New newsletter helps Portlanders slash food bills
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Bryan Vance wants to save you money. Photo: Courtesy of Bryan Vance
After getting laid off in April, Bryan Vance turned his personal grocery expense spreadsheet into Stumptown Savings, a free weekly newsletter to help Portlanders save money.
Why it matters: Vance launched his newsletter as inflation and other factors have food prices at or near all-time highs.
The big picture: Vance, a journalist with a background in email marketing, found large price discrepancies depending on where he shopped, even between the same stores in different neighborhoods.
- Then he saw an article asking why there weren't more local consumer guides for groceries: "And Stumptown Savings was born," he told Axios.
How it works: Each Thursday edition includes deals from all the major grocery stores in town, organized into produce, protein and pantry sections.
- Some recent deals include two-for-one fresh sweet corn at Safeway, 25% off Tillamook Cheeses at New Seasons and three giant-size General Mills cereals for $10 at Fred Meyer.
- A few weeks back, Vance heard from a reader who saved $95 on roughly $200 worth of steaks using a coupon highlighted in the newsletter.
Zoom out: Stumptown Savings is more than just a weekly digital version of the coupons you get in the mail.
- Vance launched a crowdsourced egg-price tracker and recently profiled an urban mini-farm in NE Portland that produces high-quality vegetables on a small lot in the heart of the city.
- He's also started a weekly feature called Rose City Receipts, where readers detail how they shop so that others can pull tips and tricks to cut their own grocery bills.
- "The goal with that is to destigmatize talking about how people are making their budget work for them," Vance said.
Between the lines: The Thursday emails with all the deals will always be free, Vance said, but some of the other features are just for paid subscribers.
What's next: Vance has been surprised by the popularity of the newsletter — he's racked up more than 800 subscribers in less than two months and adds roughly 100 new readers a week.
- And, to get those folks out from behind their screens, he's hosting his first in-person potluck at Mount Tabor on Saturday where he hopes his readers will be able to share strategies on budgeting, meal planning and making their dollars go further.
The bottom line: Vance feels like he's tapped into a part of Portland food culture that doesn't get enough attention.
- "There's plenty of ways to connect over restaurant pop-ups or chef tasting menus, but there's not as many ways to connect over how the food is grown, raised and produced," he said.
- "I just want to provide people an opportunity to build a community around that."