Grocery price shopping?

[JHZR2]

We not have a third mouth to feed, and with Thanksgiving coming, it made me think about the fact that I have no idea which store might have the best prices for each item. Sometimes it may be worth it to go to more than one store, other times not. We have plenty of decent grocery stores within short distances of home.


So I’m curious if folks have good ways to price shop. If there are shopping apps or sites or some good way to determine who has the best price.

Tomorrow I plan to buy an oven stuffer roaster chicken. It would be my test case. Any recommendations of whatnapps or sites you use to find best prices?

Thanks!

 

[c502cid]

If time is a concern, pick one. I find Walmart to be the best price overall, Kroger next, then Safeway. If you have the time though, hit the grocery store apps and clip coupons. You'll spend some time hitting them all, but the savings are very very measurable.

I've been doing the family grocery shopping for 20 years. Sometimes I have the time, sometimes I don't and my shopping habits vary accordingly.

 

[vavavroom]

I pay less attention to.prices than I do to how far I have to drive and how much time shopping will cost me. I am an opportunistic shopper when I'm driving and I'll stop by, for example, the Berkely Bowl, if I happen to be in the area.

 

[Lubener]

I check mail ads often and little time with online ads for my very local stores. It's common sense that I have utilized long before prices gone up. I won't spend much time researching sites to save seventy five cents on a chicken since the price per pound is very competitive.

 

[Zee09]

When away I use Instacart and you
can get delivery and check various stores for pricing. But here where I live nobody delivers but of course pickup is an option.

 

[Duffyjr]

Every Wednesday we get the Area Shopper delivered for free that has grocery ads, classified etc. We only have four grocery stores and two are Hy-Vee which is more like High-Vee as in prices. Hard to beat Wally around here unfortunately, if I had alternatives I would use them.

 

[GON]

If time is a concern, pick one. I find Walmart to be the best price overall, Kroger next, then Safeway. If you have the time though, hit the grocery store apps and clip coupons. You'll spend some time hitting them all, but the savings are very very measurable.

I've been doing the family grocery shopping for 20 years. Sometimes I have the time, sometimes I don't and my shopping habits vary accordingly.

Agree with you.

Wal-mart is the way to go for non-expert shoppers of grocery. Lots of games get played with prices, club cards, etc at many grocery stores. Wal-mart carries the same quality as the major grocery stores, but without the tricks and games.

Thanksgiving can get very pricey for non-regular shoppers at major grocery stores. You can end up paying a premium for some many things like chicken stock, etc. Shopping at wal-mart reduces much of the price risk.

 

[MoneyJohn]

You are in NJ. Have you tracked ShpRite prices? Their Bowl & Basket brand is good quality and relatively cheaper.

I find even Walmart prices higher compared to ShopRite (for the quality of produce you get). If you can't go in person, some of the stores have online shopping option, you just go and pick up.

Next is Trader Joes, but I don't go there for price.

 

[krismoriah72]

My mom and grandma pretty much only ate what was on sale. They both were into coupons as well. As a kid i remember them going to 5 or 6 grocery stores for the best prices. They were both housewives so they did their part to save money as best they could.


Unless you are hung up on name brands or have a sophisticated palate ALDI has everything that i need for the most part. In all honesty i would love to never have to go to another store.. i really dont need spiracha mayo or oscar meyer bologna. I dont need a deli either.

Once you figure out that if you cut out things in your daily routine that make no sense anyways food isnt expensive at all.

I used to be hooked on coffee drinks, eating out a few times a week, and snacks. Those things cost me thousands and thousands of dollars per year... i was paying to get fatter and unhealthy.


I truly believe that if you get caught up in the cycle of buying whats on sale that you end up warehousing and discarding more food which in the end costs more.

If you buy what you eat you will in the end save more money.

 

[opus1]

I pay attention to prices but I don't actively price-shop, meaning that I don't spend half the day on Saturday going from store to store getting the best deals.

For small trips, mainly milk with some other essentials, I go to Aldi. Easy in and easy out (usually). If I'm looking to load up on things, or want to get produce or other things that Aldi won't carry, I head to Meijer. If I see an item at either place and know that the other store has it cheaper, and it's not an urgent need, then I just wait until I go to the other store to buy it.


*edit* - I know Aldi has some fruit/vegetables, but I've had bad luck with their potatoes and they don't carry as big a variety of fruit as Meijer. Their organic salad blend and asparagus are good to buy, though.

 

[Lyman]

I shop at 3 stores. Walmart, Costco and Smart and Final. I buy meat and paper goods at Costco and everything else from the other two that happen to be in the same shopping center. Prices currently are out of control.

 

[Malo83]

We go to a local Town and Country market that has been a staple in this town for the last 65 years, run by a local Japanese family, they beat all the other big chain markets for lowest prices.

 

[PimTac]

I truly believe that if you get caught up in the cycle of buying whats on sale that you end up warehousing and discarding more food which in the end costs more.

If you buy what you eat you will in the end save more money.

This is a good idea. Target your food choices to save money and make shopping easier. Take advantage of store rewards programs. Kroger has one that will save you some money both in the store and at their gasoline stations too. Shell is also a participant if you don’t want Kroger gasoline.

 

[JHZR2]

You are in NJ. Have you tracked ShpRite prices? Their Bowl & Basket brand is good quality and relatively cheaper.

I find even Walmart prices higher compared to ShopRite (for the quality of produce you get). If you can't go in person, some of the stores have online shopping option, you just go and pick up.

Next is Trader Joes, but I don't go there for price.

ShopRite is our go to. We have everything nearby… Wegmans, Whole Foods, Acme, Trader Joe, Aldi, Mom’s Organic Market, Walmart, Costco, etc.

I avoid Walmart if at all possible. The closest one with a full service grocery is further than all other options.

I check mail ads often and little time with online ads for my very local stores. It's common sense that I have utilized long before prices gone up. I won't spend much time researching sites to save seventy five cents on a chicken since the price per pound is very competitive.

I primarily was interested in apps. We don’t get many print fliers anymore, and going to every last website is a pain. That’s why I was curious - if there was an app that tracked store sites in a local area, ads, specials, etc… that’s what I was looking for. We get around enough that stopping at this or that market for certain things would be a good way to save a few bucks here or there… why not?

 

[PimTac]

I primarily was interested in apps. We don’t get many print fliers anymore, and going to every last website is a pain. That’s why I was curious - if there was an app that tracked store sites in a local area, ads, specials, etc… that’s what I was looking for. We get around enough that stopping at this or that market for certain things would be a good way to save a few bucks here or there… why not?

I don’t know of a app that covers multiple stores but it’s probably out there. Kroger has a app that you can clip digital coupons as well as make a list. The list includes which aisle to look for that product on. I’m guessing most major chains have a similar app with those capabilities.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Walmart or Aldi without coupons. Stores should have ads out with coupons to save a few $$ on certain things.

 

[1uz_4me]

Growing up, we planned our meals by what was on sale at the store.

We kind of do similar now, but I usually shop after my shift at work & use my discount. We're a small company so we have good prices & actual local produce

 

[Skippy722]

My wife generally does the shopping since I apparently can’t be trusted… one time I went to the store and came home with a new truck, never did make it to the store.

We used to shop Meijer exclusively, but it started getting wickedly expensive… been doing Kroger and Aldi store pick up and it’s been reasonable. ~$200’ish a week for a family of 5. Kroger let’s you clip coupons in their app and their policy on out of stock stuff is amazing. For instance, we had a coupon for a box of animal crackers for $1, they were out so they gave us this giant tub of animal crackers for $1.

 

[JHZR2]

Walmart or Aldi without coupons. Stores should have ads out with coupons to save a few $$ on certain things.

There are plenty of items that don’t require a coupon, but are on sale at the store. No different than when things are “rolled back” at Walmart. Aldi runs specials too. I’m not talking coupons though we will use them when we find them. I’m talking straight up pricing primarily.

Growing up, we planned our meals by what was on sale at the store.

We kind of do similar now, but I usually shop after my shift at work & use my discount. We're a small company so we have good prices & actual local produce

some things we are that way…. Like, we will buy a certain kind of beef, or a pork shoulder to bbq, or whatever, if it’s on sale. Wouldn’t necessarily buy it that week otherwise (unless we had a strong appetite!). But being able to plan around good deals is useful, especially since my wife will be home for a year with our infant.

 

[eljefino]

I do Shaws (Albertson's) for the loss leaders, typically meat. Market Basket for general shopping, especially bread. Walmart for trail mix, TP, bacon. Hannafords for yogurt, other dairy. Cross the border into NH for non-price protected milk. The "app" is all in my head. Some people will see something and thing, gosh, that's expensive, must be inflation. Nah, it's the store messing with your head, listen to your cheap lizard brain and shop around.

No store will have a sale on spaghetti and sauce over the same week. Nor hamburger and buns. One needs a deep freeze and pantry space to really game the system.

Thanksgiving is when loss leaders typically go nuts, but this year may be weird. My $.69/lb turkey was $.79/lb!