Feb 17, 2009
The Daily Poverty Post.
Hello, Holly, the local grocery store cashier. Bossy wants to tell you something. Your lemons are expensive. They’re nearly as expensive as the glass of wine Bossy purchases once a week, even though some readers think Bossy can’t possibly be in a state of Poverty if her ass is on a train station bar stool. Trust Bossy, poverty and booze go together like, like, like two really go-togetherable things.
Anyway. Bossy has written about her affair with lemons before. Bossy estimates she consumes at least two lemons by herself a day, and more when she factors in those other people, the people in her house.
So that’s like three lemons a day at $0.70 a lemon which is 70 times 3, times 7 days a week, times all of those weeks in a year minus vacations which the family doesn’t take, and that equals, like, hi lazy Tuesday.
3 lemons a day at 70 cents a pop would be $766.50. That’s a big lemon budget. But 70 cents is an unusually high price, probably because of the season. They’re often three for a dollar, at which rate you’d only be spending $365 a year on lemons.
On the other hand, at 70 cents each, maybe you can afford a vacation based on the lemons you won’t be eating while you’re on it.
I love lemons and limes but refuse to buy them unless they are on sale.
We all have our grocery-shopping Waterloo. Your’s is the mighty lemon, mine is All-Bran Buds, which cost something like ONE MILLION DOLLARS per box. Guess all that fiber makes them worth it.
I think all that lemon consumption is keeping you young, thin and beautiful. Much cheaper than Botox and Weight Watchers.
Bossy is going to love my lemon charlotte, when the local grocery store starts carrying it. ; )
Isn’t the joy that the lemon brings to your life priceless, thus worth whatever it is you spend on them? $2 a day, give or take, for joy, is not a lot.
I share your lemon obbsession. And let’s call it what it is…an obbsession. It has moved beyond being one of our favorite things. And lemons are ridiculously expensive. I want to know where anapestic shops because I haven’t seen lemons on sale for a very, long time. And when you buy them a couple of times a week, you KNOW when they are on sale. I tried buying the bags, the y weren’t the same. The bags from Costco are pretty good, but for some odd reason they mold within half a week. ??? I lemon heart lemons.
I thought that about the wine, but didn’t say it. Judgmental much, people?
We do all have our grocery must-have–damn the price!
Gentiles on 252 has them 6 for $1 plus other great really cheap produce.
I solved my whole citrus problem by moving to a place where you can by 1/4 bushels for about $8.
My latest PP post is also about cutting my food bill.
http://littlemisssunshinestate.blogspot.com/2009/02/poverty-party-cuts-food-costs.html
I bought lemons yesterday at the Rt. 46 Farmer’s Market in Totowa or Wayne yesterday – 5 for a dollar. Also bought limes – 7 for a dollar. Now I know it would be a long trip for you, but the Farmer’s Market is located a mere 18 miles west of the Lincoln Tunnel – maybe you could plan a trip to visit Bossy’s son?
Neighbor on the right has a lemon tree that sort of branches over the fence. While the neighbor on the left has an orange tree that comes close to branching over the fence.
Love my neighbors
Well at least you are holding off a bad case of scurvy. That’s got to be worth something.
Am I seeing things or was there no tax on your purchase? How did that happen? I mean, good for you, but how did that happen? We don’t get that kind of no-taxation in these here parts.
I am thinking I could ship them to you for less!. Ours are 5/$1 this week.
Oh, and check out my last blog post about our very thrifty “vacation” day.
This is going to sound terrible, but did you know that produce is usually cheaper in lower income neighborhoods? At least, that is what I noticed in NYC.
Did you know that I actually follow your blog?!
I just charge you for your lemons, I don’t make the price. I just hit the produce button.
I love that Holly is following your blog.
One word: Gentile’s. 7 lemons for $1. I don’t even feel bad about the one that goes fuzzy at that price.
I love that the receipt says “F lemons”…it’s like it’s cursing at the price right along with you. F! Lemons!
Bossy should move to Arizona, where lemons come free with people’s backyards. Not that I would know or anything. I live in Canada.
I have a citrus obsession as well, lemons, limes, tangerines, clementines, all of them.
However, I do have the benefit of living in Northern California – last week I was able to pick up some lemons 3/$1 and limes were 6/$1… I don’t recall what I paid for the tangelos, and I may or may not have thrown away the receipt.
Oh Snap! Holly should get her picture on Bossy’s blog!
Hope you kept the Costco membership. HELLO cheap lemons in bulk.
I think that maybe some of your SoCal/AZ readers should put together a box of cheap lemons and ship them your way. Even paying shipping, it’d probably come out less than buying the f’ lemons from Holly.
You can find a glass of drinkable wine at a bar for under $5? It really is a different world outside of NYC.
Let me know if you want the recipe for the bestest, moistest, lemony-est cake ever. It’s from “The Junior League of Texas” cookbook, and you know how them Texans like their sweets!
Don’t ever accept a lemon intervention.
Remind The The Great Getzby to tell you about when HE was workin’ the cashier line: one day, a petulant mid-lifer stormed in “demanding to know” why he had been charged for “Flemons!”
He insisted and insisted that I refund him, since he hadn’t bought a single flemon — in fact, he didn’t even know what it was — when in the store. I asked if he had bought any lemons, he said yes, and I wondered if it was even worth explaining …
Bossy, have you not heard of Costco? Giant bag of lemons for, like 6 bucks.
I totally getcha, although I will spend whatever it takes on Kid Cuisine and Chef Boyardee because dammit, my kid eats it.
But OMG, Holly follows your blog. Makes me sorry I folded off Colon, Jose R from my recently scanned Burger King receipt. Gotta wonder…
I live in Hawaii, where I was downright giddy to find lemons on sale at Safeway last week for 68 cents each because THEY ARE NORMALLY $1.79 EACH. So, yeah. We pay a little bit each and every day for those rainbows in the sky.
I can get lemons for a buck apiece at the regular grocery store or 3 for a buck at the Mexican produce store.
Actually when I did my shopping this week I noticed I got 3 bags of produce for $20 there, and three bags of everything else for $80 at the regular grocery store. Sheesh.
My problem is the love for the Meyer Lemon. This is a particularly fabulous lemon and even in season, sells for some times $1 per lemon. I have a friend with a lemon tree and when it doesn’t seem too obvious and I’m at her house, I happen to mention how beautiful her tree is. And she says something like “ohmygosh there are toomanylemons i dont’ know what to dooooo” and I’m like, “oh, I could take a few for you.” and when she’s not looking I take 40 and then I squeeze and freeze. And it lasts quite a bit of time unless I get in a lemon drop kick in which case I use all of them in one drunken evening.