Buying discounted food - do you?

[razz]

My large grocery store has a new policy of using a special app that lets you buy food at 50%off with a fairly close "best before" date. I usually got 30% off - lemons marked down for making my lemon curd, favourite breads or cheese that I freeze upon purchase.

This app lets you buy the same type of items at 50% off prepaid before pick up. Each day has a different selection with some repeats, of course, of baked goods. I tried a strips of roasted turkey which was very good saving 2/3 of it and freezing for later meals.

When I asked for assistance in using the app, the customer manager explained that the store is trying to clear quality items before the "best before" because too many were being discarded on that date. I know this store quite well and the quality is very good generally so am comfortable trying this app to sample different items at the reduced price.

Do you buy discounted foods? What criteria do you use to decide?

[JaneV2.0]

Grocery Outlet is where I shop first. I generally save about 40%. They take returns without question, have an assortment of organic foods, and a good--if ever-changing--selection. If WinCo were closer, and if we had an Aldi's, I'd shop there, too.

[Yppej]

Yes. I look for signs of spoilage.

[Rogar]

Not usually. Back in my carnivore days I had a couple of bad experiences with meat that was marked down. But there was a store that would have "manager's specials" on some really fine cheeses that had minor issues, mostly cosmetic. Sometimes there are mostly packaged foods on a markdown shelf that are just discontinued but well within any shelf life. I always check that out, but fresh produce or bakery goods that are marked down are probably not really fresh and I avoid them.

[Teacher Terry]

The only time I bought marked down chicken it was bad hours within buying it and had to be thrown away.

[JaneV2.0]

I buy grass fed ground beef at GO all the time; it usually goes right into the freezer. I buy most of my vegetables there, and the only time they go bad is when I forget I bought them. I buy discounted meats at Kroger--their prices are generally higher than anywhere else, so I avoid their regularly-priced items. I can't say enough good things about my local Grocery Outlet.

[Float On]

I'm scared to buy expired. I know in my mind it's probably fine but just can't do it. Don't buy seasoned meat in the deli for that very reason. Heard that it goes to expire date then gets seasoned and put back out.

[razz]

No food in this program has expired. It is all with a time before expiry of 10 days to a month. I picked up a quiche and tried it today. I have bought prepared meals so rarely that I was surprised at how good it tasted. along with a large fresh homemade salad. I now have the option of trying some of these foods at a significant discount. All in the interest of scientific research, of course.

[sweetana3]

I found our favorite Kroger (a smallish one in an older area) has great sales like this all the time. You just need to know where in the store they are located. I found the produce, bakery, meat, frozen and other items clearance areas. Get great deals. Our Meijer store has them less often but produce is marked down 40% to get the close to date product off the shelves. They recently marked some yoghurt 4% off and I was able to convince the stocking clerk he could not possibly mean to use 4% so he discounted it over 40% right then and there.

[NewGig]

Our co-op has a markdown storefront. The meats are all frozen, so I'm comfortable buying those. I buy 1 steak and 1 piece of pork from there and freeze them. Ground beef I buy from a neighbor or at a local "green" market. When beef got to be $5 a lb or so for decent stuff, I pretty much stopped buying it. We got what I swear was pink slime once at a supermarket too, that cured me of supermarket beef!

Chicken I get bulk from the co-op, $2.50/lb, can't beat the price anywhere else, for no antibiotics, etc. too! That's not from the markdown store, that's the regular co-op bulk price for skin on, bone in chicken thighs.

Our CSA has seconds and overruns every week and every week I take advantage of it.

So, I'd say yes, I'm comfortable buying "lates," "bruised," and "seconds.". Because any hunk of beef or pork I get is from a "salvage" sale and the veggies I get every week while the CSA runs.

We live in the country and I don't as a rule shop for perishables at a supermarket. A few years back, the prices kept going up at the local market and the quality kept going down. I started looking for better food, for at least the same price. I found I could get cheaper and better food from alternative sources. Sometimes, it's more, but mostly it isn't. It takes more work on my part. It takes more driving. It takes more planning.

I think it's worth it. We eat better than we used to!