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Question of the Day - Where do You Buy Your Groceries?
By JLP | August 29, 2007
Here’s today’s question(s) of the day:
We usually buy our groceries at Kroger. I know it’s not nearly as cheap as Wal Mart but I absolutely HATE shopping at Wal Mart. Our Kroger is much more convenient and I like the fact that I can go at normal times during the day and not have to wait in the checkout line for 30 minutes. Our Wal Mart has something like 30 checkstands but usually only 5-10 of them are going.
Now it’s your turn to weigh in.
Topics: Budgeting, Question of the Day |
August 29th, 2007 at 10:42 am
Where we live, there is a Food City 5 minutes away, an Ingles 7 minutes away, and a Kroger and Wal-Mart 10 minutes away. I would say we buy groceries 50% of the time at Food City, 30% of the time at Kroger, and 5% each at Ingles and Wal-Mart. Of the 4 I prefer Kroger, but it can be more expensive for some items and is a bit further away than Food City. We only shop at Wal-Mart when we have other things to get there. It’s overcrowded, takes forever to get out, and is full of the most embarrassingly obnoxious people on the planet. Kroger is the cleanest and quickest, and I feel like the quality of the meats (a common purchase for me) is better there than anywhere else. They also have a good beer selection and their prices on beer tend to be the best. We go to Food City most often only for convenience.
August 29th, 2007 at 10:43 am
We use Safeway’s home delivery service. Yes, the store is just a mile away, and I have full use of my legs, but here’s why we get delivery:
1. There’s always a free delivery code available.
2. It’s quicker to browse the website than the aisles.
3. No line to stand in.
4. Morning orders are fulfilled from the freshest produce, meat, etc. before they hit the store aisles. Since they want their delivery service to succeed, they always give you the best of any item you order.
5. There are often coupon codes available for free or really cheap products, and you can combine as many as you want into a single order. Last week, we got $60 worth of groceries for $26 this way.
6. For a while, we got free movie tickets with each order just for buying two gallons of milk and ten yogurts (total cost, $9). That’s $20 worth of free movie tickets for buying stuff we get anyway!
August 29th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Kroger, though I know I should probably go to the commissary. Occasionally I do go to the commissary but it’s out of the way for me, and I’d rather not drive an extra 10 miles.
There are Food Lions all about but I NEVER go there except to buy a Sunday Paper.
August 29th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Kroger/Fred Meyer
Because I feel at home there.
August 29th, 2007 at 11:55 am
We will go anywhere except Wal-Mart. Honestly. We have a lot of competition to choose from in the grocery market area.
August 29th, 2007 at 11:57 am
LOL! I just realized my numbers only add to 90%. And here I was griping about JLP’s math yesterday.
August 29th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
We do 2 huge trips a month to Trader Joe’s (40%). We do everyday shopping at Ralph’s (50%)(a Kroger store, i think) mostly for the double coupons. We also do some specialty shopping at Wild Oats and Whole Foods (their 365 basalmic is the best!) (5%), and we go to the farmer’s market (5%). Luckily here in SoCal the farmer’s market is pretty lush most of the year.
I’m curious, how many people shop at their closest grocery store even though it’s not very nice or not their favorite?
That’s the case with our Ralph’s… it’s 1/4 mi away, but it is a miserable place. From the bad-mood checkers to the cramped aisles. I just usually can’t justify going even an extra mile to a nicer one since it means getting into the car.
August 29th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
I’ve never gotten around or seriously considered having my grocery delivered - it just seems so unnecessary and almost lazy in my opinion. No offense to those who use it of course - I’m sure it’s a time saver.
I usually shop at the nearest Giant Food store. I used to travel further to shop at a Shopper’s Food Warehouse. Shopper’s is generally cheaper, but I realized later that I could still maximize my buying power at the more expensive Giant Foods by the smart usage of coupons. I only buy things that are on sale.
-Raymond (MONEY BLUE BOOK)
August 29th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
We just moved to using WalMart. Kroger was burning us on fruits going bad in 1 day. I am indifferent to thier corporate ethics andwe just found that our bill was lower. Awesome!
August 29th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
We split our grocery shopping between Costco and Albertsons - Costco for the big stuff and Alberstons for the rest. Actually, Wal Mart is the closest to our house but we don’t go very often because it is so crowded. (Didn’t Yogi Berra say that?)
August 29th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
We do a combination. We have a wholesale produce market called Stanley’s that sells fruits and veggies for very cheap. We usually hit that, and then go to Dominick’s. Sometimes we pick up miscellaneous things at Trader Joes too.
On the weekends, we like to cook one elaborate meal at home, and generally go to Whole Foods to get the essential ingredients, like fish or meat, because the quality is so high… but this is only once in a while.
August 29th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Until about a year ago I did most of my shopping at Hy Vee. But after keeping a shopping journal for a couple of weeks, I found that I was way ahead shopping at Walmart. I probably do about 70% of my shopping at Walmart now, and 30% and Hy Vee (which is a bit cheaper on some items and a bit more convenient to get to).
August 29th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
We shop close, at Harris Teeter as we need things right away and when things are on sale. For the big expensive trips it’s typically Sams Club or Walmart. They DO save lots of money and over a month or a year you’re talking significant dollars. I don’t find that the employees are surly, on the contrary, I recently sent a letter regarding the extraordinary service I received from a Walmart employee. I think it’s possible to avoid the crowds if you pick when you go - certainly not on the weekends. There’s a good reason they are busy.
August 29th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
We stock up on non-perishables on Walmart about every 4-6 weeks. We supplement everything else with trips to Safeway, Lucky (formerly Albertsons), and Trader Joe’s. We tend to cycle between Trader Joes and Safeway/Lucky. Joe’s has some savings in some areas, frozen burritos, two buck chuck, which we like to take advantage of. Since it doesn’t have common things, like Diet Coke for example, it can’t be a real store for us.
August 29th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Whole foods. I spend too much time at work, so I cook rarely at home. Having the best (produce, cheeses, wines, etc) is important to me when I do eat at home.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
A combination of the local farmer’s market and Albertson’s. I used to be uppity and shop at the local Safeway, however finances are not as abundant as they used to be.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I always use Safeway.com. For minor things I’ll just to Safeway, since it’s only a couple miles away.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
I shop at Giant. No special reason, other than it’s the closest to my house. I miss Harris Teeter when I lived in the south. It was affordable, clean, and I loved the fresh produce section.
I’d never buy groceries from Walmart either.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I’d say we shop at Trader Joe’s 55%, farmers’ market 40%, and Albertson’s 5%. We don’t have a WalMart in the area, though I honestly have not and would not shop there. We get most of what we need at TJs (including a wonderful array of chocolates
and at the FM, where I get all of our produce, as well as beans, fish, and meat. But there’s always something that only our well-stocked Albertsons will carry.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Stop and Shop for sale items and BJ’s for Bulk items.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Normally use Publix (95%) and will occasionally shop at Walmart Neighborhood or Albertson’s. Exception: Always try to get milk from Walgreens as it is usually about $1 cheaper than anywhere else.
I miss Kroger.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
We mostly shop at Costco and Safeway. Safeway is the closest to our house, though I think the Super Target is about the same distance away but across the interstate and is a pain to get to. We’ll shop at the Super Target every once in a while and even though there’s a Wal-Mart pretty close by, too, and it’s a nice new one that never seems too crowded, I like the Safeway.
If I still lived in Florida it would probably be Publix 100%. I miss that store.
August 29th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Publix 90% of the time, Super Target the other 10%. We used to go to Wal-Mart every Sunday, but we had an epiphany one day when we realized we wanted to kill someone by the time we left the place. No more Wal-Mart.
August 29th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
We own a share in a farm coop so we get all our produce from there during the summer - nothing beats fresh off the farm! We just added a share in an orchard this year - wow! We then buy the rest from the local farmers’ market, followed by Whole Foods. (A few bulk items are bought from BJ’s, a wholesale store.) The idea here is to get as much of our food from local producers as possible. When Whole Foods doesn’t have a local option, we can get the organic food, too. The idea is to live off really good environmentally conscious food. It doesn’t hurt that the food is really good and fresh as well as in our budget. Also, the fact that the farm share gives us new foods we have never eaten gives us opportunities to experiment
August 30th, 2007 at 3:09 am
costco b/c we eat a ton of vegetables and fruits. we don’t go to whole foods, because they are way over priced for what you get. we also go to ethnic grocery stores, which have good, cheaper produce.
August 30th, 2007 at 3:27 am
A combination of the local Chinese, Mexican, and Korean grocery stores for fruits and vegetables, Costco for canned goods and (frozen) meat, and occasionally Safeway for loss-leaders.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:21 am
It’s Wal-Mart for groceries most of the time. When I lived in Portland, Fred Meyer was it, with occasional trips to Trader Joes. No Wal-Mart anywhere close to the city; wasn’t going to make a 45 minute trip each way for the “Wal-Mart experience”. Living in a small town in the South now, we have Food Lion or Wal-Mart. There is another regional chain – Lowes Foods – but their closest store is 25 minutes each way.
Our shopping habits are different now with a young child. In “The Wal-Mart Effect”, the author claims the average American family saves $600 a year by purchasing groceries at Wal-Mart. Our $100 of groceries at Wal-Mart usually runs about $120 - $130 at Food Lion. Wal-Mart also has more produce and more selections in certain product areas – green beans, for example. Milk is quite a bit cheaper, and we are buying two gallons a week. We are a one-income family for now - I don’t like going there but you can’t argue with the savings. I NEVER buy clothes there, and the only other thing we use it for is oil changes for the car (which is over since I purchased ramps to do it myself two weeks ago!). We certainly will patronize other stores for deals - CVS runs a dirt-cheap milk schedule occasionally, and we will load up.
If we had more options that were local, we might shop elsewhere more often. I miss Trader Joe’s cheese and beer specials …. Someone mentioned Harris Teeter … GREAT stores. They are exceptionally clean, usually have many cashiers working, and the staff as a whole seem glad to answer questions and glad for your business, all of which offsets the higher prices.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:19 am
50/50 safeway/costco
August 30th, 2007 at 9:20 am
46/46/8 safeway/costco/trader joes
August 30th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Has anyone used Wegmans? The store tends to be a bit pricy but is worth it to me.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:12 am
harold,
I read a very interesting article in Fortune a couple of years ago about Wegmans. I have never been in one of their stores but they do sound nice.
August 30th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I do my weekly shopping at Trader Joe’s, but only first thing in the morning. Otherwise it is too crazy and I want to tear my hair out. I buy a few select items at Ralphs (Kroger in other parts of the country), like Minute Maid Light OJ for my husband. I also buy a few select items at Whole Foods (mostly organic items that aren’t available elsewhere). We go to Costco once in a while, mostly for non-perishables like sport bottles of water and paper plates. But when we’re there, I’ll pick up a bunch of bananas and a bag of chocolate chips. Oh, and we buy sandwich bread there - half the cost of Ralphs.
August 31st, 2007 at 7:32 am
We buy veggies from Joe Randazo’s (5 miles away from home) as they are extremely cheap and rest of the stuff from Meijer’s and some Indian grocery shops. Joe Randazo’s is usually 40 to 50 % cheaper - and we buy a lot of Veggies as we are vegetarians and don’t eeat meat.
September 1st, 2007 at 2:47 pm
safeway and costco. QFC sometimes.
September 1st, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Everywhere I’ve been it’s been Walmart, I’m sorry.
The first place I lived, it was a choice between Walmart and Albertsons, with Albertsons being a closer. After checking Albertsons, it was clear that Walmart was the choice for the prices. That’s all I’m about, the prices.
Since I’ve recently moved to a larger city, I now have more choices and more confusion. Tom Thumb, Albertson, and of course 2 Walmarts.
September 2nd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Jewel 50% (meat/deli/produce/quick stops for things since close to home, and stock-ups when BOGO–they take expired coupons, too!); 20% Woodman’s; 10% Aldi; 10% Target; 5% Walmart (only if I’m there for something else, can’t beat the prices but checkout is a nightmare!) and 5% Other (Trader Joe’s, Dominick’s, etc.)
September 3rd, 2007 at 12:39 pm
We have a Safeway and a Superstore 3 minutes away and across the street from each other. We use Safeway for small trips and certain items that we can’t get at Superstore while we use Superstore for large trips, bulk items and certain things that are 30-40% cheaper. There was a time when the quality of “fresh” items was rather low at Superstore but they renovated the store recently and the quality is much better now. We’d probably stick to Superstore if it wasn’t so busy and if the staff there were a little more helpful. We also get a 7 cent per litre discount on gas by shopping at Safeway (with the Safeway gas bar also being the closest gas station).
We’ve tried Costco and Walmart as substitutes for Superstore, but they’re both much farther away and not really any cheaper. Likewise, we’ve tried Sobey’s/IGA as substitute for Safeway. Again, Safeway is closer and about the same price. Ultimately, we choose to pay a little more in exchange for better service and a nicer shopping experience.
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:16 pm
I figure I will weigh in since I represent an area whose stores have not been mentioned. I go to Aldis for most stuff. I buy loss leaders and coupon/sale combos at Giant Eagle and also visit Dave’s Supermarkets, a locally owned small chain- they have good produce and some sales.
November 25th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Your Wal-Mart has 5-10 of 30 checkstands open? You’re lucky! Our Wal-Mart also has 30 checkstands of which generally 3 are open.