Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/698718
Buyproducefromthat store where nothing costs more than a dollar? I flinched at the thought. I probably came across as a snob when I asked my friend if it's safe to do so. I mean, where would food that cheap come from? But she pushed, so I agreed to tag along, but only as a spec- tator. Oh, the bargains I found there. I picked up beauti- ful, top-quality produce items: lettuce, scallions, a seriously large bag of gin- ger root, 5 pounds of rus- set potatoes and six heads of gourmet garlic. Five items, just 99 cents each, for a total of $4.94. The same items would have cost $11.88 at the super- market. My skepticism evaporated quickly. I be- came a dollar-store con- vert and regular shopper. My methods of cutting the cost of produce is a drop in the bucket com- pared to those people I consider extreme grocery shoppers. Just keep this in mind: Not every method works for every person. Discover what works for you, and then hone that method as sharp as a ra- zor's edge. Soon, you'll be bagging bargains and bringing your food costs down immensely. Here are some methods of extreme grocery shoppers. ONLY BUYING ON SALE. Every supermar- ket has weekly sales. Some extreme shoppers do just this one thing: They shop at one large supermarket, buying only what's on sale and stocking up on extras of the sale items they use frequently. No coupons, no fancy lists. These shoppers let the sale rotations to dic- tate their purchases. Us- ing this method, they often rack up consistent savings of 50 percent or more. SHOP AT MULTIPLE VENUES. One multiple- venue shopper I know is a stay-at-home mom who shops for six hungry peo- ple in Torrance, Califor- nia. She goes to four stores — a local produce market, Target (for nonperishable items), a supermarket (to pick up the week's deeply discounted specials) and Trader Joe's — an assort- ment of chain stores that cannot be beat on their everyday low prices for healthy basics. STRATEGIC COOKING. Extreme grocery shop- pers cook at home most of the time. If you don't know how to cook, it's time to learn. With this method, you'll buy fewer fro- zen meals and other pre- prepped meals. Eating food you prepare at home is in- finitely cheaper than eat- ing out. Plus, if you make eating out a rare event, you will enjoy it more. DIRT-CHEAP MANEU- VERS. Get serious about growing a vegetable garden or herb garden. If you don't have room for a garden, a kitchen window, patio, bal- cony or basement window may provide enough space and light for an indoor pot- ted garden. Chives, basil, garlic and parsley are so expensive when you buy them fresh in the produce department, but they're a cinch to grow. Once you're accomplished as a begin- ner gardener, you'll move on quickly to growing to- matoes, squash, lettuce and all kinds of healthy produce! EXREME COUPON- ING. Many extreme shop- pers are serious coupon- ers. They get the best bang for their buck by match- ing a cents-off coupon with items on sale. Do this at a store that doubles the coupon (42 states allow this), and we're talking about an extreme bargain. One person I know has a monthly method for cou- poning: She takes the cou- pon inserts out of the Sun- day paper and holds on to them for four weeks. Af- ter a month has passed, she takes them out and invariably notices that many coupon items are now on sale at the store. She matches her coupons with the sales. It's sim- ple; there's no coupon clip- ping, filing or fuss. It's al- most uncanny how sales follow coupon releases by four weeks. CASH ONLY. Only take cash to the grocery store — no plastic, no checkbook — so you don't have to jug- gle balancing your check- book. There's something to be said for grocery shop- ping with cash. If you don't have the cash, you can't buy the item. And when you're faced a week of slim finances, train yourself to adopt a "Survi- vor" mentality. What you have in the house is all you have to live on until you get off the island. Wouldyouliketosend 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 Secrets of super-savvy grocery shoppers The William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park and Ide Adobe Interpretive Associa- tion will offer free living his- tory activities from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every other Friday beginning on July 8, and continuing throughSept.23. The pioneer activities will be held in the historic homestead at William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park on Adobe Road in Red Bluff. Association docents and state park staff will present a variety of activities repre- senting pioneer life in the 1850s. Activities will vary from week to week, but Fun Living History Fridays may include cast iron cooking, a quilting bee, wood working and pioneer games. Michelle Weigel, an as- sociation member, will be presenting activities with her children. She says espe- cially enjoys bringing pio- neer history to life because, "my children learn so much about history, themselves andtheworldaroundthem." All ages are welcome, and these events are free. The parking fee for the park is $6 per vehicle. Members especially en- courage home schoolers and anyone interested in experiencing pioneer liv- ing to participate. For more information, call the park at 529-8599. IDE ADOBE LivinghistorytobefeaturedFridays The Community Action Agency has provided the Sacramento River Discov- ery Center with funds to al- low 10 students ages 6-12 to attend a week of camp at no charge. Students must be able to attend all five days of the camps and be pres- ent from 8 a.m. until noon each day. Preference will be given to those families who qualify for free or re- duced priced breakfast and lunch during the school year. This should be noted on the application. Area residents and or- ganizations as well as the Wulkan Foundation have provided additional schol- arship funds for those fam- ilies that do not qualify for the CAA funds. The cen- ter has never turned away a student due to family fi- nancial issues. Applications are avail- able on line at sacramen- toriverdiscoverycenter. com, the center, the De- partment of Education on Lincoln Street and the Red Bluff Library. The library also has a special section of books that campers can read about the camp topics both before, during or after the camp sessions. The center will start week two of the camps program Monday at the Mendocino National For- est's Red Bluff Recreation Area. This week's camp is titled "Get Lost." The ac- tivities will include Mental Maps; 3D Star Map; find- ing a Geocache; Compass & GPS skills and how to navi- gate on the river. There are still four more weeks of the camps program that meets from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday at the Cen- ter, 1000 Sale Lane in Red Bluff. Week three of camp will have students learning about water and the soggy scientists that discover it. Campers will make card- board boats to sail on wa- ter; search for aquatic in- vertebrates; create a canal system and in general have an excuse to "Get Wet." This camp is sponsored by the Rolling Hills Commu- nity Development Founda- tion. Week four begins on July 11 and will have the camp- ers digging for treasure, panning for gold, building an oil well and pipeline and mining a simulated comet. This camp is "Get Rich" camp week. Week five is being spon- sored by Union Pacific Rail- road and is appropriately called "Get Going." Trans- portation will be explored about how things and peo- ple get moved from one lo- cation to another; campers will have a chance to build a solar car, build a bridge out of toothpicks and learn about designing a hyper- loop network. This camp begins on July 18. The last camp is spon- sored by Union Pacific Foundation and will have the campers exploring ways to "Get Moving." This camp will feature a real va- riety of activities including building kinetic sculptures, learning how to paddle a kayak, learning some basic bike repair techniques and exploring some of the hik- ing trails in the 488 acres of the Recreation Area. For additional infor- mation, write to Zach Whitten, camp direc- tor, at teacherwhitten@ gmail.com, call the cen- ter at 527-1196 or write to bhughessrdc@gmail.com. Applications can be mailed to 1000 Sale Lane, Red Bluff, CA 96080 or brought to the center in person. It is asked that each application include a $10 good faith registration fee to secure a place on the camp roster. Regular weekly camper fee is $75 per camper per week or $60 per camper per week for those fami- lies that are Friend mem- bers of the center. The camps are limited to 30 campers per week so early enrollment is sug- gested. COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY Scholarships offered for Discovery Center camps TaraLoucks- Shepherd of CAA presents SRDC Summer Day Camps Director Zach Whitten, with a check to enable 10 youth ages six to twelve to attend a week of camp for no cost. The campers were making sand paintings during "Get Dirty!" camp. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Mary Hunt 9 locations throughout California & Oregon 525 Antelope Blvd, Red Bluff (530) 527-5272 Mon.–Fri.8am-5pm Saturday by appointment Locally owned & operated ESCAPE WITH GREAT SAVINGS. *See redemption form for complete offer details. Offer expires 07/17/2016. Void where prohibited. The Reward Card expires six (6) months after issuance. No cash access. Fees apply. Reward Card issued by U.S. Bank National Association pursuant to a license from MasterCard International Incorporated. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated. Copyright © 2016 Michelin North America, Inc. All rights reserved. MasterCard ® Reward Card after submission* with purchase of four new MICHELIN ® passenger or light truck tires. 70 OFFER VALID JUNE 22 - JULY 17, 2016. GET A $ GET READY TO TURN SOME HEADS WITH THE MICHELIN ® PILOT ® FAMILY. Round Up Saloon Round Up Saloon 610WashingtonSt. Red Bluff Supporting Farmers Market with live music on Wednesdaynites call for dates (530) 527-9901 25yearsprofessional experience. QualityWork Very Reasonable Rates Red Bluff Transmission • Automatic • Manual • Computer Diagnosis • Clutches • Transfer Cases • CV Axles CALL TODAY! 529-4493 440 Antelope Blvd. #6 Bob's Youcantmissus... Weonly moved 50 feet!! (530) 529-1220 100 Jackson St. Red Bluff UnlimitedTanning $ 25 .00 only JULY Tanning Special! RUNNINGS ROOFING and CONSTRUCTION SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 NoMoney 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 SUNGLASSES www.gummsoptical.com (530) 527-2510 1-800-481-LENS (5367) 910MainSt.,SuiteC, Red Bluff 365-7194 or 365-4322 OPEN 7 DAYS 6am-10pm 8080 AIRPORT ROAD Your full service: Meat Department, Deli & Groceries www.kentsmeats.com On-site HARVESTING CUTTING & CRYOVACING LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, June 30, 2016 » MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6