Food Bank Reminder! March 2011

U

usa50xx

New member
Along the lines of the "calamities" thread... many years ago I promised I'd
mention Food Banks here on a quarterly basis. I fell by the wayside, sorry!
Easter is approaching and this is the still the first quarter of the year,
so here's my first quarter reminder :) It only costs a few cents on the
dollar to add a couple of extra cans of veggies, a bag of rice or dried
beans to your shopping cart. Toilet paper, etc. People make fun of a
particular person here for eating Spam but I've got news for you, it
actually tastes good. Some food banks have the facilities to store frozen
goods but not all of them do, so check first. Please support your local
food bank!

Jill
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 09:38:29 -0400, jmcquown wrote:


What do you mean, "It only costs a few cents on the dollar".

Everything you mention costs a dollar or more, no matter how you add
it up.


-sw
 
"Sqwertz" wrote

If you buy $50 in groceries and add in two cans of beans for the food bank,
it is a few cents on your $50 bill.
 
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote:

Not really... it's a percentage of the entire grocery bill... but the
beans are still regular price, it's been a very long time since a can
of beans cost 9?. There is no way to justify by price, one either
wants to give to a food bank or they don't. I give to the four legged
food bank... the two legged can get a job.
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 12:49:04 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


That's an odd way to calculate the cost of something. I like to
manage my money with absolute costs, not relative to something else.
Everything is "pennies on the dollar" compared to my take home pay or
savings account. That term is usually reserved for how much you're
*saving* when comparing it to it's worth or original cost.

No wonder women spend so much money on frivolous stuff.

-sw (ducking)
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 12:49:04 -0400 in rec.food.cooking, "Ed
Pawlowski" wrote,

It is exactly the same number of cents on your bill as if you bought
only the two cans of beans. There is no quantity discount, most
stores.
 
"David Harmon" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

It's the metal process. If you are spending $2 for yourself, spending $2
for the food bank doubles your cost. If you are spending $100 for yourself,
it is easier to justify "it only another couple of bucks" .

I read that some banks are going to charge $5 to use their ATM if you are
not a customer. That is 25% if you take only $20, pure theivery, but merely
pennies on the dollar if you are taking $400 so you can stay at the
blackjack table a little longer. Amazing how things can be justified.
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:37:03 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:

Apparently "cents on the dollar" is a catch phrase he's never heard
before. The rest of us understood in the first place and still
understand.


I thought they've charged non-customers from the git go.


Yep. These are the same thieves that won't restructure loans (lower
the APR to the current rate) for people who are underwater but can
still afford to make payments. Apparently they *want* people to walk
away from their homes.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
"sf" wrote

Yes, but most are around $2. Quite a j ump to five, plus what your own bank
may charge.

I use my own bank's once in a while, but most times, I get cash back when
using the debit card to buy at a store. Most are no charge for the service.
 
Nice reminder, Jill.
When my market has a BOGO and the items aren't complete junk, I grab
em and donate one of the items, or even two if it's something I don't
eat. It's a painless way to help the food banks. My market usually
has a bin for donations near the exits, so it's about as handy as yuh
kin git.
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:36:16 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:


Yeah, that's the easiest way to get cash.... unless you're away from
home. Then you're over a barrel and need an ATM.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:37:03 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


It is thievery when there are tons of ATM's that don't belong to ANY
bank - so everybody gets charged the $5. And then to load up a
tourist area with non-affiliated ATM's, such as San Francisco's Pier
39 where I paid $5 to use an ATM about 15 years ago.

Swiping a debit card at the store will go down from $.44 to $.12.
That is what the retailer pays and passes off onto other people who
don't use cards.

-sw
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:17:16 -0700 (PDT), Kalmia wrote:


One of our grocery stores profits twice off of our giving food to the
food bank. Randalls, part of the Safeway/Tom Thumb family, preloads
grocery bags with dry/canned goods and displays them on a table. They
ring them up beforehand and put the register receipt on them, and
you're expected to buy them at that price and donate them right into
the Food Bank deposit can next to the table.

On the bottom of the receipt reads: "You could have saved $x.xx by
using your Randall's Card!". Those x's are usuaully in the $2-$5
range.

Not to mention that much of the foods are things they just wanted to
get rid of - some of the things have even expired. And others would
have discounted closeouts (pumpkin pie fillings, mulling spices, other
seasonal items).

I wrote them about this practice twice a few years ago and they
*still* do this (and of course I never heard back, either). Talk
about *low*, that's despicable.

-sw
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 19:17:16 -0400, Nancy Young wrote:


Walmart will allow up to $100 cash back on a purchase of bubble gum.
My real grocery store allows $50, as well as Walgreens. Need $100?
Buy two packs of gum.

-sw
 
On Mar 20, 5:10?pm, sf wrote:

I take cash back when using my debit card to make a purchase when I'm
away from home, because it's the only way to get $ without being
charged for using a "foreign" ATM. I never use an ATM to get cash,
except where I have access to my own bank's ATM, for that reason.

When traveling, stop into a Walgreens or CVS, pick up a cold drink,
newspaper or candy bar... and get $100 cash back. No fees.
 
Sqwertz wrote:


And at least you'd have something for the money instead of just
handing over money to get your hands on your own money. Let's
make it Altoids or something, I can't take gum.

ancy
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 10:53:18 -0700 in rec.food.cooking, sf
wrote,

No, I'm quite familiar with the phrase "cents on the dollar";
it refers to getting something at a small fraction of the regular
price. It's completely wrong in this case. There is no such
savings involved.

The "easier to justify" part is just non sense. The justification
for buying something for the food bank is exactly the same if you
are buying nothing else. The two transactions have nothing to do
with each other, even if you do them together. Thinking otherwise
is just fooling yourself.
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:54:12 -0700 (PDT), Catmandy (Sheryl) wrote:


Walgreens here only allows $50. And I don't chop at CVS since they
require a loyalty card.

Both Walgreens and CVS are way more expensive than the grocery store's
drug section, BTW. Anybody want to take bets on which one folds
first? They are building like crazy around here. CVS will build on
one intersection, the Walgreens the next one down. Then CVS will
leapfrog to the next intersection, and so on. Our market is saturated
with CVS and Wg stores both of which are more expensive than anywhere
else.

-sw
 
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