Since I have moved to this Salty City in Utah, I have become something of a bargain shopper. I know that that particular statement would make my exiting husband, David, choke on his (insert politically correct organic cereal that promotes Peace and is doused no doubt with Rice Milk instead of dairy here) if he were reading this right now, but since he very rarely reads this blog unless someone else tells him that he should go read it, because oh my god she’s talking about you in a not so nice way and honestly can you believe she actually said that, she’s losing it, she’s bereft, she’s…well, he’s not reading it so I can probably safely assume that no one in the Santa Cruz area needs to call 911 and rush over to his house to keep David from choking on the cereal because his exiting wife has discovered how to be a bargain shopper.
I mean this in all sincerity. No, really, I do. In our days of marriage, those long and lovely days of marriage, David would have shared with you just how very much of a non-bargain shopper I was. How expertly I could purchase very expensive things. It was a particularly annoying sickness with me. Part of my mania. And he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. At all. I’d say things like, “I make $200 an hour and this, THIS, only cost $150, so I saved $50!” and he’d roll his eyes and stress out about the fact that I had just purchased a t-shirt worth $4.00 that said, “Shop Naked” for $150 and justified it because I had saved $50. David could share with you how we could walk into any store any where in the world and without even trying I could spy and choose the most expensive item in the entire place. As my absolute, I must have it now, NOW, I want it NOW, item. I made Veruca Salt look like an angel on most days. Oh, yes, I truly was an enfant terrible. And the thought of a bargain? Just preposterous. It made me break out in hives.
Is it any wonder that David decided he was done?
But there isn’t a David in my life anymore. Now, it’s just me. And now I don’t really have access to shops that sell $150 t-shirts that say “Shop Naked” since this is Utah and the idea of shopping naked is about as foreign as the idea of not slathering your French Fries in Some Dude’s Fry Sauce. Of course, I’m sure I could find those shirts on the vast and glorious Internet. But that’s just not the same for me. I like to shop local and support my local economy!
Utah is home to not only Deseret Industries (oh my, Goodwill, but do you have some competition there) but it is also home to a little place I call the National Cash Store. That is not its real name, but it is what I call it because the first time I went there I couldn’t figure out what it was called so I just named it that and have been calling it that ever since.
The National Cash Store is a repository for all kinds of things. Literally. Their inventory changes DAILY and you never quite know what you’re going to find there. Have you ever wondered where all that “stuff” ends up from places like Target and Walmart and Costco that just doesn’t actually sell? Well, it ends up at places like the National Cash Store. It’s become my new favorite shopping mecca. And boy is it saving me money.
Yesterday I went. Of course, I never know what I’m going to find and that’s part of the fun! So yesterday I got the following:
6 boxes of Zen Puppy dog treats for 33 cents each.
4 bottles of Santa Cruz Organics Lemonade for 50 cents each.
3 boxes of organic penne pasta for 44 cents each.
2 pounds of organic sugar for 44 cents each.
2 cans of bon ami cleanser for 67 cents each.
1 box of Reynolds wrap aluminum foil for 50 cents.
1 Soy Dream organic ice cream for $1.49
2 big cans of pumpkin for the dogs on diarrhea days for 33 cents each.
That’s it. For under $10 I got all that stuff. I’ve gotten 5 lbs of organic spinach there for 99 cents. Honestly, you just don’t know what you’re going to find. But the thing is, you’re going to find serious bargains. Those dog treats have been a godsend. Buddha and Stella can not have treats that have corn or wheat in them and the Zen Puppy treats are some of their favorites. They also have Newman’s Own Organic Dog Food there right now for just 99 cents!
I know that no matter what kind of salary we’re making, every one of us is struggling right now with increased gas prices to make our dollars go just a little bit further. A store like the National Cash Store really helps us to do that. I have no idea if you have a store like this where you live. I’m guessing there are more like them in bigger cities than in smaller ones. But it is definitely worth seeking out!
In other bargain news, I’m about to start brewing my own Kombucha. I’m tired of paying nearly $3 a bottle for that stuff. All that money I’m saving at the National Cash Store, I’m just turning around and handing to the folks at Whole Paycheck for that very addictive elixir in the glass bottles. I drink it every single day.
It smells like vinegar and doesn’t taste much better and is probably another reason that David said he was done. No, honestly, it probably is. He told me I often smelled like the remnants of a frat house after a very wild party only without the excellent sex. Just with the stale beer sloshed on the floor from all the people who missed their mouths during Beer Pong.
Lovely, huh?
Still, I continue to drink it. Like it’s the best and most delicious juice ever created on the planet. So I’m going to brew my own. Because it just seems a tad ridiculous that a woman whose all about the bargains is still paying $3 a bottle every single day for some stale beer.
