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For my list of staples, the sale prices are my baseline price. For instance, I won't pay more than $0.89 for a dozen eggs because I know that Aldi will sell them at that rate within the month as they rotate their discounts. Because WalMart doesn't have significant sales, their goods never get down to my baseline price, thus I never buy anything there. I might want yogurt, and WalMart might be cheaper per oz. than Kroger at that particular moment, but I know Kroger will discount their yogurt below WalMart's price next week. So I buy whatever is on sale and go without other items until their sale cycle comes up.
I am not surprised that identical shopping lists might end up being cheaper at WalMart, but IMO going in with a list and buying everything on that list regardless of price is a very non-frugal way to shop.
If you can stagger your grocery shopping, and go every single week to hit the sales, then this might be logical (assuming you arent wasting more in gas going out a bunch of times). However, what if item X that you need never does go on sale?
There is no way your local grocery store is going to discount every item they have in inventory over the course of a month. Id venture that not even half of a large grocery stores items are discounted in any given month.
"Several months ago, I thought I knew it all on how to save money when grocery shopping. (snip) Educated consumers walk away with loads of goodies for minimal money and others of us fork over the big bucks for the same exact thing."
I like my coop. I can't stand buying crap just because it is cheap. I would rather eat half the amount and eat quality fresh fruits and veggies than the junk some people think they need to buy like hamburger helper or something
I think it really depends on what you buy whether Wal-Mart is cheaper overall. Since most of what I buy is fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and lean meat, I am almost always better off hitting the weekly specials at the supermarket. Also, my local supermarket will double and triple coupons. Wal-Mart won't. So even if something costs .50 more at the supermarket if I have a .25 off coupon, it is tripled for .75 off, and the item now costs the same with the coupon as it does at Wal-Mart. Plus, I save the gas not having to drive to Wal-Mart; the nearest one is miles further out than the supermarket I normally go to.
Quality aside, anyone who thinks WalMart is always the cheapest place to buy anything needs a reality check.
So too those who think supermarkets or discount grocers offer the best deal.
In today's world, none of them are the "cheapest" in the long run.
You have to be a savvy shopper, watch the sales, clip the coupons and compare.
A good shopper today does what frugal shoppers have always done. They spread their money around, "cherry picking" key items in quantity when they are on sale, and watching the dating at the same time.
On quality, those pre-packaged meats all have salt water solutions injected into them, and that is the only kind WalMart offers. So there is nothing freshly butchered and natural in the meat department at Wally World. The discount grocers like Price Rite, Aldi's and Shop Rite are in the same boat. Second quality meats.
As to produce, WalMart has promised to source locally, but only when in season. Even then, you have to depend on local buyers to know the difference between low and high quality produce. That's a big "if" considering the level of expertise most WalMart employees have.
But even the supermarkets floor personnel don't know that much about produce either. I see examples of produce that should have been pulled days ago anytime I visit my local Stop and Shop. Price Chopper or Big Y.
I can't stand to do the "buy only what is on sale" thing. If I'm out of bread, then I am buying bread. If I'm out of milk, then I'm buying milk, etc. I don't buy much that I don't consider staples, as I'm a pretty picky eater and most of what I eat is perishables, so I can't really "stock up" on much.
I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart, for multiple reasons, but I have comparison shopped there. Besides the fact that they don't carry a lot of what I buy (picky eater, don't forget), they are comparatively a long way from my house, so gas is more expensive, plus it takes more time (by far) to get there and shop there and get home. That all is worth something. So the prices would have to be far better at Wal-Mart to make it worth the time and effort. My comparison shops show that, for what I buy (that they actually carry), Wal-Mart is cheaper than Albertson's, but more expensive than Winco. Since Winco is the closest to my house, and the least expensive, they get my business.
Winco is about 1/4 cheaper than Albertson's for my shopping list each week. I figure I've saved several thousand dollars in groceries since I started shopping there.
For those who mentioned the coop, unfortunately, the coop in my town is about as far across town as possible, and it just isn't worth the drive and the hassle with traffic.
Winco is the Aldi's of the West, I think. Most of our groceries I buy at Winco, the only downside to them is they don't take credit cards. They are not always the cheapest on everything, but given the items we usually buy, they are the best overall. But we certainly buy from other stores. Sometimes Wal-Mart has the best price on some items.
I question myself when it's time to grocery shop. I am a coupon shopper. Coupons are mostly rated for a $1. My local grocery is called Weis market and they double coupons up to $1. I prefer to put my money at the local store. They run all sorts of gimics to get you to buy there. Right now they are running discounts on the amount you spend over a certain period. ie; spend up to 300 and you can discount 5% on a total purchase and it goes up to 20% off your purchase. Now they have added a promotion that for every $50 you spend you get 10 cents off a gallon of gas. I spent $200 and received 40 cents of a gallon of gas at my next fill up.
Walmart carries an Italian bread my partner likes and they charge $1.68 and Weis is $3.59. I guess I need to record somehow the differences in prices and the deductions of coupons. I agree with others about Walmart produce, but on the other hand I have purchased" Butt pork roasts" that are more delicious than what I can buy at Weis and our local meat market. So why do I suffer myself with one or the other? The dollar amount is probably minimal.
But even the supermarkets floor personnel don't know that much about produce either. I see examples of produce that should have been pulled days ago anytime I visit my local Stop and Shop. Price Chopper or Big Y.
Much of the produce rots far before it ripens.
I can't comment on Price Chopper, but S&S seems to have the "best" produce. Still, not great though, and usually expensive as well. Big Y/ShopRite generally have "fair" produce in this area. Aldi, i had to pass on. It didn't look very good the two times i've been there. Shaw's thought nothing of leaving rotten garbage on their produce displays. I'm surprised it has taken so long for them to close down their nasty stores(CT stores only).
Bottom line, it's more cost efficient for the supermarket chains to toss lousy produce, rather than spend money to "maintain" it.
I buy a lot of canned items from Walmart. We don't have a super Target although my DD likes the one in Denver. I also use coupons at Albertsons and Safeway. There is no Aldi's here either.
We have been disappointed in Walmart's produce and some of their meat. I do buy frozen shrimp to make a seafood salad.
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