Friday, October 17, 2008

Food & Gas

I just got back from the grocery store (shopping for today's awesome Italian classes for kids and teens!) and had a thought. Everyone is going crazy right now for Costco's $2.69/gl. gas. There are long lines waiting for this "bargain" fuel. Well heck, just take a look at my grocery receipt and you'll see that in the past 12 months, I have saved over $1,100 in gas. That's right -- $1,100+ in FREE gas.

Giant Eagle, as I'm sure most of you know, has their "fuel perks" program (here's a link to all the rules etc. http://www.gianteagle.com/Article.aspx?cntid=177049). For every $50 you spend at the store, you earn $.20 off per gallon of gas at your next fill-up. I think that it's usually .$10 a gallon, but has been doubled here locally since the program started a while back. So, spend a hundred bucks, get $.40 off per gallon. How cool is that? Of course, my business is food, so I may spend a little more than you, but probably not that much because I use a number of different sources (Costco, Sam's, Asian Supermarket, etc.) for different things.

Regardless -- if you're not shopping at Giant Eagle -- why not??? Everyone has concerns about the economy, and everyone is trying to pinch pennies. Why, in heaven's name wouldn't you do everything you can to save gas money when it is soooo easy? It just seems like such a no-brainer to me. They have two gas stations in Frederick, Rt. 40 right off of Rt. 15 and 7th St. near the entrance to Ft. Detrick. Trust me on this one -- it's well worth the time and energy to learn a new grocery store to save this kind of money. Plus, as a bonus, you'll really like the food and the staff too, so it seems like a win-win. Don't you think?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was so happy the day this program was announced at Giant Eagle. Since the beginning of 2008 alone, I have gotten four free tanks of gas, and with gas prices now going down, I'll be getting another free tank after my next grocery trip next week.

I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't be taking advantage of this program.

Silvergirl said...

I do most of my food shopping at Giant Eagle these days, and Friday the manager thanked me for both my patronage, and my use of recyclable grocery bags. I now have a good collection of tote bags.

Giant Food will pay you a nickel a bag, but they don't do fuel perks, so I'm sold on shopping at Giant Eagle.

The Asian market has really good deals on produce, most of the time, though, so I do go there occasionally.

Anyway, nice to see another foodie blogging. I will have to start putting restaurant stuff on my blog. I have quite a few pictures of food that we take when we go out to eat. My online friends at one of the message boards I visit call those shots "food porn", lol, but there's nothing dirty about it.

I have found that taking photos during your meal usually gets the attention of your server and they tend to be nicer to you, or maybe I'm just being delusional.

Chef Christine said...

Hi Sherri & Silvergirl -- great to have you on the blog!! I absolutely loooove comments, and this is a topic I feel strongly about. This is such a great perk (plus I love the 7th St. store for their great fish, produce, and meat depts.) from a great store that I still can't believe not everyone takes advatage of it!

Silvergirl -- I am the worst at taking photos during a meal -- my camera is awesome but it's big and bulky (Olympus E-500) and not exactly subtle. I can't figure out how to get my new cell phone with the awesome camera to download pics either, so I'm not the best technologically. I don't think you're imagining better service there btw, but that's the trick. I'm always trying to provide unbiased info, though I do love a hook-up on occasion! The only real issue I've had is trying to figure out how to moderate comments. As long as they're not personal attacks, I've tended to publish them, but now I'm looking for something beyond just "anonymous" as a poster. I guess that if you're going to say something as a critique, you need to stand behind it. What do you think?

Christine

PS - I can't wait to check out your blog!

Ann S said...

I love Giant Eagle! I've saved over $500 in the past twelve months on my gas. The selection is great from produce to fish and meat and cheese. They've got almost everything I want. Now if only Trader Joe's would move up here. I must continue to schlep to Gaithersburg for chevre w/ honey and assorted yummies. :-(

Chef Christine said...

Amen, sister! I make that road-trip too, but haven't for a while. I'm headed to DC later this week, maybe I'll make a stop on the way back to try that cheese you're raving about!