Grocery stores cringe when a Walmart Supercenter is proposed, and we just got our first in San Diego County. The local TV news station conducted a simple survey of its prices today on a simple, $15 food shop — milk, bread, butter, cereal, etc. The result — a savings of about $2.
But what hit me was that I was looking at the prices — even at Walmart — and I was saying to myself, “I can do so much better.”

I am not talking strictly coupon usage, but more just hitting the loss leaders.

In the news report, they paid $1.50 for bread; I just got Pillsbury today for 99 cents. Milk was $1.99 a gallon — I can get the same price every day at my local store when I buy 2 gallons. The cereal price was got me — $3.45 for Froot Loops. Granted, I did not buy the same type, but I just bought name brand cereal at the local grocery store for $1.50 each for two boxes and had a coupon for 50 cents that doubled, so I ended up paying $1.

Walmart does accept coupons, but if these are the best prices it offers, I am sticking to shopping multiple grocery stores to net the best deals.

I just got all set for the grocery store assault tomorrow –coupons all clipped, specials noted and I am ready. This brought to mind a big lesson when netting the best deals at the store — trust the 12-week cycle.

Every three months, certain products will hit their lowest price point, and that’s when you should stock up. About two months ago, it was mayonnaise, so I bought three — enough to keep us stocked for the next few months. I just re-stocked the canned veggies, because they once again hit their lowest price. This week, it’s meat — London broil and chicken breasts. Time to stock the freezer.

But there comes a point when you must trust the cycle — and that means holding out. My partner last week noted that the shelf that holds all the boxed items (crackers and such) was getting pretty bare. But, voila! This week it’s Cheez-Its for $1.88, Ritz for $1.88 and I have a coupon where if you buy them, you get a free box of Wheat Thins. Yep, we will be set for snack crackers for the next three months easy.

So trust the cycle, and educate yourself when items hit their lowest point. Easiest way is to read the ads regularly, and hit ‘em the sales when items are at their lowest. Hope this helps you now and in the future, and I am off to the store tomorrow!

I just had to share … my best pal, Steve Goldstein, was featured on “The Daily Show” last night in the Michael Jackson story. It will replay again this evening, but you can watch Steve — our “celebrity grave expert” — right here. Steve wrote a book that came out this year called “LA’s Graveside Companiion — Where the VIPs RIP” — great reading (and available on Amazon). He also has a great web site BeneathLosAngeles.com.

Yea to Steve for further publicizing our “unique” hobby.

You can see the segment by clicking here: Steve Goldstein on “The Daily Show”

Boy, now this is one great offer! Receive a free bag of Tyson’s new Skillet Creations chicken dinner after rebate — up to $8.99 in value!

All you need to do is click here for the form, and mail in with your original register receipt with the price circled and the original UPC code from the package. Must purchase before Oct. 10. Wow — free dinner!

Oh, and if you go to the web site http://embracedinner.com and click “special offers,” you can get a dollar off coupon for Skillet Creations, which means you’ll make a buck on the whole deal!

I’ve heard that some people are finding it hard to find the product, but I read it’s available at Target, Kroger (Ralphs on the West Coast) and Publix stores.

It seems to me the coupon specials at the grocery stores stink recently, but I am noting some great rebate offers. Takes a tad more work, but the savings is usually a lot greater, and usually the items end up being free! Can’t beat that.

It hit 95 today so I thought it was appropriate to re-post some “how the heck do I cool off in this weather” tips.

When I lived in a stacked condo (apartment style) with a wall air conditioner, I learned the best coping tactic was to hang out in the living room, as close as possible to the A/C. I augmented this with a fan to boost the cooling factor. A fan blowing on you lowers the perceived temperature because it evaporates any (no way to say this nice) sweat faster.

This same method works just as well now that we live in a two-story home. No “dual-zone air” here, so the first floor always cools down the fastest. I can turn up the temp on the A/C if we plant ourselves down in the living room, with fans adding to the cooling factor.

But you have to eat. I know they say don’t turn on the oven — thanks for that news flash — but a quick fry on the stovetop is not bad. But make it quick. Tonight, we’re having breakfast for dinner — eggs served on a bed of black beans on a tortilla, with cool salsa and even cooler sour cream. Yum. Burner will be on for 6 minutes max. But, if that doesn’t work, a cool tuna salad on toast will satisfy just as well.

This post had a lot of great ideas on how to deal with heat without air conditioning. Hope you get a good tip or two. But please let us know how you deal with the heat — you can help so many sweltering folks!

Obviously from the lack of posts for the past week, you may have figured out that I’ve been busy with work — so much so that I’ve only done one major food shop in the past three weeks.

How did we survive? The good ol’ pantry.

Our new house has a walk-in style one that I love, but I’ve also lived with just a couple cabinets in which to stock … well, stock in.

I’m a firm believer that everyone should have the makings of at least three to five dinners in their pantry. And I am talking a supper in which you don’t need to run to the grocery store for one thing. This is the simplest way to save money at dinnertime because you won’t be tempted on a busy day to say, “Let’s go out” — cha-ching — or call in for a pizza (easy $20 out the door). Instead, you can call on one of your go-to, “I haven’t been to the store in a week” dinners.

Check my Recipes category here for some ideas on what you could make. Tuna Noodle Casserole is one of my favorites for a pantry dinner — nearly everything is there — noodles, tuna, cream of celery (or mushroom) soup, canned peas, and I usually have an onion and celery in the house.

I also use our freezer as the pantry. I stock up on basics — ground beef, cheese, chicken, etc., when it’s on sale, so I can always pull something out (and got the best price). Or, I use one of my “cook once, eat twice” dinners, pulling out that second entree when I am just too pooped to cook.

Hope this gets you thinking about how you, too, can better use your pantry, so like Scarlett, you can say, “I’ll never go hungry again!” (Cue the “Tara” theme.)

I love when a post nets a comment months and months later, and such was the case tonight by a thankful Internet surfer. So from September ‘08, I give you “how to unclog a toilet” again

WARNING: Do not read this post while eating.

You may not need this tip today, but trust me, at one point you will — and will thank Prohomemaker. Yes, I am talking clogged toilets today.

I am going to teach you the secret, mess-free way to unclog the commode. No plunger, no bent hanger, no paint stick (ick, a method I just read). Believe it or not, the only material you will need is a pot or bucket of water!

My Mom taught me this trick from years of owning apartment buildings — and it works!

A caveat: This method concerns clearing a toilet clogged in the traditional manner. Please, please don’t make me define that. Just know this will not work if your child decided to send Barbie to a watery grave.

With that, here is how to perform the miracle:

1. Walk away – This means if the clog just occurred, leave the toilet alone for 10 minutes to allow the water to subside. We don’t want a flood.
2. Prepare the materials – Put a Dutch oven on the stove filled with water and heat on high until boiling. Or, if the bathroom is far from the kitchen, grab a bucket and turn the tub water on scalding hot.
3. Tackle the task – Lift the lid and seat up, and pour the hot or boiling water in the commode in a forceful stream. That means don’t dribble it in — we want to create suction — but don’t (ahem) dump the water in one fell swoop. Think about creating a healthy, flushing amount of water.
4. Repeat – Normally, one-two buckets of pots of hot, hot water will do. The worst usually takes three. Important: Let the water subside for 10 minutes in between toilet assaults. We don’t want a flood — God knows.

And that’s it! You will soon hear that welcome flushing sound. I don’t know exactly how this works, but I believe the hot or boiling water breaks down (ummm) “material” in the toilet quickly, and the forceful introduction of the water creates a suction, removing the matter.

The best part is you are left with nothing to deal with after such a disgusting task — no dripping plunger, no hanger with goodness knows what on it — just a free-flowing throne!

Hallelujah!

Now that the toilet is done, you may wish to address more bathroom issues with these posts.

I can’t wait till you can use this tip! … Well, you know what I mean.

I had to laugh at myself tonight. I accidently threw out my receipt from this week’s grocery shop, but I had a coupon for a free bottle of Windex if I mailed it in.

So there I am tonight at 11:45 p.m. digging in the recycle bin (thank God the trash just got picked up yesterday). But now I will get that Windex for free (plus, I used a coupon to buy it, and got an additional 10 percent off with a “buy 10 get $3 off” special, so I will end up making money on the deal).

Now, it may seem ridiculous, but if you threw $3 in the recycle bin, wouldn’t you do a little dumpster diving?

That’s what people don’t realize — coupons are money. When you combine them with store specials, you are paying yourself to go grocery shopping.

Hopefully, I won’t need to repeat the dive any time soon, but for now, I know that full bottle of Windex is going to be free.

Many of my skills at the grocery store came from my Mother, who was trying to feed five kids on a small budget when I was smaller. I listened — and learned.

One trick my Mom taught me was to dig — for the latest expiration date there was available.

This came to the forefront in my mind yesterday when I was hitting whole chickens at 59 cents a pound at Ralphs. I was about ready to plop three in the basket, and then noticed the expirations — some were just a short three days away, but by digging and sorting, I found a trio of birds whose expiration date was a good eight days away. Those are the ones that flew into the basket.

Remember that stores will always put the older merchandise in the front part of the case, and usually more at eye level. So stoop and dig a couple back to get the longest lasting products. This also holds true with produce, dairy, and other expiration-oriented items. Honestly, sometimes I’ve seen full price merchandise which its “sell by” date was the next day.

Just another tip to make you a smarter, savvy shopper.