average grocery store price	target price for target brand
Kelloggs Eggo Homestyle	$2.29	$1.62
Solid White Tuna	$1.99	$1.02
Nutrigrain Cereal bars (8)	$3.49	$1.74
Crackers - Table Water	$4.99	$1.74
Heinz Sweet Relish	$1.95	$0.99
Mt. Olive Dill Pickles	$3.85	$2.39
Wish-Bone Dressing - Creamy Caesar	$4.25	$1.52
Kraft Mac Cheese	$1.55	$0.42
Barilla Penne Pasta - 16 Oz	$1.49	$1.17
Cereal (average price 14 oz. box)	$3.50	$1.79
Cheese 16oz. block	$4.99	$2.44
Bushs Black Beans - 15 Oz	$1.39	$0.79
Bushs Garbanzo Beans - 16 Oz	$1.39	$0.79
Safeway Pepperoni Pizza	$4.59	$3.99
Quaker Chewy Chocolate Granola Bar	$2.50	$1.74
Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice	$2.99	$1.58
Sun-Maid Natural California Raisins 12.oz	$3.45	$1.69
Back to Nature Granola	$6.39	$3.99
Musselman's Apple Sauce - Cinnamon	$3.59	$1.87
Hillshire Farm Honey Roasted Turkey Breast	$5.99	$3.99
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - Original	$5.39	$2.79
Aunt Jemima Syrup 24oz	$4.49	$1.80
Wet Ones Moist Wipes - Antibacterial	$3.35	$1.99
Name Brands
Brummel And Brown Spread	$3.19	$2.14
Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Pouch	$2.95	$1.59
	total @ grocery store	total @ target
	$85.99	$47.58

So maybe this is my most low-rent post of all time. But this blog is about saving money and I can't always produce snappy content with crafts, cute kids or acerbic anecdotes about my meathead husband. Also , I am allowed to get a little trailer-trash-esque; I spent half my childhood in my grandparent's motor home poaching new friends every twelve hours on my banana bike at the Naples KOA. They loved living in a trailer and I think Scott and I will too. We like cards, salty snack foods and we're very social. Like my (extremely smart and successful) friends Bart and Ann once said: "...we're not wondering IF we'll end up in a trailer in Maine, it's a matter of WHEN we'll end up in a trailer in Maine!"

We have a new Target in Portland. Woo-Hoo! I drove to Cascade Station a week ago and I was basically looking for cereal bars. What I didn't expect was that I had just discovered my first "Super Target" and when I looked at the prices and the humongous grocery section I started grabbing every Target brand version of almost every item I already needed from the grocery store. I was elated; I realized I was saving money on Target brands (Market Pantry, Up&Up and Archer Farms) but I also found a few name brands at everyday great prices and some extraordinary sale prices as well.

It took me a while to analyze my receipt and look for the prices I would have paid elsewhere, but I finally got my shit together today and realized I saved nearly 45%. That's incredible, right? And all that procrastinating gave the family time to actually eat most of it in case it didn't measure up.

It does measure up. I was particularly worried about the tuna and the cranberry juice. I'm addicted to one and picky about the other and they were both great. Knowing I have a place to get my cranberry juice for $1.60 is a big help right now.

Writing this blog can be difficult. I'm torn between raving about shopping local and looking for bargains at the same time. Its a gray area for me because I need to spend as little as I can on groceries right now. On one hand, I can appreciate and take advantage of these great prices at Target without stooping to a "Walmart" level of guilt. I can also keep buying my fresh veggies and meats at New Seasons or even Fred Meyer, both local markets that deserve my business. If I had more money, I would buy all my groceries at New Seasons because it's family owned and provides good wages and health insurance to it's employees. Until my wallet loosens up, I think I have a legitimate excuse to break some of my own rules. You dear reader need to measure your situation and put your money wisely into the community and think about your family's best interests at the same time.