Sunday, January 18, 2009

Join the Club

In an effort to save on groceries by buying in bulk and stocking up, last year we went to the local big box club store on one of their free trial days. We saw enough products that we thought we’d use that we went ahead and joined. We’ve found that we should have done it years ago – especially the years I was doing home daycare. It comes in handy now for all of our regular staples – we get our syrup, ketchup, snacks, dog food and bottled water, just to name a few. (Not sure we REALLY needed the gallon jar of dill pickles sitting on the shelf in the pantry, but SOMEONE ;) just had to have them.)

Recently we tried the jumbo can of sausage gravy – half a can will feed all of us, and we freeze the other half. It heats up in no time. Pop open a can of biscuits and by the time they’re baked, we have a quick, easy, tasty dinner.

We’ve gotten some good deals on their non-food items also – a flashdrive for data storage, my Tommy Hilfiger flipflops last summer, golf umbrellas – all at great prices.


When we went this weekend (you have to go on the weekends for all the free samples – you can eat lunch while you shop!) they made an announcement over the loudspeaker offering free $5 paring knives. We were standing next to the knife demo stand as they made the announcement, so we thought, “we're here, they're free, why not?” We can always use another paring knife. There was quite a crowd listening to the demo, and when it was all over we walked away the proud owners of a whole new set of knives. Still not sure if: a. we’re just a couple of suckers, b. the guy had a great spiel and was a good salesman, c. our knives suck THAT bad that we were willing to try anything, d. all of the above. For $40 we got 3 large “utility” (i.e. Ginsu) knives, 7 paring knives, a filet knife, 3 juicers, and a food chopper - and they’re all guaranteed for life.

So if anyone needs to cut through a tin can, saw through the head of a steel hammer, or cut a chunk out of a piece of wood, then peel the skin off a tomato and slice through a sheet of paper – we’ve got the knife for it!

2 comments:

Maureen said...

I'll be interested in hearing how these products work for you. Sounds like a really good deal!

And a gallon jar of pickles? We have a similar jar in our fridge right now--yum! Just don't eat 'em too close to bedtime!

WineLover said...

used carefully, Sam's (or similar) is awesome - I have to be careful though - I always walk out with 1 or 2 things that I had no intention of buying (not good when you are in the electronics section!)