Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/673060
Wanttokeepyourfood costs low during these times of rising costs? Stick to these rules: Set a budget and never pay full price. I know you hate the word bud- get. So do I. And we need to get over it. All it means is that we decide ahead of time how much we will spend on food for the week (or month), and we stick to it. And when that amount runs out, we stop buying. The second rule means you must stop buying any- thing that is not on sale. Items have to really be on sale, not just on a "spe- cial" that may not be on sale at all. If you are care- ful to do this, you will eas- ily bring your food costs down to what they were a decade ago. And you'll eat well, too. Following the first rule is easy. Do it now. Deter- mine how much you will spend to feed you and your family per week. Now, take the amount you are allotting for gro- ceries (as opposed to fast food, restaurants, school lunches and so on) and place that amount in cash in an envelope marked "groceries." When it's gone, it's gone until next month. The second rule is go- ing to take some work. Find out what's on sale in your supermarket(s) be- fore you go so you can make a list beforehand. And don't worry. If you shop at a typical U.S. su- permarket, there will be great sales in every cate- gory you can think of, in- cluding healthy choices in the produce, dairy and meat aisles. You can collect the weekly print ads for your store(s) of choice and use them as your guide. Or visit any number of web- sites that will have this kind of information or- ganized and categorized for you like SavingsAngel (membership fee required) and GrocerySmarts.com (free access). But don't as- sume these sites are flaw- less. They often miss im- portant unadvertised sales and don't always post all of the grocery store chain sales either. Consider this information a general guide to what's on sale. That's it: Just two rules to follow. Before you have time to object to the idea of cheap and healthy food in the same sentence, here's a sample of what's on sale in my supermarket right now: Foster Farms split chicken breasts, 88 cents per pound (50 per- cent off the regular price of $1.69), fresh blueber- ries at $1.50 for 6 ounces (70 percent off the reg- ular price of $4.99) and Hass avocados selling for 77 cents each (62 percent off the regular price of $1.99 each). And that's just a tiny start. I'll be you can guess what's going in my freezer this week. At that price for chicken, I plan to stock up. I'm sad to tell you that after 16 years, my beloved resource, The Grocery Game website, has shut down. It was quite possi- bly the most reliable re- source for matching cou- pons with grocery sales in all of the major super- markets — including un- advertised sales. TGG has been my personal grocery- shopping companion for all of these years. I wish the founder and owner, Teri Gault, the very best. But it's hard to keep good people down, so I'm anx- ious to see what her future holds. In the meantime, I look forward to all your feed- back on resources and sites you are using to su- percharge your grocery savings. I'd also love re- views for those of you who decide to test SavingsAn- gel. I'm quite curious to see how that site compares with TGG. Would you like to send a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE The secret of cheap and healthy meals The Drug Enforcement Administration's nation- wide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Satur- day, April 30 and three lo- cal repository sites will be participating. Drugs may be turned in at the Red Bluff Community Center, 1500 S. Jackson St.; Tehama County Sheriff's Of- fice, 22840 Antelope Blvd. and the Corning Police De- partment, 774 Third St. Dispose of expired, un- wanted or unused prescrip- tion drugs and other medi- cations free of charge. The program is anonymous and no identification is required nor will it be asked for. Prescription and over the counter solid dosage medications — i.e., tablets and capsules — will be ac- cepted. Liquid products, such as cough syrup, should remain sealed in their orig- inal containers. Intra-venous solutions, injectables, needles and illicit substances such as marijuana or methamphet- amine are not part of this initiative and will not be ac- cepted. For needle disposal sites information, call 528- 1103. The DEA is coordinating with state and local law en- forcement agencies nation- wide to remove potentially dangerous controlled sub- stances from medicine cab- inets. Corning Police De- partment, Red Bluff Police Department, The Tehama County Sheriff Office, Te- hama County Health Ser- vices Agency and T.C. Solid Waste Management Agency are partnering in this ef- fort. The National Take-Back Initiative Day provides an opportunity for the public to dispose of drugs that are a potential source of supply for illegal use and pose an unacceptable risk to public health and safety. For questions regarding this program contact, call the Red Bluff Police De- partment at 527-8282 or the Corning Police Department at 824-7015. PUBLIC SAFETY Drug take-back day set Mary Hunt Buying a home this spring? If so, watch out for this cunning new con. A recent alert from the Federal Trade Commis- sion warns that scammers are hacking into email ac- counts and instructing homebuyers to wire clos- ing costs straight into their pockets. Howthescamworks: You are buying a home, and everything is ready for your closing. Then, your real estate agent or title company emails with new instructions. Instead of bringing a check to your closing, you need to wire your closing costs to a bank account. Don't do it! You'll be wiring thousands of dollars into a scam ac- count. Hackers have been breaking into the email accounts of real es- tate professionals. They search for information about upcoming trans- actions. After figuring out the closing date, the hacker sends an email to the buyer, posing as the agent or title company. Never accept a change to an agreed transac- tion based on an email. If someone tells you to devi- ate from a previous plan, especially one that involves thousands of dollars, check it out before you send a dime. Call your agent or ti- tle company and make sure the new directions are le- gitimate. Tips to spot a phishing scam: • Be wary of unex- pected emails that con- tain links or attach- ments. Do not click on links or open files in un- familiar emails. • Consider how the company normally con- tacts you. If a company usually contacts you by phone, be suspicious if you suddenly start receiv- ing emails or text mes- sages without ever opting into the new communica- tions. • Don't believe what you see. Just because an email looks real, doesn't mean it is. Scammers can fake anything, from a company logo to the "Sent" email ad- dress. • If something seems suspicious, check the com- pany's website or call them. Err on the side of caution and confirm before taking any action. DON'T click on any links or call a number in a message you suspect is a scam. If you want to look on the com- pany's website, look for the URL on your statement or do a web search. • Email is not a secure way to send financial in- formation. Your real es- tate professional or title company will know that. They will not send nor ask you to provide banking in- formation via email. SCAM ALERT Homebuyers tricked into wiring closing costs Wells Fargo has recently provided a grant to sup- port small- to medium- sized businesses in Te- hama County in partner- ship with 3CORE Inc. and the Tehama County Job Training Center. This grant was funded out of the Wells Fargo Ru- ral Investment for Sus- tainable Economies pro- gram. Rural-focused orga- nizations were selected in California, Oregon, Wash- ington and Alaska with the stipulation that 75 percent or more of the grant must benefit programs directly serving rural communi- ties. Grantees were selected for their support of work- force development pro- grams benefiting residents of urban and rural commu- nities. The grant funding is to provide a two-part work- shop series including Craft It, Tell It, Live It — How Successful Market- ing Can Help Your Busi- ness Thrive, set for May 5 at Rolling Hills Casino in Corning and Small Busi- ness Boot Camp — Gain Confidence in Making Fi- nancial Decisions for your Business Today, scheduled for May 24 at the Depart- ment of Education in Red Bluff. "This is a great oppor- tunity to gain practical knowledge by some fantas- tic presenters," said Kathy Sarmiento, Job Train- ing Center CEO. "Tehama County businesses can en- joy great training in their own backyard." Additional services pro- vided by the grant will in- clude direct technical as- sistance to growing Te- hama County businesses in the manufacturing, health care and social assistance industry sectors. The goal is to provide targeted tech- nical assistance to increase profitability, customer and client base and job cre- ation. 3CORE is a private non- profit tax exempt organi- zation formed in 1985. Its purpose is to help grow- ing, healthy small busi- nesses access capital, provide business mentor- ing to micro-enterprises and work with communi- ties who have identified specific social, economic or employment needs in their area. The Job Training Center is a private, nonprofit orga- nization whose mission is to provide unlimited em- ployment opportunities to job seekers and to facil- itate hiring, training and human resource assistance to local businesses. For more information, call Courtney Farrell at 893-8732, ext. 211 or write to cfarrell@3coreedc.org or Kathy Garcia at the Job Training Center at 529- 7000, ext. 121 or write to kgarcia@jobtrainingcen- ter.org. TRAINING Grant supports Tehama County businesses COURTESYPHOTO StudentsintheRedBluffHighSchoolAgDepartmentwillbeholdingtheirannualMother'sDayFFAPlant Sale from 3:30-5:30 p.m. May 2, 3 and 4 at the Red Bluff High School Green House. Varieties include petunias, marigolds, begonia, Gerbera Daisy, Dusty Miller and more. Veggies also available are carrots, tomatoes, basil, pumpkins and more. FUNDRAISER PLANTS FOR MOMS EVICTIONS Fast, Efficient & Affordable 530.527.2104 756 Rio St, Red Bluff www.atwellpropartners.com (530) 529-1220 100 Jackson St. Red Bluff UnlimitedTanning $ 25 .00 only April Tanning Special! 734MainStreet 530-690-2477 11am-9pm Mon.-Thur. 11am - 10pm Fri. & Sat. 11am-8pm Sun. 9 CRAFT BEERS ON TAP Pizza Restaurant RUNNINGS ROOFING and CONSTRUCTION SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 No Money Down! "NoJobTooSteep" " No Job Too Flat" FREE ESTIMATES CA.Lic#829089B&C39 ARetirementCommunity 750 David Avenue Red Bluff, CA. 96080 (530) 527-9193 www.tehamaestatesretirement.com Tours Provided Daily TUSCAN POOL SUPPLY 40 Chestnut Ave • 527-3262 CLS 944446 EarlyBirdSpringSpecial 50#3"ChlorineTabs 2008 prices $110 .00 price good thru 4/30 STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! GreenMountainGrills & Accessories Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate Shop Equipped With 4SmogMachines For Fast Service No appointment Needed LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, April 29, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B3