Home economics

[Cripplecreek]

I was thinking that a thread to discuss which stores are best for groceries, coupons, convenience, American made products etc.

Yes I am a male but I don't shop like a man anymore. I used to go into the store without a list, get a few things and get out. Unfortunately that meant a trip to town every few days. Today I keep a standard list for every trip that I add other items to if I want something special for a meal. Today cell phones are a major help with that sort of thing. I can scan bar codes and find out if any other nearby stores have a better deal on specific items.

I used to shop at Sav-A-Lot because it was bar none the cheapest grocery store in town. Then they moved to the far side of town which is the more expensive side and jacked up their prices accordingly. Now I'm pretty much exclusive to Kroger stores. The Kroger plus shopper's card is another big advantage. I get big savings just for swiping the card at the register plus picking up fuel points for savings on gas. I can go online and find digital coupons and add them to my Kroger card or better yet, find the deals in the store and add those to my card. On my last shopping Trip I bought $300 worth of groceries and paid $202.

Oh, and cheap dish soap is a rip off. I took a chance on some really cheap dish soap last week and think its just vegetable oil on a dish soap bottle.

[Silver Pines]

@Cripplecreek

Good thread!

You're right about cheap dish soap.  It isn't worth buying.  Dawn and Palmolive are good, and the Palmolive Oxy is about the best, imo.

Grocery stores are regional, and mine are Kroger, Food Lion, and Walmart. 

Kroger has good sales; you check their Wednesday ads, right?  Their digital coupons are great.  Also, if you do the surveys using the website listed on your receipt, you can get an extra 50 fuel points.

 I get paper goods, toiletries, cleaners, etc. at Walmart or Target because they're cheaper there. 

  I buy meat and fish at Kroger or Sam's Club.  SC has very good chicken breasts and thick pork chops.  I trim, portion out, and freeze.  Kroger's produce is excellent.  I tried buying both meat and produce at Walmart, and had to return too many spoiled/rotten items.

I rarely go to Food Lion because they tend to be expensive and out of my way.

If you want to save time in the store and avoid backtracking to pick up stuff,  write your list according to the store's layout.  For instance, when you enter the Kroger I go to most often, first up is bread and natural foods, then produce,
so first on my list is bread, Kashi bars, cukes, broccoli, etc.  You can breeze right through.

[mirraflake]

For real savings go in with 2 other people and buy a cow and split it. Today's freezers are cheap to buy and the electric bill is minimal.

We do it every year. Plus we know where the cow comes from and how it was fed.

Everyone gets equals steaks, ground chuck etc.  We usually vacuum pack the better quality cuts such as the steaks to protect from freezer burn. The hamburger meat the butcher puts in plastic sausauge like thingies.

[Silver Pines]

For real savings go in with 2 other people and buy a cow and split it. Today's freezers are cheap to buy and the electric bill is minimal.

We do it every year. Plus we know where the cow comes from and how it was fed.

Everyone gets equals steaks, ground chuck etc.  We usually vacuum pack the better quality cuts such as the steaks to protect from freezer burn. The hamburger meat the butcher puts in plastic sausauge like thingies.

@mirraflake

I love my red meat, but that's just too much for my husband and me. 

[r9etb]

For real savings go in with 2 other people and buy a cow and split it. Today's freezers are cheap to buy and the electric bill is minimal.

We do it every year. Plus we know where the cow comes from and how it was fed.

Everyone gets equals steaks, ground chuck etc.  We usually vacuum pack the better quality cuts such as the steaks to protect from freezer burn. The hamburger meat the butcher puts in plastic sausauge like thingies.

I second that -- it's by far the best way to buy meat.  Especially if you know a guy (we split our yearly cow with our friend, whose brother raises the cows).

[r9etb]

I love my red meat, but that's just too much for my husband and me.

That's why you'll invite the rest of us over for a big BBQ.

[Cripplecreek]

Jackson has a poor side of town and a rich side of town with 2 of lots of stores but the pricing is different. The Kroger I go to is the po folks Kroger and have have no problem with that plus its only a block for the po folk's Meijer store. Meijer has very good locally grown fresh produce in season and lots of their sales are lower than Kroger.

I love all the Kroger 10 for 10 deals. Last week I got 10 packages of friozen veggies and 10 packages of bologna and salami. Their friday freebie was their store brand tortilla chips but when I went in they were already on sale at 4/$5 so I got 5/$5 instead.

There used to be an IGA store in the next town over from me but the IGA stores all seem to be going away. It was a bit more expensive but handy if I forgot something in town or needed something special for a single meal.

[geronl]

Some people really need to learn to budget.

Here is an example from one lower middle-income family.

Income: $3,000 a month (plus whatever they can borrow and not pay back)
rent: $700 (10 months in arrears)
utilities & cable/internet: $450 (pay only the amount past due)
cigs/pot/liquor/pills: $1,000+
groceries: parents eat out and bring home ramen noodles and balogna for everyone else (You guys cost too much!)


tongue in cheek but there are people like that.

[mirraflake]

@mirraflake

I love my red meat, but that's just too much for my husband and me.

It's just me and wifee, one of her friends and another couple with 2 kids (they pay more and get more, the single lady pays less and gets less etc)  A cow is not that much meat lol

My wife put pencil to paper a couple of years ago and she figured in the electric bill, butcher cost, vacuum packing and it was about 1/2 the cost of buying at the store.  Incredible savings.

Though one year the freezer went kapuut when we was out of town for a a few days and came back to a nasty smell. Lost money that year LOL

This  is our 15th or 16th year.

@CatherineofAragon

[Cripplecreek]

That's why you'll invite the rest of us over for a big BBQ.

I did a little window shopping this morning.

[mirraflake]

I second that -- it's by far the best way to buy meat.  Especially if you know a guy (we split our yearly cow with our friend, whose brother raises the cows).

With us 3 in together we usually run out of meat the 10th or 11th month with the one cow and we don't eat red meat every day.. Probably 4 times per week maybe 5

@r9etb

[Silver Pines]

That's why you'll invite the rest of us over for a big BBQ.

@r9etb

Yes!  And I bet we would all be on our best manners, lol.

[Silver Pines]

Jackson has a poor side of town and a rich side of town with 2 of lots of stores but the pricing is different. The Kroger I go to is the po folks Kroger and have have no problem with that plus its only a block for the po folk's Meijer store. Meijer has very good locally grown fresh produce in season and lots of their sales are lower than Kroger.

I love all the Kroger 10 for 10 deals. Last week I got 10 packages of friozen veggies and 10 packages of bologna and salami. Their friday freebie was their store brand tortilla chips but when I went in they were already on sale at 4/$5 so I got 5/$5 instead.

There used to be an IGA store in the next town over from me but the IGA stores all seem to be going away. It was a bit more expensive but handy if I forgot something in town or needed something special for a single meal.

Yep, the 10 for 10 deals are good, and also the 5 for 5.  I take advantage of them whenever I know it's something we'll use.

An Aldi's just opened in town, but I haven't been there and really don't know much about them.  My mother-in-law likes Fresh Market, but I'm not going to shop there and pay double just because the store looks nice.  She can afford it.

[Silver Pines]

It's just me and wifee, one of her friends and another couple with 2 kids (they pay more and get more, the single lady pays less and gets less etc)  A cow is not that much meat lol

My wife put pencil to paper a couple of years ago and she figured in the electric bill, butcher cost, vacuum packing and it was about 1/2 the cost of buying at the store.  Incredible savings.

Though one year the freezer went kapuut when we was out of town for a a few days and came back to a nasty smell. Lost money that year LOL

This  is our 15th or 16th year.

@CatherineofAragon

@mirraflake

That happened with my sister-in-law.  They came back from vacation and everything in the freezer had thawed.  Even worse, the thing had leaked blood all over the floor.

[mirraflake]

Never buy a pig though for your freezer..The meat goes bad really fast even vacuum packed and trust me on this the allure of bacon goes away really fast. I think we ended up throwing out about 30-40% of what we bought. The meat tasted nasty

[mirraflake]

@mirraflake

That happened with my sister-in-law.  They came back from vacation and everything in the freezer had thawed.  Even worse, the thing had leaked blood all over the floor.

Ours never leaked out but it took almost a year to get the smell out of the basement.  We cleaned the carpeting twice in the downstair rec room.

@CatherineofAragon

[Silver Pines]

Has anybody used the Target Cartwheel app?

[Suppressed]

Has anybody used the Target Cartwheel app?

@CatherineofAragon

I value privacy too much. But you might find some helpful info here: https://www.twistermc.com/38517/cartwheel-targetsharing/

Target is amazing with its marketing.  Recall how they knew a girl was pregnant before her dad did?  https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

[Silver Pines]

@CatherineofAragon

I value privacy too much. But you might find some helpful info here: https://www.twistermc.com/38517/cartwheel-targetsharing/

Target is amazing with its marketing.  Recall how they knew a girl was pregnant before her dad did?  https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

@Suppressed

Thank you for those links.  I guess the Cartwheel app is out, since you have to be on Facebook to use it. 

Interesting article about the pregnant girl.  I was getting ready to say that Target doesn't have any of my information, but they do, because I've shopped online at their site.