Saving money on groceries the old fashioned way

Last week J and I "discovered" an awesome way to save money.  It isn't actually a new concept, it's old!  Way back in the day, before supermarkets, when dinosaurs roamed the earth... Ok, just kidding, but still, before my time.  Anyway, before "one stop shopping" people used to go to bakeries for their bread, butchers for their meat, etc.  Then we all got so busy that despite all our new fangled time saving devices, we didn't have time to be going to all these different places for our groceries, and so the supermarket was born. (that's a quick and dirty version of the history, but you get the jist).

The bakery that makes my favorite bread and English muffins is a Northwest bakery, and actually has bakery outlets all over Washington and Oregon.  I don't know what took me so long to discover this!  We went to the bakery outlet - which was a little hard to find - but it was totally worth it!  We got 3 loaves of bread and two packages of English muffins for a little over $5.00.  We would have paid $11.50 for these times if we got them on sale at the grocery store!  We will definitely be buying our bread items here from now on.  Search "bakery outlets" in your area to see if there is one located near you.

Our next stop was a small meat market where J likes to get beef jerky.  He had never really noticed before, but they have very good prices on meats, and a huge selection of unusual choices.  J and I prefer ground bison to ground beef, both for the taste and the nutritional benefits.  However, we have a hard time finding it for under $5.99/lb (on sale).  Ground Bison was only $3.49/lb!  They also had so many different choices that you would never find at your regular grocery store, like alligator, rabbit, and frog legs!  Hmm, I don't think we will be trying those any time soon, though.

Another benefit of shopping at these types of places is that you are supporting your local economy, instead of giving your money to a large mass market retailer.  I strongly feel that couponing is beneficial for everyone, because it stimulates the economy, and we all get great deals.  Similarly, finding awesome bargains at local businesses benefits you and your local economy.  Win/win!