The Lime Price Heuristic Breaks Down At Key Food

 I've always used the price of limes as the way to judge a grocery store's overall expensiveness. But that's been breaking down at Key Food lately. What do you do if limes are 50 cents each, but avocados are 55?

The cheap avocados caused me to forgive Key Food within a week of being mad at them for overcharging me on something. My total was supposed to come to $11, but it came to $15, and I don't even know what they ripped me off on because they didn't give me a receipt. I'm guessing the cauliflower that was supposed to be $2.

What is on sale? (Pre-Thanksgiving)

 So many stores to review these days. I specifically need to buy coffee, so I need to look through every circular, so I might as well take notes. I need eggs too. In the past week, I bought 100 pizza rolls and 2 lbs of frozen french fries, so I need to avoid more frozen food.

Ozzie's: coffee? but it says i need a card and i have refused to ever get a card here (even though i got one for BHM immediately). Boneless chicken breasts are $1.79/lb.

Brooklyn Harvest Market: Broccoli is 99c/lb. Both 7-up products and Coke products are 4/$5 for 2 liter bottles, but you have to buy 4 and that's a lot to commit to. A pound of mozzarella or 2 lbs of ricotta for $1.99 and $2.99 respectively. Lasagne (the noodles) is only $1.24. I think I need lasagna. I am Garfield. Hellmann's mayo is $2.99 "with digital coupon" but I don't see it. So I don't trust it. Bacon bits are $1.99, but they were not on the shelf when I looked last week. Vintage seltzer is $0.60/liter. I wonder if that includes tonic water. A box of 15 pizza rolls is on sale for $2. Last week, I got a bag of 50 for $2.50. That circular is so long. And I found the mayo digital coupon.

Food Bazaar: This circular is back up to 6 pages. I don't really want to look because I'm not going to go there this week. I can get Coke for $1. Ricotta is $4 for 2 lbs here. A dozen clams is $4. I never buy them, but maybe it would be nice. Bags of pizza rolls are $5 here. I sure got a good deal last week. Limes are 11/$2. Who can do that kind of math?!

Western Beef: I am unlikely to go here, but I do need eggs and jarred red peppers. They have the coffee I want (Cafe Bustelo 10 oz brick for $2). Too much of their circular is dedicated to meat and their prices for meat aren't that good. Limes are 10/$20 here, which is easier math but more expensive than Food Bazaar. Ricotta is $4. 100 pizza rolls are $10 here.

Bravo: nothing

C-Town: Mayo is $3 with a $25 purchase, but I can't even carry $25 of food. Ricotta is $4 and mozzarella is $3. Cream cheese is $1.50. I may go for that.

Green Corner: Limes are 20/$2 here. I can do that math and it's a good price. Chicken breasts are $1.49/lb here. Ricotta is $4 and mozzarella $3.33.

Key Food: Avocados are still $0.49 and they have been so good every time I get them. So I will get more. Mozzarella is 2 lbs for $3. Wow. Cafe Bustelo is 2/$5 if I don't want to bike all the way to Western Beef. Mayo is $3 here without needing a digital coupon. Buttermilk is $2.

I'm hungry.

How I wound up with a free avocado at Key Food

I went to Key Food for pop and provolone. Coke product pop sale was 4/$4 (must buy 4, with $10 purchase) and the 7up products were 4/$5 (must buy 4).

I got provolone ($5/lb) and a half pound of salami ($6/lb) and wound up with a bit over a pound of provolone. I also had an avocado in my basket. I got out my calculator, since math in my head is too hard, and found I had $9.81. So I got an overpriced lime for $0.25, picked my 4 pops, and went to check out.

The pops rang up at $1.89 each, not the sale price. I questioned it, and the cashier told me it was from the bottle deposit and tax. I questioned that, so she asked her manager. The manager added stuff up in her head and said I was short of the $10. I thought I had double checked, but I could be wrong, so I said I'd grab one more thing to put me over. They said I was about an avocado short. I like avocados enough, so I got another one, and the price came down, and I left.

Then I looked at my receipt and saw only 1 avocado on it!

What might be on sale at Key Food this week? Corona uncertainty

Key Food is the only store that still publishes a circular. Once I'm in the store, some of the sales show up on price tags. Usually produce is good. But I still read the circular and think about all the things I can buy. I'm going to go there shortly after I write this.

Red onions are $1.67 for a bag of 2 lbs. (So are yellow onions, but I have those.) An avocado is $1. That's the cinco de mayo sale. Tuna is $0.89/can. Canned salmon is $3 and I might get that. I made a good salmon dip not long ago. Cranberry juice is $2. Pepsi 2 liters are 4/$5 (must buy 4). I never do that because it's heavy, but I might make an exception today. A carton of orange juice is $2. Probably the diluted kind. Frozen raviolis are 50% off. (I am pretty good at speaking Italian, but I am still going to pluralize ravioli like that when I speak English.) A 3 liter can of Colavita pure olive oil is $16 and more than anything else, I hope this is actually a sale! Scalfani canned tomatoes are 4/$5. Various Old El Paso things are on sale for Cinco de Mayo.

That's a lot of food! I guess if some isn't on sale, I won't be too disappointed. If nothing is, or if the oil isn't, I will be very disappointed. I haven't been outside since Saturday.

By the way, I turned my bacon into carbonara last night and it was good.

Update: Nothing was on sale except the avocados. The onions said they were on sale but weren't on the shelf. I walked out with nothing. I would have gone to Ozzie's afterward but I didn't have my gloves with me.

Super Bowl sales

I'm not going to watch the Super Bowl. I saw that Trump bought an ad and I thought "I don't want to see that! It's going to ruin the whole thing waiting for him to show up." But then I realized I don't want to see the football part either. I like eating nachos and dips with my friends. So I might try to arrange that. I do like seeing the sales too.

I wonder how many circulars might use the words "Super Bowl" and risk the NFL suing them. Time to dig in.

C-Town: Its headline is about its birthday. The bottom of the page says "Kickoff to Savings." Wishbone salad dressings are on sale for $0.75, good for wings. A 5 lb bag of frozen wings is $13.

Bravo: Cracker barrel cheeses are $2.50. I hope I can find asiago. Two liter bottles of Coke products are $1.25. It has "Football Festival of Savings" and the same "Kickoff to Savings" as C-Town.

Food Bazaar: No mention of the Super Bowl or football. A 5 lb bag of frozen wings is $8 or $11 (if you want the same brand as at C-Town). Two liter bottles of Pepsi products are $1, which is as low as you ever see in New York.

Green Corner: There is Valentine's Day imagery. There's nothing on sale I'd go here for.

Key Food: It clearly says Super Bowl LIV, but it's inside a Tostito's ad that says "official sponsor of the super bowl." Avocados and cilantro are both $0.54 each, which is the cheapest avocado I've ever seen. Other prices that end in .54:  Lemons, limes, baby carrots, guacamole, celery, grape tomatoes, blueberries, and some stone fruit. Also some salad and dressing off to the right. On a later page, watermelons and mag melons are also -.54.


Crack Barrel cheese is also $2.50 here, so I have a better chance of finding asiago. B&G red pepper slices are $3/jar.

Western Beef: They have "Big Game Weekend." Wings are $0.59/lb if you get a 7-10 lb bag, so that is by far the cheapest wing available. If I go for wings, I can also get the Cracker Barrel here for $2.50. A head of iceberg lettuce is $1. There are many other wing prices too. $10 for 4 lbs. $30 for 10 lbs. Why??