Creative Grocery Shopping

It all started with olive oil. I’ve never been to Palestine, Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain or Portugal where they press olives to get the oil so, the country of origin is not important to me. Only the price matters.

I’m always on the lookout for cheaper olive oil. That’s how I noticed that the $17 bottle is $13 from Tuesday to Thursday. I did the research for two months, which confirmed my theory that it’s cheaper mid-week. I also stumbled upon other items on the shelves that are reduced during the week. There are no specials over the weekend, probably because we need food for ourselves and visitors and we will buy it at any price. 

Creative grocery shopping also involves what I call scoop stores. Food like beans, rice or pasta is not in a sealed plastic bag. It’s in a bin, so you scoop the amount into a bag, tie it and take it to the cashier, who will weigh it and charge you. Therefore, you buy food period, not a label from a packaging company that doesn’t even produce it. Scoop stores are popular with families when they’re preparing for weddings or religious events.

You might not like scoop stores if you are a calculator eater and prefer labeled packaged food that say: sodium so much, protein so much, iron so much, carbohydrates so much. You get my drift.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.