, and 4% back for my Costco gas purchases for a total $4.43 cash back.

So my total costs were 67.5% of brand-name shelf-prices: $133.17 - $4.43 = $128.74 instead of the $190.66 I know some friends would pay because they won't buy discount brands, don't comprehend how small amounts add up, and don't pay attention to which card gives the best cash back!

So, I made $30+/hr for 2 hours of shopping and pumping gas!  A good day!

[Airehead ★]

Make and can salsa. 
good work. I will do this in retirement