What Is Your Favorite Grocery Store And Why Do You Like It?

Yes, Dollar Tree actually carry some pretty good brands. Sometimes it's hard to believe that the items in that store are only a dollar. There are still some things that they kind of lack in, so other stores are still necessary to get all of my groceries. For example, one time I bought their shredded cheese. The thing is, I didn't know that it was soy based, so when I tried to make quesadillas, the cheese didn't melt. That was disturbing.

 

I loved Publix when I lived in Florida (they have the best subs too if you're looking for a one-off meal) but since moving to California, I do a lot of my shopping at Trader Joe's. They have decent prices for how health-conscious their food is - often competitively priced against the standard supermarket chains here (Vons, Ralph's, etc.) I used to shop at Whole Food's but I got tired of spending my entire pay check on groceries!

 

Come to think of it, we have a large store called Shoppers here that's actually very good value for money. It's probably not linked to Shoppers Value, though. But all the branches are quite a distance away from where I live. Because I don't drive at the moment, to get to any one of them via public transport would be very awkward. But once I get myself a little run around, I'll be straight in there. I'll still get bits and bob from Woolies, though.

 

I do almost all of my shopping at Kroger's, which is a main supermarket here in the southern United States. One of the things that I like best about Kroger is that they have what they call "Manager's Special", which I where they mark items down very cheap to get them sold out right away. Something that is usually $5 might be on sale for $1.99 , and alsmot always it is at least half-price.
They used to also have what was called the "scan-rite guarantee", which actually set Kroger's apart from other grocery stores, in my opinion. If they overcharged you for an item, they would then give you the item free, not just return the overcharge like most Torres do. They really went the extra mile to be a great store.
Now, they have raised most of their prices, taken away the guarantee, and it is just no where nearly as good as it used to be.
Many of my friends now do their regular shopping at Aldi'ss instead, and I am thinking that I should change, too.

 

Yeah, I always a hit a couple of stores as well, but they do have a few good items. The price on some stuff is just too good to pass up.

They have that fake cheese, (yuck) but they also have real cheese. The "County Line" brand is one I recognize from when I was a kid. My mom used to buy that cheese, and it's good. I'm not sure it's a good deal though. I haven't made the comparison to see (it comes in a smaller package, so I'm not sure how it works out by volume).

I have bought the County Line string cheese there, 3 for $1.00. That;s the typical price for string cheese around here, so it works. Sometimes, I grab that if I'm out running around and need a snack. A piece of string cheese will hold me over until I get home. It's better than grabbing chips, candy, or fast food.

 

I think my favourite grocery store is Costco. I love the prices and being able to buy in bulk. I think that they cater to families since they have the nice large parking spots. I never have to worry about my doors being dinged in a tight spot when I park at Costco. I love that I can buy my favourite foods and save money. I don't mind having to buy 2 loaves of bread as I just freeze the extras. The money and time that I'm saving making it worth while to shop there. I especially love it when you get their coupons or when they put items on sale.

 

Because I'm on a tight budget, I'm not able to shop at one store for everything. There are deals to be had at each store, but no one store has the lowest prices on everything, so it seems while a particular store will have very low prices on one type of item, such as produce, they will increase their prices on other items to compensate. I won't drive all over the place to save a few cents though, because even though gas prices are low right now, that's wear and tear that my vehicle doesn't need. I see some great deals at Aldi's, and it's just across the street from Walmart, so I could add that into my rotation. For quick trips when I need an item or two, I will often run to Kroger, because that's the closest grocery store to me, but they are much more expensive on pet foods, so I try to hold out until I can get to Walmart for those purchases.

One trick I've noticed at Kroger is that although they will mark a particular 'size' bag of dry cat food at a certain price to match that of Walmart, that bag will have less product in it, sometimes by several pounds. It took me a while to figure that out, because I thought I was getting a good deal and saving some gas/wear and tear on the vehicle by shopping there, but it turns out that's not the case. What will look to be the same size bag for the same price will be $9.99 for 16 pounds at Walmart, versus $9.99 for 13 pounds at Kroger.

 

I really like Aldi's for shopping, however, it is much further away from me, and not in the direction that we go very often. It is also a nuisance having to carry along a quarter just to get the grocery cart each time, plus you have to take your own bags.
If a person is getting a lot of groceries at Aldi'ss, then it is worth hauling along all of your own re-usuable bags, and taking the extra time to get and return the grocery cart. However, I am often only getting some of the fresh veggies and fruit that they carry and have such a great price on, so it is a lot extra for jut that little bit of shopping there.
We also make a trip to Sam's Club about once each month, and I like that because their produce is always fresh, and a good price. We stock up on the items that we use the most, or the things that we buy in bulk, like spices.
It is a lot harder to find a close parking place at Sam's; but since we only do it once each month, we are okay with that, and I always gas up the car while I am there, too.

 

My favorite grocery store is Food Lion. Not only do they offer good store sales, but they also have a coupon machine that I use that has store and manufacture coupons. Sometimes they will do special offers like buy one get one free, buy two and get one free, and marked down prices on items. Sometimes I will get a special coupon from them like spend $60 get $5 off coupons. This week at Food Lion was a really good week. They had Ken's salad dressing for only $1 each. They also had ketchup 2/$4 and buy two get one free. I also had coupons which made my price even lower. Don't get me started about deals. I can write about them all day. LOL.