• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

One Vibrant Mama

  • Home
  • Blog
  • SHOP
    • Real Food Done-For-You Menus
    • Back to Basics
    • Real Food Storage
  • Recipe Index
  • New? Start Here!
    • What are Traditional Foods?
    • Article Index
    • Feeding Children
    • Snacks and Lunches
  • About
    • Meet KerryAnn
    • Contact KerryAnn
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Notice
    • Terms and Conditions
You are here: Home / Home Matters / Frugality / Black-Belt Tightwad: Salvages and Other Unconventional Food Sources

Black-Belt Tightwad: Salvages and Other Unconventional Food Sources

May 6, 2013 by KerryAnn Leave a Comment

Black-Belt Tightwad: Salvages and Other Unconventional Food Sources

My posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won't pay more but we will receive a small commission. That helps keep the blog up and the free recipes coming. Thanks! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

My posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won't pay more but we will receive a small commission. That helps keep the blog up and the free recipes coming. Thanks!

 

Last week’s post on Backwards Menu Planning generated a number of questions about the non-traditional grocery store locations for purchasing food that I mentioned. So this week, we’ll look at unconventional sources for food.

 

Salvages

I mentioned using a salvage last week.  A salvage is a discount grocery store that sells things with damaged packaging, close to being out of date or items where the store has purchased too much stock.  For example, I’ve been able to find 50 pound bags of sucanat for 69 cents a pound there- a massive savings.  Packages of Bob’s Red Mill GF Steel-cut Oats for $2.70 each, because the label was slightly damaged.  Quarts of plain, whole milk, grass-fed yogurt for $1.80-2.25.  Frozen, organic fruits and veggies for $0.90-1.80 a bag. Jars of organic sunnut butter for 99 cents apiece.

To locate a local salvage, you’ve got a few options.  There are a couple of online lists here and here.  Look in your local phone book under both ‘grocery stores,’ ‘discount grocery stores’ and ‘salvage.’  Locally, we have three discount chains- Dickie’s, Amazing Savings and Grocery Outlet.

It is very important when you go into a salvage that you know which expiration dates to pay attention to and which to ignore.  We’ll post on that next week.

It’s also important to know what to purchase organic and what is ok for conventional.  The Grocery Outlet doesn’t carry much in the way of organics, but I know that there are things I can purchase there at a major price cut without problem.  For example, they recently had cubed, conventional butternut squash what was frozen for 59 cents a pound.  I can’t get a whole butternut squash for that low, and most of the work has already been done for me!  I know that winter squash is 28 in the dirty dozen list, and because we don’t eat it often, I go ahead and purchase conventional since organic is over double the price of conventional here.

If you’d like a little help knowing what is safe to purchase conventional and what you should purchase organic, check out the dirty dozen list linked above as well as our Good, Better, Best series and our Friday Food Fights.  If you have specific foods you’re wondering about, please leave a comment and I’ll gladly research it and write a post on it.

It’s also important to know the prices in your area. I’ve seen items at the salvage that were priced too high compared to a health food store or the conventional grocery store.  Just because it’s there doesn’t guarantee it’s a good deal.  Be especially careful if it is an organic item that a salvage that doesn’t normally carry organics.  I’ve seen things for double the price, but I’ve also found some very good deals, such as large bags of frozen, American-grown, organic broccoli for 99 cents a bag.  We don’t eat frozen veggies as a rule, but they’re nice to have on hand for times where you run out of fresh and can’t run to the store.

Salvages don’t have consistent stock, as a general rule.  You need to know that in many cases, you might see something there only once a year, and other items might be available regularly.  Once they sell out, the deal is gone and will be replaced with something else.  Those 50-pound bags of sucanat I mentioned above I’ve only had happen twice. in the five-and-a-half years I’ve been visiting the salvage.  But some brand of natural yogurt is almost always available.

 

Your Turn

Where do you purchase groceries outside of the Farmer’s Market and local grocery stores?

 

Photo Credit

 

Related Posts

  • Opt Out: Black-Belt Tightwaddery
  • Black-Belt Tightwad: Backwards Menu Planning
  • Black-Belt Tightwad: Expiration Dates
  • Black-Best Tightwad: Price Book
  • Dump the Toxins: Homemade Dishwasher Rinse Aid

Filed Under: Frugality

I'm KerryAnn Foster, a crazy vibrant Jesus Freak with a heart full of hope. I'm not afraid to love on the least of these or get my hands dirty. This blog is my journey from ineffective, uptight, obese wallflower to a woman on fire for God and living the most vibrant, passionate life possible!

I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina with my husband, Jeff, and our two teens. I blog about self-confidence, health and home, homeschooling and living a vibrant, wide-open Jesus-centered lifestyle. I have over seventeen years of real food, natural lifestyle and health experience. We have homeschooled our children since birth and both Jeff and I run home-based businesses. We're crazy, we know it, and we love every second of it!

Read about my journey to health through celiac disease, PCOS, food allergies, obesity, adrenal fatigue and heavy metals.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Primary Sidebar

One Vibrant Mama Newsletter

Subscribe to the One Vibrant Mama Newsletter to get notifications of new blog posts and emails!

Follow Us on Social Media

Meet KerryAnn

I'm KerryAnn Foster, a crazy vibrant Jesus Freak with a heart full of hope. I'm not afraid to love on the least of these or get my hands dirty. This blog is my journey from ineffective, uptight, obese wallflower to a woman on fire for God and living the most vibrant, passionate life possible!

I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina with my husband, Jeff, and our two teens. I blog about self-confidence, health and home, homeschooling and living a vibrant, wide-open Jesus-centered lifestyle. I have over seventeen years of real food, natural lifestyle and health experience. We have homeschooled our children since birth and both Jeff and I run home-based businesses. We're crazy, we know it, and we love every second of it!

Read about my journey to health through celiac disease, PCOS, food allergies, obesity, adrenal fatigue and heavy metals.

Instagram did not return a 200.

Follow One Vibrant Mama on Instagram!

Recent Posts

  • Homeschool for College Credit
  • Homeschool Class Plans – The Ultimate Guide!
  • Homeschool a Distracted Child, No Matter Their Age!
  • How to Create a Homeschool Syllabus for Your High Schooler
  • Keeping A Homeschool Bullet Journal

Ads




Ads


Ads


Archive

Footer

Disclaimer

We make a good faith effort to keep up-to-date on the allergen content status of products. However, product formulations change frequently. Always check product labels for the most recent ingredient information and call the company if you have any questions as to the gluten content of a product.

Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products and/or information are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. Readers are advised to do their own research and make decisions in partnership with your health care provider. If you are pregnant, nursing, have a medical condition or are taking any medication, please consult your physician. Nothing you read here should be relied upon to determine dietary changes, a medical diagnosis or courses of treatment.

View Our Disclaimers, Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy for more information.

About

The information contained on Intentionally Domestic is meant for educational and informational purposes only. We are neither doctors nor dietitians. We do not dispense advice on curing or treating any health ailment or disease. Please consult your health care provider before following any information on this site.

  • Grain-Free
  • Gluten-Free
  • Casein-Free
  • Egg-Free
  • Nut-Free
  • Soy-Free

Copyright © 2023 · Wellness Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Got it! Maybe Later Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Subscribe to the One Vibrant Mama Newsletter

Introduce yourself and your program
Your information will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party.