Escape of the Day: GO

The title of the last post reminded me of the financial highlight of my week: an excursion to GO Grocery Outlet .

I’ve had an affinity for this store since 1997, when we used to go there on special outings with the students from the boarding school where I taught. (Why were they special? I dunno, maybe because we always let the kids buy sugary cereal, when we otherwise fed them gruel.)

GO Grocery Outlet might be the type of place that hipsters and aging yuppies would typically drive right past, since it’s almost always housed in a skeezy strip mall abandoned in 1985 along with the Family Dollar. Hidden amid all that bad architecture and chipped paint, however, is a ridiculous lot of bargains that fit easily into a freelancer’s budget. In these ever-darkening financial times, you’d be crazy to overlook them.

Guess what you can find there? All kinds of crazy stuff:

• Sioux Fry Bread Mix
• KMS Hair Products (regular and travel size!)
• Nature’s Gate organic shampoo
• A fine selection of wines, from Robert Mondavi to one called California Skin Flint
• Amy’s Organic frozen dinners
• Fresh organic baby salad greens

We are talking about a level of cheap that Trader Joe’s only dreams about. Rather than draining your pockets there or at Whole Foods (and then crying about it all the way to your next full-time job) get thee to GO!