Is this fun or is this lonely?

 I just bought 8 liters of Diet Coke and 50 pizza rolls.

Clearance Rack at Foodtown

 They have a clearance rack where things are 50% off, but they don't tell you the original price so I never tried it. Yesterday I went grocery shopping on an empty stomach (the best time!) so I risked it by buying a can of black olives (Lindsay brand, not generic). They rang up as $1.60!

Today I went back and bought 7 cans of olives and 2 jars of hot banana pepper slices.

I took a picture, but "iCloud isn't syncing because you have no local storage" and "Mac needs to cool down."

Back from Atlanta and I need coffee

 I am almost out of ground coffee for the coffee machine. I still have unground coffee I use for my French press but I don't want to use that every morning. So I will look at the ads to see where I can go.

I generally buy Chock Full o' Nuts brand.

Bravo - I have a grudge against them now for always ringing me up wrong. Overcharging me for a 12 back of Presidente was the last straw. If I catch it, they'll fix it. But I don't want to have to be vigilant. And look, if someone who has written a blog about grocery prices for over a decade doesn't want to have to be vigilant about prices, you're doing something wrong.

C-Town - The C-Town took over the Bravo but I don't extend my grudge there. Candy corn is $3. I need candy corn! For coffee, they have Dunkin' and Maxwell House on sale, but it's not even a good price.

Food Bazaar - I don't think they even have coffee on sale.

Foodtown - I wonder when the second Foodtown that's even closer to me is going to open. Anyway, they have 4 lbs of wings for $10 but I got 5 lbs a week or so ago :-) A 10 oz brick of Café Bustelo is $4. That is winning so far, I guess.

Green Corner - Same Café Bustelo deal.

Ozzie's - Tofu is 3/$5. Dunkin' coffee is $7. Apples are 88¢/lb. Oh, just when I was going to give up, Chock Full o' Nuts is $4/can. Now my problem is solved.

Update: I went to Ozzie's and I also found chick peas for $1.50/bag (of 1 lb) so I got 4 bags. I was extra happy because they had the nut flavored Chock Full o' Nuts (Heavenly Hazelnut). Then I was confused because my bill came out low. The coffee was only $3/can.

I don't know whether to like Ozzie's even more and hold a stronger grudge against Bravo or to forgive all grocery stores because things balanced out for me personally.

Why Olive Oil Got So Expensive

 It's not just Whole Foods scamming me. It's climate change.

What's on sale? - Short Week

 I usually do a sneak peek at the coming sales on Thursday and view the rest on Friday and then I don't write separate posts or any posts. But I didn't look yesterday, so I guess I will today. I have eaten nothing but soup since Sunday so I am eager for new foods. I have been buying foods though. I got 2 cans of chipotles in adobo for $2.29 each and a can of whole jalapeños for $1.25. They tried to overcharge me but they fixed it. I can shop at Green Corner again because I have the Savor One card I wrote about in my last post. I also went to Food Bazaar and got crema mexicana for $3, queso fresco for $4, and 5 lbs of wings for $10.

Also, I'm going to Atlanta for 4 days this week so I can't plan to buy or cook all that much.

Bravo: Iceberg lettuce for $1.49 for my tacos and tostadas.

C-Town: Tomatoes are $1/lb but I am worried they would be pink.

Food Bazaar: A 2 pound bag of squid tentacles is $10.

Foodtown: Morningstar Farms frozen fake meat things (like chicken nuggets) are $4 and you can get $0.75 off using Ibotta. 

Green Corner: Nothing.

Ozzie's: Iceberg lettuce for $1.49. Beefsteak tomatoes for $1.49. Seltzer 4/$3.

Capital One Savor One Credit Card

My trip to Bravo was also my first purchase with my new Capital One Savor One credit card. It arrived today and I activated it.

It gives 3x on groceries and restaurants and entertainment and streaming. It gives 10x back on Uber/Uber Eats and a complimentary Uber One subscription (which is what I got it.. because my Amex Gold gives me UberEats money). It has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees and I think that means I can get 3x on grocery stores in Mexico. Seems like a good card. Maybe I will get a Venture X someday to complement this.

If you want to sign up for it, use my link.

Muir Glen Organic Canned Tomatoes

 Bravo has big cans on sale for $1.69 so I bought 1 can yesterday and went back today and bought 6 more. I got diced, crushed, and whole. They tried to charge me $3.59 for the whole ones but I asked if they weren't on sale too and they checked and gave me the low price.

I haven't seen canned tomatoes for under $2 in ages.

Ending my grudge against Food Bazaar

 They had shrimp on sale for $5/lb last week, so I went last night to get some to make green curry. And the shopping baskets were back. Now I can shop normally there. I also got a can of coconut milk for $1.25.

Shrimp are on sale again this week for the same price and extra large ones are only $6/lb so I could have waited. Or I could go back now that I am not mad.

Queso Fresco at Food Bazaar

 Usually 12 oz of queso fresco is $5.49 but Food Bazaar had it for $3.99. I am mad at Food Bazaar because they got rid of their shopping baskets, but I figured I would go check to see if they brought them back. They did not, but the cheese was a good price.

What's on sale? I'm back after traveling

I've barely been around for a month and I wasn't shopping intensely before either of my trips. Now my refrigerator is fairly empty and I need to shop.

In Pittsburgh I did get banana peppers for 25¢ each and hatch chiles for $5 for 18 oz, so those are in my refrigerator and I need to use and/or freeze them. I can never find hot banana peppers in NYC.

Bravo White tuna is 3/$4

C-Town Cracker barrel cheese are $2.50 for 8 oz. Often I find deals on Ibotta for $1 back, which makes them $1.50 and quite a good deal. Jif peanut butter is $2.69, which after recent inflation, is a pretty good price. The tuna deal is here too.

Food Bazaar I'm still mad at them, but I will look because I might like to get salmon. In Pittsburgh at Giant Eagle, I got a piece of salmon for $6/lb and I dry cured it. It's $10/lb at Food Bazaar. Coke products are 3/$5 for 2 liter bottles. Can of coconut milk are 4/$5.

Foodtown (fka Brooklyn Harvest Market) London broil is $4/lb. A jar of mayo is $4. Pepsi 2-liters are 3/$5. Kraft shredded cheeses are $2 (and on Ibotta for another $0.50 off). Seltzers are 5/$3 per liter.

Green Corner Four pound boxes of shrimp for $3.50/lb.

Ozzie's Sardines 5/$4.

Brooklyn Harvest Market Changed Its Name to Foodtown

 I couldn't find any differences though. And my BHM loyalty card still worked. It always had Foodtown branded things so who knows why they did this. Now I'm going to have 2 Foodtowns within 5 blocks of my apartment. I wonder if the same owners will run both or if there will be a difference.

I got so much Cracker Barrel and Kraft cheese because it was on sale and there were good scams on Ibotta so each 8 oz CB cheese was $1.50 and each Kraft shredded cheese was $2 after scams.

Foodtown Coming to Grand St in East Williamsburg

 I just saw the sign. This is where the Gem store used to be. The space has been empty since that building was redeveloped into affordable housing.

The Brooklyn Harvest Market on Metropolitan and Humboldt is also Foodtown at heart (meaning that's its distributor) so they will probably have the same sales. There's also a Foodtown on North 3rd/Metropolitan/Bedford near Whole Foods.

Food Bazaar is horrible to shop in these days

 The smaller reason is they label things on sale, both in the ad and on the shelves, then don't charge the sale price.

The bigger reason is they took away the shopping baskets. Now the store is full of people walking around with their arms full because there are no baskets. It's sad and annoying.

I got a good deal on some shrimp, but I'm not going back there any time soon.

I wrote them an email about this.

Back from Mexico and I need to shop

 As soon as I got back, I applied for a new credit card for groceries. Now I need to go out and use it to replenish my refrigerator and freezer. I wonder what is on sale. I need kosher salt. Now that I am going to be around, I can attempt live herbs again.

Bravo: Krasdale frozen vegetables are $1.25 for 14 oz. I got some broccoli cuts last night. Colavita pasta is 3/$5. I'm not sure what shapes they have or what I need. A 24 oz container of kosher salt is $2.29 but I want a 3 lb box. Camaronazo is $3.29. That's like Clamato but based on shrimp instead of clams.

Brooklyn Harvest Market: Clamato is $3.50 here.

C-Town: Romaine is $1/lb. Frozen vegetables are 5/$4 for 8 oz bags. Mixed vegetable bags (like California Blend) are 3/$5 for 14 oz.

Food Bazaar: Nothing

Green Corner: Cilantro for $0.59! Limes 8/$2! Nopales $1/lb! I can try my hand at Mexican things.

Quite a price difference on these chicken feet:

Ozzie's: I'm afraid to go here because I hate their announcements, which I think should be an OSHA violation. But they have cans of coconut milk for $1.50. Tomatillos are $1.49/lb.

I want to buy groceries but I shouldn't (Mexico)

I am going to Mexico soon and I don't want things to go bad, so I shouldn't go buy things even though I want to. I bought 5 kirby cucumbers ($1), 2 zucchini ($1), and a bag of grapes ($1) yesterday. I'm also trying to eat healthier. But then at night, friends brought over beer and potato chips so shopping healthier doesn't even work.

In Mexico, I probably won't buy groceries. Last time I went to a store and bought a bottle of Clamato because I love that stuff. I didn't like the lid on the bottle though. It was hard to screw back on.

Produce Prices Are High

 It's January, so of course. But I was just at To The World Farm and the guy kept telling the woman the price of things. which is his job, but it was like "this is super expensive right now" and "are you sure you want escarole and didn't mean to grab leaf lettuce by mistake? this costs so much."

Good thing I'm getting into dried chili peppers. They are good even in January.