Driving Farther for Cheaper Grocery Store

[Katsmeow]

I thought I would follow up with what I ended up doing. We've made a couple of trips to the new Kroger.

The first trip was a major shopping trip and we bought a lot of our regular staple foods. For many foods, Kroger was the same or was within a cent or two as HEB. Some of these were foods that were on sale, so maybe the mix would be different at another time. Some foods you get a discount with a Kroger card which we have. There were a number of foods that had truly astonishingly low prices if you bought 5 (usually a mix and match of different types. For example, organic canned black beans were 5 for $5. I had paid $1.68 at HEB. There were some foods where Kroger was higher although usually not by huge amounts although there were excepts (a cereal that was 22% higher).

Averaging out the food (for one of each items, not adjusting for quantity), Kroger was 1% higher than HEB. But, wait! With your Kroger card you earn points that can be used to reduce the price of gasoline. We filled out my Explorer today and got $.65 a gallon off. This saved about $10 on gas. If we fill up our cars each month at Kroger the savings on gas would definitely more than offset the extra 1% on cost of groceries. By shopping there more often we should have enough Fuel Points to buy most, or all, of our gas there at a discount.

There was one area where the Kroger prices were a lot higher. That was for household supplies and goods. Paper towels were 14% more expensive. Dishwasher soap was 25% more expensive. It averaged out to about 15% over several items.

Which led to our ultimate decision. Kroger is closer to us than HEB. It makes sense to go there when we are making a specific grocery run, leaving the house specifically to go to the grocery store. It is also reasonably on the way home from a couple of restaurants we eat at. In those cases it makes sense to go there.

However, the location of this Kroger is such that we almost never would go near it unless we were specifically heading there. We just don't often go that direction.

On the other hand, we pass by an HEB probably several times a week. There at least 3 of them that we pass by fairly often. Now, it is often not convenient to stop there so we often do make special trips there. Those will be replaced by Kroger. But, from time to time, when we are going by HEB anyway, we will stop in an buy paper products and supplies and the couple of foods that we often eat that Kroger does not carry. These are all mostly things we can stock up on once a month or so.

[bclover]

So generally I try to check the circulars before heading out. Philadelphia started this new beverage tax so basically I rarely do my major food shopping near my house.
I simply refuse to pay 1.5c tax per ounce on a beverage just to pump up the city coffers.

So a 64 oz bottle of coke that would cost 1.19 normally now has a 1.90 cent tax on it, lol the tax is more than the cost of the soda.

luckily I work in Delaware and go to NJ at least once a week.

In walking distance to me is a Whole foods and a Target. I love whole foods for things but it's really too expensive for me to do serious grocery shopping.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclover So generally I try to check the circulars before heading out. Philadelphia started this new beverage tax so basically I rarely do my major food shopping near my house. I simply refuse to pay 1.5c tax per ounce on a beverage just to pump up the city coffers. So a 64 oz bottle of coke that would cost 1.19 normally now has a 1.90 cent tax on it, lol the tax is more than the cost of the soda. luckily I work in Delaware and go to NJ at least once a week. In walking distance to me is a Whole foods and a Target. I love whole foods for things but it's really too expensive for me to do serious grocery shopping.

Beverage tax..wow...is this only beverages that are "bad" for you or does it include stuff like milk and water.

[bclover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Beverage tax..wow...is this only beverages that are "bad" for you or does it include stuff like milk and water.

any thing with "sugar added". so gatorade, ice tea, lemonade all are included.

milk prices in Pa are regulated so it's hard to tax them.

it's insane, the money was initially supposed to fund pre-k for poor kids who could not afford it but later it was revealed that it was also being used for other things.

can you tell I'm not a fan.

[Katsmeow]

i drink soft drinks (sugar free only) and that is the one thing I check sales on. The regular price for a 12 pack is too high so I check the weekly ad online among the main stores and stop by and buy wherever has the best sale. Occasionally there will be a week where no one has them on sale but that is rare.

[Meadbh]

I no longer drink soft drinks/pop/soda, whatever you call it. Instead, I like sparkling water.