10 Things Mexican Households Stock Up On at Sam's Club Before October 1st (All Under $10)

Every year, the last week of September, the same Sam's Club, the same flat cart, the same ten things. Every one of them under ten dollars, about seventy two dollars for all ten, and they carry my house from October all the way to the sixth of January. 📖 My mother's whole way of running a house is written down in one book, The Old Mexican Way: https://oldmexicanway.com Why October first? I will not tell you a price jumps on the first of October. Nobody knows that. What I know is what I wrote in the book: prices move in seasons, late summer into fall is when the pantry staples sit at their yearly bottom, and December wants list price for all of it, plus your patience in the aisles. October first is when the second calendar starts, the one that ends at the December table. The 10, counting down (prices from the Sam's Club website this week, yours may differ in club): 10. El caldo: Member's Mark chicken broth, 6 cartons, $7.98. For the week you are the one who is sick 9. El fideo: La Moderna, 20 bags, $8.64. Twenty cold nights of sopa de fideo, 43 cents a pot 8. La salsa de tomate: Member's Mark, 12 cans, $9.98. The red in the rice until Easter 7. Las verduras congeladas: Member's Mark, 6 bags, $5.42. The peas and carrots in the arroz a la mexicana 6. Los chiles en escabeche: La Costeña jalapeños, 93 oz, $5.92. Into glass jars once it is open 5. Los tomatillos: La Costeña, 102 oz, $5.68. The salsa verde for January 4. La Maizena: Argo corn starch, 35 oz, $4.72. A whole winter of atole 3. El Tajín: two 14 oz bottles, $9.98. The one thing on the list that is only for joy 2. La leche condensada: Eagle Brand, 4 cans, $9.48. The flan for Nochebuena 1. El maíz pozolero: Juanita's white hominy, 110 oz, $4.48. Pozole for the posada, for twenty people Total: $72.28. That is not the price of ten things. That is the price of a winter. Where they go: clear one shelf in the despensa, put all ten there together, and put a piece of tape on the edge that says December. Nothing gets bought twice, and nothing hides in the back for seven years. A full despensa is not hoarding. It is a shock absorber, between the house and both bad weather and bad weeks. This week, one thing: before October first, buy one item from this list. Put it on the December shelf. One more next time. By the first posada, the shelf is full, and you never felt it in one paycheck. Safety, said plainly: never boil the closed can of condensed milk to make cajeta. The maker says not to, and a closed can in boiling water can burst. Open it and cook it slowly in a pot. Once the big cans are open, move what is left into clean glass jars in the refrigerator. The honest word: you need a Sam's card, or a sister or a comadre who has one. Prices move and differ by club. The shelf with the tape does not change.