Author Topic: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?  (Read 17503 times)

Davids

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #50 on: February 25, 2015, 05:12:44 PM »
I go to Aldi every 2 weeks for most of my grocery needs and hit up Wegmans from time to time as well.

jopiquant

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #51 on: February 25, 2015, 05:14:37 PM »
We have a little produce shop/bodega/mini grocer called Langley Farm Market near us, it's a chain of maybe four stores in the Vancouver area, none are in Vancouver itself. It's walking distance to our house and the produce prices are excellent. 70% of our daily groceries come from there. It's more expensive for dairy and cold cuts, so we'll get those at Costco if the timing is right.

Stuff we buy elsewhere - rolled oats, rice, raw cashews and almonds, frozen chicken breasts, long lasting staples - flour, olive oil, vinegars, etc. These might be Costco or a place called the Canadian Wholesale Store that's like Costco, but not as "nice" and no membership fees. Finally, there's a bread store attached to the Pita Bread Factory where we buy tortilla, pita and bagel seconds for cheap and freeze them.

midweststache

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #52 on: February 26, 2015, 07:47:07 AM »
Predominantly Mariano's, a large, nice-ish supermarket. When we don't have sub-zero weather (past month), I will walk a ways to Aldi's and pick up our basics. This saves us about about $20/week and happens more often that not (stupid weather). When we're out and about in particular areas of the city, we might try to hit up a TJ's, which is more expensive than Aldi but cheaper than Mariano's.

We do shop the farmer's market in the summer, since it's two blocks away, but there's a pretty big price premium on that, so if we do we try not to go to Mariano's that week (and then we'll come out about even).

Me too!  They opened one last spring 2 miles away cutting the distance to my prior preferred store Jewel, in half.  I am going a bit anti mustachian here but I have tried to take a more European approach to shopping  and going same day shopping for dinner.  Unfortunately it is not particularly pedestrian or bike friendly.   

We tried shopping at Jewel for a while, after all the Dominick's closed, but I couldn't stand it. We shop generic for almost everything (cereal, beans, etc.) and I always felt like Jewel's were... off? It also didn't help that when we started going was when all the other Dominick's shopper started going and no matter what time of day you were there it was unconscionably crowded. It would probably be different if it was the closest store, but it's six one way, half-dozen another on getting to a Jewel or Mariano's...

The European method works well if you don't impulse buy, which is always the temptation with multiple trips. Sometimes I'll ask the BF to pick up an avocado or something on the way home from work (forgotten during our weekly grocery trip) and he'll come back with $10 worth of unnecessary groceries. *le sigh* This is why I'm trying better to not forget things on our list...

damize

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #53 on: February 26, 2015, 08:55:15 AM »
I'm at a small town, next to a small military base in the middle of the desert.  Walmart doesn't have a full sized grocery portion (mostly snack items), no Costco or Sam's, and the Commissary on base is tiny and not a significant price reduction.  My options are two Albertson's and one Stater Bros.  I'm eating low carb (for those who don't know, Type II diabetes can be triggered by a strong emotional or stressful situation - in my case my divorce) so have limited options.  Albertson's is closer, but Stater Bros has a better meat selection.  So I mix it up.

*Note - I was pre-diabetic long before the divorce..not blaming that on the ex. I came by it honestly...both sides of the family =\

AlwaysBeenASaver

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #54 on: February 26, 2015, 09:55:47 AM »
I shop at a lot of different stores because each one has certain things they have good prices on. However I won't accept lower quality just to save $ either. I shop our local chain grocery weekly, and shop the other stores roughly monthly, trying to link trips when I need to be in cities those stores are located in for other reasons.

mm1970

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #55 on: February 26, 2015, 10:29:15 AM »
I'm at a small town, next to a small military base in the middle of the desert.  Walmart doesn't have a full sized grocery portion (mostly snack items), no Costco or Sam's, and the Commissary on base is tiny and not a significant price reduction.  My options are two Albertson's and one Stater Bros.  I'm eating low carb (for those who don't know, Type II diabetes can be triggered by a strong emotional or stressful situation - in my case my divorce) so have limited options.  Albertson's is closer, but Stater Bros has a better meat selection.  So I mix it up.

*Note - I was pre-diabetic long before the divorce..not blaming that on the ex. I came by it honestly...both sides of the family =\

Hmm...anywhere near Joshua Tree NP?  I ask because we like to camp there 2x a year.  And...small town, military town, Stater Bros, they all ring a bell for 29 Palms.

ruthiegirl

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #56 on: February 26, 2015, 10:31:43 AM »
Winco, Costco and my backyard when the garden is producing. 

Mrs. Frugalwoods

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #57 on: February 26, 2015, 10:45:13 AM »
We have a discount local grocery chain (Market Basket), which is as cheap as Aldi's but with better selection and vastly better produce. We shop there for weekly stuff and go to Costco once a month to stock up on bulk items. And we have a Korean grocery store in our neighborhood that we pop into for spices or some produce, but the prices aren't terrific. We get our coffee from the local co-op. Fortunately these are all (except for Costco) within walking/biking distance of our house.

celticmyst08

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #58 on: February 26, 2015, 10:57:40 AM »
We do make the occasional trip to Whole Paycheck for Berry Chantilly cake.
That was our wedding cake. I love that stuff. Which reminds me, I haven't had any in awhile... time to make a pilgrimage!

Philociraptor

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #59 on: February 26, 2015, 11:14:00 AM »
We do make the occasional trip to Whole Paycheck for Berry Chantilly cake.
That was our wedding cake. I love that stuff. Which reminds me, I haven't had any in awhile... time to make a pilgrimage!
That was our wedding cake too!

celticmyst08

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #60 on: February 26, 2015, 01:14:18 PM »
We do make the occasional trip to Whole Paycheck for Berry Chantilly cake.
That was our wedding cake. I love that stuff. Which reminds me, I haven't had any in awhile... time to make a pilgrimage!
That was our wedding cake too!
High five! Everyone told us it tasted way better than any "real" wedding cake they'd had before. I highly recommend it to any other wedding planning mustachians...

El Marinero

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #61 on: February 26, 2015, 02:25:55 PM »
Now that I am only feeding myself, I buy about 80% of my comestibles at Trader Joes.  I hit Costco to stock up on Peet's Coffee and a few other  staples.

There is a Safeway a block away, but I rarely shop there, and when I do, it's usually not more that I can carry while walking.

damize

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #62 on: February 26, 2015, 05:00:27 PM »
Hmm...anywhere near Joshua Tree NP?  I ask because we like to camp there 2x a year.  And...small town, military town, Stater Bros, they all ring a bell for 29 Palms.

Close..but further north. I'm very close to Death Valley.

tuckred

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #63 on: February 26, 2015, 09:52:58 PM »
Azure Standard for most of my bulk food (beans, rice, wheat, nuts, raw milk cheese, some canned things, peanut butter); local grocery for raw milk and some vegies; neighbor for chicken; another neighbor for beef and pork; our chickens for eggs; our garden for veggies in summer and whatever I get around to canning/freezing; Costco for most canned goods and fresh veggies and seafood. I don't like shopping so try to keep the pantry and freezer full and cook what we have.

tofuchampion

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #64 on: February 27, 2015, 12:03:09 AM »
Costco once a month for basics: meat, oats, nuts, oils, dried fruit, rice, yogurt, dog & cat food, etc.

Trader Joe's once a week or so to fill in the gaps: milk, spices, snack foods, produce, condiments.

Target every week or two for bread & peanut butter (best prices there), plus guinea pig food & supplies and personal/hygiene products.

Harris Teeter when we need something, bc it's usually most convenient. Or if they have something we love on sale. I used to do a lot of couponing there, but haven't bothered since my daughter was born in November.

Gerard

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #65 on: February 27, 2015, 06:29:51 AM »
Depends which city I'm in (I split my time between two homes). In Newfoundland, Costco for the stockups and Dominion (part of Loblaw's chain) for almost everything else.
In Toronto, it's much more fun. Big ethnic supermarkets (Adonis, Al Premium, and Great Foods) for almost everything, No Frills for smaller daily needs, Costco for a few items like parmesan, local greengrocers for produce in the summer (in the winter it all sits outside and freezes/thaws).
Plus I actually bring groceries from Toronto to Newfoundland in my luggage. Especially spices, aromatics, and ethnic stuff. I've seriously considered setting up a "spice guy" table at the local farmer's market, to sell some of my suitcase stuff!

aneel

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #66 on: February 27, 2015, 07:02:32 AM »
We shop Costco for most and supplement from Shaws.  In the summer we tend to belong to a CSA but finding a reasonable one with good quality in Mass has proven difficult.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #67 on: February 27, 2015, 07:50:49 PM »
Most of the time I'll shop at Woolworths or Aldi (they're both pretty close), and the rest of the shopping is done at the markets (cheap fruit and veg), or occasionally the Asian or Indian supermarkets.

Coffee beans I'll pick up at a local roaster/cafe.

Vilgan

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Re: What kind of grocery store do you shop at?
« Reply #68 on: February 28, 2015, 01:26:27 PM »
I prefer the Asian markets and the Mexican produce stand for prices. Costco prices aren't as good, but I'll still shop there occasionally. We'll also shop at the local farmers market in the warmer months.