How do you buy groceries?

[Soarin_04]

I have come to live and die by my grocery list. If I don't write it down, I will completely forget to pick up that item. It has also helped me keep on point and not buy too many impulse & duplicates purchases - I used to end up with a basket of crazy things when I just shopped off the top of my head.

Ditto! Totally lost without my list and to avoid a basket of crazy stuff as i check out, I make sure to leave DH and our sons at home...which saves about $100 alone.

We've got an Aldi's right down the road from a Giant. I usually hit Aldi's first and then supplement with whatever else I need from Giant. Once a month we hit Sam's, which is a bit of a haul for us but that's only for major stock up items.

 

[TxRabbit]

I think I shop differently than most that have responded...

I treat my kitchen like an inventory. I meal plan based on what is currently in my inventory. I keep track of what I have on hand and when a good sale comes up, or I find the "reduced for quick sale" proteins, I stock up on those things that I know I regularly use.

I regularly shop Target for certain items...mine is a Super Target with a GREAT selection...I really like the store brand of Target for certain items...and they often have proteins that I use regularly reduced for quick sale...I've picked up the 1.25 lb packages of ground turkey breast for $2.50 each, for example. I'll clear out every single one of those reduced packages for my freezer.

My grocery stores, Kroger, Randall's, and HEB regularly rotate putting boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.99/lb...so I go to the one that has the sale and stock up when I need to. There are also some store specific brands that I like for each store, so I will stock up on those pantry items (pasta, organic spaghetti sauce, salsas, etc.) when I am in that particular store.

I also shop great-Alaskan-seafood.com for salmon.

Meanwhile...I just go to the store that is convenient or has the best sales for produce that I want as needed.

We're getting ready to move and so I am in the process of clearing out my freezer...I don't think I'll need to buy any protein until we actually move...I'm hoping that we can actually eat everything before moving day! LOL.

 

[Piecey]

Almost always Kroger, once a week.

We go to SAMs every other weekend or so. Generally whenever we need more of those 4 gallon water jugs for our water cooler. I will grab milk there if we need it, and always look at the meat. We like their bakery bread too. I always grab bananas and this past weekend I got strawberries and blackberries. A few weeks ago we got Cuties.

In general though I shop sales and I've been meal planning based on what we have on hand. Kroger this week I only bought sale items we will go through quickly: Kelloggs cereal and NutriGrain bars, plus fresh stuff like cucumbers, green peppers, deli meat and cheese, bread, milk and eggs. DS got to pick out some cookies too

 

[honeydiane1953]

Kroger once a week!! We run out of milk and bread occasionally.

 

[Cindy B]

I have 7 grocery stores within a 5 mile radius and if you go two more miles, it goes to 10 stores.

That being said, I shop mostly at Shoprite and Wegmans. Wegmans has cheaper milk, lunch meat, yogurt,cereal and some HBA items. However the plaza where Wegmans is gets extremely busy and I wont go there after 7 am on the weekends. The parking gets so bad!

Shoprite has cheaper meats. Shoprite plaza's parking isn't awful

I do check out Bottom Dollar. The produce prices at Bottom Dollar are cheaper than both of the other stores. Eggs are cheaper there as well. I can do a quick produce run since they have an easy parking lot.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I shop every two weeks, with one or two milk/produce stops in the middle. Before I go I look through the kitchen to see what I have on hand and make a list of meals for two weeks that I can make with what's on hand and what's on sale. Then I write out what I need by aisle.

I primarily shop at Food Lion because it is closest to me, has wonderful customer service and their produce looks great, and when their produce employees see me put something back because it doesn't look good they will offer to go in the back and get me fresh.

I also shop Walmart, I don't really have a set time frame, but I go there for our allergy meds, toiletries, paper goods (unless food lion has them on sale) and popcorn. They have a 24 pack of microwave popcorn for $5 that my family likes and with 5 kids we eat alot of it. Their produce has better prices than Food Lion, but the quality is poor, same with their meat.

I am considering joining a warehouse club, I haven't decided which one because we have all 3 of them about the same distance away from us. I also can't decide if I would end up spending more money that way or not. I'm afraid I would buy more thinking it was a "good deal".

 

[senoragilbert]

I am considering joining a warehouse club, I haven't decided which one because we have all 3 of them about the same distance away from us. I also can't decide if I would end up spending more money that way or not. I'm afraid I would buy more thinking it was a "good deal".

Sam's Club is having a membership event today, tomorrow, and Sunday. You can visit, sample, and purchase items with no membership. There might also be a "perk" for joining this weekend, it wouldn't hurt to ask! At least you could go and see if it would work for you! We say every year that we're going to cancel our membership, but we do the math and realize that we come out ahead even if we only buy a few things a month.

We shop Aldi, and I might start a thread for "what to buy at Aldi" because it is definitely an art! We shop there because now that we know what we like and need there, we get the "main" shopping of the week done in 25 minutes or less. Twice a month I do fill-in shopping at WM or Target, Sam's, a local grocery, Trader Joes, PetSmart, etc. We try to only shop at each store once a month.

I started meal planning for Monday-Thursday nights, with an Aldi deli pizza thrown in on the weekends and leftovers/sandwiches on Sunday. I HATE meal planning, but I'm finding that it makes life so much easier that I'm dealing with it!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Sam's Club is having a membership event today, tomorrow, and Sunday. You can visit, sample, and purchase items with no membership. There might also be a "perk" for joining this weekend, it wouldn't hurt to ask! At least you could go and see if it would work for you! We say every year that we're going to cancel our membership, but we do the math and realize that we come out ahead even if we only buy a few things a month.

We shop Aldi, and I might start a thread for "what to buy at Aldi" because it is definitely an art! We shop there because now that we know what we like and need there, we get the "main" shopping of the week done in 25 minutes or less. Twice a month I do fill-in shopping at WM or Target, Sam's, a local grocery, Trader Joes, PetSmart, etc. We try to only shop at each store once a month.

I started meal planning for Monday-Thursday nights, with an Aldi deli pizza thrown in on the weekends and leftovers/sandwiches on Sunday. I HATE meal planning, but I'm finding that it makes life so much easier that I'm dealing with it!

Thanks for the info, I'll have to check that out this weekend.

 

[kldmom2000]

I generally do a regular shop once a week at either Hannaford's, Market Basket, or the local grocery store.... then a trip usually to the farmer's market for produce. I usually do end up swinging by Target or Stop & Shop one other day the same week for just a few items that might be on sale. Once a month I drive the hour each way with a cooler to Trader Joe's to do a stock-up on frozen veggies, cereal, granola bars, salsa, hummus, etc....