My Grocery Addiction
Let me start by first saying that it is currently
snowing. It’s March 29th 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!
