It seems like I am always searching for the one. At lunchtime, on weekends, sometimes after work… I head off in search of the one. My husband knows, and he encourages me. He likes a bargain too!

My search for the one begins and ends at my local Sam’s Club.

The local Sam’s happens to be pretty close to my day job, so I often take my lunch hour and make a One-Run. (Yes, I have been known to prowl the aisles munching on my sandwich brought from home!) You see I am a frugal person. I promise!

In addition, I get to walk on my lunch break. My job entails sitting at a desk with a computer. Great job, but sometimes ya gotta move! So this is a post about frugality and exercise – at Sam’s! Many years ago I discovered that when Sam’s is closing out an item, they will mark it down to a price ending in the number one. And so I prowl. I usually need a 5-pound bag of carrots, or some celery, or some milk (my ideas of “regular” good buys at Sam’s). I pick up my carrots, and then start the prowl. First the meat counters to see what has been reduced. The one does not apply here, but I pay attention to the cost per pound, the look of the meat, and try to factor how many meals I might get out of it. For instance, this pork shoulder Boston roast.

At $1.50 per pound, it is a good deal. Total $5.36, and I foresee three good meals. Pork roast, followed by a second meal of either pork and my homemade sauerkraut or pork barbecue sandwiches. The third will be pork-fried rice using my garden grown frozen broccoli, frozen snap peas and frozen cut corn. That works out to about $1.82 for each “entrée”- feeding three adults dinner and (usually) lunch leftovers.

Sometimes I hit the health and beauty section, most times not. Today they had some vitamins and Gas-X marked down and ending in a one. I passed.

Then I work my way through the other aisles. I don’t usually buy clothes, but I like to look – and today there were many buys. You’ll notice that some of the prices end in .00 (or “goose eggs.”) That’s often a sign of markdown too.

I enjoy the dry food/staples aisles. You can see a little of everything. Sometimes the items are marked down because they are seasonal, sometimes they are redesigned with new packaging hit with the nefarious shrink ray gun, and sometimes they just need the room for something new. (How ironic is it to drop the price to clear out a larger sized package only to replace it with a smaller package at the same price?)

Like your tools? There are bargains to be found there as well.

This is not a place to search for the one. It is where markdowns are taken on returns, damages, floor models or the last one. There are still deals to be found here, but no ones.

WARNING. You should not buy these if there are any left in your local Sam’s!

I am a strong-willed diabetic who can easily pass these up. (Alas, I never got the Oreo gene – when we were kids, my brother hogged the gene, along with all the Oreos…) But what happened when someone gave me a gift of these? Well, shhhh, and don’t tell on me, but I shared them all. Hubby got some, the farmer across the way got some, and I shared the rest at work. I did not eat a single cookie. But everyone who did came back and asked for more, and once they’ve left the clearance shelf it’s a tough job to find them again!

Remember, a bargain isn’t a bargain if you can’t or won’t use or gift it. I check expiration dates on all my purchases. I also use my common sense in visually inspecting the item. I have not had problems at Sam’s. Everything has been fresh and good, and I buy what I will use. While exercising your legs in your search for the one, try working on those cheek muscles and smile at people. It is healthy, brings sunshine, and it’s downright entertaining to see the surprise in folks’ faces as they encounter your smile and (mostly) smile back.

My final stop today was the frozen and refrigerated cases, scouring for the one. I have found some tremendous deals. The last time I went to Charleston I found huge two pound bricks of sharp cheddar for $3.51 each and I stocked up! Today was kind of light, just these cocktail franks.

I passed. The search for the one happens every time I need to stop and pick something up. It’s not always successful but there’s always next time!

You can also find Billie at No Crack Cream.

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