I'm not a big fan of this type of shopping but it can be a lifesaver
when you can't shop for yourself. I had some bad produce issues before,
and was credited me for what was less than stellar last time and I
appreciate that. This mistake was a first for me.

They were really really late getting here, but at least the driver
called me a few hours ago saying he was behind schedule and gave me the
time he'd be here. I really like that from a company. Again, a plus on
their side. Things happen.

The driver put all of the bags on the counter tops so I wouldn't have to
bend to empty them. As I was emptying bags and putting things away I
started noticing quantities of things that were doubled from what I
ordered. 7 items were duplicated in quantity to a total of $29.71 and
I know there are way more cans of Fancy Feast cat food than I ordered
but haven't compared them to my invoice yet.

After I see the charge to my checking account go through I'll contact
them and let them know of the mistake and hopefully they'll just come
pick up the stuff because I don't have room to store the extras, and
some I won't use up for a long time.

On 8/7/2012 11:10 PM, Cheryl wrote:
> I'm not a big fan of this type of shopping but it can be a lifesaver
> when you can't shop for yourself. I had some bad produce issues before,
> and was credited me for what was less than stellar last time and I
> appreciate that. This mistake was a first for me.
>
> They were really really late getting here, but at least the driver
> called me a few hours ago saying he was behind schedule and gave me the
> time he'd be here. I really like that from a company. Again, a plus on
> their side. Things happen.
>
> The driver put all of the bags on the counter tops so I wouldn't have to
> bend to empty them. As I was emptying bags and putting things away I
> started noticing quantities of things that were doubled from what I
> ordered. 7 items were duplicated in quantity to a total of $29.71 and
> I know there are way more cans of Fancy Feast cat food than I ordered
> but haven't compared them to my invoice yet.
>
> After I see the charge to my checking account go through I'll contact
> them and let them know of the mistake and hopefully they'll just come
> pick up the stuff because I don't have room to store the extras, and
> some I won't use up for a long time.
>
Heh. I just calculated the extra cat food they gave me and that alone
made the amount of extra food duplicated $46.16, which includes the
deduction of one can they shorted me. That's money that some people
would spend for a week of shopping!

"Cheryl" > wrote in message
...
> On 8/7/2012 11:10 PM, Cheryl wrote:
>> I'm not a big fan of this type of shopping but it can be a lifesaver
>> when you can't shop for yourself. I had some bad produce issues before,
>> and was credited me for what was less than stellar last time and I
>> appreciate that. This mistake was a first for me.
>>
>> They were really really late getting here, but at least the driver
>> called me a few hours ago saying he was behind schedule and gave me the
>> time he'd be here. I really like that from a company. Again, a plus on
>> their side. Things happen.
>>
>> The driver put all of the bags on the counter tops so I wouldn't have to
>> bend to empty them. As I was emptying bags and putting things away I
>> started noticing quantities of things that were doubled from what I
>> ordered. 7 items were duplicated in quantity to a total of $29.71 and
>> I know there are way more cans of Fancy Feast cat food than I ordered
>> but haven't compared them to my invoice yet.
>>
>> After I see the charge to my checking account go through I'll contact
>> them and let them know of the mistake and hopefully they'll just come
>> pick up the stuff because I don't have room to store the extras, and
>> some I won't use up for a long time.
>>
> Heh. I just calculated the extra cat food they gave me and that alone
> made the amount of extra food duplicated $46.16, which includes the
> deduction of one can they shorted me. That's money that some people would
> spend for a week of shopping!

That little for a week of shopping? Heck, I couldn't even eat that cheaply
from Winco unless I bought only things like beans, rice and a little bit of
fresh produce. $70 is more like it for the two of us if I don't buy any non
grocery items, like magazines. And that might include one kind of meat or
one kind of cheese. We don't buy expensive food either.

On 8/8/2012 3:01 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
> "Cheryl" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On 8/7/2012 11:10 PM, Cheryl wrote:
>>> I'm not a big fan of this type of shopping but it can be a lifesaver
>>> when you can't shop for yourself. I had some bad produce issues before,
>>> and was credited me for what was less than stellar last time and I
>>> appreciate that. This mistake was a first for me.
>>>
>>> They were really really late getting here, but at least the driver
>>> called me a few hours ago saying he was behind schedule and gave me the
>>> time he'd be here. I really like that from a company. Again, a plus on
>>> their side. Things happen.
>>>
>>> The driver put all of the bags on the counter tops so I wouldn't have to
>>> bend to empty them. As I was emptying bags and putting things away I
>>> started noticing quantities of things that were doubled from what I
>>> ordered. 7 items were duplicated in quantity to a total of $29.71 and
>>> I know there are way more cans of Fancy Feast cat food than I ordered
>>> but haven't compared them to my invoice yet.
>>>
>>> After I see the charge to my checking account go through I'll contact
>>> them and let them know of the mistake and hopefully they'll just come
>>> pick up the stuff because I don't have room to store the extras, and
>>> some I won't use up for a long time.
>>>
>> Heh. I just calculated the extra cat food they gave me and that alone
>> made the amount of extra food duplicated $46.16, which includes the
>> deduction of one can they shorted me. That's money that some people would
>> spend for a week of shopping!
>
> That little for a week of shopping? Heck, I couldn't even eat that cheaply
> from Winco unless I bought only things like beans, rice and a little bit of
> fresh produce. $70 is more like it for the two of us if I don't buy any non
> grocery items, like magazines. And that might include one kind of meat or
> one kind of cheese. We don't buy expensive food either.
>
>
There have been plenty of threads here on trying to eat on $40 a week
and many people calculated that it would be possible for them. And
people on a fixed income, possibly using some coupons, could do it.

Cheryl wrote:

> hopefully they'll just come
> pick up the stuff because I don't have room to store the extras, and
> some I won't use up for a long time.

How about sending the extra food to sqwishy? I'm sure he can make
something photo-worthy out of it.

On 8/8/2012 1:37 AM, Cheryl wrote:
> On 8/7/2012 11:10 PM, Cheryl wrote:
>> I'm not a big fan of this type of shopping but it can be a lifesaver
>> when you can't shop for yourself.

There was a time I sure wish I had that available. Now a
few stores have delivery, I'm sure it's very helpful to a lot
of people.

>> The driver put all of the bags on the counter tops so I wouldn't have to
>> bend to empty them. As I was emptying bags and putting things away I
>> started noticing quantities of things that were doubled from what I
>> ordered. 7 items were duplicated in quantity to a total of $29.71 and
>> I know there are way more cans of Fancy Feast cat food than I ordered
>> but haven't compared them to my invoice yet.

They were so busy they lost count? That's a strange one.

>> After I see the charge to my checking account go through I'll contact
>> them and let them know of the mistake and hopefully they'll just come
>> pick up the stuff because I don't have room to store the extras, and
>> some I won't use up for a long time.
>>
> Heh. I just calculated the extra cat food they gave me and that alone
> made the amount of extra food duplicated $46.16, which includes the
> deduction of one can they shorted me. That's money that some people
> would spend for a week of shopping!

That's a big error! You beat my checkout error total by a mile.

nancy

On 2012-08-08, Cheryl > wrote:

> There have been plenty of threads here on trying to eat on $40 a week
> and many people calculated that it would be possible for them. And
> people on a fixed income, possibly using some coupons, could do it.

?????

I can eat like a king on $40 wk. I rarely spend $120 month.

nb


--
"Do you recognize me? No!
....cuz I don't work here"
Support labelling GMO foods
http://www.nongmoproject.org/

On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 00:01:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:

> That little for a week of shopping? Heck, I couldn't even eat that cheaply
> from Winco unless I bought only things like beans, rice and a little bit of
> fresh produce. $70 is more like it for the two of us if I don't buy any non
> grocery items, like magazines. And that might include one kind of meat or
> one kind of cheese. We don't buy expensive food either.

Is $70 per person or for all three of you? I can't seem to get very
far under $130 for two, but it includes the normal non-grocery kitchen
items too.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 00:01:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
>> That little for a week of shopping? Heck, I couldn't even eat that
>> cheaply
>> from Winco unless I bought only things like beans, rice and a little bit
>> of
>> fresh produce. $70 is more like it for the two of us if I don't buy any
>> non
>> grocery items, like magazines. And that might include one kind of meat
>> or
>> one kind of cheese. We don't buy expensive food either.
>
> Is $70 per person or for all three of you? I can't seem to get very
> far under $130 for two, but it includes the normal non-grocery kitchen
> items too.

For two of us. And that's for just one store. We shop at others too.

On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 08:48:33 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:

>
> "sf" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 00:01:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > > wrote:
> >
> >> That little for a week of shopping? Heck, I couldn't even eat that
> >> cheaply
> >> from Winco unless I bought only things like beans, rice and a little bit
> >> of
> >> fresh produce. $70 is more like it for the two of us if I don't buy any
> >> non
> >> grocery items, like magazines. And that might include one kind of meat
> >> or
> >> one kind of cheese. We don't buy expensive food either.
> >
> > Is $70 per person or for all three of you? I can't seem to get very
> > far under $130 for two, but it includes the normal non-grocery kitchen
> > items too.
>
> For two of us. And that's for just one store. We shop at others too.
>
Okay, thanks... remember that cruising from store to store in search
of a bargain takes time, gas and wear & tear on the car - all of which
contribute to the total expense of groceries; but people tend not to
take that into consideration.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 08:48:33 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
>>
>> "sf" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 00:01:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>> > > wrote:
>> >
>> >> That little for a week of shopping? Heck, I couldn't even eat that
>> >> cheaply
>> >> from Winco unless I bought only things like beans, rice and a little
>> >> bit
>> >> of
>> >> fresh produce. $70 is more like it for the two of us if I don't buy
>> >> any
>> >> non
>> >> grocery items, like magazines. And that might include one kind of
>> >> meat
>> >> or
>> >> one kind of cheese. We don't buy expensive food either.
>> >
>> > Is $70 per person or for all three of you? I can't seem to get very
>> > far under $130 for two, but it includes the normal non-grocery kitchen
>> > items too.
>>
>> For two of us. And that's for just one store. We shop at others too.
>>
> Okay, thanks... remember that cruising from store to store in search
> of a bargain takes time, gas and wear & tear on the car - all of which
> contribute to the total expense of groceries; but people tend not to
> take that into consideration.

I never do that. I have a planned trip to Winco each week. And most weeks
also include planned trips to Costco and Target which are close together.
Most anything else I might need I can usually get in the grocery store in
the strip mall where my daughter's dance studio is. I'm already there so no
gas wasted. If I do go to other stores they are almost always planned trips
combined with other needed stops. Of course there are the occasional
emergency purchases.

Winco is where I usually find the bargains. Things I would buy at other
stores are better quality meats and things that the other stores don't
carry. Usually specialty items.

Cheryl wrote:
>
> There have been plenty of threads here on trying to eat on $40 a week
> and many people calculated that it would be possible for them. And
> people on a fixed income, possibly using some coupons, could do it.

Speaking of food only, I do that easily each week and I eat well too.
Actually, I seem to eat too well most of the time.

I use coupons and also look at all the sales each week from the Wednesday
newspaper.

Gary

On 8/8/2012 1:46 PM, sf wrote:
> Okay, thanks... remember that cruising from store to store in search
> of a bargain takes time, gas and wear & tear on the car - all of which
> contribute to the total expense of groceries; but people tend not to
> take that into consideration.
>
A lot of people don't take that into consideration. What good is saving
a few pennies if you burn up the savings by having to drive from store
to store?

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

> A lot of people don't take that into consideration. What good is saving
> a few pennies if you burn up the savings by having to drive from store
> to store?

You get to spend time doing something more constructive than sitting
at home getting tanked.

"Gary" > wrote in message ...
> Cheryl wrote:
>>
>> There have been plenty of threads here on trying to eat on $40 a week
>> and many people calculated that it would be possible for them. And
>> people on a fixed income, possibly using some coupons, could do it.
>
> Speaking of food only, I do that easily each week and I eat well too.
> Actually, I seem to eat too well most of the time.
>
> I use coupons and also look at all the sales each week from the Wednesday
> newspaper.

I try to use coupons but those are getting fewer and fewer. Plus I find I
can mostly buy other brands for less money than what a coupon would get me.
We also don't eat much in the way of prepared food which is what many of
those coupons are for. I see a lot for cookies, candy, breakfast bars and
things we don't eat. Most of the coupons are not for food at all but for
medicines or health and beauty stuff. Once in a while I will use those.
Daughter is particular about her razors and I do often find coupons for the
ones she uses.

My cats are picky. They will only eat a very few kinds of canned food and
only the tuna flavor. So anything else I buy is a waste of money. I try to
stock up when I find a good sale on their food. Often I can get it
delivered for free. They eat the Now! dry food which is very expensive for
a dry food but they like it and are doing quite well on it so I won't switch
them. They actually don't seem to eat a lot of food. They also will only
eat the crunchy treats and prefer the tuna or other fish flavors. The soft
treats or other flavors will go to waste.

I could personally subsist on mainly beans and rice, perhaps a little pasta,
some canned vegetables and lots of fresh produce. I do seem to need red
meat twice a week or I'll go anemic. But for many years I lived with no
meat at all. However, the others who live in this house like more variety
than that. If I serve them the same meals night after night they start to
complain.

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> On 8/8/2012 1:46 PM, sf wrote:
>> Okay, thanks... remember that cruising from store to store in search
>> of a bargain takes time, gas and wear & tear on the car - all of which
>> contribute to the total expense of groceries; but people tend not to
>> take that into consideration.
>>
> A lot of people don't take that into consideration. What good is saving a
> few pennies if you burn up the savings by having to drive from store to
> store?

My mother always did that. She only bought meat at one store, produce at
one and canned things at another. We started in the morning and stopped at
the one store with a lunch counter towards the middle of the trip. The
meats were bought last so they would still be cold when we got them home. I
can see why she did this because the one store has really lousy meat and the
one with the cheap canned goods had lousy produce. Not even sure if they
sold fresh meats. They might not have but if they did the meat was likely
not good. Those stores were all off of the same street though and all well
within a mile of each other. So it's not like she was wasting much gas.
But she was burning up a lot of our time.

I usually hate just driving to one store. Winco is the exception for me
because the savings are so great that it is worth the approx. 7 mile drive
for me. I do really try to stock up on things there. When canned goods are
on a super good price I will buy enough for at least a month. I keep the
extras in the garage. I do have a chest freezer so can buy extra frozen
stuff. I have to be careful not to buy too much fresh food but I will buy
enough for a week or possibly two, depending on what it is.

There is a Costco next to the Winco which should be good but... This
particular Costco is smaller than the one we prefer to shop at. The layout
of the store is totally different making it hard to find things. And we
also found that they don't carry some of the things we like to buy there.

So... It is better for us to go to the other Costco which is near the
Target. There is also another grocery store near there. We don't go to
that store often but once in a while. They do have a salad bar. There is a
Ross, TJ Maxx, some shoe stores and a Pet Smart. The Sprint store is there
and there are also a few other places we go to from time to time. So while
I don't really like having to drive the 6 miles out there, it is worth my
while because we will go to at least two of those places. And the gas at
Costco is a lot cheaper than at other places.

My trips to various stores and other places are almost always planned out.
If I need to go somewhere, I think about what else might be in that area
that I have a need for. Exceptions being emergency purchases or rare really
hot days. We have no AC in the house. So on those days will will spend as
much time as we can in my van or stores that have AC.

On 8/8/2012 11:48 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
> "sf" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 00:01:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> That little for a week of shopping? Heck, I couldn't even eat that
>>> cheaply
>>> from Winco unless I bought only things like beans, rice and a little bit
>>> of
>>> fresh produce. $70 is more like it for the two of us if I don't buy any
>>> non
>>> grocery items, like magazines. And that might include one kind of meat
>>> or
>>> one kind of cheese. We don't buy expensive food either.
>>
>> Is $70 per person or for all three of you? I can't seem to get very
>> far under $130 for two, but it includes the normal non-grocery kitchen
>> items too.
>
> For two of us. And that's for just one store. We shop at others too.
>
>
I thought hubby was home now? Do you make him shop for himself? I sure
would from what you've said.

"Cheryl" > wrote in message
...
> On 8/8/2012 11:48 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
>> "sf" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 00:01:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> That little for a week of shopping? Heck, I couldn't even eat that
>>>> cheaply
>>>> from Winco unless I bought only things like beans, rice and a little
>>>> bit
>>>> of
>>>> fresh produce. $70 is more like it for the two of us if I don't buy
>>>> any
>>>> non
>>>> grocery items, like magazines. And that might include one kind of meat
>>>> or
>>>> one kind of cheese. We don't buy expensive food either.
>>>
>>> Is $70 per person or for all three of you? I can't seem to get very
>>> far under $130 for two, but it includes the normal non-grocery kitchen
>>> items too.
>>
>> For two of us. And that's for just one store. We shop at others too.
>>
>>
> I thought hubby was home now? Do you make him shop for himself? I sure
> would from what you've said.

He is home. I just posted what I bought for two of us. I am actually
trying hard not to buy him any special food because we don't know for sure
when he is leaving again. The only really special food I have bought for
him is ice cream with nuts in it. Daughter can not have ice cream and it is
her favorite food. Since she has a nut intolerance that is something she
would never be tempted to eat. We are trying to mainly feed him stuff that
we stocked up on in the freezer that we can no longer eat. Tonight he had
the last of the fish sticks. I think there are a couple of boxes of chicken
nuggets and some burritos. The few little pizzas that we had are gone. Not
sure about those Costco French fries. There are too darned many of them.

When he is home I do have to buy a lot more food. I am really not going to
get into the particulars. If I do, someone or some people will begin making
nasty comments. I know they will.

On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 21:02:56 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:



> We are trying to mainly feed him stuff that
>we stocked up on in the freezer that we can no longer eat.


For more secrets to a happy marriage, pick up the new issue of
American Housewife. On sale now!

On 8/8/2012 1:37 AM, Cheryl wrote:
> Heh. I just calculated the extra cat food they gave me and that alone
> made the amount of extra food duplicated $46.16, which includes the
> deduction of one can they shorted me. That's money that some people
> would spend for a week of shopping!

Peapod told me to keep everything and they weren't charging me for them.
They just wanted the list of items so they could notify the warehouse.
The woman I spoke with seemed surprised when I went through the list.
I really don't have storage for the stuff though.

Cheryl > wrote:

>On 8/8/2012 1:37 AM, Cheryl wrote:
>> Heh. I just calculated the extra cat food they gave me and that alone
>> made the amount of extra food duplicated $46.16, which includes the
>> deduction of one can they shorted me. That's money that some people
>> would spend for a week of shopping!
>
>Peapod told me to keep everything and they weren't charging me for them.
> They just wanted the list of items so they could notify the warehouse.
> The woman I spoke with seemed surprised when I went through the list.

Good for them. [and good for you for giving a follow-up with the
*good* news]

> I really don't have storage for the stuff though.

life is too short to worry about such things. Leave them in the bag,
on the counter and use them first. Or give them to the first
person who comes to your door. Or toss them- they didn't cost you
anything other than aggravation.

Jim

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 21:02:56 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
> > We are trying to mainly feed him stuff that
> >we stocked up on in the freezer that we can no longer eat.
>
> For more secrets to a happy marriage, pick up the new issue of
> American Housewife. On sale now!

She's probably only trying to get rid of him again. heheh

G.

Cheryl wrote:
>
> On 8/8/2012 1:37 AM, Cheryl wrote:
> > Heh. I just calculated the extra cat food they gave me and that alone
> > made the amount of extra food duplicated $46.16, which includes the
> > deduction of one can they shorted me. That's money that some people
> > would spend for a week of shopping!
>
> Peapod told me to keep everything and they weren't charging me for them.
> They just wanted the list of items so they could notify the warehouse.
> The woman I spoke with seemed surprised when I went through the list.
> I really don't have storage for the stuff though.

Keep your mouth shut and enjoy the free food. Unless you live in a tent in
the woods, you DO have storage space for it.

Gary

Jim Elbrecht wrote:
>
> >On 8/8/2012 1:37 AM, Cheryl wrote:
> >> Heh. I just calculated the extra cat food they gave me and that alone
> >> made the amount of extra food duplicated $46.16,

> > I really don't have storage for the stuff though.
>
> life is too short to worry about such things. Leave them in the bag,
> on the counter and use them first. Or give them to the first
> person who comes to your door. Or toss them- they didn't cost you
> anything other than aggravation.

That's such bullshit. Cheryl (and anyone else) has room for some extra FREE
groceries. Lot's of it was cat food. I think she has 3 cats? They will
eat it eventually. Accept your good fortune Cheryl and quit the whining.
Geez! Would you like some cheese with that wine?

Gary

PS - sorry cheryl but you deserved that one. WTH?

On 8/9/2012 4:42 PM, Gary wrote:
> That's such bullshit. Cheryl (and anyone else) has room for some extra FREE
> groceries. Lot's of it was cat food. I think she has 3 cats? They will
> eat it eventually. Accept your good fortune Cheryl and quit the whining.
> Geez! Would you like some cheese with that wine?
>
> Gary
>
> PS - sorry cheryl but you deserved that one. WTH?

Because Gary, things like this add to why food costs so much. I know it
isn't a major reason, but when stores start giving away food for free,
they have to make up the loss somewhere. And I'm sure I wasn't an
isolated situation. Maybe their warehouse has a problem with their
fulfillment process.

"Gary" > wrote in message ...
> Jim Elbrecht wrote:
>>
>> >On 8/8/2012 1:37 AM, Cheryl wrote:
>> >> Heh. I just calculated the extra cat food they gave me and that alone
>> >> made the amount of extra food duplicated $46.16,
>
>> > I really don't have storage for the stuff though.
>>
>> life is too short to worry about such things. Leave them in the bag,
>> on the counter and use them first. Or give them to the first
>> person who comes to your door. Or toss them- they didn't cost you
>> anything other than aggravation.
>
> That's such bullshit. Cheryl (and anyone else) has room for some extra
> FREE
> groceries. Lot's of it was cat food. I think she has 3 cats? They will
> eat it eventually. Accept your good fortune Cheryl and quit the whining.
> Geez! Would you like some cheese with that wine?
>
> Gary
>
> PS - sorry cheryl but you deserved that one. WTH?

I might not have room for extra frozen or refrigerated stuff. And if it was
stuff like bread or chips that might go bad before I could eat it, then that
could be a problem. But canned food? You can stick that in a closet, in
the garage, under a bed...

Cheryl wrote:

> Because Gary, things like this add to why food costs so much. I know it
> isn't a major reason

Got that right. Shrinkage, as they call it, comprises three
categories: employee theft, customer theft, and mistakes. I read an
article some years ago that apportioned shrinkage among them: 70%
employees, 20% customers, and 10% mistakes. (Mistakes were mostly mdse
that was dropped or damaged after unloading. What you encountered is
probably a tiny fraction of 1% of ALL shrinkage.)

On 8/9/2012 5:34 PM, Julie Bove wrote:

> I might not have room for extra frozen or refrigerated stuff. And if it was
> stuff like bread or chips that might go bad before I could eat it, then that
> could be a problem. But canned food? You can stick that in a closet, in
> the garage, under a bed...

For once I'm going to have to pretend to be you. I don't want food in
my already overstuffed closets, I don't have a garage, and I don't want
to store food under a bed.

Any more suggestions I can shoot down?

Cheryl wrote:

> > I might not have room for extra frozen or refrigerated stuff. And if it was
> > stuff like bread or chips that might go bad before I could eat it, then that
> > could be a problem. But canned food? You can stick that in a closet, in
> > the garage, under a bed...
>
> For once I'm going to have to pretend to be you. I don't want food in
> my already overstuffed closets, I don't have a garage, and I don't want
> to store food under a bed.

> Any more suggestions I can shoot down?

How about unstuffing half a shelf in one closet?

Julie Bove wrote:
> I try to use coupons but those are getting fewer and fewer. Plus I find I
> can mostly buy other brands for less money than what a coupon would get me.
> We also don't eat much in the way of prepared food which is what many of
> those coupons are for. I see a lot for cookies, candy, breakfast bars and
> things we don't eat. Most of the coupons are not for food at all but for
> medicines or health and beauty stuff. Once in a while I will use those.
> Daughter is particular about her razors and I do often find coupons for the
> ones she uses.
>
> My cats are picky. They will only eat a very few kinds of canned food and
> only the tuna flavor. So anything else I buy is a waste of money. I try to
> stock up when I find a good sale on their food. Often I can get it
> delivered for free. They eat the Now! dry food which is very expensive for
> a dry food but they like it and are doing quite well on it so I won't switch
> them. They actually don't seem to eat a lot of food. They also will only
> eat the crunchy treats and prefer the tuna or other fish flavors. The soft
> treats or other flavors will go to waste.
>
> I could personally subsist on mainly beans and rice, perhaps a little pasta,
> some canned vegetables and lots of fresh produce. I do seem to need red
> meat twice a week or I'll go anemic. But for many years I lived with no
> meat at all. However, the others who live in this house like more variety
> than that. If I serve them the same meals night after night they start to
> complain.
>
>
I used to love tinkering when recipes before I had my daughter.
That involved a lot of repetition, usually trying things back to
back. Yeah, you can't inflict that on other people. Now that my
daughter is 21, I have more latitude, but my tinkering should be
low-carb and healthful (should I say "healthful from a low-carb
perspective?).

BTW, my cat only eats poultry-based products. He had a blockage
many years ago, so I feed him canned food (and some dried).
Exactly what he will eat is a bit of a moving target. He likes
Natural Balance, Core, and Now! but will suddenly decide he
doesn't like something after all. As far as dried food goes, I
try to get samples. If he seems to like it, I buy a bag... then
he frequently will decide not to eat it. Arrgh. He did really
like one food, so, of course, it was discontinued.

"George M. Middius" > wrote in message
...
> Cheryl wrote:
>
>> > I might not have room for extra frozen or refrigerated stuff. And if
>> > it was
>> > stuff like bread or chips that might go bad before I could eat it, then
>> > that
>> > could be a problem. But canned food? You can stick that in a closet,
>> > in
>> > the garage, under a bed...
>>
>> For once I'm going to have to pretend to be you. I don't want food in
>> my already overstuffed closets, I don't have a garage, and I don't want
>> to store food under a bed.
>
>> Any more suggestions I can shoot down?
>
> How about unstuffing half a shelf in one closet?

We just unstuffed our closets. It was mostly things we'd been given as
gifts that we would probably never use. Like blankets. One Christmas it
was as though everyone we knew thought we could use a blanket. And while an
extra blanket is a nice thing to have, I already had a bunch of extra ones
that I got as freebies from a place I used to mail order from. I no longer
order from them because they kept screwing up my orders. Eventually I wound
up getting a ton of extra stuff for free, just like Cheryl, including the
blankets. The problem was that the stuff had been ordered for Christmas
presents and was not stuff that we needed for ourselves. Anyway... I kept
the blankets around for a while thinking that perhaps one of the blankets we
were currently using would go bad in some way and we might need one. But
that never happened.

I do know what it's like not to have enough storage space though because we
certainly don't in this house. Although it would appear that we do because
we have a lot of closets, they are very small closets and not very deep.
And as I have said before, there is no pantry in the kitchen. I used to
have a portion of my counter filled with canned/jarred foods because I had
no place to put them. Now I still do but for a different reason. And there
is a lot less there. I have moved the excess non-perishables to the garage.
I can do that here because it doesn't usually get extremely hot or cold
here. I did have to buy a shelving unit for them. I do buy some things by
the case at Costco and I do stock up when I find super good prices on things
we always use. Like refried beans and tomato sauce. I still use a little
portion of the kitchen counter now for things that are soon to expire. That
way they are obvious to me and I will use them up.

In the case of excess cat food, I would not have a problem finding a place
for it, even if it meant stacking the cans next to their food bowls.
Especially if that food were free.

I hate screw ups. I really do. But if the screw up involves me getting
free stuff that I can use, I won't be complaining too much.

"Jean B." > wrote in message
...
> Julie Bove wrote:
>> I try to use coupons but those are getting fewer and fewer. Plus I find
>> I can mostly buy other brands for less money than what a coupon would get
>> me. We also don't eat much in the way of prepared food which is what many
>> of those coupons are for. I see a lot for cookies, candy, breakfast bars
>> and things we don't eat. Most of the coupons are not for food at all but
>> for medicines or health and beauty stuff. Once in a while I will use
>> those. Daughter is particular about her razors and I do often find
>> coupons for the ones she uses.
>>
>> My cats are picky. They will only eat a very few kinds of canned food
>> and only the tuna flavor. So anything else I buy is a waste of money. I
>> try to stock up when I find a good sale on their food. Often I can get
>> it delivered for free. They eat the Now! dry food which is very
>> expensive for a dry food but they like it and are doing quite well on it
>> so I won't switch them. They actually don't seem to eat a lot of food.
>> They also will only eat the crunchy treats and prefer the tuna or other
>> fish flavors. The soft treats or other flavors will go to waste.
>>
>> I could personally subsist on mainly beans and rice, perhaps a little
>> pasta, some canned vegetables and lots of fresh produce. I do seem to
>> need red meat twice a week or I'll go anemic. But for many years I lived
>> with no meat at all. However, the others who live in this house like
>> more variety than that. If I serve them the same meals night after night
>> they start to complain.
> I used to love tinkering when recipes before I had my daughter. That
> involved a lot of repetition, usually trying things back to back. Yeah,
> you can't inflict that on other people. Now that my daughter is 21, I
> have more latitude, but my tinkering should be low-carb and healthful
> (should I say "healthful from a low-carb perspective?).
>
> BTW, my cat only eats poultry-based products. He had a blockage many
> years ago, so I feed him canned food (and some dried). Exactly what he
> will eat is a bit of a moving target. He likes Natural Balance, Core, and
> Now! but will suddenly decide he doesn't like something after all. As far
> as dried food goes, I try to get samples. If he seems to like it, I buy a
> bag... then he frequently will decide not to eat it. Arrgh. He did
> really like one food, so, of course, it was discontinued.

My cats eat the Now! dry food which I think has duck in it and some
vegetables and other things. It's grain free. But for their canned food
they will only eat tuna and only certain kinds. They will only eat the tuna
or other fish/seafood treats and they must be crunchy. Last night I gave
them some treats in a darkened kitchen. I realized that they looked like a
funny color. Only after they gave me strange looks, and protested, not
touching the food did I realize my mistake. I looked at the package in the
trash and I had given them chicken flavor. One of them eventually did go
back and ate a few pieces.

Julie Bove wrote:
> "Jean B." > wrote in message
> ...
>> Julie Bove wrote:
>>> I try to use coupons but those are getting fewer and fewer. Plus I find
>>> I can mostly buy other brands for less money than what a coupon would get
>>> me. We also don't eat much in the way of prepared food which is what many
>>> of those coupons are for. I see a lot for cookies, candy, breakfast bars
>>> and things we don't eat. Most of the coupons are not for food at all but
>>> for medicines or health and beauty stuff. Once in a while I will use
>>> those. Daughter is particular about her razors and I do often find
>>> coupons for the ones she uses.
>>>
>>> My cats are picky. They will only eat a very few kinds of canned food
>>> and only the tuna flavor. So anything else I buy is a waste of money. I
>>> try to stock up when I find a good sale on their food. Often I can get
>>> it delivered for free. They eat the Now! dry food which is very
>>> expensive for a dry food but they like it and are doing quite well on it
>>> so I won't switch them. They actually don't seem to eat a lot of food.
>>> They also will only eat the crunchy treats and prefer the tuna or other
>>> fish flavors. The soft treats or other flavors will go to waste.
>>>
>>> I could personally subsist on mainly beans and rice, perhaps a little
>>> pasta, some canned vegetables and lots of fresh produce. I do seem to
>>> need red meat twice a week or I'll go anemic. But for many years I lived
>>> with no meat at all. However, the others who live in this house like
>>> more variety than that. If I serve them the same meals night after night
>>> they start to complain.
>> I used to love tinkering when recipes before I had my daughter. That
>> involved a lot of repetition, usually trying things back to back. Yeah,
>> you can't inflict that on other people. Now that my daughter is 21, I
>> have more latitude, but my tinkering should be low-carb and healthful
>> (should I say "healthful from a low-carb perspective?).
>>
>> BTW, my cat only eats poultry-based products. He had a blockage many
>> years ago, so I feed him canned food (and some dried). Exactly what he
>> will eat is a bit of a moving target. He likes Natural Balance, Core, and
>> Now! but will suddenly decide he doesn't like something after all. As far
>> as dried food goes, I try to get samples. If he seems to like it, I buy a
>> bag... then he frequently will decide not to eat it. Arrgh. He did
>> really like one food, so, of course, it was discontinued.
>
> My cats eat the Now! dry food which I think has duck in it and some
> vegetables and other things. It's grain free. But for their canned food
> they will only eat tuna and only certain kinds. They will only eat the tuna
> or other fish/seafood treats and they must be crunchy. Last night I gave
> them some treats in a darkened kitchen. I realized that they looked like a
> funny color. Only after they gave me strange looks, and protested, not
> touching the food did I realize my mistake. I looked at the package in the
> trash and I had given them chicken flavor. One of them eventually did go
> back and ate a few pieces.
>
>
Cats are so funny... and strong-willed. I wonder about those
veggies, fruits, etc. in cat food. Those things are not part of a
cat's natural diet, so I think they are there just because they
are good for humans and we are supposed to think they are also
good for cats.

Ming won't eat treats and has no interest in people food. He has
tried the Now! kibbles and seemed to like it. I need to get him
some more food within the next day or two and will see what is
there that he will (probably) eat.

On Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:38:00 -0400, Cheryl >
wrote:

>On 8/9/2012 5:34 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
>> I might not have room for extra frozen or refrigerated stuff. And if it was
>> stuff like bread or chips that might go bad before I could eat it, then that
>> could be a problem. But canned food? You can stick that in a closet, in
>> the garage, under a bed...
>
>For once I'm going to have to pretend to be you. I don't want food in
>my already overstuffed closets, I don't have a garage, and I don't want
>to store food under a bed.
>
>Any more suggestions I can shoot down?
>
>

But the solution is simple. Either find a place to keep it (you have
space if you really want to keep the stuff) or donate to a food
pantry. They's be very happy to have it.

Or just keep shooting down sensible suggestions.

On 8/9/2012 8:33 PM, Jean B. wrote:
> BTW, my cat only eats poultry-based products. He had a blockage many
> years ago, so I feed him canned food (and some dried). Exactly what he
> will eat is a bit of a moving target. He likes Natural Balance, Core,
> and Now! but will suddenly decide he doesn't like something after all.
> As far as dried food goes, I try to get samples. If he seems to like
> it, I buy a bag... then he frequently will decide not to eat it.
> Arrgh. He did really like one food, so, of course, it was discontinued.

I really hate it when a company discontinues a food my cats like. As
for samples, I'm fortunate in that the premium pet food place I buy from
has small packages of samples available for almost anything as long as
it's the dry version.

"Jean B." > wrote in message
...
> Cats are so funny... and strong-willed. I wonder about those veggies,
> fruits, etc. in cat food. Those things are not part of a cat's natural
> diet, so I think they are there just because they are good for humans and
> we are supposed to think they are also good for cats.
>
> Ming won't eat treats and has no interest in people food. He has tried
> the Now! kibbles and seemed to like it. I need to get him some more food
> within the next day or two and will see what is there that he will
> (probably) eat.

Winco has slightly increased the cat foods that they carry. Bali and Jazzy
LOVE the Fancy Feast Appetizer that is the Skipjack Tuna. It is like kitty
crack to them. It's the only thing they eat all of. Their second favorite
is the Tender Tongal Tuna. Winco is now carrying that flavor plus the
chicken. So I bought a few of the Tender Tongal because it is 5 cents
cheaper than the best sale price I can get anywhere else. They looked
disappointed when it came out of the bag. I do not believe that cats are
color blind. They can tell.

They also have the Fancy Feast Medleys which are not their favorite of the
canned foods. That would be the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Tuna and
Whitefish. The best price I have found on that is 20/$11 at Target. Or
maybe it was a little less at Pet Smart. It may have been $1 a can there
but they never have very many. The Medleys have a tuna with I think they
call it garden greens. I know I have bought it before for them. It was 73
cents a can. I have only been giving each of them half of the can for
dinner because no matter what I give them if they eat any at all it is just
a few bites. So I thought I would try this again. They actually ate it.
Not all of it but they did a pretty good job.

What really bugs me is that at Costco you can get Fancy Feast for cheap but
you have to buy a mixed case. My old cat Maui would eat any flavor but the
fish and seafood. So that wouldn't have even worked for her.

I feel bad for the truly poor people who own pets. Especially the seniors
who may need help at times. I always donate pet food to help people in need
and then I think that they will have a picky pet who won't eat whatever I
donate.

"Cheryl" > wrote in message
.com...
> On 8/9/2012 8:33 PM, Jean B. wrote:
>> BTW, my cat only eats poultry-based products. He had a blockage many
>> years ago, so I feed him canned food (and some dried). Exactly what he
>> will eat is a bit of a moving target. He likes Natural Balance, Core,
>> and Now! but will suddenly decide he doesn't like something after all.
>> As far as dried food goes, I try to get samples. If he seems to like
>> it, I buy a bag... then he frequently will decide not to eat it.
>> Arrgh. He did really like one food, so, of course, it was discontinued.
>
> I really hate it when a company discontinues a food my cats like. As for
> samples, I'm fortunate in that the premium pet food place I buy from has
> small packages of samples available for almost anything as long as it's
> the dry version.

I tried giving those sample packs to my cats as treats. They seem to know
that they're not treats.

On 8/10/2012 11:55 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:38:00 -0400, Cheryl >
> wrote:
>
>> On 8/9/2012 5:34 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>>
>>> I might not have room for extra frozen or refrigerated stuff. And if it was
>>> stuff like bread or chips that might go bad before I could eat it, then that
>>> could be a problem. But canned food? You can stick that in a closet, in
>>> the garage, under a bed...
>>
>> For once I'm going to have to pretend to be you. I don't want food in
>> my already overstuffed closets, I don't have a garage, and I don't want
>> to store food under a bed.
>>
>> Any more suggestions I can shoot down?
>>
>>
>
> But the solution is simple. Either find a place to keep it (you have
> space if you really want to keep the stuff) or donate to a food
> pantry. They's be very happy to have it.
>
> Or just keep shooting down sensible suggestions.
>

Can't you tell sarcasm when you see it? You didn't even see the winky
smile and see who I was replying to?

Actually I've been sort of disappointed by how many people would just
keep the free food and not even mention it to the supplier. But since
Peapod told me to keep it, the cat food went to a shelter today.

"Cheryl" > wrote in message
.com...
> On 8/10/2012 11:55 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:38:00 -0400, Cheryl >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 8/9/2012 5:34 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>>>
>>>> I might not have room for extra frozen or refrigerated stuff. And if
>>>> it was
>>>> stuff like bread or chips that might go bad before I could eat it, then
>>>> that
>>>> could be a problem. But canned food? You can stick that in a closet,
>>>> in
>>>> the garage, under a bed...
>>>
>>> For once I'm going to have to pretend to be you. I don't want food in
>>> my already overstuffed closets, I don't have a garage, and I don't want
>>> to store food under a bed.
>>>
>>> Any more suggestions I can shoot down?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> But the solution is simple. Either find a place to keep it (you have
>> space if you really want to keep the stuff) or donate to a food
>> pantry. They's be very happy to have it.
>>
>> Or just keep shooting down sensible suggestions.
>>
>
> Can't you tell sarcasm when you see it? You didn't even see the winky
> smile and see who I was replying to?
>
> Actually I've been sort of disappointed by how many people would just keep
> the free food and not even mention it to the supplier. But since Peapod
> told me to keep it, the cat food went to a shelter today.

I think most people would just keep it and not say a thing.

I used to have a severe problem with drugstore.com back when they were run
by Rite Aid. I was constantly getting extra things in the box that I did
not order. Often they were things I could use. Like a dental flossing
device. But once I got this entire case of some kind of plastic bags
designed to fit a certain kind of diaper pail. I had no diaper pail nor did
I have a need for one at the time and the bags were such that they couldn't
be used for anything else because they had like this plastic lip thing on
them that would fit the pail. Drugstore.com sounded almost angry with me
that I took the time to contact them and report the mistake. They just told
me to keep them. I did try to find someone who might be able to use them
but could not. I even kept them up to the point where I did need a diaper
pail and wouldn't you know they quit making that kind of pail! So I
eventually threw them out.

The worst thing I can think of happened not only to me but my brother. We
ordered something from a catalog. Instead of getting the item that we
ordered, we got these fancy brass register replacements...like vent thingies
that go into the floor for your furnace. Although beautiful they were
nothing I would ever have used because they had such large openings in them.
I would fear dropping things down them by accident. We were both told we
could keep the brass things and that they would correct our orders and send
us the right things. I can't tell you how many times this happened! And I
can't remember now what it was that we had initially tried to order but we
each wanted two of them because we kept getting two brass thingies.

We finally gave up when it became clear that we were never going to get the
item that we wanted.

More recently I had placed a couple of orders from K Mart. One was for two
white wire shelves. The other was for some camisoles with built in bras for
my daughter.

A box arrived and I was baffled as to what it could be. It wasn't the right
size. I pulled two red things out of the box and had to analyze them for a
minute to figure out what they were. Turns out they were some sort of
really cheap plastic plates.

So I called to try to straighten it out. Because I had two orders this
complicated things. And as I was talking to the woman on the phone, I got
an e-mail telling me that I needed to contact them about my order. Long
story short there, they were out of one of the colors of the camisoles I had
ordered.

The more I tried to explain the problem, the worse it got. I could tell
from the order number that they had sent me the plates instead of the
shelves. But the woman was apparently looking at the order for the
camisoles and kept telling me that I had ordered shelf brays. I was like...
What is a shelf bray? I finally figured out that she thought she was saying
"shelf bra".

I had to spend hours on the phone trying to resolve that one. She didn't
know what to do so she put a man on the phone who also made a reference to a
shelf bray. He told me that I had to ship back the plates and they would
automatically send me the shelves. Then when two weeks went by and no
shelves arrived, I had to call back. Only to find out that they could not
reship and I would have to reorder! No way was I going to try going through
that again.

At the same time I had another package that I had to ship back to Target. I
had ordered pajamas and matching slippers for a gift. The pajamas did
arrive but the slippers did not. So they reshipped them. Then about two
weeks later the missing slippers arrived. So at least the timing was such
that I could take both packages back at once.

Then there were the bras that I had ordered for my daughter in this same
time frame. They too didn't arrive and I was told they had been lost in the
mail. I think these were from Walmart. Again, about two weeks later the
missing ones appeared! I called there and said that I had them and would
like to keep them if there was a way for them to charge me for them.
Apparently in such a case there is no way to charge me. That time they just
let me keep the extra ones.

Usually when something like that happens, they make you ship the missing
items back. And usually it is something that you wouldn't necessarily want
an extra of. Like two blouses that are the same. But extra bras are no
problem.

Julie Bove wrote:
>
> For once I'm going to have to pretend to be you. I don't want food in
> my already overstuffed closets, I don't have a garage, and I don't want
> to store food under a bed.
>
> Any more suggestions.

Instead of stocking up on more food than I have space for, or more
importantly more food than I want to *invest* in, I use the store as a
warehouse/food bank. I actually have enough space to store food for a
hundred familys but it's really dumb to tie up that much money in
advance... there is absolutely no savings in bulk buying sale items
just to save pennies an item at the checkout... it only pays to buy
sale items in bulk if the store doesn't make the tab due until you
actually use the item because you're still paying the bulk of your
food bill way in advance, and that is plain stupid, especially with
perishables. Everytime I read about folks buying meat in bulk on sale
just to pay a few cents less and then use up all that savings+ vacuum
wrapping I think pinheads.