Best Practices and Tips for Grocery Shopping

[PaddyShack]

I am wondering what your best tips or practices are for shopping for groceries around OKC. Such as, is it beneficial to shop at Homeland and use their loyalty program over Walmart prices, or are there stores that always have better prices for certain products such as produce or meat or other items? We have a Walmart NM outside of our neighborhood, however we are wondering if there are better options to get better deals or better products. I have WinCo on my daily commute and Aldi's and Sprouts are not to far from my journey either to add them in. Homeland and Crest would be destinations for us but not out of the question if their deals beat out the convenient businesses. I don't think we need the bulk of Costco or Sam's as we a only a family of 3.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Also, has anybody found luck at the Farmer's Markets around town, I wouldn't mind getting out early on Saturday if the selection is worth it, but when we have visited later in the morning the vendors seem to be running low on quality goods.

[Johnb911]

We've fallen into a pretty nice rhythm where we shop about 55-45 at Aldi and Sprouts, with the occasional trip to Sam's thrown in. There are things we know we will get at Aldi and are happy with the price/quality, and there are things we know we need to get at Sprouts (generally fresh meat, some produce, anytime we only need 1 onion and not 5 lb, etc.)

We shop the sale ads and make a meal plan each week based on that, then go get what we need for meals, as well as staples (eggs, milk, bread, etc.)

When we stick to that formula we're almost always on budget. $100/week for a family of 4 (two pre-school age kids and two adults).

Hope that helps!

[Bullbear]

I can manage with mostly Aldi and occasional Sam's trip. now and then I my have to go to Winco if there is something that Aldi can't deliver. ( oddly enough mustard has been one of those things because their spicy brown mustard and their yellow doesn't taste right to me. )

[FighttheGoodFight]

Winco for bulk (good deals here), Sprouts for produce (pricey) and Walmart will probably be the cheapest overall. We shop at Crest because of the selection and prices were very comparable in many ways to Walmart.

[kukblue1]

I'm a coupon/comparison shopper. I used to be one of those people that could go to a store get $100 worth of stuff for $20 using coupons and ads matching. Those days are pretty much long gone as coupons not as good and some stores don't have ads like Crest or really Winco. That all being said Walmart and Homeland are the two worse places you can shop for grocery's . Sorry I know some are you out there are thinking but Wal-mart is cheap well it's not. Produce is even cheaper at Braums. Aldi is ok not great. The two best are Winco and Crest. I prefer Crest a little more but I like Winco bulk section. Some things are cheaper at winco some things are cheaper at crest. I can't say one is always better for sales than the other one so it's really up to you where you like to shop. But Wal-mart is never cheaper on anything. Hell I'll even go to Dollar General for Laundry items/coffee before I'll go to Wal-mart or Homeland.

[oklip955]

I shop for just me. My main store is Sprouts for most items. Produce is excellent and great prices. Meat is great quality but not always the cheapest. Love the bulk bins and dairy products (yogart and Kalona milk) I buy canned no salt added beans also. I get some of my suppliments during their 25% off sales. Weds is best day to shop since they have both weeks ads overlapping. I shop Aldi's for some good sales on produce, not a fan of their meat. They do have good canned tuna and sardines. Some of their frozen fish is a good deal. Also they get some interesting items in. For paper goods shampoo and cleaning products I go to Sam's club. Winco has way too many highly processed foods so I do not go there, long drive. Costco has some great deals on fresh fish (whole trout for $3.99 lb) other fill in items, clothing, books etc. I will pop in Crest a few times a year for sales or just to get some prepared food or bakery itmes. Uptown is way too expensive. Walmart is expensive on food and not good quality. Have to shop for some other items there. They do have good prices on wild rice. I try to eat a healthy diet. Natural grocer has good prices on the bread I buy (Silver Hills bakery) also they have some bulk spices that Sprouts doesn't carry and a few other items that no one else carries. I do use a few coupons. Also a few trips to Trader Joe and Whole foods for a few items.