I’m doing something a bit different today. Instead of a story (don’t worry, there will be a new one next Tuesday), I’m sharing an update about the state of Stumptown Savings.

I’m in the middle of my most ambitious membership drive yet — a goal of adding 100 new members by the end of September — and so far I’ve added 37 new members (thanks to all of you who’ve joined!). That’’s less than halfway toward the goal at the halfway point of the drive.

Here’s the thing worth knowing: Stumptown Savings is a genuinely independent, one-person newsroom. There's no publisher, no ad sales team, no corporate budget behind it — just me, tracking prices across 20+ Portland grocery stores every week and covering our local food system. Ads help, but like public media, this only works if readers decide it's worth supporting. If you're just here for the weekly deals guides, nothing changes for you — those aren't going anywhere. They'll stay free for as long as I can keep doing them. But instead of making the case for support myself, I'll let the people who already do share why.

Willamette Week profiled the Portland Price Tracker and the "convenience tax" Portlanders pay by sticking to one grocery store. Axios called Stumptown Savings a newsletter that helps Portlanders slash their food bills, highlighting a reader who saved $95 on a single order of steaks using a coupon from the newsletter. Street Roots named it a steady local resource for Portlanders navigating rising food costs. And KGW featured it on-air as a place to turn when grocery sticker shock hits.

My whole goal with Stumptown Savings is to help you shop smarter — it's why I break down the best grocery deals each week, and why I've spent hundreds of hours tracking grocery prices each month. That work depends on the people who choose to support it financially, and who help keep it free for those who can't.

Right now, membership covers what it costs to run this — the email platform, the tools I use to track prices. What I'm working toward is being able to pay myself something for the time, so this is a job and not just something I do nights and weekends indefinitely. I don't need it to be a big number. I just need it to be real. This month, I'm hoping to add 100 new members. If this drive falls short, the honest outcome is scaling back — fewer stores tracked, less original reporting, fewer taste tests. Not gone, just smaller.

Join today for $8 a month, or $80 a year (and get two months free). If that's not the right fit, a one-time tip helps too — and if now's not the time for either, that's completely fine. The weekly deals guides aren't going anywhere.

Thank you for reading and following Stumptown Savings — and thank you to everyone quoted above, and everyone who's ever told a friend about this newsletter. You're the reason it's still here.