More than one grocery store?

amymeenieminymo

In my never ending battle with grocery shopping, I am now considering shopping at two stores to save money. Not sure if people have them around, but Aldi has really cheap food, when we we used to shop there exclusively we could do a months worth of shopping for around $80-90. BUT, it isn't always the freshest food and you can't get out of the norm stuff there and their produce is pretty hit or miss.

So I started shopping at a regular store and our grocery bill shot way up. Everytime I go it is so stressful because I sometimes can't get everything I need and I hate adding up each and every thing I get. I know the smart thing to do is just increase our grocery budget, but funds aren't all that great right now so any way I can keep the budget as it was would be great.

So I'm thinking maybe if I can buy all my "safe" foods at Aldi like cereal and snacks and such, and leave the meat and produce and more specialty things for the other store, perhaps that could stretch my budget. But I'm wondering how you do this. Do you shop on two different days, or let the food sit in the car from the first store while you're in buying food from the second store? I hate grocery shopping to begin with, so going on two different days sounds like hell to me, but I would imagine I cannot buy anything frozen or cool if they are going to be sitting in a hot car for any length of time. Help please!

amymeenieminymo

In my never ending battle with grocery shopping, I am now considering shopping at two stores to save money. Not sure if people have them around, but Aldi has really cheap food, when we we used to shop there exclusively we could do a months worth of shopping for around $80-90. BUT, it isn't always the freshest food and you can't get out of the norm stuff there and their produce is pretty hit or miss.

So I started shopping at a regular store and our grocery bill shot way up. Everytime I go it is so stressful because I sometimes can't get everything I need and I hate adding up each and every thing I get. I know the smart thing to do is just increase our grocery budget, but funds aren't all that great right now so any way I can keep the budget as it was would be great.

So I'm thinking maybe if I can buy all my "safe" foods at Aldi like cereal and snacks and such, and leave the meat and produce and more specialty things for the other store, perhaps that could stretch my budget. But I'm wondering how you do this. Do you shop on two different days, or let the food sit in the car from the first store while you're in buying food from the second store? I hate grocery shopping to begin with, so going on two different days sounds like hell to me, but I would imagine I cannot buy anything frozen or cool if they are going to be sitting in a hot car for any length of time. Help please!

MargieM

I shop at 2 different places. In fact, Aldi's is one of them. I purchased one of those insulated bags to keep my frozen and cold stuff cold while I went into the other store. It was 90 degrees out, and the stuff was just fine when I got home. If in doubt, throw a cooler in your car before you go to keep all the perishables safe while shopping someplace else. I get whatever I can at Aldi's and then finish out at Wal-mart (almost side by side). I also got the reusable shopping bags at Aldi's so I don't have to scrounge for boxes and such, and they hold a lot. Definitely helps my grocery bill.

lotusfromthemud

When I lived in Florida, I had a cooler in my trunk that I would put frozen/refrigerated things in for the ride home. Maybe you could put a cooler in the back, and then make your two stops.

Another idea is to only go to Aldi for your staples, and make a monthly or every two week trip there and just buy more. The stuff I remember from there is mostly non-prepared foods.

Also, there are lots of great vegetarian options out there that will really stretch your dollar. I used that trick when my budget was extra tight. Just a suggestion.:flowerforyou:

jackeh

i shop all over the place ...probably 3 or 4 places in a week.... i go for the sales:bigsmile:
also some stores have price matching, so if there is something in the flyer on sale at diff stores you can get a price match .... saves money on gas driving around,

jackie

amymeenieminymo

I shop at 2 different places. In fact, Aldi's is one of them. I purchased one of those insulated bags to keep my frozen and cold stuff cold while I went into the other store. It was 90 degrees out, and the stuff was just fine when I got home. If in doubt, throw a cooler in your car before you go to keep all the perishables safe while shopping someplace else. I get whatever I can at Aldi's and then finish out at Wal-mart (almost side by side). I also got the reusable shopping bags at Aldi's so I don't have to scrounge for boxes and such, and they hold a lot. Definitely helps my grocery bill.

I totally forgot about those insulated bags. Thanks, I will defintely try that!

jlwhelan1

As mentioned above, a cooler or insulated bags work wonders.

I was raised in the country a long (minimum) one hour drive from anywhere. We'd hit 3 - 4 stores for all the sales, stop at a park for a picnic meal and then drive home. A cooler solved all the problems.:happy:

I still use a cooler and make a few stops. It keeps the budget down if I can buy each of my staples where they are the least expensive.

I also carry a calculator or keep a running total in my head...(I'm surprisingly good at being within a dollar of the total considering how much I estimate.)

I'm sure there are other helpful tips from others here. Good luck.