I went to the other grocery store, today. I don't often go to two different stores unless one is on the way to the other or on my way home or are located close to each other, in which case, I go to both stores in one trip. I like to combine trips to save on gas. But today's grocery store is located just over a mile from my home and the savings were worth the extra trip, I thought.
The two stores I went to this weekend are both owned by the same company; but the store I went to yesterday is the full service one, where they bag your groceries for you, and the one I went to today is the no-frills one where you have to bag your own groceries. The prices reflect this. The full service store has green beans for $1.99/lb., store brand peanut butter is on sale for $2/16 oz. jar; cans of condensed cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup for $.79 each (provided you bought 10 participating items), and apple juice was $2.49 or higher. The no frills store had green beans for $1.49/lb., the same store brand peanut butter (since both stores are owned by the same company) is on sale for $1.49/16 oz. jar; condensed cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup for $.59 each (limit of 12), and apple juice for $1.49.
Today's grocery shopping was to stock up on some items that were on sale - peanut butter, canned soups, and apple juice. I also bought a couple of other items:
4 bolillo rolls, $.25@ = $1.00
1 doz. eggs = $1.99
.42 lbs. green beans @$1.49/lb. = $.63
3 cup of noodle soup, 3/$1.00 = $1.00
2 apple juice, $1.49@ = $2.98
2 jars peanut butter, $1.49@ = $2.98
8 cans condensed soup, $.59@ = $4.72
Total spent = $15.30
(No tax on food.)
(I also bought a package of paper plates for the December prayer gathering that I will be hosting, but I don't include that in my grocery total; it's budgeted for separately. Including the paper plates ($1.50 + $.14 tax), my total came to $16.94.)
I will be sharing the cans of condensed soup with my daughter; four cans for her, four cans for me. The cup of noodle soups are for me to take to the office for lunch on those days when I don't have any leftovers to take or I haven't got my act together sufficiently to pack a lunch (happens, every so often!) The apple juice is intended for the December prayer gathering.
Would you shop at different stores if you can save some money by doing so? Or would the time and effort involved make it not worth your while?
I enjoy reading your past posts. :)
ReplyDeleteI do go to separate stores. I start my grocery shopping by going to a local grocery outlet. I always have a list of things that I need to get but I when I am in this store I regard this list very loosely, since they tend to have deals that I do not plan on. I get whatever I can get from this store first. Then I recheck my list. If I spent more than I had planned, or if I bought things that can replace items that I haven't gotten yet, I will rework my list and meal plan to accommodate the changes. Next I go to the regular grocery store and get what is left on my grocery list. I find that by going to the grocery outlet first and doing the best I can there, it saves me a lot in the long run. So, yes, I think it is worth the time and effort for me to go to different stores, because it is worth the savings to our budget. I just have to remember to be flexible and not so set on what I initially planned out. :)
Dawn, it sounds like you've got your grocery shopping nicely organized. Definitely a good idea to go to the store where you can get the best deals and buy those items that are on sale, and then, adjust your meal plan. Thank you for reading the older posts and commenting.
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