My new gas station purchase strategy (both red/blues)

As I continue to rack up mostly the conditional reveal variety of gas station visits, I have amassed quite the collection of:

• Cherry candies (Tootsie Pops, Zotz, Jolly Rancher Pops and the all-too-occasional CherryHeads <which have gone up from .25 to .45/box in the new abnormal>

• 2-for-$1.09 packs of Planters peanuts.

A change in strategy is in order until I work my way through my inventory.

In walking through a recent store I happened upon my new go-to: those little packs of Kleenex, which were .59 when I found them.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

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My go-to is a single banana.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Little Debbie cakes, some were 0.50 now are 0.75, still under budget for one.

Very small bags of chips were 0.59 or 2/1.00 are now 0.79.

If you can find them, single candies in a bucket near the register, often unpriced.

Some c-store chains have fountain drinks for 0.89 or 0.99.

I usually don't worry about going a little over. My new go-tos are the lttle packs of Fig Newtons, ususally 0.99 or now 1.19, although sometimes they jack them up to 1.99. The same is true for the Nutri-Grain cereal bars. Usually 0.99 or now 1.19, but sometimes higher. Of course, the chips at 2/1.00 are the best when available, and the bananas are good too if they aren't too ripe or I don't already have too many.

Try Nature Valley Oatmeal bars - I crush them and sprinkle it on my Greek yogurt or add it to my banana bread. Or those 8 packs of cheese and crackers - crush them in your meat loaf mix.

On the little Debbie racks there are Granola bars. The granola bars are 50 cents a piece. I can't eat them but my son loves them. So they are never wasted.

String cheese is my go-to.

I check the gas station app for any deals. Otherwise, I grab a bottle of chocolate milk for my kids, even if it goes over the reimbursement a little.

I usually get a bottle of water or small tissue pack, but both are often over $1 here.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

I get a bottle of water.

Wrigleys Gum... 0.35

the salted caramel peanuts are great… for some reason they’re only carried in about 20% of the stations. the weird thing about them is the price is unpredictable. some stores .89, most .99, some will go over $2.00

sometimes I get the peanuts which are marked 99 cents on the package. Some stations charge tax and others do not. I wait until I have a few packages and make peanut butter from them. I also buy bananas or water, Some stations do not price the water and others do. I also buy cheese crackers which range from .79 to 1.25.
It is so iffy since you never know how much they will cost because many stations do not mark the prices.

And that, dear shoppers, Is what gets points off on my reports: no prices, inaccurate prices and tax where there should be none. And I include a comment. I like to know what I'm going to pay before I get to the register. Anywhere, not just at gas stations.

Outside of a bottle of water, if I forget mine at home, string cheese, the elusive Zagnut, etc. There's not much I want or need so it gets donated.
This way, I'm not stuck with something I don't want and kids in my community, who may see little to no food outside of school, have a little something to eat.
When the reimbursement is a buck, I go for bricks of ramen, granola bars, crackers, etc. For $2, it's larger packages of noodles, fruit cups, or Chef Boyardee. I fill a medium sized box for my local elementary school's backpack program. The amount over the reimbursement is still cheaper than whatever the item costs at Walmart.
Because there's a plethora of grocery store shops nearby, I'm lucky enough to almost always buy my groceries on mystery shop. Most of the time, I can get a 6-pack of ramen, boxes of raisins, tuna/cracker kits for under $2 and apple sauce or pull top cans of soup for under $3.

Sunflower seeds! $0.69 for one.

If I pays $1 for the C-store, I get something for $1.19 or $1.25 -- a Nutri Grain Bar, a bag of Planters Trail Mix. I'm going to eat it.. and I'll take the $1.00 off it rather than go under. That's just me,. Likewise DGAF if I go a few cents over on the gas.

If promotional item purchase is required, one beer or hard seltzer that's on a 2 for $x.xx special. Guidelines don't prohibit alcoholic beverages.

@MrEd wrote:

If promotional item purchase is required, one beer or hard seltzer that's on a 2 for $x.xx special. Guidelines don't prohibit alcoholic beverages.

Guidelines for most gas shops/audits, like blue and red, do prohibit alcohol, tobacco or lottery. There are only a few that don't.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2022 12:13PM by sestrahelena.

I can always find 2 bananas for a $1.00 when I need a healthy snack or the miniature cheese packs.

Dang! My bananas went up to $1.29 each or 2/$2.

Yeah, I was going to say I had to pay $1.25 for a banana at one place. The 2/$100 still exist at many places, but if the price isn't marked I can no longer assume they are under a $1 for one.

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My new gas station purchase strategy (both red/blues)

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