My landlord's spreadsheet changed how I do groceries... for real

So I rent from this older guy who manages his own properties, and last month he handed me a one-page grocery price tracker he'd been filling out since 2019. Column for each store in the area, rows for basics like eggs, milk, bread, chicken. At first I thought it was weird, but then I noticed he had a note next to the Aldi prices that said "cheaper but check the dates." I always assumed I was saving money by hitting whatever store was closest, but his sheet showed I was paying about $18 more per trip on average than if I drove the extra 10 minutes to the discount grocery. That's like $72 a month I was basically throwing away. So now I keep a mini version of his sheet on my phone, just the five things I buy every week, and I update it when I get home. Has anyone else ever had a landlord or neighbor give them a random money tip that actually stuck? I'm curious if this is a common thing or if I just got lucky with mine.

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umac7118d ago

My buddy Marcus had a neighbor who was this retired truck driver, and the guy kept a notebook of gas prices along his old routes. Told Marcus to always fill up at the station by the county line exit, said it was a solid 15 cents cheaper than the ones near the highway. Marcus laughed it off for weeks, then one day he was running late and stopped there out of spite. Ended up saving like 8 bucks on a full tank. Now he drives 15 minutes out of his way every Tuesday, and he says the old guy also taught him to check the tire pressure on the passenger side first because that one always leaks.