A reader asked me how often I shop and how many stores I shop at. That's a great question!
I shop once a week. I usually go on a Monday or a Wednesday, depending on my schedule. I try to get to the store before 11 AM, as I seem to have an easier time finding the manager markdowns when I'm there early. It's also less crowded and crazy, so I don't feel as bad standing in front of the yogurt with my calculator for five minutes.
There are three stores I frequent, but I don't stop at all of these stores every week. It's rare that I go to more than two in a given trip, unless there is some incredible deal at all of them.
Dillons-I go there every week, and this is where I do the majority of my shopping. It is owned by Kroger. I get the best manager special deals there- you'll note that a decent amount of my mega deals are those orange tagged manager markdown specials! Dillons also doubles coupons up to .50 cents, so a .50 cent coupon is worth a dollar there. Sometimes I'm even able to combine manager markdowns and double coupons, which helps my budget.
Aldi's-I buy a lot of my "never on sale" staples at Aldi's. I also get things like powdered milk, dried fruit and dried beans at Aldi's. I go there maybe twice a month, sometimes less. I love Aldi's. They have very basic food, and my pantry is less expensive to stock because of them.
SuperTarget-My next haunt is SuperTarget. They have good deals on a regular basis. I also have a good time finding affordable organic products at SuperTarget. I also love their Archer Farms house brand! I go to SuperTarget about once a month, sometimes more if they're having an amazing special.
Those are my three main stores. I usually grace all of them at least once a month.
Here's a few places I sometimes stop by for groceries:
Walgreens- I get their free after rebate stuff every month, but sometimes I'll make a special stop for an amazing grocery deal. These don't happen often, but when they do, they're good. I once filled my freezer with .99 cent cheese from Walgreens!
Big Lots- I've gotten cases of fruit cocktail, V8, and high end pasta sauce from Big Lots. I've also had luck finding organic products at Big Lots. Big Lots is on the way to my library, so I'll stop in and poke around every now and then.
Readers, do you shop at more than one store? What's your favorite store?
8 comments:
Thanks for sharing. Found you via Merchant Ship. Will be back to look around. I'm a KS girl too.
I shop at Aldi's almost exclusively. I go there first and get everything I need. I usually have to hit another store for those things that I can't get at Aldi's. I has been Walmart but I am trying to wean myself away and avoid them like the plague.
Depending on the week, I could hit up to 5 or 6 stores every week. Shop Rite, Stop and Shop, A&P(Superfresh), Walgreens and CVS are the 5 I frequent the most. I may go to Target if there is a great deal there on something, but I don't visit it weekly.
Catherine, I guess you don't shop at CVS, but in case you have one near you, you may want to check it out for those febreeze candles you love. They have the holiday scent ones on clearance for 1.99. Use the recent coupon that came out(12/14 P&G insert) for 2.00 off any febreeze candle, and you have free candles! The vanilla, apple &spice and evergreen scents are on clearance. I plan to use these for Mother's day gifts in May :o)
Amiyrah, I wish we had a CVS! We don't have on in Wichita, but I hope that we get one someday! I love those candles.
I love Big Lots. Back in the fall, I got cans of cranberry sauce for only 33 cents each. They were $1 on sale at all the grocery stores.
Do you use your powdered milk just in cooking or for drinking too? Recently I priced it and it wasn't much cheaper than regular milk.
A frugal tip... We love ham lunchmeat at our house. I discovered "corn king" ham in a 5# loaf in one of the open coolers at our Super Wal-mart. It was about $7.00 ($1.40 a #!) and I took it to the deli and asked them to slice it thin (#12) for me. Ta da - a very inexpensive lunchmeat that lasts the 4 of us 2 weeks or more. We use it on sandwiches and even fried like bacon for breakfast
Thanks for the post on this! Totally appreciate it.
I'm lucky in that I only really have to shop for myself and sometimes cook for others. I live in So Cal which has an abundance of food stores.
WinCo is currently my favorite. Then StateBros, Albertsons, and Ralphs. Some others I hit are Fresh&Easy and Trader Joe's. Also have a Super Walmart and Super Target in the area, so those are subject to buying food at if I need. Just depends on who is having a sale where. Winco is definitely the fav tho because you don't have to wait for a sale to get a deal of stuff . They always have the best prices on fresh produce.
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