I buy Mountain Dew and have been for some time.  I am also aware of prices going up because of the economy.  But what I noticed at the Sheboygan Falls Piggly Wiggly was a total surprise to me.  I went to the soda isle and saw the sign for Pepsi products on sale at (2) 8 packs of bottles for $7.00.  Cool, sounds like a good deal to me, but I only go through one 8 pack a week so I am just going to buy one.

I noticed the sign said that “without the card” the price was $4.99 per 8 pack.  I know the price of Pepsi in the bottle has never been that high, so I was curious if the prices had gone up, again.  I peeled back the sale sticker that was placed over the original and notice the price at $3.99 per 8 pack.  I grabbed one 8 pack and headed to the checkout.  Since it was the only thing that I was going to purchase, this would be easy.  I watched as the soda was scanned and see the price come up $3.99!  What the heck was going on here?

The original price sticker says $3.99 and the sale sticker says $4.99 on sale for $3.50 (or 2 for $7.00).  The total savings would be $1.49 per 8 pack, at least it appears that way.  You are really only saving $.49 per 8 pack.  I didn’t really think it was that big of deal to see the price hiked up $1 to bring it down, but do you think they sold more soda because of it?  I am thinking they might have because this isn’t the first time I noticed this at that store.

*UPDATE*
In case you were following from the Press website, I want to issue an update.  I did NOT intend to call this a SCAM by any means.  I was just wondering what the deal was with weird pricing and may have unintentionally caused some grief for owner John Blattner.  I issue this as an apology for what it may have done and only wish to say that I shop at the Piggly Wiggly and haven’t ever felt ripped off.
*UPDATE*

I use a Tracfoneas my cell phone.  I love buying minutes and never having to worry about paying $50, $60, or $70 a month for the two phones my family uses.  Every once in a while Tracfone spices up their deals and today I noticed one of them.

You can get a Motorola W370 phone with Unlimited Double Minutes($49.99 value) for only $19.99!  The offer is good until October 31st, so you have plenty of time to get to the website and check it out.  If you go to Tracfone.com from here you can also use the coupon code: 23444 at checkout for an additional $3 off your order!

The only time I have had a problem with my Tracfone was if I were in a building, then my signal strength is low.  That is understandable, but I haven’t had any issue with my phone out of state, calling long distance or even up north in the woods.  It works for me and if you are sick of paying high cell phone bills, maybe give Tracfone a try.

Today I was at Pet Supply on the south side of Sheboygan and I noticed this product called the FURminator.  The product is used in grooming, I assume dogs that shed or have heavy coats, and the price tag was $30+!  I couldn’t believe it.  I thought I noticed this product on website that I ran across and the prices where under $20.

So, when I got home I naturally searched the web again to see if I could find this website.  I did, and the prices are $20 or less.  Why would Pet Supply charge so much and I wonder how much they make on those products.

This just goes to show you that if you don’t want to shop online that’s fine, BUT at least use the internet to compare prices.  Even when I go to the PetSmart website, I found the item for $34 and up.  At least on the Petsmart website you can read reviews about the item and out of 113 reviews, the FURminator still has 5 out of 5 stars!  The reviews sell the product, but you don’t have to pay that much for it.

Search eBay and see what they have available.  You can find the SAME product that was reviewed by 113 people, on ebay for much less (+shipping of course).

I think that we all know by now that these two stores are one in the same, but are they really?

We have one of each of them in Sheboygan (EBGames at the lovely Mall and GameStop and DeerTrace), but really, which one do you prefer?  My 2 cents is that when I walk into GameStop get a friendly hello and that’s it until I ask a question.  I like that.  I don’t want to be bothered so much (like at Best Buy) that I want to actually leave the store.

EBGames, on the other hand, is a little different and maybe it’s because they get “mall” traffic.  When I walk into that place, I don’t get a hello every time and it almost seems like the employees are annoyed with my questions or that I was so bold to interupt “gamer talk time” with a question that I have about a product.

I shop at GameStop.  One, it’s closer (that’s not the only reason), two, I don’t have to go to the Mall to shop there and three, they seem to be more friendly there.

What is your opinion on the stores?  Have you shopped at both, prefer one over the other, etc?

I did a post about shopping in Sheboygan not too long ago.  This post is different in that I am posting about shopping in the Sheboygan area!  It makes a difference since there are a bunch of places outside the city or in neighboring cities that have better places to shop than the city does.

I know it’s sad, but this is the town we all live in, or near, and that’s the way it is.  Shopping in places like Kohler, Elkhart Lake and Plymouth really is better than anything that we have in the city.

The cities are smaller and more focused on community.  It’s hard to feel wanted when you go to these smaller places to shop or whatever and get a “hello” or “how are you doing” from people that you really don’t know.  It adds to the whole shopping experience in my opinion.

Now that we have 3 Walmart stores in our immediate vicinity, the smaller places are starting to disappear.  That makes it even worse when shoppers are forced to go places they just don’t want to go.  I know Walmart has good prices, but 75% of the products are for the land fill.

Keep in mind that in a short drive, yes I know the gas prices are way too high, you can really get to other areas to shop.

What do you think about shopping in the outlying areas other than Sheboygan?