Hmart in Wheaton for veggies and Sniders in silver spring for meat and poultry (we eat little red meat though). I do Costco or Hmart for fish and TJ for snacks (but that's rare). We also make our own hummus since DH can put away a whole tub in an evening.

Oh, and in general I find most things at TJ's to be more expensive than shopping from the bulk bins at whole foods. There are a very few pantry items that are a good deal there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you shopping now and WTF are you buying? I shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joes, and I spend about $100 a week for two. I pack lunches, too. So it's not the stores you have to take a look at, it's your approach to food shopping.

I buy basics. I cook from scratch. Its not what I'm buying its where I'm buying it.

Are you making meal plans and buying accordingly? Or running to the store every three days because you are out if X or Y and feel like cooking Z tonight? I find that if I make a meal plan for a week, make a shopping list and stick to it, then my grocery bill is considerably lower. Even doing the bulk of my shopping at Whole Foods. I may make a second trip later in the week for fresh produce/fish/meet if it's an ingredient that wouldn't keep well for several days.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you shopping now and WTF are you buying? I shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joes, and I spend about $100 a week for two. I pack lunches, too. So it's not the stores you have to take a look at, it's your approach to food shopping.

I buy basics. I cook from scratch. Its not what I'm buying its where I'm buying it.

Sometimes cooking from scratch is the most cost effective. For some things it is, for others it is probably not. What do you find is expensive to cook from scratch?

Anonymous wrote:Wegmans in Fairfax has good prices, as long as you can resist their premade good. Target is good for things like cereal, but their milk, eggs produce etc is overpriced.

Therein lies the problem: you have to go to three different grocery stores to find the best prices, depending on what you are looking for!

Wegmans in Fairfax has good prices, as long as you can resist their premade good. Target is good for things like cereal, but their milk, eggs produce etc is overpriced.

Costco!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you shopping now and WTF are you buying? I shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joes, and I spend about $100 a week for two. I pack lunches, too. So it's not the stores you have to take a look at, it's your approach to food shopping.

She is shopping for a family of four. Why being so aggressive? Please keep the food forum nice

Agree. And if her extra 2 are teenage boys, then $180 every 3 days is actually pretty frugal. You only shop for 2 adults, you apparently have no concept of how expensive it can be to shop for children.

OP here. Close! Preteen girls and yes, they are eating us out of house and home at this time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you shopping now and WTF are you buying? I shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joes, and I spend about $100 a week for two. I pack lunches, too. So it's not the stores you have to take a look at, it's your approach to food shopping.

She is shopping for a family of four. Why being so aggressive? Please keep the food forum nice

Agree. And if her extra 2 are teenage boys, then $180 every 3 days is actually pretty frugal. You only shop for 2 adults, you apparently have no concept of how expensive it can be to shop for children.

I used to think that Giant was the best value, but no longer. On "value" items, they're a few cents more than Safeway and certainly more expensive than Walmart and Aldi. I tried the big new Giant in upper NW, which is supposed to have more of a selection, and was decidedly unimpressed. On higher value items, including organics, they seem more expensive than even Whole Foods. The meat and fish didn't look that good. If Giant is in a grocery niche, it seems to be eroding on both ends.

^^Psst...OP here...not my post! Thanks for accusing me of not knowing how to shop, however! Although I do occasionally buy humous, its not by the boatload. I do like your idea of making humous from scratch. Tell me, do you make your own detergent too?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you shopping now and WTF are you buying? I shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joes, and I spend about $100 a week for two. I pack lunches, too. So it's not the stores you have to take a look at, it's your approach to food shopping.

Hummus and salsa for a family of four costs about $100 a week at WF for a family of four unless you folks eat through a medicine dropper. Liar liar pants on fire! What's left over for Trader Joes?

Proves you don't know how to shop. Hummus in bulk and fresh salsa you buy elsewhere, like Trader Joes. You don't pay $7 for the tiny tub at Whole Foods if you are going to be chowiing through it. You spend $5 on a tub twice the size at TJs. And how many tubs of the stuff can you eat in a week? If you are eating $100 of hummus a week, you go buy cans of garbanzos at a buck a can and a container of tahini, some lemons and olive oil, and you shove the ingredients in your blender, every time you put out a plate. I thought you were doing everything from scratch.

There are people on this board who can afford to blow two thousand dollars a month on groceries. So they can just fill up the basket at a premium store and eat exactly what they want when they want it. The rest of us have to be smart and be considered in out spending. If you can't afford $100 a week in chips and salsa, there's also that word "no".

FYI a new Aldi is coming to Alexandria! Seminary Plaza on Kenmore.