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Cheapest Groceries This Side of a Dumpster

From MSN Money. We're talking salvage stores, but the prices still don't beat gardening!

"You've heard of scratch-and-dent appliance sales. How about scratch-and-dent groceries?"

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"You probably can't buy all your groceries this way, because many of these stores sell more snacks than staples. Shop strategically, though, and surplus/salvage grocers can make a big dent, so to speak, in your food bills."

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"Some scratch-and-dent stores sell mostly dry goods, some a mix of dry and canned. Others add dairy products, produce, cleaning supplies and toiletries to the mix.

In all stores, the stock varies from week or week or even from day to day, because of the unpredictable nature of salvage. Maybe a product gets discontinued or its label or package is changed. The manufacturer dumps all old inventory at fire-sale prices, but once it's gone, it's gone.

Sometimes a manufacturer has too much product and too few orders; these "overruns" are sold at a loss. Or maybe an item didn't sell well in a particular region; for example, that organic butternut squash soup might not do as well in South Dakota as in San Francisco."

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"When a pallet of green beans or cornflakes falls off a forklift, the entire unit is likely to be sold off as damaged goods. Consumers can get some real deals, because some of the product wasn't damaged at all and the "dents" in some of the rest are cosmetic (a crumpled box corner, for instance)."

Just beware of swollen or rusted cans--this spells potential botulism!

"Incidentally, there is no universally accepted food-dating system in the United States. No federal law requires expiration dates -- except for infant formula and some other baby foods.

And if you get a gallon of free milk that's dated, um, today? Go home and freeze it, or make rice pudding or yogurt."

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"A common complaint is that salvage grocers mostly sell snacks or junk food. That's true in some cases, but conventional food markets also sell a lot of empty calories. Just as you wouldn't spend your entire grocery budget on root beer or peanut-butter cups in the supermarket, you need to shop wisely in a discount store.

If you're on an extremely tight budget, this can be a good way to get an occasional treat. (A Grocery Outlet store in Seattle has Häagen-Dazs ice cream for $1.49 a pint. Ask me how I know.) Cling tightly to your shopping list, though, lest low prices tempt you to spend too much on food that's neither healthful nor filling.

Additionally, make sure you really need the items you're buying. Frugality expert Jeff Yeager, aka "The Ultimate Cheapskate," says low prices might tempt you into buying "more jelly than you'd ever eat for the rest of your life."

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"Just as with any other kind of deal hunting, it's important to know what food normally costs. Masterson says the cereals at Bargains run about $1.50 a box, a price she can meet or beat "with coupons and sales" at her usual supermarket. Read "Free toothpaste for life" for more on that strategy.

Here are a few more tips from savvy salvage shoppers:

* Supermarkets do scratch-and-dent sales, too. Look for "reduced for quick sale" or "manager's special" bins. Yeager suggests asking for an additional discount from the dented-can bin in supermarkets: "The ultimate proving ground of your negotiating skills is if you can negotiate on groceries."

* Look everywhere. In a Walgreens clearance bin I found eight boxes of Royal vanilla pudding mix for 9 cents each (yep, 9 cents). I found closeout foods at a convenience store, including 5 pounds of Gold Medal flour for $2.50 and a 16-ounce jar of Skippy peanut butter for $1.80 (and their sell-by dates were at least six months away).

* No, really: Look everywhere. Some dollar stores have scratch-and-dent bins. I've purchased aluminum foil and a big roll of waxed paper this way, for 50 cents apiece. Who cares if the box was a little crushed?

* Check the nonfood aisles. Oregon reader Jan Berardi bought 10 big bottles of shampoo and conditioner for $2 each at Grocery Outlet. Why was it so cheap? "Pantene just changed its label," she says. She's also gotten stocking stuffers like comb-and-brush sets or unique pencils very inexpensively.

* Be adventurous. Try a new product or brand from a scratch-and-dent or outlet store. If you don't like it, you're not out much money.

* The race is to the swift. If you do like that new product or brand, go back and buy more. It might not be there next week. Or tomorrow."

When I lived in Texas, I frequented a grocery salvage store that had all kinds of these sorts of bargains--ripped bags of dog food, charcoal, large bags of rice and beans that were ripped, but the grocer sub-divided into smaller zippy bags, dented cans (some of which couldn't be opened with a can opener), cans missing labels, loads and loads of off-off-brand products, products from overseas (Greek peas, anyone? I bought 12 cans), and even car maintenance products like a case of oil minus one bottle, power steering fluid with a crumpled top, dented WD-40 cans, etc. The funniest thing I ever saw at this store was a stack of misprinted paper plates--the design wasn't aligned with the plate, and the flowers ran in a way-off-center circle.

Look in your phone book under "salvage" to see if you might have one of these hidden gems in your town. That's how I found mine--too bad there aren't any where I live now.

Posted by Cute at 6:44 PM

Labels: economy, financial (non-tax), food purchases, health