Once upon a child

This store is a gold mine!They have lots of specials from time to time and you can sell your gently used things and either get paid or have store credit! Anyway I scored big this week with their buy 5 books get 5 free! It was great way to increase our library! Go check it out!

Abundance Co-op

I can't believe I didn't know about the Abundance Co-op until a few weeks ago, especially since it's the closest grocery store to my house (located on Marshall Street, a stone's throw from the Museum of Play).

Abundance Co-op is a "natural products retail grocer" that has organic produce, bulk food and spice bins, and even an organic deli. Organic food stores are usually more (sometimes a lot more) expensive than, say, Price Rite, and Abundance Co-op isn't an exception to this, but they do have some great deals as advertised in their monthly flier.

One of their continuous deals is natural/organic "mystery butter" for 1.99/lb in the bulk foods section--depending on the day you stop by, it could be almond butter, peanut butter, or cashew butter (I'm not sure why they call it mystery butter since you can lift up the bucket and check what it is before you buy it). They also have all-natural honey (no runny bear stuff for them!) for 2.99/lb. Today I bought some steel-cut oats for 89 cents/lb. on a special sale. I've noticed that their organic produce is well priced, as organic produce goes.

Next time you're downtown, you should check them out. As you pull up, it looks like there is only street parking, but the parking lot is actually behind the wooden fence.

Sauder's Store

 Sauder's is a Mennonite-owned dry-goods/meat/lots of other things store outside of Seneca Falls, about a 55-minute drive from Rochester.  The variety of products is incredible--every kind of flour you can think of, spices, grains, home-style candies, baking necessities (soda, yeast, cocoa, brown sugar, etc.)--all neatly bagged in different sizes and on the shelf. They also have a deli (I'm not a meat connoisseur, but apparently you can get German specialty meat that is hard to find), inexpensive cheeses, fruit preserves, home-made syrups...the list goes on! 

Here's my best price summary: their big bulk items (50 lb bags of sugar, beans, etc) can generally be found for less at other places (Aldi, LDS Storehouse),  but Sauder's prices for baking supplies are hard to beat (and they sell them in hard-to-find quantities). 

Even aside from all practical matters, Sauder's is a very fun place to visit.  The distance is a drawback, but it's one exit away from the Waterloo Factory Outlet Stores, so you could definitely make a day of it (the flour picture is just a random one I found online, but Sauder's is so great I thought it deserved a graphic). 

Jim Dalberth's Sporting Goods

I'm conflicted about "buying local"--I love the idea of putting money back into the community, but our student budget usually doesn't go very far in mom & pop specialty stores.  That's why I was so happy to find Jim Dalberth's Sporting Goods.  I bought a pair of running shoes there, and we found out that anytime you buy shoes, all apparel (they have all brands of shoes; most of their apparel is Asics) is 50% off, so we bought some pants and shorts for my husband.  

The store is right across the Elmwood bridge from the U of R River Campus.  When I walked in I was surprised--it's twice as tall as it is wide, and it looked a little disorganized.  The real benefit of the store, though, is the salespeople.  They don't hover, but they're incredibly efficient and they know everything about running.  Basically, they sell all of their shoes for 15% off the ticket price. 

So--if you are already planning to spend the money on some nice running shoes, you should consider Jim Dalberth's.  You'll end up with good shoes as well as a good feeling about buying locally.  

Master Coupon Blog

At the RS retreat up at Seneca Lake, a lady from Pittsford (I think) came to teach a class about food storage.  I never really knew it was possible to store the variety of food that she does (she cans chicken, butter, and M&M's, and knows how to make eggs last a year).

The most intriguing thing about her presentation, though, was that she kept saying things like, "of course, I got them for free with coupons," or "after the rebate it was only 5 cents".  Rebates?  Coupons?  

Well, last night I finally visited her blog: kerricodi.wordpress.com.  It's very impressive, and since she's local, she has a lot of local deals.  I'm adding it to the links on this blog's sidebar.  

Price Rite

A friend emailed me some information about Price Rite. The highlights of Price Rite are cheap produce, cheap canned goods, and international foods (including an great assortment of Italian favorites at great prices... prosciutto and fresh mozzarella lovers take note!) They also have very inexpensive bulk spices. The nearest Price Rite is the one in Southtown Plaza. Bring your own bag!

Thanks for sharing!

Saturday, Oct. 17 Last Day for Ronald McDonald Household/Antiques Rummage Sale

A friend called this morning to tell me that tomorrow is the last day of the huge Ronald McDonald rummage sale.  It's been going since Thursday, but tomorrow everything is 50% off from 10:00-12:00, and from 12:00-4:00 it's $5 per bag.  The sale is across the street from the Marketplace Walmart--here is the link.

Boneless Skinless Chicken $1.79/lb

Wegman's never-been-frozen, no bullion added boneless skinless chicken breasts are $1.79/lb in their flier this week. I always just freeze them...they're so good.  

Do you have a 17-19 month old? Get $75!

A friend forwarded this to me, and Peter and I did it last Thursday.  It was a lot of fun, plus who can argue with $75?  The study will be going for another 4-6 months, so if your baby will be 17-19 months in the next little while, you can call and make an appointment.  

The Mt. Hope Family Center at the University of Rochester is conducting achild development study. They are currently recruiting mothers with 17-19-month-old children to participate in a research session. Mothers will be asked information about themselves, their child, and their families. The mother and child will complete parent-child interaction tasks, and both will have their heart rate monitored. Eligibility requirements include: Mother completed four-year college or university and is not pregnant, family not receiving public assistance (*the list she read me didn't include insurance, which I'm sure would disqualify a lot of us, it was just WIC, food stamps, etc*), no history of family involvement with Child Protective Services, and no child medical illness or disability. Mothers will receive $75 for their participation in the study. If you are interested in participating, please contact the Mt. Hope Family Center at 585-275-2991, ext 302.

Christmas Tree Shops, All Year Long

I had never been to a Christmas Tree Shop  before we moved to Rochester (I think it's mostly an east coast store).  They carry all sorts of things-- home decor, kitchen equipment, specialty foods, some toiletries, toys, etc.   I think they have the least expensive picture frames/mirrors/seasonal decorations anywhere around.  Granted, the quality sometimes isn't that great, but if you're buying something that just gets hung on the wall, it won't matter too much.  We've been really pleased with the big wall mirror we got there, and yesterday we got a laundry basket for $3.  

U-Pick

 A few weeks ago we went to Green Acre U-pick Fruit Farm in Greece.  If you're hoping to save tons of money on fruit you'll be disappointed, but if you want some great family fun and a pretty good deal on fruit, then u-pick is for you.  

There are lots of u-pick fruit farms all around Rochester, and a surprising variety of fruit is still in season (Green Acres has raspberries, peaches, plums, nectarines, and apples).  Apple and pumpkin picking last until November.  

Corn 7 ears/$1 at the Public Market

The public market is open all year, but I think it's best during the early fall when the local farmers are there with all of their corn/peaches/apples/tomatoes/potatoes/etc.  Last week I bought some sweet corn, 7 ears for $1!  

The market is open in the mornings on Tuesday (smallest number of vendors), Thursday (larger), and Saturday (an adventure! Tons of vendors, thousands of shoppers, competitive parking).   

Plenty of vendors are selling the same kind of produce you'd buy in the store (avacados from Chile, etc), but the local farmers are easy to spot with their "harvested yesterday" and "home grown" signs.  It's fun to see the farm trucks manned by entire families at the Saturday market.  

Beyond produce, we've gotten some great cheese from the Saturday cheese vendor (he might be there on Thursday), cheap spices, delicious baked goods from the Amish stand, and some good fish (inside the building).

Pizza!

From the mailbox:

"Mr. Shoes Pizza located on E. Henrietta & South Ave corner- have a special on a large cheese pizza every night carry out for $7.99 and it is a big large. - you can add additional things for a bit more-Their # 442-3000 We really love their pizza."

Good to know!

Road Running

When our Road Runner internet jumped from it's great introductory rate to $45/month, we started looking into other options.  From what we could see (between Time Warner, Frontier, and ClearWire) $45/month was a pretty normal price.   

We were complaining about it to our wise friends B & H, and they told us about Road Runner Basic (it's not mentioned on their website...).  It's a LOT  cheaper than the regular Road Runner, and the speed difference is almost unnoticeable (you would probably notice if you like to download big things...like "Ben Hur" or something).  Road Runner Lite is an even slower, less expensive version than Road Runner Basic.    

Even if  you combine TV/phone/internet, I think that you can request RR Basic and get a better deal.   That's all I know about that. 

Freihofer's Bakery Outlet

What: 

A bakery outlet that sells many varieties & brands of bread, english muffins, bagels, etc. Any time you go you can find 100% whole wheat bread for about $1.70 a loaf, and, if you're lucky, you can get 3 loaves for $3 (they'll be on a table by the door).   Around December they hand out Freihofer's calendars that have monthly coupons (like a free loaf of bread with any purchase). They also have "frequent buyer" stamp cards.

Where: 

Genesee Valley Regional Market on Jefferson (map).  It is a big row of warehouse-looking buildings that house things like an organic food market, coffee outlet, etc.   Because of construction, the entrance is temporarily around the corner on Clay Rd.  After you drive into the warehouse area, look for the Freihofer sign in the window of one of the middle buildings.  TADCO Spices, which is two buildings down, is a good place to buy bulk spices (but not a great place to buy bulk grains).