Grocery Strategizing.

January 20, 2013 by betterwithsprinklesblog 36 Comments

Around here, Saturday is my usual grocery shopping day. I’ve mentioned before (and you can tell by all the different brands) that I tend to hit up multiple different stores for my shopping trips. So this time around, I’m going to break down my grocery trip by the different stores I go to and the motivation behind it. It is time consuming, yes, but I feel like I get the best value out of my weekly budget.

So here we go!

Stop 1: The Farmer’s Market

cooking onions
bell pepper
green beans
red onion
garlic
eggs

The market is always my first stop every week (unless I can’t get to groceries until Sunday, then I have to skip it). While I don’t get all my produce there, I usually pick up half to three-quarters of it. Eggs are a must – between Eric and I we eat 2-4 eggs a day, so I usually pick up a flat every two weeks. I get meat there on occasion too; I prefer to support local farmers when I can.

Stop 2: FreshCo

frozen meals
apple juice
whole chicken

FreshCo is where I usually get all my weekly staples – however, this week I only went for sale items because Zehr’s was having a no-tax event. Frozen meals because Eric likes them for lunches when there’s no leftovers around, plus the apple juice and chicken were on sale.

Metro

hazelnut butter
cream cheese
taco kit
sour cream (in French…forgot to turn the container around)
cottage cheese
steak
salmon

On regular items, Metro’s prices tend to run a little high. However, they get some amazing deals (especially on dairy and meat – the two priciest things in my budget) that warrant an almost-weekly stop.

This was absolutely an impulse purchase – it was on sale for $4.00. HALF PRICE. When you see Nuts to You products on that cheap, you just cannot say no (plus I realized the company is actually located 10 minutes away from me. I might have to look into that).

WalMart

frozen breakfast
mouse traps (I know!! I think we got rid of most of them, but there’s been a couple signs that suggest we may still have one or two hanging around. So I’m prepared)
cilantro in a tube (best idea ever)
Eric shampoo (except I was supposed to buy conditioner…oops)
BBQ sauce (I was intrigued)
dish soap

I do go to Walmart almost weekly, but more for non-food and shelf-stable food items.

Zehrs

bananas
shrimp
oats
baby carrots
tomato
soba noodles
avocados

Usually, Zehrs has the same approach as Metro – more for the meat sales than anything else, plus a couple of President’s Choice products that I like. But the no-tax sale warranted for picking up the rest of my produce and a few pantry items there.

So there you go! A method to my madness.

Meal Plan