Grocery Shopping the Ghetto

A good friend of mine recently presented me with an offer I couldn’t refuse. She had inside information on an amazing discount grocery store in Salt Lake, and in the spirit of sharing, took me with her on a tour of the place.

“Have you ever been to NPS?” she asked. “It’s my yogurt super store.”

“No. I’ve never even heard of it.”

“What? We’ve got to go there.” She was clearly, and deservedly, excited to be the source of information on a vital new hotspot for my grocery shopping adventures. “How much money do you have?” was her follow up question.

I fessed up about the newly separated black and white of my finances, “Fifty bucks as soon as I return my unopened food processor. I was going to do that today because I need a few things. When do you wanna go?”

We haggled over our schedules and then discovered that there is no time like the present, so we got in my car and headed out. Costco actually gave me $55 for my returned merchandise and I was good to go. We drove the 25 miles or so to get to this super store and I felt like I was in familiar territory.

A number of years ago we mentored a family of refugees from Somalia. Their first apartment in the states was located in the neighborhood where we ended up. Also, the Arabic store that sells Halal meats is just down the road, and I’ve been there a few times since Heba has come to stay with us. If I didn’t know the area I may have been a little concerned, at first glance you might put it on the ghetto end of the economic development spectrum.

“I feel bad bringing you here when you have such limited funds,” she said.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll just keep close track and we’ll leave before I hit my limit.” I’m not worried, I thought smugly, I know how to add.

We pulled in, got out, and went in. Our first stop was in the Dollar Clearance section of the store. We both found a killer deal on gift items that I will not go into further detail until after the holidays, but suffice it to say, we got some crazy vintage stuff for $1. Unbelievable.

Then we went to the grocery clearance section where I got salad dressing, barbeque sauce and spice packets all for under 20 cents apiece. The prices of these items were slashed because they were past their expiration date, but I’m the queen of maximizing the longevity of a “best by” date and was undaunted.

Next we found bottles of imported balsamic vinegar for 69 cents. Um, does vinegar go bad? No. I got individual Greek yogurts 4 for a dollar. Three pounds of onion rings for $1.50, five pounds of French fries for $2.50, thirty-six white bread dough rolls for $2.50. It was amazing. I bought a case of 30 cheddar popcorn snack bags for our play practice contribution to the treat tote. Those were 10 cents each. Roma tomatoes in perfectly good condition were 49 cents a pound. My favorite find, only because I’d been thinking of it just that morning, were the mega-mix-packs of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing that make a gallon of dressing each. 79 cents is what I paid for those babies, I got 4 of them.

After I found some dollar cereals and dollar loaves of bread and 69 cent specialty cheese spreads, my ability to add got all muddled and alarms started going off in my head.

“Hey, let’s go,” I said abruptly as we were perusing the frozen bakery section, full of all sorts of pre-made, deeply discounted bakery delights. There were frozen, unfrosted sheet cakes in all varieties. Cupcakes and cake pops, pies, cream puffs and innumerable other dainties. “I think I met my max,” I said as I felt my head swim with the effort of trying to keep track of all that I put in my cart.

“So, did you just hit $50?” she asked?

“Yeah, I think so. I think we’d just better go.”

I walked to the cashier with some trepidation and unloaded my cart onto the conveyor belt. I held back my most expensive items (which were $2.50) to the last. But, it was in vain. All in all, I got out of there with a basket full of groceries and some fun gift items for $30. I still had 25 bucks in my pocket. It was awesome. Thank you, Carolyn, for a great adventure and grocery blessings.