I love the Lethbridge Safeway!!!

I have never in all my life shopping in Canadian groceries stores, a regular occurrence since I was about eight, encountered a grocery store that offers so many great deals on nearly expired and scratch & dent products. I didn’t start by going to the Lethbridge Safeway since my experience with the chain in BC was that it was much more expensive than Save-on-Foods. But there’s one located right near home and it just made sense to go there. I got the members card and make a point to only buy things that are on sale or for which the members discount applies.

But the thing that has made me fall in love with this grocery store is the half-price dairy section! I’ve never seen a dedicated half-price dairy section before! I get shaky as I start to approach it, wondering what fantastic deal I’m going to get on yoghurt that day (yes, I really love yoghurt. 🙂 ) They oftentimes have cheese, too. I didn’t like the yoghurt offerings today, but I got a huge hunk of a nice old cheddar for half off. Half of it will go into the freezer.

Today, I also found other surprises and have made a note to go back to the store next Sunday morning to see if this is a habitual occurrence. There was a huge rack of half-off bakery, most of which was fresh and only discounted because it was smooshed. I filled the freezer with really nice bread for just $3; at that price it’s not worth making my own! Most of it was whole or multi-grain sliced bread, but at 50 cents each, it was worth grabbing several bags of really soft, buttery dinner rolls.

Finally, after weeks of nearly fainting at the chicken prices, I found some that needed to be sold by tomorrow on sale for 30% off. I’m on a tight budget so I didn’t fill the freezer, but I did get two breasts, one for dinner tonight, one for the freezer. After at least a week on lentils, it sure was nice to have chicken tonight. I can’t believe I used to be a vegetarian!

Since I started going to the Safeway here, I have not paid full-price for groceries and have been able to eat very well for very little money, just like in the U.S. I just wish their produce was nicer. That said, I’m off to enjoy a juicy-looking 99 cent mango. 😀