I’ve spent way too much money on groceries the past couple days. With 3 main stores I shop at (a local “warehouse” superstore Woodmans, Sam’s and Copps). Each have their own advantages. The local store’s produce is not great, but the dried goods are well priced. It is a good “stock up” store and carries a good selection of ethnic foods, organic foods and has the best selection of all stores. Sam’s is nice for bulk shopping, but I have to be careful there because bulk is not always cheaper. Copps is a chain store that has weekly advertised sales, decent meat and decent produce. Some of the Copps stores are better than others. Copps isn’t as large as the superstore, but it has many incentives to shop (free gas, money back, etc.)
I’d say I do most of my shopping at Copps, then Woodmans, then Sam’s (with random stops at Whole Foods and even rarer adventures to Aldi’s). If I had to choose one, I’d choose Copps, although sometimes I cringe when I know an item would be cheaper at Woodmans. My ultimate shopping adventure would be to get certain items at Copps, bulk up at Woodmans, and pick up some extras at Sam’s. But, I’m rarely mentally and physically prepared to do that. I could probably save myself a nice chunk of change, though, if I did.
At the Bratfest this year, I picked up 3 of their reusable shopping totes. I wish I had picked up more; they’re great.
Mission Tortilla Chips. Mmm. We eat a lot of chips and salsa, chips and guacamole…
Below is part of my haul from Sam’s. We usually get our big bag of Pistachios there, some meats, shrimp, cheese, frozen blueberries. Today I have some feta cheese, asiago, sliced cheddar, pluots, Emeril sausages (can stretch those for a couple meals, will mix with rice tonight), yogurt, and a jell-O from yesterday’s shopping trip. They had some wonderful organic instant oatmeal once, but it was a special buy and they no longer stock it. I did find some at Woodman’s though. The kids love oatmeal and I like the ease of the instant kind, but Quaker puts too much sugar and fillers in theirs.
With summer coming, the costs of food rise in our house. Since they’re home for lunch instead of school, it is one more meal to make sure to stock up for. With me at work during part of the day, the kids tend to eat through the food with slightly more abandon than if I were home. So I really need to be more diligent about meal-planning, making a shopping list, cooking ahead, etc. It is amazing what I can shave off our monthly grocery bill just by doing that. But on the other hand, $150 goes a lot longer at the grocery store than it does at a restaraunt. $150 is barely 2 meals out for our entire family at a place worth eating out at.