Cheapest Grocery Stores by County/Neighborhood

[Anonymous]

I'm in a similar boat OP.

For us (and we are still trying to get groceries down to $400 -600 monthyl) a big help was deciding what foods were going to anchor the week. I have a husband and a son. I love to cook fancy things but at some point it is literally about how many leftovers I can make stretch. So I choose a big "convertible" dish.

For example, I made an extra ham during thanks giving. Everyone else got a honeybaked, I picked up a 9 lb from the store for about $17 with the bone in. Roasted the ham (did a coca cola and paprika glaze btw - I like spicy food) then cut up slices, chunks, and fat. The slices were for eating in sandwiches or on plates. The chunks were for tossing in other dishes (like cuban black beans, ham and rice!). The fat was for greens.

Then I took the bone, some chicken stock, and lot of water and boiled the hambone out. Chopped up carrots and celery and onions, some leftover leek, added some canned tomatoes and made a ribolitta.

So that was about $60 in expenditures to anchor the week and there is always something in the fridge that scales well (I think I got 10 bowls out of the ribolitta but it was a bit watery by the end). And of course I cooked and added to it but if people are just standing trying to eat something, there is always food.

(Also, for my lazy self, a mass cook day means I won't go running to Seamless when I am tired.)

Pasta also scales great - my fave is fun noodles, pesto, and some light veggies as a snack.

Clearly YMMV - I am lucky that I love to cook and my husband and son eat just about everything I make. But cooking something that is inexpensive and makes a lot (broth based soup, pasta salad, potato salad) has been saving my life.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the great ideas! Please keep them coming! Planning is part of my issue. I definitely need to start planning for an entire week's worth of meals. But as I mentioned before, another reason for the frequent grocery store trips are two kids going through the biggest growth spurt of their lives. Yes, I nag them about the frequent pantry raids! Yes, they stop, but they do need the calories. Before anyone says its the wrong type of calories, we are talking yogurt, granola bars, bananas, trail mix, juice, and oatmeal. Their one indulgence is french bread with olive oil.

Although I use coupons for a lot of things, I seldom do so for groceries. They are for specific products that I rarely need, mostly processed foods. I wish grocery stores would have a 25% off entire purchase coupons, like Michael's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in a similar boat OP.

For us (and we are still trying to get groceries down to $400 -600 monthyl) a big help was deciding what foods were going to anchor the week. I have a husband and a son. I love to cook fancy things but at some point it is literally about how many leftovers I can make stretch. So I choose a big "convertible" dish.

For example, I made an extra ham during thanks giving. Everyone else got a honeybaked, I picked up a 9 lb from the store for about $17 with the bone in. Roasted the ham (did a coca cola and paprika glaze btw - I like spicy food) then cut up slices, chunks, and fat. The slices were for eating in sandwiches or on plates. The chunks were for tossing in other dishes (like cuban black beans, ham and rice!). The fat was for greens.

Then I took the bone, some chicken stock, and lot of water and boiled the hambone out. Chopped up carrots and celery and onions, some leftover leek, added some canned tomatoes and made a ribolitta.

So that was about $60 in expenditures to anchor the week and there is always something in the fridge that scales well (I think I got 10 bowls out of the ribolitta but it was a bit watery by the end). And of course I cooked and added to it but if people are just standing trying to eat something, there is always food.

(Also, for my lazy self, a mass cook day means I won't go running to Seamless when I am tired.)

Pasta also scales great - my fave is fun noodles, pesto, and some light veggies as a snack.

Clearly YMMV - I am lucky that I love to cook and my husband and son eat just about everything I make. But cooking something that is inexpensive and makes a lot (broth based soup, pasta salad, potato salad) has been saving my life.

You are anything but lazy! I'm impressed...and hungry after reading about your amazing cooking!

[Anonymous]

Sorry, PP, forgot to name the stores.

I am amazed that TJs on 14th st is as cheap as it is. I can normally get a LOT of produce out of there for under 100. Don't really buy meat there though, mostly cheap prepared quickie meals, veggies, fruits, beans, lentils, oils, etc.

I go to the Giant or Target in Columbia Heights for meat and mass stuff like beer.

My friend goes to the latin markets and a food co-op called glut, but she lives in Takoma Park.

Do people like the food from Costco? It seems to be a great deal if you can eat easy/prepared food but I always feel like I can't get what I need.

The safeways aren't bad but all the supermarkets push more prepared stuff these days which runs your bill up.

I think of WH and Yes! and Streets as cute places for a special thing or occasion not "real" shopping.

And I have family in the burbs so if I am out that way, I shop at Wegmans. It is shockingly cheaper than Target/Giant here in the city.

[Anonymous]

You are anything but lazy! I'm impressed...and hungry after reading about your amazing cooking!

LOL, I am super lazy. I actually didn't start trying to hack my cooking until I had the kid - until then, me and the hubs were dinner party type people, but we ate out like 8-10 times a week. We were paying money for just ok food!

I started watching Week in a Day w Rachel Ray and I thought that concept was cool. My weeks are really crazy (I'm in news, I have no effing idea what's going to happen when I go to work) so basically my Saturday afternoons or Sunday afternoons (sport season depending) are cooking. I'm actually trying to prepare for a store run now. So basically, I think of four or five things to cook and make them all at the same time, and then just eat off that. And that normally takes us at least to Wed or Thurs, and if at that point we surrender to take out I am cool with that.

Soup, to me is the easiest thing because once you get the hang of it, you just freestyle. So my first ribolitta was by the book and very italian. The next one I made I decided to throw black eyed peas and collard greens in with some of the other ingredients and stir it around. I make a soup similar to the Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden, and that's just broth, water, potatoes, onions, and italian sausage + seasoning.

This week, I am experimenting with rice. I saw on a cooking channel show this cola-coconut rice (basically - get rice, rinse, add equal parts coca cola and coconut milk in place of water, cook as usual) and that was a hit around here, but it didn't last long. So now I am thinking about how to scale it. I'm also kind of obsessed with the bowls from Cava Mezze so I am trying to figure out if I can make something similar for day to day eating at home. And there's a really good thick dominican stew recipe that also uses rice:

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/zoe-saldana-0

So dominican stew and ribolitta are the bases this week. Big pot of rice. Greens. I'm going to look through Afro-Vegan for tasty veg ideas, pick up some fish to keep on hand, and some oatmeal/pumpkin bread for the mornings (box not scratch I'm not superhuman) and that's the food this week.

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda. The cheapest near me is the Shoppers in White Flint.

What I do is once a month, I drive up 270 to the Wegmans in Germantown. The prices of staples make it worth it. For example a 32oz tin of Folgers is 8.99; last time I bothered to check at Giant, it was 12.99. Tutti Rossi 28oz canned tomatoes are 2.19 at Giant; Wegman has them for .99. I dont remember the exact price, but regular skim milk is around a buck cheaper at Wegmans. I also love the way the meat comes shrink wrapped individually in the big family packs. I can toss the whole thing in the freezer, and just cut off what I need as I go. No muss, no fuss, no having to break stuff up and repackage it into freezer bags.

Also, if you sign up for their rewards thing, they mail you coupons every month. Even if there's nothing else I can use, there's always a $5 off a $25+ purchase for every week in the month.

if you in Bethesda, check your free paper, the Gazette, I gran a couple every Wednesday from paper stand. There is Harris Teeter q $10/50. It can be used in Giant or Harris Teeter.
Both Giants and HT accept competitors qs, so you can use Wegmans 5/25 qs and occasional Shoppers 10/50 qs (attached the front page of Wash post quite often).
I don't clip papers coupons, but those total purchase coupons are really help to keep the cost of grocery down.

My problem with Giant and Safeway is that their meat sucks. I've had meat at Safeway that I bought on a Thursday afternoon start smelling off by the time I'm ready to cook dinner on Friday. Every time I buy beef at Giant it'll be beautiful and pink on the outside only to be old and brown in the middle. And don't ever buy any meat from Giant with a "Save $X.00 Today!" because it's always something that needs to get tossed by the end of the day. I fell for it and my husband was up all night with diarrhea.

I've been to the Harris Teeter off of Rockville Pike, but I didn't find it that much cheaper and Shoppers is closer. I'll keep the coupon tip in mind though for when the HT they're putting in that new building on Wisconsin opens up.

[Anonymous]

I don't like Trader Joes because its not a full grocery store. Whole foods is also difficult because it doesn't have a lot of common grocery items or their prices are so ridiculous that i can't make myself buy it.

I do like target for a big biweekly buy of food. Many of their prices are really good and i get 5% off with their credit card.

[Anonymous]

O.P. here.

So, I went to Wegman's this afternoon. Earlier in this thread I posted per pound prices for bananas at several different grocery stores that I shopped at in the past month. I was hoping to get a great deal at Wegman's, based on your suggestions. Well, Wegman's came in at 49 cents a pound. No deal to be found there, as far as bananas go!

Also, I bought trail mix by the lb for the first time in a long time, per someone's suggestion. No savings there. In fact, I paid 75 cents more for the same amount, same type of trail mix that I had bought in a package from Giant. I was also a bit grossed out by the dirty scoop. The handle was brown and sticky. It was obvious that it had never been cleaned. The quest for cheap groceries continues...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You are anything but lazy! I'm impressed...and hungry after reading about your amazing cooking!

LOL, I am super lazy. I actually didn't start trying to hack my cooking until I had the kid - until then, me and the hubs were dinner party type people, but we ate out like 8-10 times a week. We were paying money for just ok food!

I started watching Week in a Day w Rachel Ray and I thought that concept was cool. My weeks are really crazy (I'm in news, I have no effing idea what's going to happen when I go to work) so basically my Saturday afternoons or Sunday afternoons (sport season depending) are cooking. I'm actually trying to prepare for a store run now. So basically, I think of four or five things to cook and make them all at the same time, and then just eat off that. And that normally takes us at least to Wed or Thurs, and if at that point we surrender to take out I am cool with that.

Soup, to me is the easiest thing because once you get the hang of it, you just freestyle. So my first ribolitta was by the book and very italian. The next one I made I decided to throw black eyed peas and collard greens in with some of the other ingredients and stir it around. I make a soup similar to the Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden, and that's just broth, water, potatoes, onions, and italian sausage + seasoning.

This week, I am experimenting with rice. I saw on a cooking channel show this cola-coconut rice (basically - get rice, rinse, add equal parts coca cola and coconut milk in place of water, cook as usual) and that was a hit around here, but it didn't last long. So now I am thinking about how to scale it. I'm also kind of obsessed with the bowls from Cava Mezze so I am trying to figure out if I can make something similar for day to day eating at home. And there's a really good thick dominican stew recipe that also uses rice:

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/zoe-saldana-0

So dominican stew and ribolitta are the bases this week. Big pot of rice. Greens. I'm going to look through Afro-Vegan for tasty veg ideas, pick up some fish to keep on hand, and some oatmeal/pumpkin bread for the mornings (box not scratch I'm not superhuman) and that's the food this week.

Hope this helps!

I find your posts fascinating and inspiring. Are you originally from the Caribbean region? I see a lot of Caribbean influences in your cooking, but then I see some Italian as well.

[Anonymous]

Safeway. They have the USave program in addition to the regular loyalty card (an app), where you can scroll through and add more coupons to your advantage card above the advertised sales. You absolutely need to plan meals much better. Don't start assuming you can plan for 7 days from the start, aim for 5 days initially. Plan on using the crock pot 1-2 days, a casserole 1-2 days, maybe a rice or pasta dish, etc.

[Anonymous]

I used 5dollardinners.com 20 meals from costco for $150 before she started charging a nominal fee. It came out to a little more than $150 but was all planned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:O.P. here.

So, I went to Wegman's this afternoon. Earlier in this thread I posted per pound prices for bananas at several different grocery stores that I shopped at in the past month. I was hoping to get a great deal at Wegman's, based on your suggestions. Well, Wegman's came in at 49 cents a pound. No deal to be found there, as far as bananas go!

Also, I bought trail mix by the lb for the first time in a long time, per someone's suggestion. No savings there. In fact, I paid 75 cents more for the same amount, same type of trail mix that I had bought in a package from Giant. I was also a bit grossed out by the dirty scoop. The handle was brown and sticky. It was obvious that it had never been cleaned. The quest for cheap groceries continues...

If you're basing your quest on just bananas and trail mix, you're gonna be looking a long time. What you should be looking at is the price of meat, milk, and the staples you regularly go through.

[Anonymous]

How come no one has mentioned Walmart? They are the cheapest place in town!!

[Anonymous]

OP, I recommend you buy the snack stuff like granola bars, in large quantities at Wal Mart (gasp, I know) or Amazon Prime.

We have also been trying to cut grocery costs and now that it's winter at least have been doing so by casserole (lasagna, chicken bakes, ziti bakes) and crock pot cooking - chili, soups, etc - and then eating leftovers frequently through the week and changing up the sides. If we get sick of the soup as a main, for example, we'll do grilled cheese with a small bowl of the soup or something like that to add some variety. You can easily get 2 - 3 meals for four out of a big crock pot of chili topped with cheese and tortilla chips or a hearty soup dish. Pinterest has some great recipes and I'd be happy to share a few dishes I've tried that were very tasty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How come no one has mentioned Walmart? They are the cheapest place in town!!

Wal-Mart is shockingly cheap for a lot of things, but their produce is disgusting in a weird way. The kiwi never gets ripe, the oranges are flavorless, that kind of thing. I have better luck with the veggies than fruit.