Cheapest grocery chain?

All of what I've bought there is conventionally grown produce. (It may just be that I wasn't looking for organic and so it didn't register with me, though.)

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04/14/2014 21:14

Subject: Cheapest grocery chain?

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting that article. I actually live in Bethesda, and for the past 4 or 5 months I've been schlepping all the way up to the Wegmans in Germantown and doing one big shop instead of the weekly trips to the Giant on Arlington. I figured I was saving between $30 to $40 bucks on groceries, and that's with the cost of the gas factored in.

This month, I had a doctor's appointment all the way out in Greenbelt. Since there was an Aldi's not that far from the office I figured I'd check it out. The selection is very limited; brands you never heard of which I assume is the house brand and some european goods. But the prices were very low and the quality is pretty good. Milk was dirt cheap at $2.69 a gallon (Wegmans' is also pretty low at $2.89 iirc). There were also "special buys" which I took to mean stuff they get in and when it's gone, it's gone. The ones I noticed were Kraft Olive Oil Mayo in the squeeze jar, Duke's Mayo, a Leg of Lamb, some snazzy looking ice cream cakes and a bunch of other things I can't remember. I didn't buy any, but I was impressed with how big the produce section was: the store itself was maybe 4 or 5 aisles wide plus a refrigerated/frozen section all along three walls and produce took up one double sided aisle.

In the end, I got out of there having spent around the same as I would at Wegmans, even though I bought more meat than I normally would. I would definitely make a habit out of Aldi's if I could find one that was closer.

So, I assume you went to the Aldi's in Enterprise plaza in Lanham (MD-450 just outside the beltway). There is a new Aldi currently under construction in Beltsville (US-1 less than 1 mile outside the beltway). I know it still is not close to Bethesday, but is it about 10 minutes closer to Bethesda and frankly, it is about the same distance as driving to the Wegman's in Germantown.

They are also putting an Aldi in Gaithersburg, where the old Magruder's used to be on Quince Orchard Rd-- you could swing by on your way to Wegman's.

You could drive to Aldi's in Beltsville, buy what you can and then go to the SFW in College Park (US-1 and Cherry Hill Lane, which is essentially at US-1 and the Beltway) to round out the shopping trip and still save a lot of money. It's two stops, but the second stop is on the way back home so only will only add about 3-5 minutes to the trip other than the shopping part.

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04/16/2014 20:59

Subject: Cheapest grocery chain?

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Anonymous

There is an Aldi in Germantown, MD. I think Aldi aand Wegmans have the lowest regular prices, Harris Teeter and Safeway have the best sales.

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04/16/2014 21:05

Subject: Cheapest grocery chain?

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Anonymous

Honestly, my farm share is the cheapest way to get way more produce, eggs and meat than my family can eat at just over $50/week and the quality is great of. We still have to buy dairy, bread, and nuts elsewhere but we only go to the store for that 2x month. With a farm share, we don't get to pick what's fresh and available each week, but there's always variety and I've learned to cook with what we get.