My Not So "Cool" Winco Shopping Trip

     Today we decided to do our once every two or three month trip to Winco which is about a half hour away.  Unless they are looking for drugs at the checkpoint.  In that case, add on about ten more minutes in which you can listen to nursery songs and examine people around you. 

     Not even considering the weather before I left, something told me to change my dark green knitted short sleeve shirt.  When we arrived it was still early, parking was easy, but it was hot, really hot.  Okay, so it only said 89.  But 89 there is totally different than 89 in my city. No big deal,  but then it was way before noon. 
    

     We went straight to the bulk bins feeling super organized.   As fun as it is to look at all that candy, we bypassed it.  Unfortunately they didn't have the turbinado or raw sugar.  We got a little over a pound of cocoa, used for chocolate milk, ice cream, baking and syrup, about five pounds of brown sugar, 5 pounds of the dark chocolate chips, carob chips, pepper, minced onions, which I'll use to make onion soup mix to put on casseroles and make dip out of, organic buckwheat flour for baking and pancakes, whole wheat elbow macaroni, oregano, sunflower seeds, peanuts, red beans to cook and freeze, baking soda for cleaning, making products, natural roast beef, vinegar, cheese and organic hot dogs.  Not as much as we usually get, but since I finally seem to have my pantry stocked better it makes for less to purchase on my trips.    

  
     This might seem like an odd array of food items, but also know that I'm just adding to my pantry to keep it full with the right ingredients.  Winco has a nice selection of pasta, all shapes, sizes and whole wheat or plain.  I actually had filled a bag with the elbows last trip, but to this day I don't know what I did with it.  I laugh thinking that someone else went home with my whole wheat elbows.    
    
      Ever shopped with a two year old?  Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.  Wanting to "help".  Then they are hungry and want to check out every bin.  Heck, even I was getting hungry.  Which is why we got some California Rolls to go eat at the duck park.  That's the uncool part of this trip.  By the time we came out of winco, it was well over 90.    After we ate our lunch even a walk around the pond seemed horrible.    What really annoyed me was the guy pulling up and asking where the public pool was.  Did I look like I lived there?  For heavens sakes I  was wearing a green knit shirt in almost 100 degree heat. 

     By the time we left, I was feeling like the baby, hot and irritable.  We had to pull off at the 76 and I-15 to cool him off.  We stripped him, poured water over him, got him some apple juice and then let him scream for a minute while I jealously looked on wearing my green knitted shirt.  I really wanted to join him but I think only little ones can get away with doing that in a parking lot  He even got to sit on his own toilet right there next to the car.  I looked around and all I saw was an outhouse with the heat waves of stink wavering around it.  Lesson learned, check the weather and dress accordingly.  Bring a lunch or buy something in winco, like the natural roast beef. 
  
      If you ever are needing bulk foods that are reasonably priced, check out winco.  They have more bulk food than any store I know of.  They are starting to bring in more organic foods, such as rolled oats in the 25 pound bag.  There are many kinds of flour, sugar, granola, pasta, cereals, (hot and cold), rice, beans, dried fruits, snack items, nuts, and of course, try not to look at the candy. 

     Yeah, we have heat waves in our city, but with the ocean so close, it's a hop and a skip to cooling off. 

Learn Your Prices

  


Have you ever been out shopping and saw something on sale and you really didn't know if it was a good price or not?  I have and it really frustrates me.  Or, have you ever bought something thinking it was a good deal, just to pick up an ad and find out that another store had it cheaper?  Just because it's on sale and the store tells you it's a good deal doesn't mean it is.  It also doesn't mean you would want to pay that price.   

Remember my cases of tomatoes?  I shouldn't have taken so long to get over there, so I was very glad to see that they still had plenty left.  The regular tomatoes were the same price as the organic Romas.  Very rarely do I see tomatoes that reasonably priced.  One other thing is to buy in "season".  That means to stock up on produce during it's main growing season so you can get the best price.  That's where canning, freezing, dehydrating can come in handy. 

     One thing I try to do is to learn the cost of things that I buy the most.  That way if I'm out shopping and see a sale sign I will know if it is a price I would pay.  Many people make a price book to help them remember the prices.  It's a bit of work at the beginning to get it started and fill it in, but it will be helpful in saving you money.  The amount of work involved will be worth the savings. You will also see which stores seem to consistantly have the best overall prices on the items that you like to purchase. 

You can usually find information on price books on many of the couponing links.  I've put a few links here that not only have information on price books, but an almost overwhelming amount of information on many topics that may be of interest to you. 

Check out these sites.  I haven't spent a lot of time on the first website.  But the Organized Home and the Good Life Gazette are great.  They include printables,  lists that you can print for free to help keep you organized.  Or you can just make your own in a notebook. 

Price Book

Organized Home

Good Life Gazette

Store Policies-Get To Know Them

             Each store has a coupon policy and I realized when a reader asked that there is no sure answer.  And what's really horrible is that each cashier can be different, some not even knowing the coupon policy.  So, it does pay to brush up on the policy of each store.  Yeah, boring.  I usually just "test" it out.  I do remember how annoying it was buying the "free" toothpaste.  It turned out that I couldn't get two coupons doubled for the same item in the same transaction.  So, then just make it two transactions.  I've noticed that when I tell them two transactions, a lot of times they just go ahead and will do it in one.  Not always. 

Of course, you will probably have more items than one tube of toothpaste. 

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     Many of the couponing sites have all the different store policies listed.  If at all possible, try to print out or study the policies for the stores that you go to.  I wasted ink printing out the policy for Rite Aid, and of course, they have never given me an ounce of trouble.  Ralphs on the other hand has been different each time, depending on the cashier.  I have had to file complaints with Ralphs corporate a couple of times.  So far everything has been fine since my last complaint.  Plus, I've learned to get over any embarrassment over doing these things.  

     I haven't memorized all store policies, I'm kind of a wait until the horse gets out kind of person.  I'm not saying that's good at all, since who wants to have a fiasco over toothpaste.  

  

     I've listed a few of the stores in the area, but also know that not all of the stores list their policy on their website.  If that was the case then I just shared a link to a blog where someone had actually written to the store to get the policy.  I tried to get the most updated as possible.  Take a look at it, print it if you want, or just save it in your notepad to study later.   I'd say most of the stores have similar coupon policies, so usually once you get to know one you know most of them.  Some will have a few minor differences.  You will eventually know more than the cashiers too. 

I suggest going to the websites of the stores  that you frequent and consider signing up since sometimes extra deals are offered online.  At many of the sites you can put the coupons right onto your store card.  If you don't think subscribing is getting you better deals then you can always unsubscribe.