Day 158 - Skinny Dip (New Belgium) Beer

As with most (if not all) beer reviews on this blog, I must preface this by saying that I know practically nothing about beer.  I didn’t drink much of it until a year or two ago, and I still choose wine over it.  But I have been known to kick back a brewsky every now and again (boy that sounds dumb when I say it…). 

So we were having a beach party and I wanted to stock up on beer.  I wasn’t sure what to get, but this one is called SKINNY DIP so hey, yeah, THIS IS A SURE BET, RIGHT?  Totally chose it for the name.  J 

SKINNY DIP in action!  No, not SKINNY DIPPING, but drinking a Skinny Dip beer

 And it is a fine beer.  I mean, not FINER than other beers per se, but it does the trick.  The label says the “hops frolic with bready malts for a crisp sip as refreshing as a freshwater dip”.  Damn – that is some fancy  marketing!!   

This is a seasonal beer (summer only – cuz who skinny dips in winter??).  Lucky for you, gentle reader, I did a price comparison and found that a six pack was a full FIFTY CENTS cheaper at Trader Joe’s than at Publix (a large Florida grocery store chain). 

Publix - $9.49!

 Trader Joe's - $8.99 (not great signage - this was the Winter Park, FL store)

So if you like Skinny Dip, pick it up at Trader Joe’s instead of some other grocery store.  Save some money and celebrate SUMMER!

Price - $8.49

Rating - 4

Day 42: Altoids Smalls

I do not like Altoids, big or small.  They are too “curiously strong” for me.  But when I needed several tiny gifts, this petite little tin fit the bill perfectly.  I grabbed them while at Trader Joe’s, and later wondered how the price would compare to other stores.  It is not often you can directly price compare with things you buy at Trader Joe’s, because 9 times out of 10 the products you get are Trader Joe’s brand, so you can’t compare “apples to apples”, so to speak.  But in THIS case I could, because Altoids are a national brand.

Cute teeny tiny little Altoid tin

So here’s the scoop:  at Trader Joe’s, I paid $1.19.  IF I had made the same impulse purchase at my local CVS, I would have paid $1.49 for the same exact tin of mints!

Altoid Smalls display at CVS - 30 cents more!

And if I preferred to not leave the house and buy them from the comfort of my living room, I could have gone to http://www.candyfavorites.com/candy/mints-and-breath-fresheners/altoids-mints?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mints and  bought a pack of 9 Altoid Smalls tins for $14.81, then paid for shipping on top of that, making each box cost me $2.75 (plus, I would have been stuck with 8 extra boxes of mints I do not like)!  (Note:  had I wanted $50 worth of candy, I could have qualified for free shipping…  Or if I was a power online shopper and had Amazon Prime I would have “free shipping”, but this is just for COMPARISON mind you…)

So my point here is this:  some people have told me that they think Trader Joe’s is expensive.  And yes, there are products that cost more at Trader Joe’s than at other stores.  But if you are careful and if you compare, you will find that OFTEN you can save money by shopping at Trader Joe’s! 

So, the rating of this product is not on my personal taste of it, since I didn’t even open the tin and instead gifted it to an Altoid lover.  The rating is based on the fact that Trader Joe’s carries a few nationally known branded products and manages to give customers a break on buying them.  I appreciate that (even if I don’t like Altoids J ).

Price – a cheap $1.19

Rating – 5 (cuz pricing stuff low rocks)