Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Penny-Pinching Gene


Today, the miser went shopping at Whole Foods. Some veggie frozen-food entrees were advertised as "2/$8 - Reg. price = $4.99. Save 99c each!" When I saw that the shelf label marked the stuff at $4.49 each, I realized my chance to make some money off their mistake. So, I dutifully went to the Customer Service desk, explained the situation, and asked if they were going to honor their sale sign and give me 2 of them for the real 99c savings for a total of $7. I was told to take the items to the checkout lane and I would be credited for the new savings amount. Nice.

After heading for the parking lot, I decided to check my receipt and saw that it looked like I had been charged $3.49 for one item, and $3.99 for the other. I went back to the CS desk to complain. That's when the tables were turned and the clerk showed me that I was only charged once for 1 item at $3.49 - the other was for a carton of eggs that I misread. Well then I had to offer to pay for the missing frozen item to be honest myself, but the clerk just waved me away. Even nicer!

Both my mother and my late mother-in-law pretty much knew to the penny how much they should pay for anything and where they could get the best prices for things. They would be proud!

I even toyed with the idea of becoming a "super-couponer" - the people that study store ads and websites, hoard coupons, and know how to make stores practically pay them to buy stuff. I watched the Jill Cataldo DVD on the topic, but decided to do without the thrill of warehousing cereal and toothpaste in my basement to get them for peanuts. Instead, I save my Sunday paper coupon booklets and give them to another woman at work who has succumbed to the frenzy.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

1st Memorial Birthday

My mother-in-law would have celebrated her 111th birthday last Thursday and she remains prominent in our family consciousness. Today we'll have a dinner to remember her, using her good dishes and silver, with turkey (she roasted dozens in her lifetime) and pie (her favorite dessert).

She often told me that back around 1910-1915, when she helped her mother and the other North Dakota homesteading women to serve 2 immense meals each day for the men harvesting the crops on all the farms in the area, pies were the favored end to each feast. There, they used apples, rhubarb, and chokecherries. Still love rhubarb pie myself, but today it will be cherry and pecan. Here's to you, Mom!