OT - Grocery Shopping

TexasRebel

Curious to know where my fellow eggers are doing the majority of their grocery shopping.  I'm in DFW (Mansfield to be exact) so we're overrun with Kroger here.  However, I find myself sort of piecemealing my lists together.  Depending on what I want to cook, I'll sometimes hit 3 different stores.  Usually Costco for meat/bulk stuff, Aldi or Sprouts for produce, milk, cheese, eggs random snack stuff, and Kroger for most everything else.  We have 2 kids so this can get expensive.  I pay regular attention to weekly ads especially for Kroger.  Their meat has taken a turn for the worst for the most part (I still get their flat-iron steaks occasionally and a few things here and there) but their regular every day stuff is pretty cheap.  I'm also not above coupons where applicable.  Kroger has the digital ones and they also mail some out every week or so that are usually pretty solid and the buy 5 save $5 deal.  Also, I use Ibotta.  It's an app where you can scan your receipt and scan barcodes of products they offer cash back on from various retailers.  Once you hit 20 bucks you can withdraw to your PayPal or let it accumulate.  We used it for our tickets to the Keys this summer and got back like 200 bucks through Orbitz.  Pretty cool.

Anyway, an hour or two on Saturday morning to myself is sometimes hard to come by with a 7 year old and a 14 year old so I'm happy to be the "grocery getter" of the family. 

TEXASBGE2018

TexasRebel said:

Curious to know where my fellow eggers are doing the majority of their grocery shopping.  I'm in DFW (Mansfield to be exact) so we're overrun with Kroger here.  However, I find myself sort of piecemealing my lists together.  Depending on what I want to cook, I'll sometimes hit 3 different stores.  Usually Costco for meat/bulk stuff, Aldi or Sprouts for produce, milk, cheese, eggs random snack stuff, and Kroger for most everything else.  We have 2 kids so this can get expensive.  I pay regular attention to weekly ads especially for Kroger.  Their meat has taken a turn for the worst for the most part (I still get their flat-iron steaks occasionally and a few things here and there) but their regular every day stuff is pretty cheap.  I'm also not above coupons where applicable.  Kroger has the digital ones and they also mail some out every week or so that are usually pretty solid and the buy 5 save $5 deal.  Also, I use Ibotta.  It's an app where you can scan your receipt and scan barcodes of products they offer cash back on from various retailers.  Once you hit 20 bucks you can withdraw to your PayPal or let it accumulate.  We used it for our tickets to the Keys this summer and got back like 200 bucks through Orbitz.  Pretty cool.

Anyway, an hour or two on Saturday morning to myself is sometimes hard to come by with a 7 year old and a 14 year old so I'm happy to be the "grocery getter" of the family. 

Mainly Kroger cause they have a stranglehold on North Texas. Soon very soon though I am hoping those rumors of HEB coming here will actually materialize. I have started buying more meat at Costco and even Tom Thumb. I've also been trying to hit local butcher shops. If I feel like overpaying a couple hundred bucks ill go to Central Market and get meat. Dallas is one of the central U.S. hubs for Kroger which is why we are so overrun. HEB is still struggling to get approvals for actual HEB's and not Central Markets. It pisses me off to no end.

TexasRebel

We just got a Market Street in Mansfield and I've been there a few times.  Their meat seems to be really good and their prices aren't too outrageous.  I'm like you, if I want to spend heavily or have a special dinner for family/friends I'll wander over to Central market and drop a couple of bills on meat. 

Hoster05

meat from local meat markets or costco/Sams club.  Produce in the summer from farmers markets around town.  Everything else we get from hyvee and if you spend $100 they deliver to your house for free.  They also offer a pretty good fuel saver discount which is nice.  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

90% HEB, 5% Whole Foods, 5% Central Market (fancy HEB with Whole Foods prices!)

I buy 90% of the meat and eggs we eat from local farmers. I have a grass fed guy, 2 wagyu beef guys, 2 pasture raised pork and poultry guys all in my neighborhood. my grocery bills are half what they used to be but my overall food bills have had to go up. Pasture raised local meat is not cheap. We eat more veggies and a little less meat to make up for the price difference. Probably a good idea anyway. 

TexasRebel

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

90% HEB, 5% Whole Foods, 5% Central Market (fancy HEB with Whole Foods prices!)

I buy 90% of the meat and eggs we eat from local farmers. I have a grass fed guy, 2 wagyu beef guys, 2 pasture raised pork and poultry guys all in my neighborhood. my grocery bills are half what they used to be but my overall food bills have had to go up. Pasture raised local meat is not cheap. We eat more veggies and a little less meat to make up for the price difference. Probably a good idea anyway. 

That's awesome.  I'd love to find some local guys like that around here. 

fishlessman

too many markets here to even list from aldis to blue collar butchers to ill always have the oldest car in the parking lot lately though im just hitting the farm stand and picking up chicken and burger at the local market basket which is the big market here.

ColtsFan

We're lucky enough to have a Lucky's Market and Fresh Thyme here. I use both, primarily for produce. Local butcher shop and a place called The Wagon Wheel for meats

YEMTrey

Avril Bleh Butchers, Jungle Jim's and Costco.

Gulfcoastguy

Rouse's a half mile due South has it's own in house butcher and more variety than a Walmart Super Center. Better Egg applicable spices and sauces too and great prices on pork. Walmart Super Center is 1.3 miles to the East and I usually buy non edibles there. There is a Winn Dixie but it is in an awkward location and about 3 miles West.

frazzdaddy

Costco,Harris Teeter, and Food Lion. We also have a farmers co op in the small town we live in.

jeffwit

We get 90% of our meat from Blue Ribbon Foods. Organic, pasture raised, yadda yadda yadda. They deliver and load in our freezer about 6 months worth at a time. Been doing that for probably 10 years. Good product, great company. 
Produce is typically Kroger or Publix. I like to hit up the local farmer’s market for fresh stuff, too. 

xfire_ATX

85% HEB since there are 3 pretty near us.  10% at the Randalls (Safeway/ Albersons) which is on the corner and 5% at Costco.

Costco gets meat when we are in the need of lots- Family BBQ, Holiday.  Also is the regular spot to get a Case of beer and some wine.

We dont care for the Randalls but sometimes going to get milk just isnt worth the 10 more minutes of driving

MeTed

Meijer and Kroger

Lvnthedrm

Harris teeter, Wegmans, local farmers markets and Restaurant depot.

SonVolt

Publix. Kroger is nasty around here. Shipped in trays of meat and sodium "enhanced"  chicken, same as Walmart.  Publix at least still gets boxed meat with butchers that cut everything down on site.  

bucky925

I really miss WinDixy in my area....They had great meat!  So we shop at local butcher shops, pricy but very good cuts.

SaltySam

Here in the Midwest we have Hy-Vee.  They have great produce, and an unbelievable alcohol and spirits selection.  Being military, and having a commissary on base, it would be silly for me not to shop there due to the incredible savings.  Meat, dairy, frozen foods, canned veggies...all commissary.  But produce is always HyVee.  And, like you, an early morning shopping trip to the store on a weekend is a welcome mini vacation.  

The other morning was great.  Empty aisles, freshly baked bread coming from the bakery, and the music they were playing over the intercom system was enjoyable.  Quite possibly the lamest thing I’ve ever said.  I enjoyed grocery store music.  

Botch

A big SECOND for the mighty military Commissary!  As Sam said, that's where I get the canned goods, meats, frozen fish, and condiments; their produce sucks (although I've been buying half-pints of fresh blueberries for $1.50 the last couple weeks!).  There's a local, privately-owned grocery chain here called Harmon's that I hit for most produce, and a few years back they all set up a "cheese kiosk", samples-of-the-week and 125 different cheeses, wonderful!!  
 
I don't buy local produce at the Saturday morning Farmer's Market anymore, it's too nuts with people.  There's an unheated shed between me and downtown, called "Carlos's Produce", that sells the same produce, with no apparent markup.  I go there instead, the folks are wonderful and its never crowded.  They stay open year-round, too (switching to CA produce in winter), which I admire!  And that's where I also get my fresh-roasted Hatch chile.  

Acn

Primarily Wegmans, with the occasional stop into Costco, and during the summer months, a couple of local farm stands of farmers markets.

GrillSgt

I buy most of our meats online and from a meat shop in Bowling Green KY when I’m in the area. Eggs farm fresh only. Chicken from egg man. Basically buy local produce when in season. Seafood from Fresh Market. I hate meats from Kroger other than their Private Select brands who has a great flank. Bowling Green has a year round farmers market and they are on the cutting edge of hydroponics. Try to get there every 3 weeks or so. Our food purchasing has really evolved for us over the last 8-10 years. 

Eggcelsior

Acn said:

Primarily Wegmans, with the occasional stop into Costco, and during the summer months, a couple of local farm stands of farmers markets.

This, along with local farmers/butchers for meat. Milk from a local dairy farm delivered weekly as well.

nolaegghead

I forage.

HeavyG

nolaegghead said:

I forage.

You're a latter day Euell Gibbons!

nolaegghead

HeavyG said:

nolaegghead said:

I forage.

You're a latter day Euell Gibbons!

I wish I was a René Redzepi.

Griffin

I'm in Rowlett. Most of my shopping is done at Tom Thumb. The wife occasionally picks something up on her way home from work at Market St, Central Market or Trader Joes (gasp, yuck, go back to California). Being from South Texas, I wish HEB would just hurry up and move into DFW.

frazzdaddy

Acn said:

Primarily Wegmans, with the occasional stop into Costco, and during the summer months, a couple of local farm stands of farmers markets.

We have 3 under construction in the area as we speak. Pretty excited about this.

TexasRebel

Don't see a lot of Aldi on here.  Do you guys ever go there?  I started about 3 or 4 months ago.  Good deals on a lot of every day stuff.  Their meat is pretty solid as well from the little bit that I've gotten from there.  Chuck roast last weekend was really good.  Much better than Kroger for sure.  Their snacks....cheeses, dips, hummus, salami, stuff like that is really good and reasonably priced.

fishlessman

TexasRebel said:

Don't see a lot of Aldi on here.  Do you guys ever go there?  I started about 3 or 4 months ago.  Good deals on a lot of every day stuff.  Their meat is pretty solid as well from the little bit that I've gotten from there.  Chuck roast last weekend was really good.  Much better than Kroger for sure.  Their snacks....cheeses, dips, hummus, salami, stuff like that is really good and reasonably priced.

the best deal at aldis is when the ham comes out, its not always there but its right up there with the best market hams.  spring its 90 cents a pound plus 3 dollars off, hard to beat that.  the grass fed beef is similar in price to our local markets. milk eggs and coffee, i buy alot of those big 5 dollar cans for camp and the shop. cheese is tha same vermont cabot i buy at the other stores but its wrapped in waxed paper instead of plastic, better texture that way. ours was just redone, bigger meat section and better bread section.

TEXASBGE2018

My parents and brother have been telling me for years to go to Aldi. I guess I've been a bit snobbish with not wanting to go there because I view it as a "off brand" store. Maybe I need to finally take the plunge.

TexasRebel

TEXASBGE2018 said:

My parents and brother have been telling me for years to go to Aldi. I guess I've been a bit snobbish with not wanting to go there because I view it as a "off brand" store. Maybe I need to finally take the plunge.

I was the same exact way.  It's really quality stuff at a lower price though.  It's got some of the things you would expect from a lower cost store.  Bring reusable bags or you can buy them there for .10.  And a quarter for the cart.  You put a quarter in the little slot to disconnect the chain and you get it back when you put the cart back.  Mine was just redone as well and it's really nice.  And not as busy as another grocery store.