Aug 3/06 — My local Big Lots has a 5-tray dehydrator for $30. It is the same one stocked by Meijers for $40. They also have a doz quart canning jars for $7. Home Depot has a “Bubba” 128-oz thermos thingy with a wide mouth for $14 — it could be used for thermos cooking. If you want to use it with boiling water, don’t get the smaller, $10 one in the same display — you can’t use that one for hot liquids.
Northstar – at 10:46 Home Depot 128-oz thermos with wide mouth $14.
That sounds great. Thanks for posting it.
Good thread for this morning.
For those preppers with children, Wal-Mart has 70-sheet spiral bound notebooks for $.10 and 24-count crayons for $.08, plus lots of other great prices on school/art supplies.
Aldi’s has 5lb bags of flour for $0.79
I have Aldi’s near me, do I need a membership to shop there?
No, but you need to pay cash, debit card or food stamps. No checks, no credit. And you have to pay a quarter for a shopping cart, but you get it back if you chain it back in place.
Hey, I was in our WalMart yesterday & a fella walked up to me & handed me a piece of paper that turned out to be a “pass” for one day at Sam’s, which reminded me that Costco does that too — maybe at Aldi’s you could just go up to the door & ask for a one day pass! We don’t have one here so I’m just assuming it’s like a Sam’s or Costco????
You don’t need a pass or membership at Aldi’s.
I’ve been sleeping on an aerobed in my daughters room since she had her wisdom teeth out. It’s not a bad bed but it’s hard to get out of in the morning. So I thought I start looking for a raised bed, just in case someone would need to be sleeping really close to the bathroom when TSHTF. woot.com has twin sized raised aerobeds today for 64.99 plus $5 shipping. I already ordered mine, first time at woot. My sister told me about this site months ago. They sell one thing a day until it’s gone. I usually forget to check it, but for some reason it came to mind today. Must be this good deals thread :-)
I would be NO WAY as well-prepped as I am right now if it wasn’t for Aldi’s. I swear I can get enough food there for $60 to sustain a family of four for a month.
I have been going to Big Lots and got 3 lb bag of wide noodle pasta for 1.99. My son LOVES pasta, they also had McCormick imitation maple flavor (2 oz) for .80 cents. With all of their spices .49 cents each. They had rice in pkg. already seasoned and cooked, for $1.00, small bag, but no water to cook and can just add tuna, can chicken, etc. I also shop at Dollar tree, they have butane lighters for candles, $1.00, craft supplies for entertainment for kids $1.00. I also checked out my local public library. they have a shelf with discarded books for .25 cents to 1 dollar. I have gotten a medical help book, novels, a wide variety of information from them. Of course my favorite place, Good Will, I have gotten closed metal can with lids for .25 cents each, a wooden bookcase to store preps for $10.00. I carry a list that I haven gotten from ya’ll about prep suggestions and mark it off as I find it in diverse places.
Re: Aldi’s — I just read an article about Walmart’s lack of success in other countries. In Germany, no one will shop at Walmart because they already have Aldi’s which UNDERCUTS Walmart. How is it possible to sell stuff cheaper than Walmart, I wonder? Nonetheless Aldi’s does it.
frankiew – at 17:45
My mother calls “Good Will” the “Good Lord Store”. :-)
Well then I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Aldi’s if they’d come into Alberta. People have lots of money here and spend like crazy. Jobs for anyone that wants one; there are thousands of jobs going unfilled because of lack of people but they are coming. We are the “Saudi” of Canada so if you want to make a change in your life check us out. Construction, oil & gas, tourism, is running at full tilt.
I will never understand why everyone seems to think that Walmart has the lowest prices on everything, because they don’t. Sure, you can save big on some things, but if you really shop around you’ll see that they don’t even come close to beating some others prices. Walmart makes money hand over fist because they strictly dictate the purchase terms on everything they carry in their stores, and on most items they are selling basically on commission (they don’t pay for the item(s) unless and until they’re sold).
Did you know all the libraries replace their reference World Books and encyclopedias every year. See if you can find out when the sets are getting sold. I got a new crisp 20 volume set for $1. a volume - $20. The book sales are good to gather reading material for each family member for SIPing. Clip-on book lights at the Dollar Store for $1. for each family member. Thrift shops receive pressure canners often and resell for about $5. (they are $200. new)
Key Kim, just FYI no big fan of wally-world here! I refuse to shop there for many reasons.
In fact I find it ironic that they are the masters at just-in-time inventory — which supposedly will be a big part of any supply problems come pandemic — and yet so many “preppers” have to (or choose to) shop there.
However, Walmart does seem to have very low prices on many prodcuts, you can’t deny that. (I only know from the flyers, and from EVERY business article I’ve seen about them.) How they come by those low prices is what causes me to wish to avoid the store. Here in MD, their failure to offer medical insurance to most employees has been a big politcal issue….
Albertsons’s ad just arrived and they have some good-looking sales. 20 for $10 (50 cents each) on some canned pork and beans, corn, beets, g.beans, pasta, canned tuna, mac and cheese box, etc. Here in So. Calif, these are relatively good deals. At least where I live.
Aug 4 & 5, Fri and Sat only, Meijers is running a floor sweeper (powerless vacuum) for 6.99, half price.
Okay I am offically talked into making the 1 1/2 hour drive to my nearest aldis next payday.I am also one who hasn’t seen the inside of a walmart in years.
Malachi – at 09:58
Remember, Aldi’s only accepts cash, EBT cards and debit cards. No checks or credit cards. Also take a quarter to get a cart. Maybe two quarters would be a good idea. Once you see the low prices the cart fills up fast.
It’s not your regular grocery store, little if any fancy shelving or displays and you bag and box your own groceries, but it is well worth it. After many trips I have finally discovered the secret to checking out without being overwhelmed (the checkout personnel can zip those groceries through there WAY faster than you can put them back in the cart). I buy mostly cases of canned goods, that way after it is scanned I can set the whole case back in the cart.
It’s not your regular grocery store, little if any fancy shelving or displays and you bag and box your own groceries, but it is well worth it.
I appreciate the beauty in even the ugliest things……..Thanks for the tips.
Malachi @ 10:11
Let us know how you like it. There are very few brand names there, one way they keep costs low. The items our family has tried and liked are-condensed soup, rice, flour, tea, tomatoes, pancake syrup (.99 cents for a large bottle!), canned veggies. Good prices on tiolet paper & paper towels too.
Shopping at Sam’s the other day, I bought 32oz jar of sundried tomatoes for 5 dollars and change, they are wonderful. I made pasta with them and my husband and I both loved them. Brand is Valley Sun. The experation date was 4–20–08.
Sadly there is not a single Aldi’s on the entire left half of the US. It sounds like my kind of place.
Not so sure, Mosaic - I think it might depend on the store, and what you need. One opened up here in town about six months ago, and I never see more than three or four cars in the parking lot. I find it kind of creepy to go in a grocery store and have to basically put down a deposit, albeit small, to use a shopping cart.
Part of my problem with it might be that most of what prepping I’ll do has been done, and I’m not in need of cases of off-brand veggies and things. Prices aren’t any better than what I can find stuff for on sale in the “regular” grocery stores either.
I like Aldi’s. But I think only about 20% of the items there are foods I would buy for my family. I have to read the labels. I avoid any artifical dyes, flavors or preservatives — so I’m looking for “one item” food in cans, you know, like contains “potatoes, water”. Maybe some salt.
A lot of budget foods are cheap because they have used the cheaper petroleum-based additives, so I find I have to really double check at Aldi’s compared to say Trader Joe’s.
But, for the 20% of the foods there I buy, they taste just fine. Potatoes are potatoes, canned fruit is canned fuit and so on. And they are just SO cheap. I can, of cours,buy stuff on a half price sale at the grocery store, but it is easier to just go to Aldi’s and for $3.50 get a case of canned fruit, etc.
The stuff we’ve had success with: kidney beans, potatoes, fruit coctail, mandarin oranges; and of course the plain pasta at $.50 a pound is a good deal. A few of the prepared pasta mixes seem like real food and everyone liked them. (Alfredo mix, I think). Basics like flour, baking products seem fine. I skip their junk food, cereals, and most other jarred foods.
I don’t know if it would be worth a 90 minute drive out there though, not on a regular basis unless you knew for sure what you wanted and bought a LOT of it! (-:
Anyone live near Meijers in the midwest? They have all their meijer brands heathcare products on sale. If you buy at least 5 of the meijer brands they’ll each be 50% off. I read all the ingredients and they match the name brands. I even got a new first aid kit, 50% off. Needless to say I stocked up on everything!!
Thanks silversage! For MI shoppers keep in mind that regulations restrict the sale of those medicines that have the ingredient to make methamphetamine (it would help if I knew what it was!) to 2 per purchase. I remember having to to _3_ checkouts to get everything last time they ran this deal! Whatta pain!
The ingredient they are controlling is Pseudoephedrine
There. Wasn’t that simple?
Pseudoephedrine is in many states not sold easily over the counter anymore anyway. You need to sign your life away for those. I don’t even know if Meijers’ products have that but you would have to check with the pharmacist. But I got simple items like epson salts, butterfly bandages, and what ever book Pete Prepper used to take care of his appendicitis. :-)
At my Big Lots this week they had boxes of Puffs (tissues) for 50 cents…they had last year’s christmas design on the box. Also, jumbo rolls of Bounty paper towels for $1 (with Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer on them!) I figure if I hold on to them long enough I can put them out for Christmas this year! :-)
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