Archive for May, 2008
Check Out GroceryGuide.com
May 30th, 2008 | 
Author: Okay, this is another one of those posts totally unrelated to writing and editing. =) Money Saving Mom (who, by the way, has a new blog home at Typepad) mentioned a site on her blog today that sounded interesting – GroceryGuide.com.
GroceryGuide will show you all of the products on sale at your grocery store. And it will also match up the coupons for you (I haven’t been able to get this feature to work).
They rate the sale price from 1 star (okay sale price) to 5 stars (awesome sale price).
When you click on the “details” for a sale item, a couple of interesting features pop-up. First, there’s basic recipes using the sale item – how cool is that? And, my favorite feature, is a price history chart based on 19 years of tracking and trends. Then there’s also options to review the sale item.
Going back to the price history charts…One thing that I am having a hard time being convinced of is that food prices have risen as dramatically as the media claims. A local online newspaper claims that our local food prices have risen 35%. Huh? Not in my opinion.
Some items, like fresh corn on the cob ($4 or more per dozen), have definitely increased but that was last year’s price and it’s the same this year. Overall, the large majority of items just don’t seem to be skyrocketing like the media claims. In fact, I think the sale prices have gotten cheaper!!!
According to the price history charts, a lot of the items on sale this week in West Virginia at Krogers are cheaper or on the downfall. In fact, 2006 seemed a lot more expensive than now. For example, tomatoes in early 2006 averaged $1.19/lb. The price dropped off to 75 cents/lb. in Jan. 2007, rose to $1/lb., dropped off again to 75 cents/lb., and is now back to $1/lb. The slight spike seems to be somewhat seasonal (late winter/spring presumably in anticipation of fresh harvests). Even with the spikes, the current prices have not gone past the high prices in 2006! The same pattern holds true for most grocery products.
Again, I found the site fascinating and will probably use it as a reference when I plan my shopping lists. Check out GroceryGuide.com when you have a few minutes.
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Don’t Judge a Book by the Cover
So we’ve all heard the saying “Don’t judge a book by the cover.” How often do we follow that? I sometimes tend to choose a book based on its cover photo and/or design as well as the copy on the back cover.
Mike at Novel Journey has an interesting post on “10 Standout Christian Fiction Book Covers.” I think I like about half of his choices and might pick up two or three to read based on the cover.
After looking at Mike’s top 10 choices, I recognized a pattern but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then I realized that the selector was a guy!
His choices tended to be male-oriented – dark, seafaring, mysterious, masculine, and lots of red. Not sure what I mean? Compare the covers to two mentioned in the “notable” category – Deeanne Gist’s and Tracey Bateman’s.
Personally my top 10 choices probably would’ve reflected the fact that I’m a female. Gist’s and Bateman’s would more than likely make my top 10 list. If they didn’t, I’m sure my choices would be reflective of those styles.
So all of this has made me wonder what it is about a cover that makes us like it.
You see, I design book covers as part of my “real life” job. (I actually design a lot of things – inside book pages, business cards, advertisements, newsletters, brochures and tons more.) Book covers are perhaps one of my favorite things to design simply because the words inside the book come to life on the cover.
Naturally, I’m curious about what is that makes us like or dislike a cover. Do you have a cover preference? What are things you like or dislike about covers? Do certain colors, art styles (illustration vs photograph), fonts and other elements draw you to a cover or turn you off?
As a bonus question, does anything about the Morrisey cover (In High Places) bother anyone? Hint: Think perspective.
What We’ve Spent at CVS and Krogers
Here’s what we purchased this week: (None of these items were necessities, but the products (minus the candy) are all things that we use. With rising prices, I want to get them while they’re cheap!)
1 ClearCare twin pack contact solution (14.99); 1 Skintimate Shave Gel 7 oz (1.88, used as filler); 1 Aquafresh toothpaste (2.99); 4 Diet Coke 12 packs (3.00 each); 1 Venus Embrace razor (9.99); 1 Snickers King Size (88 cents, filler).
I started out with no ECBs, so I purchased the Diet Coke and toothpaste first using a $3 off $15 coupon. That transaction generated $5.99 in ECBs. Next I purchased the ClearCare using another $3/15 coupon and the $5.99 ECBs. The ClearCare generated $3 ECBs which I used along with another $3/15 to purchase the razor, shaving gel, and candy bar. There were also some miscellaneous coupons thrown in there.
All total I spent roughly $18 out of pocket and saved $35.47 using coupons and ECBs – not bad for starting with no ECBs. I have $3 to use next time.
So, is CVS really worth the effort? Here’s a tally of how we’ve done so far this year (excluding the above trip).
From January to mid-May, we purchased 106 items at CVS. (Note: We began CVS-ing in late November but became serious about it in late December. So, the number of items is representative of our initial stocking up on toiletries etc.)
January – May 2008
Out-of-pocket (actual cash handed to the cashier): $105.63
Number of items: 106
Avg. cost per item: $1
Amount saved (total of coupons and only ECBs used*): $326.55
Total value of purchased items: $432.18
Percent saved: 75%
*For the amount saved, I only count my ECBs when I use them. Some count their ECBs when earned and again when used. To me, that isn’t a true reflection of the savings.
I honestly don’t think it is possible to beat CVS. I know I can’t purchase our everyday toiletries for $1 at Wal-Mart on a regular basis. It just doesn’t happen.
In addition to the monetary value of CVS, there’s also a time factor that has to be figured in. On average, I spend 15-20 minutes cutting and organizing coupons (depends on how many coupons, which in W.Va. tends to be very few at times). If I know for sure in advance that I’ll be going to CVS, I spend about 30-45 minutes planning my CVS and Kroger trips. Otherwise I usually “wing it” and plan my trip while hubby is driving. Total that time and you have about an hour spent couponing and planning.
Another factor is gas and travel time. We live a fair distance (35-40 miles) from CVS and Kroger so it costs about $10 in gas for each trip. However, we don’t get up in the morning and say, “Let’s go to CVS today.” Our trips to CVS and Kroger are always planned in conjunction with other stops in that general direction. In fact, I can’t remember the last time we went out just to go grocery shopping or to CVS. It just doesn’t happen because we don’t feel that it is wise use of our gas or our time.
Update 12/08 – After playing the CVS game fairly regularly from Dec 07-March 08 and then sporadically from April 08-May 08, we were well-stocked and had no need of buying toiletries. Now in Dec 08 our stock is dwindling and I know we need to start visiting CVS again. Just within the past two weeks I had to purchase my Clear Care contact solution and a bottle of hairspray. I opened the last toothpaste yesterday too.
Why am I sharing this? Some people say it takes too much time or CVS is too hard to figure out. But look at what 4 months of my time translated to – 8 months of not having to worry about toiletries. And I still have plenty of deodorant, body wash / soap, other hair care products and razors for a couple of more months. Don’t forget that the 4 months of my time translated into $1 / item too. $1 that lasted a long time, in my opinion!
Here’s a quick recap of our Kroger savings:
January-May 2008 (20 weeks)
Out-of-pocket: $298.17
Number of items: 224
Avg. cost per item: $1.33
Amount saved (using sale items and coupons): $229.72
Total value of purchased items: $527.89
Percent saved: 44%
Cost per week: $14.91
Again, these amounts are reflective of “stocking up” on items. We don’t purchase a lot of meat (we live on a farm that provides most of our beef, pork, milk, eggs and venison) but I have been known to purchase meat (like spare ribs) when it’s a good price ($1/lb or less).
We also don’t shop exclusively at Krogers. If I added in what we’ve spent at Foodland so far this year, I think our food cost per week would be about $18 for two of us.
If you are interested in gardening, whether flower or vegetable, jump over to my other blog, Garden Vines.
Book Giveaway at Chapter-a-Week
Have you heard about the great book giveaway that Chapter-a-Week is sponsoring? Here’s the information from an e-mail…
We had such a great response to our last book giveaway that we’ve decided to make it a regular event! So we are giving away a ten-pound box of autographed Chapter-a-Week books to one Chapter-a-Week member for summer reading fun. Simply send an email with “Chapter-a-Week Summer Reading Giveaway” in the subject line to cawcontest@gmail.com and you’ll be entered in the drawing. The deadline for signing up is June 6 and the winner will be announced June 13. Get your entries in and be sure to tell your friends to sign up for Chapter-a-Week. To qualify, the return email address must be on the Chapter-a-Week membership list. Continental U.S. residents only, please.
So, if you haven’t signed up for Chapter-a-Week already, go do it and register to win a box of books. When you sign up for Chapter-a-Week, you’ll get an email each week that contains the first chapter of a novel. I enjoy reading the first chapters and have been exposed to a lot of different authors and ideas. A lot of times I add the Chapter-a-Week book to my reading list (and discover that my local library doesn’t have the book. Sigh.).
Interesting Posts to Read Today
First up is Novel Journey’s “Creating Character by Jane Kirkpatrick.” I found this post more interesting to read than most on Novel Journey. Jane also recommends a few books that sound like they might be worth reading too.
Rachelle Gardner addresses the question of “Are You a Writer?” Her main point is that sometimes as writers we have to write things we don’t think we can (things that are necessary for an author to write like a hook, synopsis, proposal etc.). Take a minute to read her post, and if you aren’t already subscribed to her site, I definitely recommend it.
Mike Hyatt at Thomas Nelson reports on an interesting sales report for the book industry. I’ve read elsewhere on the web that book sales are supposed to be down because of the recession. In fact, the recession could render the book industry obsolete. Huh? Apparently, as Mike Hyatt says, that memo didn’t get out there to all of the publishers. And I see failed logic in the recession ending the book industry. If I began spending more time at home because of high gas prices, I would need something to fill my time with…hmmm…what about a book? =)
And finally, Colleen Coble at Girls Write Out debunks a new myth in the publishing industry.