4th of July sales

Grocery stores often will take a loss on one product in order to get you to buy its complement at the full price. Hot dog buns and hot dogs for instance. And I am exploiting the dickens out of that strategy this week.

C-town has hot dogs at 2 for $5. (Associated has them for 2 for $4, but I'm skeptical.) Their sale on buns was 2 for $4 I think. Which was still a sale, of course. But at Key Food, the hot dog buns were $0.99, whereas their hot dog sale wasn't very good. Nathan's hot dogs were buy one get one, but there was a limit of 3. So tomorrow I am going to buy all my buns at Key Food. I will test Associated for the hot dogs, then buy them either there or at C-town. The grill will be from Gem. The iHorn will be from the Apple Store. The canola oil will probably be from wherever because I'm not buying it en masse so it doesn't matter. The eggs will be from Jesus store. The wine will be from Trader Joe's Wine Store.

I am shopping because I am having a hot dog party tomorrow. It is a whole lot like a 4th of July party only smaller and tomorrow. I don't know if I'm having a 4th party, but if I do, the premise will be "I am doing NOTHING except having a roof and a bathroom you can use."

Hot dog menu:
1. Hot dogs done up like lobster rolls
2. Hot dogs with melted cheese studded with something I haven't decided yet
3. Hot dogs with cole slaw, tomato, relish, and maybe some other vegetables
4. Hot dogs with normal condiments
-Potato salad
-Orange koolaid pie
-Some weird berry koolaid pie
-Pitcher after pitcher of tint
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Nickel

I just had a transaction that was a nickel. I bought a small jalapeno pepper to make corn & black bean salsa to go to the beach. They were $0.69/lb. It was five cents!

At Jesus, limes remains 12/$1. Strawberries are $1/lb! I got 2 lbs. For the beach.

LIMES!

I bought some at 12/$1 at Jesus store. Best price I ever saw in my life except for the time Laura and I were charged under a dime for a lime, and appreciated the rhyme.

Clean Freezer

I have a new roommate moving in, so I'm trying to clean out all my food in the freezer so he has room to have food. His name is Dan. I had people over the previous 3 days to eat. All the food is still there. There is no noticeable decline. I cooked 3 lbs of pasta, a lb of bacon, a bunch of gorgonzola, a stick of butter, 2 bags of asparagus, and maybe that's it. In the mean time, I bought 2 bags of ice, a bunch of bread, and some milk. After the first attempt to clear up space, I had left space because both Ridgely and Dylan were kind enough to bring beers. Fortunately, we drank them all the next day.

This is getting serious. He's coming soon and won't have room for food. I think my problem is not inviting enough people so I can't cook enough. Also, it's inviting Ridgely, because he's a picky eater. No cheese.

Another Ice Update, plus Key Food finds

Last Sunday I was at brunch at Roxy's house and her friend Evan showed up with the best bag of ice I had ever partaken of. The ice was nearly chipped and didn't stick together in huge chunks at all. I asked him where he got it because I was so impressed. I think he found that to be a weird question. The answer was the Associated on Grandparents Ave. I have never been there. I could go for some right now.

At Key Food, they had 5 boxes of Barilla pasta for $5. Any shapes you want. I like medium shells and farfalle a lot. Tuttorosso pasta sauce was $1.69. There were no other good deals. Well, I got some bacon for $3. I think I want to keep bacon on hand just in case brunch happens.

Ice, Tomatoes, Meat

You can buy ice in Prospect Heights for $1.25 for a 5 lb bag. I have to pay $2 here. Prospect Heights has a comparative advantage in summer parties. I was going to one on Saturday and saw that ice and showed up with 15 lbs.

Tomatoes on vines are now $2.49 at the Jesus store. They had been $0.99/lb. There are now no $0.99/lb tomatoes there.

I bought cubed steak at Key Food. I unwrapped it. Everything that was not visible before is brown. I feel betrayed. But on Sunday, C-Town failed to have anything useful for a brunch. Time to move. I can't find a roommate anyway.

Non-grocery update: All men's stuff at Old Navy was 50% off today. Yet, I am not happy.