Any tips on buying at Sam's Club?

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Trekking to the Cary, NC, Sam's tomorrow (Thursday), anyone know what's on special at the moment?

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 17, 1999

Answers

O. G.

Don't know about specials, but the Spam and corned beef is always good. (no, I'm not kidding) Also, the gallon sizes of bleach and vinegar are cheap and are essential to hygine. Don't forget salt, both iodized and non-iodized (for pickling), 99 cents for four pounds. Industrial sized Crisco keeps well, and you might as well pick up another 100 pounds of rice while it's available. Also, check with your county health dept. to see if there are any "salvage" grocery stores in the area. I buy from two all the time, and get canned goods at great bargains.

They (Sam's) might still have fire starter logs left in stock, and they are good insurance against rain soaked kindlin'. BTW, I used my new wood stove all week end, and was amazed at how it ate the wood! I'm gonna have to get a lot better at chopping, if I intend to heat my Spam. - As our good friend Greybear would say- got blisters?

-- Lon Frank (postit@here.com), February 17, 1999.


Thanks for the tips. Yes, love those "salvage stores." We have a Big Lots where you can find great bargains, e.g., Baxter's soups (no polysyllable chemical ingredients, by appointment to her Majesty, etc.) for 39 cents! Cleaning supplies are also bargain-priced. For cat-owners, there are 7lb boxes of Arm & Hammer Scoop for $1.99; dog-owners will find good prices on dog houses and chews. I bought knit shorts for $4, good quality cotton, and found imperfect Munsingwear T-shirts at 3/$5. Love that place!

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 18, 1999.

Speaking of Lots Off. Where I live, they had stock pots on sale. Picked up a 20-quart one for $11.00, and went back and got the 16-quart one for about $8. Helps me with the canning ya know, plus I can use these on the wood stove, if need be.

-- (cannot-say@this.time), February 18, 1999.

Oh, you Devil Woman. You really know how to titilate a man on the verge of y2k panic. Stock pots for eight bucks!

I actually learned to make pickles this year. Not a mild accomplishment for someone who can burn water. But you know, my first pickles weren't too bad. In fact, I'm still using one to keep kids out of the garden. Oh, well it's said love makes poets of us all, so perhaps y2k shall make us picklers. Or, maybe not.

Nice chattin' with ya!

-- Lon Frank (postit@here.com), February 18, 1999.


Hey there, Old Git:

Sorry, but I live at least one hour's travel to the nearest SAM's Club, and I'm not a member. I wish I was...

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), February 19, 1999.



An hour to the nearest Sam's?!! Dino, you must be truly on the fringes of civilization. (I envy you) You are probably already used to buying in larger quantities, but no foolin', food is so cheap for us it's incredible. I have a family of 5 (three grown sons) and just one restaurant dinner for us, even at the cheap joints down on the bayou, will tear up a hundred dollar bill. That same hundred bucks will buy 400 lbs. of rice, or 160 lbs. of beans, or, for cryin' out loud, about 150 cans of Spam. I mean, it's just plain crazy to face a possiblity like y2k without food insurance.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but my wife doesn't let me play on the computer unsupervised very often. Gotta go now, my latest pickle experiment is about to spontaneously come to life.

-- Lon Frank (postit@here.com), February 19, 1999.


Let's see now, Spam costs just over a buck a can and I said I could buy 150 of them for a hundred bucks.

Well, now you have to use bayou math to get that number. Take your normal answer, and multiply it by a coefficient derived of the number of frequent fryer point you've accumulated, minus the number of pickle recipies in grammaw Holly Allen's pantry, and then take the remainderand ..us.. (damn, where's Robert Cook when you really need him?)

Anyway, I was somewhat rushed last night. Twenty or so of the local villagers dropped by for a chat on the front lawn. It seems they have seen the flashes of light from the kitchen parapets, and caught wind, so to speak, of my pickling experiments. I wonder where they found all those torches and pichforks...?

-- Lon Frank (postit@here.com), February 20, 1999.


Lon Frank:

Yes, the Xerox corporation considers my small city to be "out in the boondocks". The nearest SAM stores are in Toledo, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. I don't know why you envy my location. I can't purchase locally any of these great bargain deals on foods unless I travel long distances to large cities. BTW, I hate driving long distances, so I'm frequenting my local Wal*Mart, K-Mart and grocery stores. None carries large sizes of foods. At least I'm contributing to the local economy.

Oh yeah, I'm getting used to the stares from cashiers when I haul up my shopping cart full of provisions. :)

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), February 20, 1999.


Dino,

Just do what I do; gather up all the little kids in the neighboorhood and promise them a gummy bear if they will go to the store with ya. Then dirty them up a little, maybe have a couple with runny noses, you know, and when you push that big ol' cart up there with fifteen cans of Spam, a case of spagetti, eighty pounds of pintos and an industrial size can of "rubber cheeze", no one will think twice about it.

Seriously, I find specials in regular grocery stores that outshine Sam's quite often. And the institutional size cans of anything are not usually a good idea, unless you and your's can eat a gallon of green beans at one sitting. You might even consider getting a sales tax number. Then you can buy at restuarant supply places, and get wholesale prices on quantity goods.

Well, I hate to run, but I'm trying some sweet pickles with tabasco sauce added. I will call them "nuke cukes", if they turn out edible.

As we say down on the bayou - gotta geaux!

-- Lon Frank (postit@here.com), February 20, 1999.


When I was at sams last week I saw the bleach in chemical/powder form for pools. Somebody mentioned once about using this since it stores better. Anybody have any more details on this ?? Is the bucket at Sam's ok to use????

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), February 21, 1999.


MDM,

See Greybear's thread above, "Chlorine water Treatment". I've never tried pool chlorine for potable water, better be carefull with the strength. Remember, chlorine can kill you deadern a clam.

-- Lon Frank (postit@here.com), February 21, 1999.


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