Yesterday I was looking through a mailer we got...in the mail. It was a coupon style book with the week's deals at the grocery stores. Don't you find it weird how different places have different names for grocery stores. You travel to different cities and are like, my grocery store name is way better than THAT! When we moved to Colorado we moved right next to a grocery store called "King Soopers." It's sounding more normal to me now, but really? King Soopers? We live in a gay neighborhood and our King Soopers is called Queen Soopers. Pretty funny. But it's in a friendly funny way, not a God Hates Fag's sort of way.
So I'm looking through the adds and I start wondering who is buying all this CRAP? 2 for 1 Fruit Roll-ups, boxes of Betty Crocker warm delights, 3 for $2 M&M's, BOGO chips, soda, $5.99 DVD's. The only thing that was even on my radar were the Clorox wipes. I love those things. I use them on everything. Wipe down the counter, wipe down the baby! Minus the baby, but only because I don't have one.
I think it's such a lame excuse when people say they can't get healthy because it costs too much. But the truth of it is, here in the U.S., we live where the cheap crap is well cheap! You like how I just don't assume all of us are from the United States? International baby! Hello Germany! Hello Australia! Hello Scotland! Hello England! We've really started being conscious of what we spend lately. We're trying to eat at home a lot lot lot more. This weekend we were making lunch (Buffalo Burgers on the grill from Costco...the best) and I wanted some onion and tomato for a salad. We walked over to Whole foods and for a small bunch of tomatoes it was $5.99! So I got one lonely tomato...one. We also got 2 for $1.00 corn on the cob, fresh salsa, tortilla chips, 3 peaches, and an onion and the bill was about $20. The cheapest trip to whole foods in the history of whole foods, I'm pretty sure.
So, what do you eat? How do you shop? What is your crazy nuts grocery store name?
I live in Colorado now (by the "Un-Safeway" haha), but I'm originally from Wisconsin where one of main grocery stores there is Piggly Wiggly.
ReplyDeleteSo true! I save so much by not going to the fast food places.
ReplyDeleteMy grocery store is called Sprouts. But most of the time it is WalMart (please save your boo and hiss). I eat my feelings on a bad day, totilla chips on an average day, and spinach salad when I am part or a virtual biggest loser.
ReplyDeleteCoupons are, for the most part, only for useless crap lol. I do still look through them though and sometimes I get good deals on things. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I've found as my way of eating is getting healthier, that the coupons are for products that are too processed and loaded with sugar and fat.
ReplyDeleteI went to Whole Foods and loaded my cart up and paid $65. $30 of it which was my vitamins. So for $35 I got a ton of organic vegetables and a few mangoes and apples and a rotisserie chicken. I've found that if you stick to the more "whole" foods it's cheaper than buying the stuff that's either prepared for your or if you buy like a couple of t-bone steaks.. those are already pricey.
I shop at a few stores, Whole Foods, Fresh N' Easy (Eric likes to call it Fresh n' Sleezy.. for no reason other than he thinks it's funny), Fry's or Costco.
We like to call Whole Foods "Whole Paycheck". Thankfully, the closest one to my house is a traffic-riddled 26 miles away.
ReplyDeleteHere, we have Safeway, QFC, Top Foods and a local chain I love called Central Market. Pretty basic names out here in the Seattle area. :)
I've had an allergy/intolerance to wheat and oats (gluten, basically) and really sensitive to MSG my entire life. So I completely avoid the middle of the store, except the frozen stuff, and shop the outsides. Processed stuff tends to have wheat in it, not to mention other stuff.
Never been a soda junkie because it gives me the shits. Sorry if it's TMI, but it's true! So I'm a fan of foofy bottled, sparkly water (Perrier Lime, yum!). Again, makes it easy to stick to the outsides of the store.
Missy (misspuddingfood.wordpress.com)
Costco for bulk items...but, now that I am eating healthy my costco bill has been cut by 3/4th...seriously...I buy my almonds, and walnuts there, and some organic...they have Greek Yogurt, and I buy watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew, grapes with seeds (Dr.Oz told me with seeds are healthier),spinach, but then I shop sprouts...but, I don't spend a fortune there either...for us...eating healthy has saved us a ton...guess it is because we don't buy any of the junk fillers...
ReplyDeleteI agree, the healthier the food, the more $$ it freakin costs.
ReplyDeleteGrocery Stores around here: Dominion, A&P, Zehrs, Loblaws, Sobeys, etc. etc.
We typically shop at Super Saver:) We also have Hy-Vee and Walmart. LOVE Whole Foods but I always drop way too much money there. Hey, a shout to all the biggest loser contestants: I'm down a pound already, watch OUT! ;) -Heidi
ReplyDeleteheidi shame on you we shouldnt be weighing until tuesday :p jk but thanks for the push now i am going to work out extra.
ReplyDeleteour closest any store is 13 miles away at that is milan superstore and we can travel 10 more miles for wally world or smiths. or we can go 85 miles for costco, whole foods :)
Oh man, I weigh in EVERY day. Can't help myself!
ReplyDeleteWe had Kroger and Marsh where I was born. My husband worked for years at a Piggly Wiggly and to this day I can't see/hear that name without giggling. ;)
ReplyDeleteWe shop at the base commissary because buying food on the economy here is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. We've found that it's cheaper for us to feed the family from the edges of the store (where the fresh stuff is) than when we take those trips into the middle aisles. This post has made me scared for when we get back to the states. Yikes!
oh well i guess i should tell you all i am down 5 pounds already!! lol
ReplyDeleteps i am just kidding
ReplyDeleteI'm in Austin, Texas and we have H-E-B. You're supposed to spell it out instead of just saying the HEB which I did when I first moved here. I moved from San Diego where I miss Albertson's, Ralphs an Vons.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started eating healthier I saved bunches of cash. Veggies, fruits, seeds, grains and every now and then lean meats cost so little compared to what's in the middle of the store, as well as restaurant/fast food prices. I know a packet of raw walnuts cost a bit but it takes awhile to eat them since a serving is 1 oz. I love sunflower seeds. Try them by heating them up on the stove for a couple of minutes and add them onto your salads and soups.
http://pencilskirtbound.blogspot.com/
~Cariann
Oh wow, King Soopers. I miss it's 24 hourness. Although when I was heavy I would go at like 2 am so no one would see me buy all the stuff that was making me heavy. Sigh, now it would be nice for when I actually need things at that hour, like paper towels!
ReplyDeleteI'm back in Boston now (Boulder for 8 years of college) we've got Stop & Shop. Pretty simple right? There are a couple of Foodmasters around which I think is a pretty awesome name.
I have 27 weeks worth of coupons filed in a drawer and I don't cut them out until I need them. I use couponsense.com and save a TON of money getting most of my cleaning supplies and toiletries (razors, soap etc) for free by combining coupons with sales. I also get free food sometimes (yes, the betty crocker warm delights), but also, margarine, sour cream, frozen foods, and whatever else comes down to the price of the coupon. I never spend more than $4 on a package of Huggies diapers and I make my own wipes. I find that Fry's usually has the best deals, but I only buy my produce from the Supersition Ranch market on Greenfield and Main in Mesa, AZ. I can fill up my cart with fruits and veggies usually for under $20 and almost everything that can be grown locally is. I am a stay at home mom, making a little money by baby sitting, so my contribution is to SAVE as much as possible because thats the same as EARNING!
ReplyDelete