January 2010

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A long time back now, there was a locally-owned grocery store in one of the shopping centers. I'm at a loss for its name, but since I wasn't one of its regular shoppers that doesn't surprise me.

The store was aimed at people who weren't (and aren't) me. I've never been a foodie, to put it mildly. Foodies were that store's target audience. So the very few times I did shop there, I noted that they had good things but nothing I needed enough to drive across town to get.

Also, the prices were enough higher that I tried to avoid it unless I was looking for a treat for someone. They weren't unreasonably high, but let's say what I could get for ten dollars at my usual store would have cost at least thirteen at this one.

Fast-forward to a recent day when I was across town anyway. I hadn't been in that store in many a year. I knew in those years the local owners had sold the store to a national chain. I knew from reading other journals that the national chain in question is often thought to be an extremely expensive place to purchase food.

But I also knew I only needed two things. I thought I could get by with spending an extra dollar or two and save myself several hours of bus rides/waiting time. Even though I'm pinching pennies so hard they're screaming in pain, I could rearrange the budget just a smidgen and omit something else from the regular grocery list to make up the difference.

So into the store I went. And not long after I came out, empty-handed. I couldn't find one of the items, and the other was three times as expensive as it would have been at my regular store. And no, I wasn't looking for specific brands of either, just generic food items. Even if I weren't penny-pinching, that price would have horrified me.

Oh, the two items? My next trip to my regular store I found that both items were on special that week. I call that a double-good save!

Holidailies