So...not going out on a Friday night was a change of pace...I'm trying to not put myself in situations where I think I would be tempted to cheat. The social aspect of this is going to be kind of difficult. What do you do when you get together with friends? There is almost ALWAYS food and drink involved. I don't really want to become a hermit but I'm committed to completing the full 60 day cycle.
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| Jacksonville Farmer's Market |
Anyhow, I hit the Jacksonville Farmer's Market this morning. If you are local to Jax, and haven't been there - I strongly recommend checking it out. It's not in a particularly great part of town, but it's well worth the trip. The place is pretty big with 2 open air buildings with vendors lining each side...kind of flea market-esque. They have their bases pretty well covered, tons of various produce of the standard variety and some stuff I didn't even know existed.
I found each of the items I needed while scouting out the vendors and prices. I talked to a few people beforehand and they advised me that the vendors entertain haggling and be able to produce exact change. I brought 40 bucks in one dollar bills and 5 dollars worth of quarters figuring I would be able to stock up with that amount. I made out like a bandit, and only spent 20 bucks (see below). I think I'm going to hit this every Saturday. That way I can likely make it till Wednesday/Thursday and only have to pay the Publix premium for 2 days or so until I can make it back to the market. I've never considered myself to be 'thrifty', however I'm mowing through produce - and it's not exactly cheap.
A few examples of savings below - the only thing I wasn't pleased with was the price of apples. However, they are larger than the ones I purchased at Publix - so I'll only have to use 1 per batch instead of 2.
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| $20 worth of Produce |
| Item | Publix | Market |
| Cucumbers | 8/$5.16 | 10/$3 |
| Ginger Root | 1/$7.01 | 1/$1 |
| Kale | 3 bunches/$5.07 | 6 bunches/$5 |
| Apples | 2 small bags/$9.98 | 8 large/$6 |
| Celery | 2 bags/$3.78 | 2 bags/$3 |
| Item | Costco | Market |
| Lemons | 20/$7.49 | 8/$2 |
Cost Comparison
The Gators won today, I celebrated with a tall glass of mean green. Jags need to bring it tomorrow and i'll be happy. I re-added NFL Redzone to my TV package and will be managing my 3 fantasy teams tomorrow - pretty excited about it - HA!
Shout out to my new readers from Australia and India....pretty cool - thanks for checking in.
Until next time.
