Eating respectably

Back when I made Respectable Money at a Respectable Job, lived in a Respectable Neighborhood, drove a Respectable Car and owned all that other Respectable Stuff, I also shopped only at Respectable Stores. 

The prices were higher at the Respectable Stores, but so was my self-esteem. “Look at me, I can buy the good stuff at the good places and not even look at the prices, because I make Respectable Money.” 

I avoided the less new, less shiny, less well-stocked stores because I didn’t want to feel poor. And because I was a bit of a snob.

Now I am poor. Not as poor as some, not Federal Poverty Level poor, but my Social Security benefit is a fraction of my former Respectable Income. So I’ve done the Respectable Thing and adjusted my shopping preferences. (My past posts about cheap foods are evidence of that.) 

Respectable Stores have become my last choice instead of my first. I check dollar stores and outlets first. Sometimes I’m disappointed, but often I’m surprised and delighted. Take yesterday, for example.

Green Trees Grocery Outlet has two stores in Yuma. After visiting the downtown location I tried the one on the east side of town for comparison, and because it was on my way. Here’s a tour.

The selection of goods varies greatly, depending on what they could get a deal on. But I can usually find at least a couple of things I want. 

Yesterday’s big score was a pork tenderloin. Just a dollar. A dollar! And I grabbed some burritos, too. Since these purchases were frozen solid, they do double duty as ice, minimizing the electricity demands of my refrigerator.

Once the tenderloin thaws I'll cut it into slices—or as the Respectable Restaurants call them, medallions. I can get five or six meals out of a buck’s worth of meat.

You’re supposed to microwave the burritos. Instead, I do sort of a chimichanga number on them, slowly heating them in a pan, like our ancient pre-microwave ancestors would’ve done.