Deals I found today!

Sometimes, I go to supermarket websites and only decide to actually place an order if I find a GREAT sale on something that justifies the 30 NIS delivery fee.

Usually, I do this on Saturday nights, but for some reason, today I decided to check, even though it's Thursday.

And that, my friends, is how I found this markdown:

As you can see, the Carmel "Excellence" wines are marked down to 9.90 NIS! You might know that if I buy wine, I really really don't buy expensive wines -- not that I have a problem with anyone who does, it's just not a priority in my budget, so I don't. Anyhow, once I found that wine price and justified my purchase, I looked around for other good prices and placed an order.

I didn't actually find that many super awesome markdowns besides the wine, but here are some of the ones I found:

Small packs of tomato paste, 8 for 7.70 NIS - under 1 NIS! This made me feel nostalgic for the early days of our Aliyah journey, when I routinely found tomato paste for under 1 NIS each...

They also had several vegetables for under 5 NIS/kilo, which is getting harder to find around here.

They also had several fruits for under 4 NIS/kg.

And they had Noam cheese deeply discounted - 10 NIS off the regular price!

Did you find other great deals?

Let me know!

Find me on Facebook

If you want to find (and share!) shopping deals, please join my deals groups on Facebook: 

Kosher Frugal

Israeli Shopping Overseas 

Live in Israel, Shop Online 

Israel Deals Made Easy (in English) 

I'm also on WhatsApp with an opt-in group where you'll get links to deals I find. Only admins can post.

Get some discounts TODAY!

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you! Thanks for your support! 

--- Retrieved from https://www.kosherfrugal.com/ ---

I'm back with some deals to share! This time, I've got some great shopping deals... It's always a good idea to grab a deal when you see one! Friends don't let friends  pay full price 😂!

Here are some great discounts you can buy right now: 

Yeinot Bitan Online: Pay 10 NIS for a voucher that will get you 60 NIS off your 300 NIS order! This is a great way to save 50 NIS on your groceries!

Pick up 2 goldfish for just 2.90 from any Anipet store!

"Your Own Look" (Look Mi'Shelach) - vintage/second hand clothing: Pay 10 NIS for a voucher that will get you 50 NIS off your online purchase! Great way to save 40 NIS!

Quik - New customers can buy a 60 NIS voucher for just 10 NIS. Great way to save 50 NIS when you order groceries from this convenient service.

Zooma photo albums, for 79 NIS! Print your pictures with Zooma!

Car wash for just 19 NIS (Kiryat Chaim - Haifa area)

Bean Bag Chair, for 190 NIS (this one looks like they deliver anywhere in the country! Delivery charge is 49 NIS)

Heated clothes drying stand, for 269 NIS (plus 25 NIS for delivery to a pick up spot)

Pressure cooker, 6 or 7 liter, for 369 NIS (and free shipping). 

These deals are often limited, so no guarantees they'll last - grab them while you can!

If you are in the USA and buying a gift for someone in Israel, please be aware that GROO allows you to pay using PayPal! However, you do have to open an account with them and that seems to require an Israeli ID number. If you've managed using a passport or other ID number, please let me know! 

Hope you found this post helpful! If yes, don't forget to follow this blog by email (see the sidebar on the right) and like my FB page!

Orlah Update - Nissan 5779

Here's the latest Orlah update, so you can shop for fruit in Israel with confidence!

This post is a follow up to the Kashrut for New Olim post. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out -- there's important information there! 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES in Israel - Specific Kashrut Issues

Unlike in other parts of the world, in Israel, fruits and vegetables are NOT automatically "kosher" - here we need to make sure that they are not "orlah" fruits (harvested during a tree's first 3 yrs, with other rules applying to year 4) and that trumot and ma'asrot have been taken (from both fruits and vegetables). Without these basics, these fruits and vegetables are NOT acceptable in a kosher kitchen!

If you shop at a market that doesn't have an ishur kashrut (kosher certification) on their produce, you'll need to investigate these issues further, if you are interested in adhering to the halachot of the Land of Israel OR if you regularly host people who assume the food in your home is kosher! I must say that it's important to familiarize yourself with these special halachot, as they are part of keeping kosher in Israel! (If you say you keep Kosher in Israel, everyone assumes that you have taken care of these issues; and if you don't, then you may be unwittingly putting someone in a situation they don't want to be in!) 

It's definitely possible to take trumot and maasrot on your own (I do it often), so vegetables are easiest to buy without a teudah, as that is all you need to do (and very often, it would be without a bracha). Some of the fruits on the market may be ok to purchase even from a non-certified establishment and just take trumot and maasrot, because of the extremely low percentage of orlah fruits being sold, but those lists change frequently, so you'll constantly need to stay up-to-date.

Other fruits can be a problem, because of orlah (from the first 3 years after the tree was planted). I try very hard to post a monthly update here on my site with a list of the fruits where the percentage of orlah fruits on the open market is greater than 0.5%. These fruits should only be bought from a reputable source that does not sell orlah fruits (i.e. a place with a teudah). This orlah issue is a serious issue for kosher consumers:

ORLAH Update for Nissan 5779

Fruits to AVOID buying without a teudah:

• Avocado - Ettinger, Mutti, Haas varieties
• Blueberries
• Annona
• Peach (Oded & White)
• Grapefruit (White)
• Olives for curing
• Olives for oil (Barnea)
• Lemon
• Apricot (large red)
• Nectarine (Red, White and White with red flecks)
• Grapes - Seedless (SBS 125+)
• Pitaya
• Papaya
• Prickly Pear (Sabra Fruit)
• Oranges - Choice Valencia
• Starfruit
• Passionfruit
• Almonds
• Figs

Please be sure to speak with your personal Halachic Authority about purchasing fruit in Israel without a teudah. Not everyone holds by the 0.5% threshold, and there are differences of opinion about certain fruits and whether they are subject to Orlah. This information is just for informational purposes and is not a halachic psak! Even if you follow a psak that relies on the 0.5% threshold, you still must take trumot and maasrot on all produce grown in Israel (or be sure it has been taken), in order to fulfill your halachic obligations.

Also, be aware that this list does NOT apply to fruit grown by an individual. If your friend has a fruit tree, you'll need to find out how old it is! 

I hope you find this helpful! Please follow or like my Facebook page and don't miss out on updates and other posts!

Orlah Fruits in the Marketplace - Update for Adar

This post is a follow up to the Kashrut for New Olim post. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out -- there's important information there! 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES in Israel - Specific Kashrut Issues

Unlike in other parts of the world, in Israel, fruits and vegetables are NOT automatically "kosher" - here we need to make sure that they are not "orlah" fruits (harvested during a tree's first 3 yrs, with other rules applying to year 4) and that trumot and ma'asrot have been taken (from both fruits and vegetables). 

If you shop at a market that doesn't have an ishur kashrut (kosher certification) on their produce, you'll need to investigate these issues further, if you are interested in adhering to the halachot of the Land of Israel OR if you regularly host people who assume the food in your home is kosher! I must say that it's important to familarize yourself with these special halachot, as they are part of keeping kosher in Israel! (If you say you keep Kosher in Israel, everyone assumes that you have taken care of these issues; and if you don't, then you may be unwittingly putting someone in a situation they don't want to be in!) 

It's definitely possible to take trumot and maasrot on your own (I do it often), so vegetables are easiest to buy without a teudah, as that is all you need to do (and very often, it would be without a bracha). Some of the fruits on the market may be ok to purchase even from a non-certified establishment and just take trumot and maasrot, because of the extremely low percentage of orlah fruits being sold, but those lists change frequently, so you'll constantly need to stay up-to-date.

Other fruits can be a problem, because of a high possibility that they are orlah (from the first 3 yrs after the tree was planted). I have recently begun to post a monthly update on my website, with a list of the fruits where the percentage of orlah fruits on the open market is greater than 0.5%. These fruits should only be bought from a reputable source that does not sell orlah fruits (i.e. a place with a teudah):

ORLAH Update for Iyar 5778

Fruits to AVOID buying without a teudah:

• Avocado - Ettinger, Haas, Ruti, and Reid varieties
• Blueberries
• Lemon
• Lime
• Papaya
• Prickly Pear (Sabra Fruit)
• Starfruit
• Passionfruit
• Clementines - Murcott variety, Hadas Variety, and Tami variety
• Valencia Oranges

Please be sure to speak with your personal Halachic Authority about purchasing fruit in Israel without a teudah. Not everyone holds by the 0.5% threshold. This information is just for informational purposes and is not a halachic psak! Even if you follow a psak that relies on the 0.5% threshold, you still must take trumot and maasrot on all produce grown in Israel (or be sure it has been taken), in order to fulfill your halachic obligations.

Also, be aware that this list does NOT apply to fruit grown by an individual. If your friend has a fruit tree, you'll need to find out how old it is! 

I hope you find this helpful! Please follow my Facebook page and don't miss out on updates and other posts!

Orlah Fruits in the Marketplace - Update for Cheshvan

This post is a follow up to the Kashrut for New Olim post. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out -- there's important information there! 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES in Israel

Unlike in other parts of the world, in Israel, fruits and vegetables are NOT automatically "kosher" - here we need to make sure that they are not "orlah" fruits (harvested during a tree's first 3 yrs, with other rules applying to year 4) and that trumot and ma'asrot have been taken (from both fruits and vegetables). 

If you shop at a market that doesn't have an ishur kashrut (kosher certification) on their produce, you'll need to investigate these issues further, if you are interested in adhering to the halachot of the Land of Israel OR if you regularly host people who assume the food in your home is kosher! I must say that it's important to familarize yourself with these special halachot, as they are part of keeping kosher in Israel! (If you say you keep Kosher in Israel, everyone assumes that you have taken care of these issues; and if you don't, then you may be unwittingly putting someone in a situation they don't want to be in!) 

It's definitely possible to take trumot and maasrot on your own (I do it often), so vegetables are easiest to buy without a teudah, as that is all you need to do (and very often, it would be without a bracha). Some of the fruits on the market may be ok to purchase even from a non-certified establishment and just take trumot and maasrot, because of the extremely low percentage of orlah fruits being sold, but those lists change frequently, so you'll constantly need to stay up-to-date.

Other fruits can be a problem, because of a high possibility that they are orlah (from the first 3 yrs after the tree was planted). I have recently begun to post a monthly update on my website, with a list of the fruits where the percentage of orlah fruits on the open market is greater than 0.5%, so should only be bought from a reputable source that does not sell orlah fruits (i.e. a place with a teudah) that should really help everyone avoid the orlah problem:

ORLAH Update for Cheshvan 5778

Fruits to AVOID buying without a teudah:

• Avocado - Day variety, Ettinger variety, Haas variety (at the end of the month)
• Blueberries
• White Peach
• Lemon
• Papaya
• Prickly Pear (Sabra Fruit)
• Starfruit
• Passionfruit
• Clementines - Rishon variety

You can print this list or save it to your phone!

Please be sure to speak with your personal Halachic Authority about purchasing fruit in Israel without a teudah. Not everyone holds by the 0.5% threshold. This information is just for informational purposes and is not a halachic psak! Even if you follow a psak that relies on the 0.5% threshold, you still must take trumot and maasrot on all produce grown in Israel (or be sure it has been taken), in order to fulfill your halachic obligations.

Also, this list does not apply to fruit grown by an individual. If your friend has a fruit tree, you'll need to find out how old it is! 

I hope you find this helpful! Please follow my Facebook page and don't miss out on updates and other posts!

More Plastic Bag Info

There's been a lot of discussion about the new 10 agurot fee for plastic bags at supermarkets, and a lot of noise is being made about this in Israel! Once again, people's facebook posts about the law are becoming headline news - that's how much time and energy this country is devoting to this topic!

Honestly, I believe the fee is too low to actually merit all the backlash it's receiving, but I decided to get some more info for us all, to clear up some questions. I got in touch with the people in charge of the bag program at the Ministry of the Environment, in order to gain some clarity. I asked them a few questions, which I share below:

Which stores are required to collect the 10 agurot fee per bag?

There are 20 supermarket chains that, by law, are required to charge 10 agurot per bag, and report the number of bags distributed, to the Ministry of the Environment. They will also be required to turn over the fee to them .

Here's a list of supermarket chains that meet the requirements (this list is subject to change): 

• Bar-Kol
• Victory
• Zol B'Gadol
• Tiv Taam
• Yeinot Bitan
• Machsanei HaShuk
• Chatzi Chinam
• Yochanenof
• Mega
• Dor Alon
• Machsanei Lahav
• Osher Ad
• Super Dosh
• Stop Market
• Super Bareket
• Freshmarket
• Co-op
• Keshet Te'amim
• Rami Levy
• Shufersal

Some of these chains also run stores with other names, which will also be required to charge for bags. 

Will smaller stores still be distributing the lighter weight (under 20 microns) bags for free?

No stores will be allowed to distribute bags that are less than 20 microns at checkout, but smaller stores will not be required to charge for the bags and turn over the fee. You should see that ALL stores now distribute bags that are between 20 and 50 microns thick. Exceptions are bags that come into direct contact with food or medicine.

Where does the money that we pay for bags GO?

The money will go to an Environmental Fund. The monies will be monitored and will be used to support the initiatives to reduce the use of plastic bags and increase the use of reusable bags, to clean-up the coastline, and if there is extra, will be used to reduce air pollution as well.

How much will I pay per bag?

By law, the supermarket chains listed above MUST charge a minimum of 10 agurot per bag. The law allows the supermarkets to charge more.

___________________

This leads me to believe that while smaller stores are not required to turn over the fee to the Environmental Fund, they may be allowed to charge for bags.

I am going to guess that most stores will be using bags that are JUST the minimum thickness allowed (20 microns), and we won't really notice much difference in the quality of the bags. I still recommend keeping a stash of reusable bags and using them - I find them far more handy and reliable than plastic bags when hauling groceries.

As far as the question of "what will we use for garbage bags"? Well, if you're like me, first you'll use the stash of bags you have lying around the house (yes, even though we often use reusable bags, there have been plenty of times when we have picked up a bag or two here or there) and THEN you'll figure out a solution in 6 months or so, when it will no longer feel so strange to have to figure out an alternative to plastic bags.

Shop the sales!

In America, we used to get weekly circulars for all of our local stores delivered to the house - either as part of the weekend paper, or as a separate "ad pages" delivery.

This was amazingly convenient for planning my shopping trips. As you probably know by now, I'm a really price sensitive shopper. One of the ways I'd shop was to make sure I was shopping sales, and never buying something pricey at the last second because I'd run out. So if tuna was on sale for the right price - I'd stock up (for example). I'd make a point of going to whichever store(s) had the best sales each week, assuming they were within a reasonable distance.

Here, I find it harder to do this. BUT I do still check the sales before shopping.

Here's how to do that here in Israel - and the secret is the internet (I know, not much of a secret, is it?).

I go to the websites of the stores I'll be able to shop at, and check if there are any don't-miss sales. Of course, this is never perfect, as there are always other in store sales that are not advertised online, as well. But it certainly helps.
 
In order to stretch my grocery budget a little bit further, I use Snap In in addition to the few coupons I find, the sug bet rack, and searching for discounts and deals (and of course, cooking from scratch!). Click to find out more about Snap In!

Here are links to some of the country's popular supermarket chains that post weekly or monthly sales online:

Chatzi Chinam 

Co-op Shop

Eden Teva Market

Maayan 2000 

Machsanei Hashuk

Machsanei Lahav

Mega Ba'Ir

Nizat HaDuvdevan

Shuk Ha'Ir (they post sales circulars to their FB page)

Super Coffix (sign up to get coupons sent to your phone!)

Shufersal Deal

Victory

Yochananof

Yeinot Bitan 

Zol v'B'Gadol (they post sales circulars to their FB page)

I have not had luck locating online circulars for these stores:

Bar Kol  (sent an email asking to subscribe but delivery FAILED)

Dabach

Osher Ad

Rami Levy 



Salei Zol

SuperDeal

Yesh (they do not update their website)


Yochananof



If you've found any more helpful online circulars, please let me know!

UPDATED PRICES: Price Controlled Foods

New prices for some breads went into effect recently (June, 2015). I decided to republish the entire list with the new bread prices for your convenience.

Here's a quick rundown of what you need to know about government price controls on food in Israel:

--- Retrieved from http://www.kosherfrugal.com/2014/09/updated-list-of-price-controlled-foods.html ---

--- Retrieved from http://www.kosherfrugal.com/2015/02/price-controlled-foods-price-update.html ---

The price listed is the MAXIMUM price for the specified item - in theory, a store can discount it further, if they want to.
If a store is selling price controlled items for a higher price, they are in violation of the law. You can (and should) report these violations to the regional supervisor.
Here are the items that are supervised, and the maximum price to consumers:

(The prices shown below are for the entire country, excluding Eilat. Eilat is exempt from Ma'am, so prices there will be lower.)
Lechem Achid (I believe this is about 65% whole grain) - 750g loaf, 5.11

White bread, 750g loaf, 5.11
 
Challah or yeast cake, 500g, 5.31 (was 5.58) (don't ask me what kind of yeast cake this is referring to, I have no idea!)
 
Lechem Achid, sliced and packaged, 750g, 7.30 (was 7.67)
 
White bread, sliced and packaged, 500g, 6.49 (was 6.82)
Regular Kitchen Salt, Fine Kitchen Salt, Fine Table Salt, and Coarse Table salt, 1 kg, 2.09
  3% milk, 1 liter, bag, 5.30 1% milk, 1 liter, bag, 4.95 3% milk, 1 liter, carton, 6.30 1% milk, 1 liter, carton, 5.90
  Eshel, 4.5% fat, 200ml, 1.65  Gil, 3% fat, 200ml,  1.52  Sour Cream, 15% fat, 200ml, 2.44 Sweet Cream, 38% fat, 250ml, 6.60   Butter, regular, 100g, 4.13 Emek Cheese (at the cheese counter),per kg, 45.45  Gilboa Cheese (at the cheese counter), per kg, 43.14 Gvinah Levana (white cheese), 5% fat, 250g 5.11 
  XL eggs, regular, 1 dozen, 13.20
L eggs, regular, 1 dozen, 12.10
M eggs, regular, 1 dozen, 11.20
  Do you ever see stores overcharging? Have you ever made a report to the supervisory board?
If you found this post informative/useful/important, etc, please find me on Facebook so you won't miss any updates!

Menu Plan for the week

By now, you all know how I feel about menu plans. Having one is good, even if I don't stick to it perfectly. Not having one means we are always scrambling and we don't eat anything resembling balanced meals. SO -- here's my plan for suppers for this week:





Sunday night -Vegetable Soup, Tuna Patties, Oven-fries

Monday night - Shabbat Leftovers

Tuesday night - Sloppy Sams on Fresh Rolls, Salad, Roasted Root Vegetables

Wednesday night - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato soup with rice, carrots and cucumbers

Thursday night - Pasta of some sort, Make your own salad

What about lunches, you ask?

Good question.

I've been having a harder time with lunches lately, and I'm not sure why. Maybe when I say "I'll serve leftovers" I forget that with one teenage boy and one almost teenage boy in the house, there are rarely any substantial leftovers around. So I plan to serve pasta some days, soup other days, and we'll supplement with sandwiches, vegetables, eggs, and fruit. We are well stocked with peanut butter!

The end of the week will likely be a little nutty, as we plan to host yet another kiddush. I'll post my plan for that soon!

Sug Bet Rack Today

Today, as I walked past the makolet, I decided to check the sug bet rack again. The last week or so it has not been so great, and today i was greeted by truly rotten pumpkins and eggplants (such overwhelmingly rotten pumpkins, I nearly left). 

But I decided to look further, and here is what I found that was worthwhile for me!
I skipped the turnips, my family will NOT touch them (I don't really blame them).

But here's what I got for 11.60NIS:

cucumbers
lemons
kishuim (summer squash)
eggplant
tomatoes
pears
kohlrabi
white cabbage
purple cabbage
an interesting looking citrus fruit
1 bunch of herbs (looks like parsley)



These sug bet rack purchases are really hit or miss! So glad today was a hit!
Please share your favorite finds!

New Israeli Internet Supermarket

Do you ever try to shop for groceries online? I've done it on rare occasion, but depending upon where you live, your options are extremely limited, and usually there is a HUGE markup for this convenience service...

So I figured you should all hear the news! Online shopping in Israel is CHANGING!

The Victory chain of supermarkets is opening an online store. You'll be able to find it at MySupermarket.

For now, their delivery area is limited to a small area of the merkaz, but they plan to eventually expand to include more southern areas (as far as Be'er Sheva) and more northern areas (as far as the Krayot).

For now, they are promising that their online prices will be lower than their in-store prices!

That sounds great! Now, can someone get them to expand their delivery area to include the Golan, too?

Israeli Produce (Important Pesticide Residue Info)

Conventionally grown produce usually has pesticide residue. For the first time, an Israeli organization has ranked local produce. (Thanks to the Israeli Union for Environmental Defense for making this information available to the public!) Below you'll see the list, and my translation! Take them to the store with you so you can be a more informed shopper. You can significantly reduce your exposure to pesticides (and this article explains that so many pesticides (36!) used in Israel are banned in other parts of the world) by focusing on the foods on the "clean" list, and avoiding those on the dirty list. I know this will make a big difference for us!

Here are the "Dirtiest" Fifteen:

Grapes
Celery
Apples
Citrus fruit
Beets

Coriander
Dill
Lettuce
Mint
Baby Lettuce Mix
Pears
Kohlrabi
Peaches
Potatoes
Peppers


The Ten Cleanest:

Passionfruit
Avocado
Sprouts
Sweet Potato
Onion
Dates
Asparagus
Peas
Cauliflower
Artichoke


If you found this post informative/useful/important, etc, please follow this blog (links on the right!) and find us on Facebook! 
 

Summer fruit

Summer fruit is here!

And, for me, Mega is helping me buy some more of it. The other local store is just a bit too far away for me to shlep fruit home from in this heat (I'm thinking there would be fruit soup in my bag by the time I got home), and the makolet has some very buggy looking produce these days!

My family, however will be very happy when I come home on Friday with fruit from this sale (peaches, mango, plums for 5.99/kg)! And I will be happy to have saved an extra 10% for shopping on Friday. I just MUST get there early. It seems that even in my small town, a store can get crowded when they offer a blanket discount like that! (I'll probably pick up some carrots while I'm at it. But what happened to carrots for less than 1 NIS/kg? Haven't seen that in a while!)

What summer fruit are you enjoying these days?

Grocery deals

Do you have a Mega store near you? If so, you should know that a LOT of their stores have begun to offer a 10% discount on either Friday or Sat. night (or both, in some cases), off your entire purchase (excluding certain products like matches, appliances, bill pay services, etc.).

Mega is generally not the cheapest store around. But I DO plan to go back there on Friday (I was there today, as we were out of milk, but reminded myself not to be tempted by their sales as I would have to carry home everything I bought. I only brought one cooler bag and one other reusable shopping bag with me). That's when I will buy some of their sale items, and even other items that I generally buy, and get a better deal.

So while Mega is not cheap, I welcome the opportunity to get their fruit-sweetened jelly, on sale right now for 7.99 (regular 11.90), for 7.20. I didn't read the sign carefully, I really should have checked that the sale was really valid. I checked on their website and it is not listed... and I plan to take advantage of some of their produce sales and get an extra 10% off - so pears and apples for 4.99/kg will be 4.50/kg, and that's lower than anywhere around here. Mehadrin greens and herbs are 3/10, so they'll be 3/9. Not bad. I generally get whole wheat flour there for 5.05/kg, but with 10% off, that comes to 4.55.

Time to rearrange the schedule and make sure there's time for a Mega run on Fridays!

Don't forget, even price regulated products like eggs and milk qualify for the discount.

So, write up a list, and happy budget-cutting! Just don't fall for the trap of buying things that are out of your budget just because it's 10% off. Discounts are great, but stores give them with the intention of luring you to buy things you wouldn't have bought otherwise. So shop carefully!

Price Wars at the Supermarket!

The media, and many people from the Maaleh Adumim and Bet Shemesh areas, have been reporting price wars going on at their local supermarkets. Namely, Shufersal is trying to undercut Rami Levy in Maaleh Adumim, and the new Osher Ad in Bet Shemesh. But other stores seem to be getting in on it too. Any nearby store would have to compete!

Shoppers are thrilled. Prices like 3 NIS/kg for chickens have been reported. Produce can be found for half a shekel per kilo in some cases. 5 NIS for a bottle of oil...

Who wouldn't stock up? (Well, for us, it wouldn't make sense. All that gas and Kvish 6 tolls would wipe out any savings, for sure. But for those in the area....??)

I was part of an online discussion about this. Some customers were immensely happy, sharing their "scores" at the store. Then, there was the voice of dissent. The opinion expressed was that everyone should NOT take advantage of these sales, because in the long run they would lead to losses for Shufersal's competitors, who would struggle to stay open and would not be able to offer "low" prices anymore.

The argument was that the price war is a tactic that Shufersal can afford, but that Rami Levy and Osher Ad could not. Therefore, purchasing discounted groceries would be a bad move, as in the end, Shufersal would gain market share and jack up their prices...

I personally am not an economist. I don't understand all the ins and outs of a business. But my feeling is that the price wars will fade, and customers will shop at the stores they like to shop in. Some go to the same store every week. Others shop around, looking for deals. My gut tells me that neither Osher Ad nor Rami Levy will go out of business over a few weeks of price reductions.

And my hope is that a new reality will settle in: one in which the Israeli consumer can spend a lower percentage of income on food. Let's hope the economic realities will settle in, and Israelis will start to bargain hunt. My gut tells me that food prices can be lowered. Someone is getting VERY WEALTHY off of inflated prices...

I'm waiting for price wars here! When they come, you betcha I'm stocking up. I'll fill my freezer to the max! And I'll try to report how - some things I'll cook, and some things, I'll just freeze for later use!
Can't wait!

Shopping Habits

I just evaluated our grocery purchases over the past month and discovered that I overbought some things (that's ok, they are dry goods and will last) and underbought others.

Like rice. I totally ran out of rice a week before I thought I would.
And black beans. Same thing.
But I have 2 extra kg of red lentils...

So now, it is time to re-work the staples list, so next time I can plan better!

Do you have a "monthly staples" list?

Mine has been in my head for a while. But I think it may be time to write it down, and keep track of our actual usage...

Printable Coupon! (Israel)

Mega stores are offering lots of printable coupons for You card holders!
Just sign up and they'll email you a printable document, full of coupons!
Just look before you print - you'll waste a lot of ink if you don't end up using them.
Valid thru 16.6.2012.
Sorry, no rainchecks, as far as I can tell!

Grocery Shopping

Looking for a good deal on eggs?
Till Wed., get a 30 count tray of eggs for 20 NIS at Kimat Chinam stores!
There are other deals to be had as well...

Blogger is not letting me upload any pictures to this blog, though.

There are 2 NIS/kg produce deals - on watermelon, onions, cabbage, beets, and carrots.
Canola oil/Sunflower oil 3/20 NIS (bottle sizes may vary)
Rice 4 kg/10 NIS

And more...

Happy Bargain Hunting!