I have a question for all of you… would you like me to continue blogging grocery ads during the Illinois Stay-At-Home order? I have continued on, partially because I’ve tried to maintain a sense of normalcy for everyone, including myself.
I’ve gotten a few emails from readers questioning whether I should continue blogging deals while we’re all at home:
“I’m both thankful and amused that you continue to write up your weekly deals. Thankful for the ‘normalcy’ it brings in these strange and scary times, and amused because, well, is it really still possible to coupon now?”
“You may want to rethink blogging deals at a time when everyone should be staying home. It could be viewed that you are encouraging people to go the store which no one should be doing. Encourage people to use delivery instead please.”
I’ve already blogged about our adventures in grocery shopping (exclusively using curbside pickup) and we’re committed to staying home during this time, but it’s not been my intention to tell anyone else how they should be shopping. That said, I’ve heard and read so many reports of stores being out of things that I’m not sure it’s possible to chase deals right now. Plus, many of the things we order are substituted or missing from orders, so “whatever’s in stock” becomes more important than “what’s on sale.”
For example, one of our grocery pickup orders included russet baking potatoes. The store substituted yellow potatoes. No problem, I thought… until we got the bag home and saw the size of these potatoes!
We all had a good laugh! Of course we’ll eat ’em… but not as the stuffed baked potatoes we’d planned :)
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If you’re still getting something out of the weekly Deals writeups (even if it is a sense of normalcy!) feel free to leave a comment. Admittedly, the ads have grown significantly thinner and lighter .
Because the grocery ads are so light lately, it’s left plenty of time for other adventures around the house. Over the past month, I’ve:
- Lanscaped all the flowerbeds
- Ordered marigold seeds and started them in paper cups since we can’t buy bedding plants
- Taught our boys to mud and sand drywall while fixing a spot in the bathroom where the shower surround had leaked and ruined part of the wall. (We recaulked the shower wall too!)
- Primed and painted that bathroom with the boys
- Had enough paint left over to paint the other bathroom (yes, they’re now the same color. I wasn’t going to the store for more paint!)
- Pressure-washed our deck and back patio
- Pressure-washed the patio furniture
- Pressure-washed the barbecue grill
- Boys came outside and wanted to learn how to use the “cool” pressure washer
- Boys began looking for other things to blast with pressure washer
- Boys pressure-washed our portion of the city sidewalk from lot line to lot line, and now it’s ridiculously whiter than all the neighbors’ sidewalks. We’re all so proud of our gleaming, bright concrete.
- Made a 1000-piece puzzle. Then, ordered another two more puzzles to make with the family
- Pruned a bunch of bushes and trees in our yard
- Had two bonfires (so far. There will be more!)
- Grilling out. So much grilling!
- Hanging out with the family outside and watching daytime TV from our deck on every 60+ degree day, which has introduced our kids to many great TV shows we grew up with. (Did you know that Charge airs three hours of Knight Rider and three hours of C.H.I.P.S. every day? It’s channel 62.3 in Chicagoland!)
- Cleaned out most of the closets in the house
- Washed and detailed the cars
- Played many rounds of Battleship, Pictionary, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Bananagrams, and other games with the kids
- Accidentally spilled dog’s water bowl inside his Store-N-Feed dog food holder when lifting the lid off. (What a mess this was.) I decided the best way to salvage it was to pour 15 pounds of wet kibble into four different sheet pans and baked it in the oven at 250° for over an hour to dry out the water so the food wouldn’t go to waste. The house smelled like baked meat for hours afterward..!
- Woke up with Johnny B on the radio for the first time in four years. Blasted it through the house for three hours straight and will do it again this weekend. It was the most surprising and unexpected joyful shot of normalcy in a very abnormal world right now.
Hopefully you’ve been able to have some adventures of your own during this stay-at-home time!
J.R. says
Using less and less coupons over the past few years. Getting more from places like Woodmans (now the closest grocery store to or house) and Aldi, and almost nothing from places like Jewel, Target, Meijer, et al.
Still using them, but my weekly shopping is now 1 or 2 stores every one or 2 weeks, instead of a handful every Tuesday plus random others when convenient.
We’re mostly living off our stockpile, pantry, freezer, and even nitrile gloves and N95 masks that were free after rebate at Menards years ago.
Using your posts to point me to anything I might have missed.
Normal would be nice.
Patti Free says
Hi, I still enjoy and read all of your posts about what the stores have on sale. Please continue to do what you do. I sincerely appreciate all of your hard work
Calibabydolly says
Yes! Please keep up the deals. Especially since we don’t get the paper that contain the ads anymore. I look forward to your previews, even though I can see the online versions of the paper fliers when they become valid.
I still clip my coupons, whether paper or digital, make my lists, and pretend all is the same in the world so I keep my brain organized! I may not actually get to that store or they don’t have the items in stock I planned, but I am still filling in the staples like milk and eggs and my stockpile is actually getting depleted now! We have been “planning” for this for years and years….just never thought it would really happen!
Thank You for doing your blog “as normal”….so please continue on!
Coupon Maven says
I feel the same way. I can actually see down the walls of my freezer now, and when other family members have asked if we have paper towels or TP to spare, I can say “YES!”
wolverine70 says
The posts still add value. If you’re willing to continue doing them, you can be sure we’ll continue to read them.
Zee says
Yes, please continue to post the deals. I am still going out as needed and stocking up on items
Beth says
I still enjoy reading your posts on coupon match ups at the various stores. I appreciate all of your hard work!
Joanne says
Please continue posting!
How do you hear Johnny B? How did I miss him?
Coupon Maven says
Johnny announced, via his website and email list last week, that he would begin broadcasting online! The first show was on 4/4 at 10:00am. It was billed as an audio test, but he and Buzz did a commercial-free three hour stretch that was just amazing. (Even more amazing because there were zero commercials at all – it’s just something they decided to do!)
They caught us up on many things that have happened in the four years JB’s been off the air and took a bunch of calls.
One caller told how interesting it was to drive home to Chicago from NY after selling his home there. His whole family had already made the move, and he was sitting in an empty house. With Corona exploding in NY, he drove straight through in 12 hours and talked about how no rest areas were open, no restaurants – he had to relive himself behind the rest area building and only ate some snacks he had in the car for the drive home. Really odd and a bit eerie to hear about the empty highways aside from all the trucks.
Johnny is returning again this Saturday, again at 10:00am, again streaming at https://brandmeiershow.com/live . Bittersweetly, he closed his show by playing a classic clip of John Prine performing in the lounge years ago, and then sadly we lost John Prine yesterday.
https://brandmeiershow.com – you can listen to last week’s broadcast there as well. :) Johnny joked that when everyone went into hiding, HE came back out!
Gina says
If it’s not a big hassle especially with everything going on, please continue to do the grocery deals. I went for groceries after 18 days. For the first time in my life bought without looking at the cost. Not planning to go back for a month or so. If before then, will try the curbside pickup. Yes. Your posts help a lot in maintaining normalcy. Reading about your life and adventures is something that brings sunshine in my life. Bless you for all you do.
Ann Taylor Burdette says
Hi Jill,
Thank you for your hard work. I am wearing gloves long paints, long sleeves and a Mask. Also only going out Twice a week. I Love reading your
columns they are a big part of my day and helping me to save . Thank you and God Bless you for all you do. Ann Taylor
Mary says
Yes, I think you still should post the deals and all. Maybe the very next day they will tell us it is safe to shop! Or we can see what deals are around us and maybe have a delivery set up, with what all that involves. Thank you for doing such good work. we are grateful for you, Jill! Thanks.
Curtis Payne says
I still print up a list from your page before going to Jewel. I don’t use as many coupons as I used to because coupons for food are often (but not always) for processed food & I’m trying to eat more healthy. Your list tells me what items I buy on a regular basis that are on sale. Thanks for all your help, you have saved me a lot of money over the years & for that I will be forever grateful. Keep up the good work!!
Jill says
Yes, please continue? I still need to shop for our local food pantries who are seeing a huge increase in the number of families needing help. Coupons and the weekly deals really help us stretch our budget to help more families.
J.R. says
With so many stores stopping print ads, that makes your posts more critical too!