Let’s Go Krogering

When I told one of my fellow bloggers where I was going this morning, she emailed, “You go to Kroger's? Isn't it a lot more expensive [than Wal-Mart]?”

Well, yeah, it is. Usually. But my husband and I shop on Senior Citizen’s Day, when we get 5% off. That usually equals the sales tax. Kroger often has some pretty good specials, which I buy if they’re items I use and need. Plus, Kroger has this limited special on its gift card: If you buy a $300 shopping card, Kroger credits it with an additional $30. You’re limited to a maximum of 4 in a limited time. I just bought my third one today. The offer expires sometime in July.

Also, Kroger issues some pretty good coupons to some of its faithful shoppers. Many of those coupons are for things I can actually use. And I clip other coupons, too. My plan is to use coupons for things that I need that are already on special. Sometimes I stockpile. Today, for instance, I stockpiled paper goods. A few weeks ago, I stockpiled dry dog food.

Kroger marks down baked goods, deli items, and meats that are almost out-dated, If it’s something I will use within a day or two, you’d better believe I take advantage.

Since Kroger is 14 miles from us, I only go to on Tuesdays. Often we take care of other business in Rocky Mount at the same time. We might tank up on gas ($3.85 this morning—the cheapest I’ve found in the area), then stop by Goodwill (where we usually buy a couple books), the library, the hardware store, etc.

Consequently, it takes two to shop. John mans one cart while I woman the other. Sometimes he takes a handful of coupons and goes one way, while I take a handful in the other direction. That saves time.

John with handful of coupons and our two carts.
Our cold bag and recycled bags are in the cart on the left.

On Tuesdays, Kroger provides free coffee and snacks. We usually partake of their hospitality—sometimes with people we know who are shopping the same way we do. Also, it helps to sit down midway through our shopping and regroup.

Another thing I like about Kroger is that it has paper bags. If you double-bag your cold stuff, it stays cold longer. If you double-bag your canned goods, you can carry a lot more. Consequently, to save bags, we take the doubled bags back to refill. We also have an insulated bag that we carry.

Time out for a rant here: Using paper bags does not mean that trees are dying in vain/the rain forest is being depleted/etc. for my paper habit. Not using paper bags won’t save trees. Paper isn’t made from old growth hardwoods; it’s made from fast-growing pines that are planted (and replanted) as a crop. We grow loblollies, which are used for paper products. (If you want to save trees, don’t buy fine furniture!) Using paper bags is highly preferable to using those flimsy plastic bags that are made from petroleum products. OK. Rant over.

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New Printer

For about a year, I've wanted a laser printer. When prices for some models dropped below $100, I started looking, but the ones in my price range were kind of clunky.

Last Wednesday, I was in Roanoke for the Pen Women meeting. On my way, I stopped in Staples and saw an HP LaserJet P1006 that was on special. Regular $179, it was down to $99, thanks to an in-store discount. I liked the way it looked.

It would look nice beside the HP ink jet all-in-one that I already had. It coordinated well with my aging eMac. But could I get it cheaper?

Yep! The circular I'd picked up when I went in said that Staples would give a $50 rebate for a customer's old printer if the customer bought a new printer whose regular price was $159 or more. But would they honor this on a regular price that had already been reduced?

Yep! I asked a salesman, and he confirmed it. But did I have a printer I wanted to part with?

Yep! The Epson ink jet I'd gotten free with my iBook back in January 2004 had died in 2005, and I'd never gotten around to throwing it away. (I'd already made some money with that free printer. Epson, as part of a class-action suit, had already sent me a $25 check and given a $25 credit at their online store. I used the credit for paper. I figured I'd already made as much off that printer as I could. What a surprise that I could still milk it for a little more.) But could I find where I'd put it?

Yep! When I got back home, I found it in a downstairs closet. Now, I didn't rush back to Roanoke (at the current gas prices, it costs me $10 for a round trip). I knew I was returning on Saturday for a Cottage Curio event in Salem. Besides, I rarely buy something the first time I see it. I give myself a few days to decide if I really want it. Did I really want this printer?

Yep! But would the store still have some when I returned on Saturday?

Yep! But the salesman didn't think the rebate applied to marked-down items. I told him what the other salesman had told me. He went to get his manager? Would I get the rebate?

Yep! The manager honored it. But, would I like to get a toner cartridge while I was there?

Yep! I know from experience—and from living 15 miles from the nearest office supply store—always to have an extra cartridge for the printer. Plus the cartridge that comes with a printer usually doesn't last long. But the toner cartridge was $60! More than I was paying for the printer! Did I still get it?

Yep! What good is a printer without a cartridge? At the check-out, I learned that there was a $20 mail-in rebate on the cartridge if it had been purchased with a printer. So, the cartridge would only cost me $40. Did I mail it in?

Nope! Not at the current rate of postage. I applied for the rebate online.

Setting up the printer was, well, interesting. Hewlett-Packard doesn't provide a manual. Only a sheet with some pictures of the steps you have to follow to unpack. By the time I found this sheet, tucked into the printer's paper slot, I'd already unpacked the printer—and not necessarily in the order the pictures suggested. I looked in the box for a manual. There was none.

By this time, my husband, the retired electrical engineer, was involved. We found a CD. "Maybe the manual is on the CD," he suggested. It wasn't—only the installation instructions. Could we get this thing installed and working?

Not at first. After running the install, we plugged it in and found a USB cord (Why don't companies provide one with the printer?) to connect it to the eMac. The eMac recognized the printer. That was a good sign. I tried to print a document—and got a blank sheet of paper. Uh-oh. Was this printer a dud?

Nope! Turns out we hadn't removed a couple of plastic doo-hickeys from the cartridge that came already installed. Luckily, pictures on the box of the new cartridge showed how to remove these doo-hickeys. We pulled (OK, my husband pulled) the cartridge from the laserjet and successfully removed the doo-hickeys. Did it work?

Yep! It worked great. And doesn't it look right at home with the other technical stuff on my desk?

Total cost (including tax) for the (original $179 printer and $60 cartridge): $96.52.

Some lessons:

• Never pay the original price; wait for a sale.
• Wait a few days to make sure you really want what you think you want.
• Don't throw anything away; you never know when you might need it.

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