I took my car in for some service this morning so Ben had to drop me off at work. We got really into this NPR story about a former gang member girl. Anyone else hear it?
After my short shift (1.5 hours) I walked home. Saw this sign on the way. Right smack in the middle of Los Angeles and San Diego. Kinda. 
It was overcast all weekend and today the sun decides to bust out and shine on me for my walk. The camera doesn’t do my sweaty forehead justice.
I made a pit stop on the way home because we were out of lettuce. I scored 4 manager’s specials on produce! I know we all love a sale, but a sale on food is that much better!
Tips for scoring Manager’s Specials:
- Shop in the early part of the day. I usually only find them between 10am and 1pm.
- Go to where your store keeps these sale items first thing. (Because there are 20 little old ladies who are going to get to them first if you don’t.)
- Check the expiration dates. (If you care about that sort of thing. I like to live dangerously and will eat
basicallyanything.) - Be ready to change your weekly meal plan / shopping list. Luckily, I don’t make one very often so I just use up my sale finds asap.
I used my salad and pico de gallo for lunch! Salad with chicken, peanut dressing, cashews and veggies.
I considered putting my watermelon in a separate plate, but that’s just silly.
Dessert – I adora these 
See you in a bit!
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I love kroger mgr specials. I had no idea snout the timing though!
I love the area at the back (or side) of any Ralph’s stores that have the racks of boxed foods on sale…everything from bread to cupcakes to jars of peanut butter. YUM!! But yeah, salad on sale = SCORE!!
Thanks for the tips. Always looking to save money.
My grocery store doesn’t have a section for sales like this. But how awesome! I actually know of a grocery outlet that will have some cheap stuff, but it’s always PACKED and they never have more than two cashiers. I can never decide if I really want to save money, but have to waste two hours in a grocery store…
I did listen to the same NPR story. Living in the rural part of the midwest in an area where we have gangster “wanna-be” types it was amazing and sad to hear that true life account of growning up in that environment.
I just figured this out as I stopped by the grocery late this evening and all the “specials” were gone. I was so mad!
Just discovered your blog and am really enjoying it; I’m a fairly new runner (a year and a half ago) and am gearing up for my first half-marathon in a few weeks. Excited and nervous at the same time!
Manager’s specials are great! Sometimes the produce looks a little scary but most times I’ve found it to be just fine.
bahhhh I miss manager specials!!!!
I LOVE manager’s specials…but I end up thinking I need to eat everything that day and end up with a HUGE fruit and veggie food-baby…
I love, love, LOVE clearance/manager’s special shopping. So much so that I have a tag on my site called “orange and yellow” because I always scout out the color in the store, haha.
http://www.quirkycookery.com/2011/02/clearance-stickers-addicted-to-yellow.html (Yes, I’m linking to that and hoping it doesn’t come off as spammy…it’s just a picture of a pile of all my stickered produce one week and I’m *not* one of those crazy shoppers that uses a million coupons and goes nuts with frugality even…it was just awesome luck).
And one of my favorite parts (aside from the money saved) is that it often creates a menu plan for me. I don’t write one, so it’s not a matter of changing what I have planned….it’s a matter of giving me a focus for the next few days after I buy those clearance items since they have to be used up quickly. Produce is especially awesome because it can be added to just about anything, yum.
I’ve never seen a manager’s special before! Given the amount of produce I buy in a week, this would come in handy.
You mentioned once that you get your peanut dressing at Trader Joe’s, I think. What is it called? I went there the other day and couldn’t find any.
It’s in the refrigerated section with the dressings. I think it’s called spicy peanut dressing? It’s not the satay sauce on the shelves.
I heard that NPR story too! She has like 5 kids now and lasered off all her gang tattoos. Amazing.
Love your blog – thanks for keepin’ it real 🙂 My freezer is full of manager’s specials!!
Thanks HeatherDee 🙂
I didnt hear the NPR story on the gang girl, but it sounds interesting. I’ll have to look for it online. NPR is the best!
Yay for manager’s specials!
I really love your manager’s special posts! You can incorporate those specials into meals that you normally eat… and perfect for those who don’t plan out their meals. I definitely do not. Planning probably helps curb spending but I like to be spontaneous… I always end up changing my mind and I like the freedom to chose what I crave right then and there. Looking out for crazy deals is key. That bagged salad actually looks very fresh! I use salsa/pico de gallo in my salads ALL the time. SO good. I essentially eat some form of a ‘taco’ salad every night haha
I love manager’s specials – once I got a huge container of Fage for $3, and occasionally we find some ground beef on special (which we use right away).
I am obsessed with manager specials. Before my grocery changed their policy I would go first thing in the morning to get discounted baked goods. Sometimes I could a half dozen doughnuts or a loaf of bread for 99 cents!Now its half priced which is still ok but just not the same
I’ve never bought managers specials since I’ve never seen them. I actually don’t think my grocery store has them. Nice steal of a deal on them!!!
My grocery store doesn’t have managers specials : (
But I do get some good deals with coupons. Kens dressing was on sale last week for $1 and I had a $1 off coupon, so it was free! Love deals!
I love sales! Do you ever shop at Fresh and Easy? They always have a good amount of sale goodies, sometimes more than half off. Their premade hummuses (hummi? whatever, multiple hummus) are amazing! They can be hit or miss but I heard that they tend to put the expiration day 2-3 days before the food is expected to go bad, so if you are getting it on the expiration day, you are still good to go. Besides, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Haha.
For some reason I’m not big on Fresh & Easy. Not sure why though.