Saturday morning, after going to the vision center, Ed and I proceeded to shop for our weekly groceries. We don't usually do this on Saturday, opting for Monday evening when it isn't so busy, but since we knew we were going to be at the vision center, I made a list and we just killed two birds with one stone!
Our Walmart has just been COMPLETELY remodeled! And I love it! The aisles are so much more spacious and the new paint job and signs have made it so much brighter and all. I'm still having some difficulty finding things but that will come in time, unless my mind REALLY starts to go. LOL
This week I was able to get everything I needed at Walmart, because they do price-matching on competitors' circulars. Some weeks I also have to go to Dollar General or Kroger. Sometimes to Aldi's or Savealot. I do endeavor to be a very conscientious shopper, even more so now that the prices have gone up steadily because of the downturn in the economy. Do you shop at just one store? Or do you find that going to two or three different ones saves you money?
I have not always been a big user of coupons but I have noticed that the coupons have improved recently. For instance, I have coupons for cereal, paper towels and a few other items where previously you had to buy two of the item to get the coupon savings but now you only have to buy one item. In fact, I haven't seen a coupon where you have to buy two of something in order to use the coupon for some time. That is definitely a plus, in my opinion. And there seem to be more coupons coming out for items that I actually use. Do you use coupons?
Barbara had an interesting post HERE about buying brand name items. There are some items that I do prefer the brand-name on, though I am willing to give the house brand a try.
As far as brand-name (is that a hyphenated word? I don't feel like looking it up..*grin*) items go, we prefer Folgers coffee or Maxwell House. We buy them when they are on sale or we have a coupon and there has been a Folgers coffee $1 off coupon in the weekly paper for some time now! Yay!
We also prefer brandname paper products, i.e. paper towels, toilet paper, tissues. Again, we buy when they are on sale or we have a coupon. If neither is available, we will buy these items at DG. We also buy most of our medicinal items at Dollar General and buy the DG brand which has proven to be just as good as the brandname products and cheaper than the Walmart brands.
As far as supplements, i.e. vitamins, glucosamine/chondroitin, I buy those at Walmart.
I am amazed at how different everyone's shopping habits are but we are all different......for sure, so it should come as no surprise! *smile*
I remember several years ago, that a friend and I were talking about buying milk. I had purchased a gallon of milk where I always shopped and they were appalled that I would pay that kind of price for it when I could get it for a few cents cheaper in Lancaster. Like I was going to drive 25 miles to save a few cents and they had about the same distance to drive, too. This was before gas prices went up so much. I've never understood driving quite a way thinking I am going to save money, especially now in this economy and with gas prices so high. Now, if I am going to BE in Lancaster for some reason, I do try to use the trip to shop and save money when I can. But I no longer shop for groceries out of town. Plus, I place a premium on my time, too. *smile*
And then there is hairspray. I use hairspray, to say the least. Well, several years ago, I used Rave. #3 / $1 a can. Life was good. Then they changed it! New and improved the can said! Not so much. Oh my word!! And at this time I was doing hair for like 4 or 5 ladies and I had them all using Rave! Well, the new and improved Rave was horrible!! I used the aerosol and it came out too wet, didn't hold and the smell was gross! I emailed the company and really complained and then I set about trying to find a new hairspray that worked. I tried so many different kinds, only to give them away. At least I was able to keep family and friends in hairspray while I struggled to keep my hair done. I ended up with Tresemme' #2. It works wonderfully but it is now $3.42 a can! Wow! But it works. And that makes it worth it. So, I have been endeavoring to use it sparingly.
5 comments:
i hated when they changed rave too! we use tressemme and meijer has it on sale for 2 for 4 sometimes which is nice! we buy paper products at meijer, their house brand is great! just as good, if not better, then the brand names and they have the larger packs for 5/apiece or 2/10...good for 6 of us being in one house! lol we buy meat when it goes on sale and freeze it to use later and i have WIC which helps a lot too. I buy Target brand diapers and they do just fine...I did use white cloud but they discontinued them :( cheaper and worked just as well if not better then huggies! i use parent's choice sensitive wipes and i used to get nathen parent's choice fruit puffs instead of gerber...a whole dollar cheaper! MOST snacks and things i will get house brand except goldfish and certain types of cookies....sometimes the real thing is just better! we look for sales and coupons for EVERYTHING! it's something ya have to do now a days!
The coupons we get in the paper still have plenty of the ones where you have to buy three. We're very limited on storage space, so I just can't use them.
It doesn't make sense to me, either, to drive out of the way to save just a few cents.
Hi girls! Thanks for the comments! I don't know about you, but when I was a little girl, I loooooved to play "Grocery shopping" and couldnt' wait till I was old enough to do the real thing! What was I thinking?? *smile*
i used to set up the WHOLE living room with random things from the kitchen and my bedroom and dad would be the cashier lol...it was always so fun...of course then i wasn't worried about the money...oh if the world were made of monopoly money! haha...i never imagined the day i'd be clipping coupons, looking in circulars for the best deal and really looking hard at the prices and comparison shopping! i'm old now lol
That is sooo cute, Beth! And you are not even close to being old, just responsible! *smile*
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