My Grocery Addiction

My Grocery Addiction

Let me start by first saying that it is currently snowing.  It’s March 29^th and we have accumulating snow on the ground.  I know it snowed in late October so we have now had snow for a full 5 months.  I’m not opining on this, just documenting for the future when I’m whining about not having any snow on the ground!

Okay, on to the main topic.  I was up pretty early for a Saturday this morning to get through a ton of random errands and tasks, and as I was thinking through some of the more routine things like laundry and grocery shopping, it dawned on me that I am unusual in that I really enjoy doing laundry and grocery shopping.  I started thinking about why I like grocery shopping.  Here’s what I came up with:

·         It makes me feel productive without chewing up hours and hours of time.  I mean, who doesn’t like crossing things off a list?

·         I love all the quick math and trying to figure out if I can beat my budget and still get enough food for the week.  Some people get frustrated when they see a tag that says 3 for $5.  I like the mental math to figure out the unit cost and then analyze whether or not it’s a good value.  I usually get burned by toiletries – so expensive!

·         I love a good deal.  Coupons.  Sales.  And using coupons when items are on sale!  I think I embarrass Anissa sometimes when we grocery shop together.  I still buy a newspaper most Sundays and clip coupons (I know, I’m about 35 years ahead of myself here).  Sometimes I even go online looking for some.  At the end of the day it’s just a fun game for me to see how cheaply I can get some things.  My crowning achievement was a few years back.  I had a coupon for $0.50 off 1 can of Pringles.  Pringles were on sale for $0.99.  Kroger doubled my coupon and I was therefore paid a penny to take the Pringles home.  Booyah!

I thought I’d share a couple tips I have about how to get some good value at the grocery store.  But first I have to preface where I shop and why.  I do not shop at Walmart.  Not for any sort of moral reasons or anti-corporation sentiment.  I just think their produce is absolutely disgusting and the store is usually so crowded with rude people that the sour mood I have when I leave sticks with me all day.  I also do not shop at Meijer.  I probably should, but I’ve had some bad produce experiences that I have not yet overcome.  As my proportion of produce purchasing has risen, I had to stop shopping there.  But, they do double coupons so I may give them another chance.  I do not shop at Giant Eagle.  WAY.  TOO.  EXPENSIVE.  It’s also pretty inconvenient to get there and back for me; I think I have 3 Kroger stores closer to me than the closest Giant Eagle.  So living in Columbus, that leaves me with Kroger which is where I shop.  On average, it’s probably more expensive than Meijer and Walmart.  But it’s always clean, the produce is great, and the prices are competitive if you are paying attention and have some flexibility in what you purchase week-to-week.

So here are a few of my tips:

1.       Some foods that charge by weight are often great steals.  Bananas (I’m thinking we all know) are a great deal.   But, I’ve found Green Beans can be a huge value.  A pre-wrapped bag of green beans runs $2.50, but bagging your own usually runs about $1.25 for even more beans.  Sure, you have to wash them and probably cut them, but that’s a savings of 50% and they are probably fresher (probably even locally grown).  I also have found that cucumbers and squash offer a good deal of food for the price.  One weighed item that always seems outrageously expensive to me is grapes.  Why do they cost so much!? 

2.       Pay attention to the off-brand products available.  Kroger uses its own name as well as Home Sense for non-food items.  These are always way cheaper, sometimes up to 50% lower than the comparable brand name product.  I think Walmart uses Great Value as its food brand and Meijer may just use its own name.  I don’t think the off-brand products are always as good though.  I’ve had good success with most cereals (imitation Chex and Shredded Wheat), potato chips (Kroger brand is about half the price of Lays), jelly, and many household products like dishwasher detergent, dryer sheets, wet mops (think Swiffer), and disinfecting wipes.  I’ve also had success with Kroger shampoo and contact solution.  I will say that I don’t like Kroger peanut butter or Kroger vanilla wafers.  Any tips you have on off-brand items?

3.       Use coupons!  I’m telling you, if you spend a little time you can save some serious money each trip, especially if your grocer is doubling the coupons under $1.  Between sales and coupons, I try to reach a total discount of 20% off listed retail.  I usually end up somewhere between 12-17% off (it tallies it for me at the bottom of my receipt).  One caution on this – the discounts make you feel good but it could be foolish.  I always make sure I look back and feel good about how much I paid for an item. For example, if strawberries are $5 marked down to $3, that’s 40% off or a savings of $2.  But I’d still like to pay less than $3 for strawberries.

I will say, I have opportunities to learn more about the fuel perks and gift card perks.  I just need to invest a little time to understand how to best game the system.

So maybe if you think of grocery shopping as a menial task, or just a fact of life, try to make it a game for yourself.  See how much you can save.  Try to find the best values and see how little changes you make can help you get more food for your money!