This week seems to be full of exciting finds (not the cat litter). Another thing that happened is The Husband’s Father and The Husband’s Mother took me to the secret nut sale. It is quite secret squirrel; not too many people know about it. It is one morning a week, it is not advertised and there are no signs telling people where to go. It is only by word-of-mouth that people know to go there. We arrived an hour before the door opened in order to get a good position in the line outside the building. We were third. It was very orderly, and people recognised who had what place in the line, so if you walked away to peek through the window or get something from your car, you did not lose your place. I had a peek through the window while The Husband’s Father explained to me how the process worked. It is not just nuts they sell, it is dried fruit and various other pantry products, all packed in clear bags with a price sticker on the front.
While we waited we chit-chatted with a couple of people we knew. The man who was first in line is the one who first brought The Husband’s Father to this mysterious place. I thought about what I wanted, but there were really only two items on my wishlist: raw almonds and blanched or roasted peanuts. The almonds are for making almond milk and, I suppose, satisfying The Husband’s pilfering needs. Half a packet of almonds disappeared the other day. Then I found an almond in the laundry basket. What has it got in its pocketses? The peanuts are for making peanut butter, which The Husband consumes in copious quantities. It is nicer to get shelled peanuts and roast them ourselves, but I would take roasted peanuts if I needed to.
By the time the door opened we were a little cold and ready for some action. There are a few rules to the process. The products are for personal consumption and cannot be re-sold. You must pay by cash. You can take a maximum of two bags per item to give everyone a chance. You cannot go backwards and get stuff you’ve already passed. And we were off! We each grabbed a plastic bag for our goodies. The products were not in any particular order, they were scattered all around the shelves, with labels underneath. It is not a big space to get through, but you have to quickly scan around looking for what you want. I found the blanched peanuts not far in, so grabbed two packets of those. There were packets of almonds scattered all around but most of them seemed to be roasted. There were packets of lollies, bhuja mix and all sorts of things, but I was on a nut mission. Then The Husband’s Mother called out, “There are raw almonds over here!” She got two bags for me, but another lady rushed in and got the rest so she couldn’t get any more herself. Phew!
Things slowed down a bit then, as the payment queue formed around the last lot of shelves. I got a little more time to look at things from there. There were all sorts of nut and fruit mixes, salted nuts, flavoured nuts, quinoa, barley, some seeds… Sunflower seeds! I needed some of those so I got a packet. Then the three of us counted our totals to see if we had enough money for everything, as they had forgotten to tell me to bring cash until that morning. Fortunately, I had $26 in my wallet, which is not normal, and they had enough to cover the rest of my and their items. We paid for our goodies and were out the back door, all within a rather short space of time. What a rush! There were still people queuing outside who smiled at my excitement.
When we got to my place, The Husband’s Father and The Husband’s Mother gave me two packets of their peanuts too! How generous! I thought, The Husband is going to be very, very pleased. Once inside, I weighed my packets to compare the cost with what I have been buying. Each packet I had bought was 1kg, or slightly over. Then I had to do my spreadsheet thing. Oh, how I love a good spreadsheet. My savings compared to buying the cheapest source of these products from Pak’nSave (which are definitely not in the self-serve section) were:
- Peanuts (blanched): Saved $1.78 per kg
- Almonds (raw): Saved $9.98 per kg
- Sunflower seeds: Saved $8-$9 per kg
There are some pretty awesome savings in there! Oh, I can’t wait to go back again. Yes, I will be going back again for sure. There were things I spotted that I would like to get. Next time I will write a list, I will take plenty of money and I will take some strong coffee to boost my quick decision-making skills. Now, I just have to keep an eye on those nuts…
Wild Hope Homestead 