The photo of all the food purchased at Aldi reminded me of the .22 ammo shortage from 10 or 12 years ago when .22 ammo hunters would post photos online of their hoards of .22.
Taking a break from wine but the TJ’s Green Fin Organic Red Wine for $4.99 is a great buy by me. Aldi’s and TJ’s have history. Wayback Aldi’s were located in poorer areas. They were around in more places before TJ’s. TJ’s and Aldi’s contracts with suppliers so prices are more stable.
Emily, for you, living in DC increases your cost of living quite a bit. We get delivery on all of groceries for $60 a year. I live in Texas now, but used to live in Maryland for decades. We use Kroger grocery stores.
Well, I usually shop at Fry's, one of the Kroger brands. Their pharmacy is on my approved list, too.
I'll admit to buying less overall in grocery stores, but the things I've cut back on - junk food, mostly - I needed to cut back. I still get some small personal pleasures, like chocolate or vanilla brioche bread, Boar's Head meats at the deli, and a couple of Kroger's "Private Selection" items, Belgian Chocolate milk ( like a candy bar in a bottle,) and 8 oz blocks of Cheddar Gruyere cheese. I pick up a few others here and there, but you get the idea. I refuse to punish myself by limiting my food to nothing but cheap stuff.
Where we really feel the bite is animal feeds. Late last year, we go the word that the feds who do this sort of thing have tried to get the Colorado River basin states to work out a compromise or else we'd have one given to us. And as if to emphasize that, they cut 25 to 50% of farmers' water allocation per year. Now, some crops can be made to utilize less water, but not hay or grasses that are used for feeding livestock. The farmers stopped working half their land, so now they grow half as much - and they doubled the price. An 88-bale "squeeze" of Alfalfa that used to go for $700-800 now costs $1600. Sadly, we are actively trying to sell goats and horses to get this under control, but so is everyone else, so sales are slow.
Oh, almost forgot: dog food doubled in price over the last year, too. Currently 10 dogs on the property, with several doing "guard duty," and no relief in sight.
A little tip for dog and cat owners: if you didn't know, Amazon and Chewy.com both will ship large bagged and 12-can flats at 13oz per, free shipping for Amazon Prime and free shipping on Chewy for orders of $50 or more. (and they fudge a little: my latest order was a 31 lb bag of puppy food, $49.98, free ship.)
I shop at Safeway, Giant, and Wegmans. We have particular tastes so we get items at places that carry what we want. All meat, fish, and baked goods at Wegmans.
In any event, I had an interesting experience at Safeway the other day. I bought a bunch of supplements/healthcare items along with groceries and the total came to $202. I knew I was due a few discounts as a member, so when I typed in my phone number, I expected maybe $20 in discounts. What I got was a $75 "basket discount" as well as $40 in other discounts. Total cost $92. That was like winning the lottery.
Whole Foods: anything with their own "365" brand label is a pretty good deal. It's like a generic label at Safeway but at least a level or two better. I wait for the sliced smoked salmon to go on sale (bagels + cream cheese) and keep 4 or 5 in the freezer until the next sale; and their fancy jams section has sales occasionally and then I clean them out a dozen jars at a time. Over in Meats they sell frozen 2-lb bags of peeled, veined, de-tailed, uncooked shrimp for a steal ($20?) Keep a bag in the freezer and boil some when needed - I toss a few into soup, or sometimes make a shrimp/sherry/butter/lemon/garlic pasta sauce from them. So easy. You might catch me there standing in the candy aisle, staring at all the sale tags on gourmet chocolate bars, until the other shoppers tell me to Move, please.
I'm blessed to have both Trader Joe's & Grocery Outlet within walking distance of my home/work in the L.A. area. ✝ Looks like the closest GO to you is in Baltimore, but their nationwide footprint continues to grow. They're known for stocking regular & organic items at excellent prices; but since they specialize in close-outs, I'm able to stock up on exceptional organic stuff with long expiration dates. Over the past few years I've been shopping there, they've had an endless supply of high-quality yummies that simply haven't caught on at expensive places like Whole Foods, so GO liquidates them. 💰 On the flip side, they also extra-deep-discount fresh things close to their expiration (e.g., $2 32oz organic coconut water, $4 16oz grass-fed ground beef). https://www.groceryoutlet.com/our-story
Mostly, I'm at Whole Foods on H St. and using their Prime Discount for sales. It pays for itself.
Otherwise, Safeway has great bargains - but you have to go online to scroll through and click the paperless coupons. It actually keeps track of your favorite items and often reduces their prices just for you. And chicken? Safeway chicken thighs are .99 cents per pound this month if you buy the large pack. [Bake it all up and freeze them for later.]
I use several sources for groceries. Amazon Subscribe and Save, BJ Wholesale Club, Walmart, and Shaw's or Market Basket. I focus on acquiring frozen Asian vegetables, Wasa Brod, Land O Lakes Butter olive oil and salt spread, V8 juice, Frozen Salmon, Frozen tuna steaks, Seitenbacher vegetable stock powder, and other staples. Different combinations of frozen Asian vegetables in one thing I do. Lately I send to make a lot of soup and fish and veggies combos. I usually do not vary what I buy for groceries because I'm on a special medical diet to make sure I don't get sick too much. Unfortunately, despite what I do, the atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries and the carotid siphons in my brain means I have to prevent ischemic stroke. Among other curses of the medical variety. At least most of the time I eat healthier now. Though the prices are definitely up.
The photo of all the food purchased at Aldi reminded me of the .22 ammo shortage from 10 or 12 years ago when .22 ammo hunters would post photos online of their hoards of .22.
Isn’t Trader Joe’s owned by Aldi? (or is it Lidl?).
https://www.aldireviewer.com/aldi-aldi-use-caps-not-use-caps/
Taking a break from wine but the TJ’s Green Fin Organic Red Wine for $4.99 is a great buy by me. Aldi’s and TJ’s have history. Wayback Aldi’s were located in poorer areas. They were around in more places before TJ’s. TJ’s and Aldi’s contracts with suppliers so prices are more stable.
Emily, for you, living in DC increases your cost of living quite a bit. We get delivery on all of groceries for $60 a year. I live in Texas now, but used to live in Maryland for decades. We use Kroger grocery stores.
Well, I usually shop at Fry's, one of the Kroger brands. Their pharmacy is on my approved list, too.
I'll admit to buying less overall in grocery stores, but the things I've cut back on - junk food, mostly - I needed to cut back. I still get some small personal pleasures, like chocolate or vanilla brioche bread, Boar's Head meats at the deli, and a couple of Kroger's "Private Selection" items, Belgian Chocolate milk ( like a candy bar in a bottle,) and 8 oz blocks of Cheddar Gruyere cheese. I pick up a few others here and there, but you get the idea. I refuse to punish myself by limiting my food to nothing but cheap stuff.
Where we really feel the bite is animal feeds. Late last year, we go the word that the feds who do this sort of thing have tried to get the Colorado River basin states to work out a compromise or else we'd have one given to us. And as if to emphasize that, they cut 25 to 50% of farmers' water allocation per year. Now, some crops can be made to utilize less water, but not hay or grasses that are used for feeding livestock. The farmers stopped working half their land, so now they grow half as much - and they doubled the price. An 88-bale "squeeze" of Alfalfa that used to go for $700-800 now costs $1600. Sadly, we are actively trying to sell goats and horses to get this under control, but so is everyone else, so sales are slow.
Oh, almost forgot: dog food doubled in price over the last year, too. Currently 10 dogs on the property, with several doing "guard duty," and no relief in sight.
A little tip for dog and cat owners: if you didn't know, Amazon and Chewy.com both will ship large bagged and 12-can flats at 13oz per, free shipping for Amazon Prime and free shipping on Chewy for orders of $50 or more. (and they fudge a little: my latest order was a 31 lb bag of puppy food, $49.98, free ship.)
I shop at Safeway, Giant, and Wegmans. We have particular tastes so we get items at places that carry what we want. All meat, fish, and baked goods at Wegmans.
In any event, I had an interesting experience at Safeway the other day. I bought a bunch of supplements/healthcare items along with groceries and the total came to $202. I knew I was due a few discounts as a member, so when I typed in my phone number, I expected maybe $20 in discounts. What I got was a $75 "basket discount" as well as $40 in other discounts. Total cost $92. That was like winning the lottery.
Whole Foods: anything with their own "365" brand label is a pretty good deal. It's like a generic label at Safeway but at least a level or two better. I wait for the sliced smoked salmon to go on sale (bagels + cream cheese) and keep 4 or 5 in the freezer until the next sale; and their fancy jams section has sales occasionally and then I clean them out a dozen jars at a time. Over in Meats they sell frozen 2-lb bags of peeled, veined, de-tailed, uncooked shrimp for a steal ($20?) Keep a bag in the freezer and boil some when needed - I toss a few into soup, or sometimes make a shrimp/sherry/butter/lemon/garlic pasta sauce from them. So easy. You might catch me there standing in the candy aisle, staring at all the sale tags on gourmet chocolate bars, until the other shoppers tell me to Move, please.
I'm blessed to have both Trader Joe's & Grocery Outlet within walking distance of my home/work in the L.A. area. ✝ Looks like the closest GO to you is in Baltimore, but their nationwide footprint continues to grow. They're known for stocking regular & organic items at excellent prices; but since they specialize in close-outs, I'm able to stock up on exceptional organic stuff with long expiration dates. Over the past few years I've been shopping there, they've had an endless supply of high-quality yummies that simply haven't caught on at expensive places like Whole Foods, so GO liquidates them. 💰 On the flip side, they also extra-deep-discount fresh things close to their expiration (e.g., $2 32oz organic coconut water, $4 16oz grass-fed ground beef). https://www.groceryoutlet.com/our-story
Mostly, I'm at Whole Foods on H St. and using their Prime Discount for sales. It pays for itself.
Otherwise, Safeway has great bargains - but you have to go online to scroll through and click the paperless coupons. It actually keeps track of your favorite items and often reduces their prices just for you. And chicken? Safeway chicken thighs are .99 cents per pound this month if you buy the large pack. [Bake it all up and freeze them for later.]
I use several sources for groceries. Amazon Subscribe and Save, BJ Wholesale Club, Walmart, and Shaw's or Market Basket. I focus on acquiring frozen Asian vegetables, Wasa Brod, Land O Lakes Butter olive oil and salt spread, V8 juice, Frozen Salmon, Frozen tuna steaks, Seitenbacher vegetable stock powder, and other staples. Different combinations of frozen Asian vegetables in one thing I do. Lately I send to make a lot of soup and fish and veggies combos. I usually do not vary what I buy for groceries because I'm on a special medical diet to make sure I don't get sick too much. Unfortunately, despite what I do, the atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries and the carotid siphons in my brain means I have to prevent ischemic stroke. Among other curses of the medical variety. At least most of the time I eat healthier now. Though the prices are definitely up.