Where I used to live was about 15 miles from the nearest store so whenever we wanted to get some food it wasn't just a quick trip to the store anyway. However if we went about 20 miles instead we could get groceries much cheaper, so we tended to do that rather than pay over the odds for groceries at the closer place. We'd stock up on more groceries that way so need to make fewer trips, and we used to grow our own fresh food so we didn't need to worry much about that either. Now I live closer to a town I can walk to a shop in just 10 minutes or so (although admittedly it's expansive) so I no longer need to worry about having to travel as far for food. Now, the furthest I'd go to save money on groceries is to the store on the other side of town if they have a deal that's worth going that far for. How far would you travel for cheaper groceries?
Depends entirely on the savings that I would make. There'd be no reason to go further than you should and at the end of it all save only a few pennies. If buying from a store that's miles away from the nearest one will save me more money than I spend on gas then I'll drive over. If not, I'll buy everything I need from the nearest store.
It all depends. The closest store to me is about 15 or 20 minutes away, but the store in town is probably a half an hour. Obviously, there is not a huge difference in travel time so, I will frequently go to the store in town, and this is especially if I have errands to do in town. I can usually trump up a reason why I need to go to the store that is a bit further away. The product selection is not quite as good at the store in town, but the savings make up for it.
I do not travel very far to get cheaper groceries unless I have a few different errands to run in a certain place. I am pretty good at getting coupons and stuff, so I just wait patienly for the items I want to go on sale closed to home. I typically will roam the aisles of the grocery store on Wednesdays because that is when a lot of items go on sale where I live.
Traveling for a "deal" is similar to traveling for cheaper gas. A cent a gallon isn't going to make much of a difference unless that savings is right across the street. But going 5 miles out of the way to ultimately save only $0.15 is a little silly. Groceries, for me, are a little different. I have a routine. The best prices in our town for all my staples is at Aldi, which is arguably NOT near anything I ever drive to. It is, however, on my husband's way home from work. We've worked out a system where he does a weekly stock up at Aldi. Other grocery deals have often been worth a trip out just for one thing, for me.Log In, so I've learned to maximize my savings in many different ways, but yes, I'm willing to go pretty far out of the way if the trip is large enough to warrant the savings. On the flip side, when searching for houses in our current town (almost 6 years ago) one of my prerequisites was that our neighborhood had to be "close to" my favorite grocery store. So you know. Some people look for good schools. I look for good grocery stores.
Our favorite supermarket is about 10 kilometers away and while there are supermarkets 5 kilometers away, we still go to our favorite because of many reasons. First is the prices, far more cheaper. Second is the prices again, so many promos and discounts all the time. Thirds is the complete array of what we need since my favorite supermarket is one of the biggest that belongs to the mall chain. And fourth, I have the SM Advantage Card where I earn points whenever I shop there.
We will drive up to 25 miles away to get groceries. Anything further then we just end up spending more money on gas and it is not so cost efficient. Does anyone else take gas into consideration as well?
I bus everywhere for I've no car and have a bus pass and do travel over 10 miles just to get cheaper groceries. I've a local grocery store in walking distance, but I'll go to a grocery store for cheaper food on sale!
The consideration here is if would be cost effective to travel that far to save on prices. I wonder if there is that much value in savings on grocery items to offset the maintenance and fuel cost to travel that far, and it should be noted that it would be a round trip. In my opinion, I don't believe it would really be cost effective to go that far to save on the items.
I go to the grocery store across town for most of my groceries. They are a lot cheaper than the stores closest to me. I try to only go once every 2 weeks or so and stock up on a lot of items. Then I may go to the store around the corner just for a few items in between, but I get a lot of savings out of that trip to the cheaper store definitely, way more than the gas it takes to drive a few extra miles.
I'd only travel as far as I think would still be efficient for my gas savings. If I travel too far to get a bit of savings then I'll just spend it on gas and I'd much rather just go somewhere nearby and save myself some time as well even though it's more expensive in the short term. Also I would consider how much savings I'd get by traveling. If it's worth the trouble even after all the sacrifice then I'd definitely consider it worth the trip and not mind at all that I'm spending more time and money traveling further than I have to because I know I could make it back from the savings I'll get.
I don't drive and rely wholly on public transport. So for me, it would be a real hassle unless it meant I was making some serious savings. I wouldn't really consider it unless I could go with a friend who drove, and the cost of the petrol wouldn't outstrip any savings we made. Also, it would be a real bonus if we could get a few other things there like paying bills and grabbing a bite to eat. I'd probably also buy in bulk so it wasn't a weekly journey. Luckily, I don't have to do that as I'm quite happy with my local stores
I'm a fast walker and I sometimes walk 1 or 2 miles for markdowns on groceries and deals. Since I'm going to a few stores it probably adds up to about 4 miles. I just count it as a workout.
It's a simple matter of savings + time/distance + convenience. When you look at it this way, I find it easier to rationalize driving somewhere for a deal. If you need to drive 30 miles to a place that has better deals, it's usually in your best interest to go ahead and do it, if you have the time to spare. Let's say a gallon of gas is 3 bucks, and your car gets 30 miles to a gallon, you are still saving money if you save over 3 bucks. So if a Costco, or a closing sale is happening in the next town over, I can usually rationalize driving out there.
