$453.35 in total, to be exact.
I’m not sure why CPP Disability came in a day early, but I wasn’t about to complain. I just took advantage of it and made a run into the city.
With the work being done on the truck, plus the door replacement (still no word on the new, correct size, door that was ordered), it’s going to be a tight month, and we will be skipping Costco. Instead, I did the usual Walmart and Canadian Tire run, then his a Superstore along the same route.
My first stop was the Walmart. This is what $168.62 looks like.
Yeah. Not much.
The most expensive item was a box of 150 puppy pads. The Costco box is 100, but the pads are the same size.
Then there was the 9kg bag of kibble. I got just the one, for the inside cats, because I was planning to hit the feed store for 40 pounds bags for the outside cats.
Then there were two cases of 32 cans of wet cat food. One is for the outside cats, but I only use one can a day, mixes with hot water and powdered pumpkin seeds, which I then used to soften their morning kibble.
Last of all was a package of toilet paper that was on sale. Oh, and a $2 donation at the till.
So… five times (not counting the donation) was over $150.
*sigh*
My next stop was the Canadian Tire. This is what $0 looks like.
I looked all over but couldn’t find the sump pump hose I was looking for. I finally snagged someone and asked. It turned out they should have been in an empty shelf I’d walked past several times. Because the labels were so low to the ground, I never saw them. After looking it up, the guy said he would get one for me from their warehouse. When he came back, he had three, so he could restock the shelf.
I was just walking away with my one in the cart when I decided I’d better get a second one, just in case.
While going through the checkout, I paid for two bags of litter pellets, where were set up in the exit vestibule, so I picked those up on the way out.
I use my Canadian Tire dollars to pay for the entire thing, so what would have cost $53.72, cost me nothing.
After the Canadian Tire, I hit a Domo to fill the tank. The price of regular was $1.299, but it was Thursday, which was 4¢ off per liter day. Grand total to fill was $76.34
Last of all was the Superstore. This is what $284.73 looks like… sort of!
There’s actually more in there than it appears, as the bread is covering some things.
Under grocery, there’s a large jug of cooking oil, a giant bag of elbow macaroni, some mayo and a packet of rice noodles for the girls. The Monster was for me to drink during the drive home.
Under dairy, there’s a flat of eggs, and large blocks of Old Cheddar and Mozza cheese. We used to be able to get blocks that size at Costco, but they don’t seem to carry them anymore. I got 6 pounds of butter (they were on sale, but with a limit of one, so 5 of them were regular price). In the frozen section, I got two big bags of potato and cheese perogies and a back of mixed vegetables.
The bulk chocolate almonds were to snack on, on the way home. It was a very small bag.
The only produce I got on this trip was two bags of avocadoes that were at a very good price.
In meats and seafood, I got fish fillets for the girls, chicken thighs and drumsticks, a large ham, a frozen pork roast, a package of pork ribs and another of pork tenderloins. I don’t know why it’s under “meal replacement”, but I also got a hot rotisserie chicken.
I also picked up a frozen turkey that was free with a purchase over $300, so I wanted to make sure I reached that $300 mark, even though I tend to round up when I keep a tally in my head.
In the bakery, I got a couple of loaves of light rye bread and a back of torpedo buns. I don’t know what it is about their torpedo buns (labelled as “buns Italian” on the receipt) but the entire family absolutely loves them, and you get a LOT for the $5!
When I got to the till, though, I discovered I had rounded up too much, and the total was under $300! No free turkey. After finding out how much I was short, I went to a display I’d been standing next to while waiting in line and got two different tins of moon cakes; one with double yolks. That put me over, and I got my free turkey – and a rare treat for the family.
I did have things go a bit weird while I was in line, though. Because the lines were so long, I pushed my cart forward in line, then stood beside it, so I wouldn’t be blocking the aisle. I intended to step around when it came time to move forward and unload.
An older woman then got in line behind me, pushing her cart forward and forward and forward, until the end of her cart was under the handle of mine. Strange, but okay. We started chatting at one point, when she commented that she has to watch her cart. She forgets how long it is and has a habit of bumping into people. !! Okay.
Then things moved along and I was able to move my cart forward to the belt and start unloading.
She pushed her cart right up under my cart’s handle again.
Once the cart was empty and the customers ahead of me were done, I moved forward to the cashier, giving her my loyalty card.
I’ve been using that card for years, but it came up as not activated. I’ll have to phone them to find out what’s going on.
Once I had my card back, I pushed my cart to the end and started reloading it (I bag my stuff at my vehicle) as quickly and efficiently as I could, so it wouldn’t build up on the belt. When it came time for the total and to ring in my free turkey, she let me know I hadn’t reached the $300 mark. So I decided to grab the moon cakes.
No one in the line was willing to just pass them over to me, so I had to squeeze my way past the old lady’s cart to get through and get them, then squeeze back again.
She made zero effort to move her cart closer to the till. I’m no skinny minny, but even a thin person would have had a hard time getting by.
Whatever. I got them, the cashier rang them through while I continued to put things in my cart.
The old lady had moved forward and was standing right at where I needed to be to pay.
Both the cashier and I told her I needed to reach the PIN pad. She moved back…
But pushed her cart forward.
In the end, I had to first move my loaded cart forward, then move the old lady’s cart to the end of the belt, where my cart had been, just so I could get back in to use the PIN pad.
The thing that made it seem weirder is that I got no impression that she was someone dealing with cognitive issues or some such, and her comment about running into people showed she was aware. She may have been older than me, but probably not by all that much. Maybe 10 years or so? I don’t like to guess, since I have a mother who’s 94 but could easily pass as being in her 70’s. It just seemed… almost deliberate.
Maybe I’m just too used to dealing with my mother, who absolutely would do stuff like that, deliberately.
Anyhow.
So I got all that, it came to under $300 total, and I got my free turkey!
That cart looks pretty empty for that much, but most of the meat in there is covered, along with all the butters.
Once that was all loaded up, it was time to head home. I took the route that would take me through my mother’s town, instead of my usual route from this location, because I knew I’d have to make a pit stop at a gas station just outside the city. I was well on my way when my cell phone started to ring.
There’s pretty much only one place that calls my cell phone, so I pulled over to answer.
Yup. It was home care.
There was a cancellation and they did have my mother’s med assists covered by someone else, but that someone else wouldn’t be able to get to my mother’s until 9:45pm for her bed time med assist. The scheduler was concerned that would be too late for her.
I felt she was right – and since I was on my way home from the city and would be driving through my mother’s town anyhow, I decided I would stop by. Home care isn’t allowed to do this, but I can get her meds out and set them up for her in advance. Her supper med assist would come as usual, but no one would have to come for the bed time assist.
That worked out and she was able to cancel the super late bed time assist. I then phoned my mother and – making sure she knew I was pulled over on the side of he road and couldn’t talk long – let her know I’d be stopping by soon. I also made sure she knew I had groceries in the truck and couldn’t stay long.
Yeah, I’m really looking forward to having a cover on the truck box again. I had the frozen stuff and all the cold meats in covered insulated bags in the truck box. Heavy enough I had no worried that they’d blow around or slide around, but it would have been very easy for someone walking by to just reach in and grab a bag or two, heavy as they might be.
When I got to my mother’s, I made sure to bring a bag along. After getting her meds ready and we were chatting, I went into her kitchen and started taking down the stockpile of Pepto my brother got for her, that made her so very angry, into the bag I’d brought. She asked what I was doing and I told her, I’m taking them because they are bothering her. She asked if I was taking them here to the farm, and I said yes. She then pointed out the obvious, that it made no difference if they were at her place or our place and I just said, they’re bothering her.
She started going into her spiel about how these are medicine, they don’t last, they need to be kept cool, etc. I looked at the expiry date and told her, these are good for more than two years (it’s actually a best before date, not an expiry date, but I wasn’t about to try and explain the difference to her). They don’t need to go into the fridge, because they’re a mineral. My daughter even has a piece in her collection. That got her curious, so I looked up pictures of bismuth – the only active ingredient listed in Pepto – to show her. They are such gorgeous stones, too. I think that sort of mollified her, but who knows for how long!
She did ask me to leave one bottle in her cupboard; they came packed in pairs, and my brother had one pair unwrapped, with the open one now in her fridge. I took the time to show her that the only difference between what my brother got for her and what I’d picked up for her from the pharmacy (after checking the labels to confirm) is that I had picked up extra strength, and the ones my brother got were regular strength. That gave me the opportunity to remind her to use the cup they come with to get the proper dose, instead of just using a teaspoon, like she usually does. I’m kinda hoping it sunk in, but it’s hard to say.
Then I headed home, with six bottles of Pepto, and my brother no longer has to worry that my mother will follow through with her immediate idea of selling the “extra”.
I just quickly looked it up. The twin packs of Pepto at Superstore, where my brother found some in stock, cost about $25 each, before taxes, and that’s a much better price that buying them in singles. My brother spent over $100 on Pepto for my mother, so she wouldn’t run out. I think, if she knew that, she probably would have gotten even angrier.
*sigh*
Anyhow, that’s our stock up shopping trip for the month. Anything else we need will be smaller trips throughout the month for fresh stuff. It’s a shame the garden had so little production this year, as there’s little to supplement, and nothing to freeze or can. Ah, well. As I finish clearing up the beds, I’ll be harvesting both winter sown and spring sown carrots. It should be interesting to compare!
I’m still holding out hope for at least a couple of winter squash before the cold kills them. My daughter and I headed out to cover them again for the night while I was still writing this. It’s not supposed to get as cold as last night, so we didn’t cover the summer squash, peppers or remaining eggplant this time. We’re actually supposed to warm up again, and even get pretty hot, over the next week, so there’s hope for those winter squash, still!
But I digress.
We didn’t get a whole lot on this trip, compared to a typical Costco trip, but I did find quite a lot of prices seemed to be better at Superstore. They also have more selection and variety.’
Plus, they have torpedo buns. 😄
I wonder if it’s worthwhile to try going to their Wholesale Club location. The last time I went there, the prices didn’t really seem to be any better in general, and some of their meat was looking… questionable… but they do have things there that aren’t in their regular stores. It would mean an extra trip to the city, though, and I just don’t like doing those like I used to! Plus, if we make them too often, the trips are no longer worth the cost of gas to do them.
I do have a trip to the city on Oct. 1, though. That’s my appointment at the sports injury clinic to possibly get an injection for my left hip. Then there’s another trip, the week after, as my daughter finally gets to see an endocrinologist. Ah, well.
I’m really hoping to be able to hibernate as much as possible this winter!
The Re-Farmer
Addendum: I completely forgot! You may have noticed that I got no beef at all on this trip. This is an example of why.
That’s three chunks of Oxtail. OXTAIL. At over $30/kg. They did have other packages that were less per kg, but they had no meat on them. This used to be among the cheapest of cuts. Even cheaper than stew meat or ground beef. Now, it’s right up there with steak. Crazy!
The Re-Farmer 