Grocery shopper reveals she CUTS OFF the stems of her broccoli in the store to save on the price

A savvy grocery store shopper has revealed that she cuts off excess produce that she isn’t going to use to save money when it’s priced by the pound. 

Meia Carter, 41, from Florida, went viral on TikTok last week after she posted a video of herself snapping off the stalks of her broccoli and tossing them back into the pile of veggies before checking out. 

‘I am not paying for these, so I just pull them off and throw them away,’ she explained. ‘I am only going to pay for what I am going to eat.’

The clip has been viewed more than 5.3 million times and thousands of people flocked to the comments to share their thoughts. 

Critics called her a ‘cheapskate’ and mocked her money-saving strategy. 

‘This is why I always peel my potatoes at the grocery store,’ one TikTok user wrote, while another joked, ‘Do that a few times and you can afford a house!’

‘POV you just saved .7 cents,’ someone else added. 

Others argued that the stalk is the better part and offered her recipes to try. 

But for all the flack Meia received, there were fans who hailed her a ‘genius’ for the tip and couldn’t wait to try it out for themselves. 

‘I am doing that from now on,’ one person vowed.

‘Wait, is this allowed? I’m all in!’ another commented. 

As for those who claimed it was disrespectful for her to toss the stems back into the pile, a grocery picker insisted it’s not a big deal.  

‘We really don’t mind!’ the person responded. ‘Someone else will want them for soup, or they will get thrown in the compactor.’ 

Meia, who learned the trick from her granny, demonstrated how she removes the stems from her broccoli in a follow-up video. 

If they are long enough, she liked to break them off, but if they are shorter, she will pull out a pocket knife and cut off the parts she wants to remove.  

‘I just leave these in the store,’ she said. ‘Y’all can have it. I don’t need it. I wash my hands of it. ‘

Meia later hit back at the commenters who told her she should just ‘buy broccoli crowns’ by showing that the broccoli in question came from a pile that was labeled as ‘broccoli crowns.’ 

‘Shut ya mouth,’ she wrote in the caption. 

If you enjoyed this article… 

A woman whose clever budgeting hacks enabled her to retire at age 36 has revealed her genius money-saving tips 

Meanwhile, a finance pro has shared her four grocery shopping hacks to save money every week 

And a woman has urged everyone to try the ‘best hack ever’ to avoid slipping on an icy pavement this winter