Nov 25, 2005

Store Hopping... Is It Worth It?

Since today is the biggest shopping day of the year it's really got me thinking about grocery shopping. Although not the same as fighting for Black Friday deals, it can be such a feeling of triumph when I find an unexpected great deal.

More often than not, when I shop for groceries, I have kids and husband in tow and am in a hurry. This requires that I have planned in advance and am prepared to pass up some of the good deals I have seen in various sale flyers in order to shop at only one store to make the most of the time I have. However, when I DO have time on my hands and can spend a leisurely day out looking for deals, I like to "store hop".

In the town where we live there is a small IGA grocery store that does not have the best selection but they have the best quality and prices on meat that I have yet to find. So that store is always my first stop for meat.

Another favorite of mine is WalMart Supercenter. Overall, if I have to choose one store to shop at, this would be it. I find that we get the most for our money when we shop there. I also enjoy WalMart because they will honor any sale flyers from other stores and I can purchase many other items I need there besides food.

When time is really an issue, I opt to order our groceries from Safeway.com. The prices there are not the best but sometimes the savings in time or an illness make it necessary to order groceries in. They do offer very high quality food and they have excellent store brand items as well.

When I am looking for Mexican food related items and good prices on produce I shop at Food City. They have the BEST tortillas I have had outside of a tortilla factory and have many items you just can't find at any other grocery store.

The best place I have found for organic items and gourmet or specialty foods is Trader Joe's. We don't' shop there often because it's about 45 minutes away but when we do I always stock up on our favorite items and make the most of their great sale items.

I find that it I have the time it is well worth it to shop at more than one store when shopping for a week or more worth of groceries. Not only does it allow for more variety but you can make the most of the sale flyers which will of course give you the most for your money.

2 comments:

Joe said...

Trader Joe's is my favorite store - We live fairly close and I'm there every week. Great prices and I love the unusual stuff I can find there!

Michele said...

TJ's is one of my faves too, I discovered them in Tucson and wish they would build one a little closer to use, the closest one is out at Arrowhead.