Food Shopping

[GravitySucks]

If I walk a couple miles to the small Asian groceries I can save a little money. But overall, if one lives in central Seattle food is not cheap. I average $450/mo for myself. Best fish is in International District, best meat and best meat price at Safeway maybe 1/4 mile walk from my home, and everyday veggies etc at Trader Joe, also very near for walking.

Eating out is much more expensive, as we really don't have any fast food nearby. Anyway, I hate fast food.

Ha

I would happily pay a bit more for the quality of seafood you have available to you.
Worst thing about living here is the dearth of fresh, never frozen seafood / seafood restaurant s.

 

[NW-Bound]

When we went to Alaska, we learned that the only way to get fresh fish was to catch it ourselves. Commercial fishing vessels go for long trips and freeze or process the fish onboard, and when it gets to the stores, even the ones right at the seaside towns, it is already frozen.

There are licensed commercial small-business fishermen called "catcher-sellers" who are allowed to sell to the public or end users, but we were not fortunate enough to encounter one.

 

[audreyh1]

I have no problem with frozen seafood as long as it has been processed and flash frozen shortly after being caught. It tastes fresher than “fresh” fish that has sit around for a couple of days or been subject to long transport unfrozen. If a fish/shellfish is locally caught then fresh is great. If it comes from a long distance then frozen is better IMO.

 

[NW-Bound]

By the way, I naively thought I could get fresh Alaskan king crab. Hah! The crabbing operations are based in Aleutian islands, or Nome. Nome is 540 miles crow-flight from Anchorage, and there's no road.

 

[footenote]

Costco's proteins are 40-50% lower in price than any local grocery store (Cub, SuperOne or Aldi) and higher quality in most categories.

Frequent Costco buys: pork tenderloins, organic ground beef, steaks, heavy cream, eggs and butter. We've run the numbers and the savings are significant for us.

We use a non-Costco grocery as green grocer plus for things we can't buy in bulk (ex: specialty spices).

 

[NW-Bound]

We did get some fresh halibut in Valdez. We were camping in our RV near the dock reserved for small private fishing boats. At around 11PM, a private party came in with their catch, and was cleaning the fish right at the pier, where there was a nice cleaning station for the public to use.

It was still bright at 11PM, and we hung around talking to them, who were Alaskans living in Fairbanks. They almost went home empty-handed, if they did not catch that 100-lb halibut near the end, after being out in the sea for something like 10 hours.

They gave us some small pieces, which my wife made a rice soup and put in the diced pieces. It was very good, but then it might be entirely due to the ambiance and circumstance.

I remember mentally dividing the cost of their fishing trip into the pounds of fish that they caught, and it was not at all cheap. It was something like $15/lb. It took a bit of gasoline to tow their boat from Fairbanks, plus the gas to run the boat, and the other costs. And they could have gone home empty-handed.

 

[audreyh1]

By the way, I naively thought I could get fresh Alaskan king crab. Hah! The crabbing operations are based in Aleutian islands, or Nome. Nome is 540 miles crow-flight from Anchorage, and there's no road.

That’s right. King Crab will be cooked and shipped frozen everywhere whether in Alaska or Florida. I prefer to buy it before it has thawed.

Crab freezes very well if they use proper techniques. I’ve even “fresh” Dungeness that tasted not quite so fresh, and significantly less fresh then Dungeness I bought frozen.

 

[audreyh1]

Costco's proteins are 40-50% lower in price than any local grocery store (Cub, SuperOne or Aldi) and higher quality in most categories.

Frequent Costco buys: pork tenderloins, organic ground beef, steaks, heavy cream, eggs and butter. We've run the numbers and the savings are significant for us.

We use a non-Costco grocery as green grocer plus for things we can't buy in bulk (ex: specialty spices).

We buy a lot of our meat, seafood and poultry at Costco. Also eggs.

 

[NW-Bound]

That’s right. King Crab will be cooked and shipped frozen everywhere whether in Alaska or Florida. I prefer to buy it before it has thawed...

About the only way to get to eat fresh king crab is to work on one of those boats. Deadliest Catch, anyone?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We have a local market that has very low prices on produce, where most things get rotated for the sales of 3 lbs for $1. Now, their tomatoes or zucchinis may not look as "purdy" as those at the larger stores, but I think they all come from the same growers, and after getting cooked in a soup they all look the same.

I think the cheap veggies are sorted based on appearance, and the uneven-sized ones are sent to the discount stores. The bananas look the same though, and for driving the same distance I see no reason not to buy bananas at $1 for 3 lbs, vs getting only 2 lbs.

99 Cents Only in our area has quite a few produce items for 50 cents a pound or less because of minor imperfections like odd sizes or shapes. But as you say it doesn't matter to me once it is cut up into a stew or salad. Fancier items like organic strawberries are $1 a pound, but that still beats $5 at our local supermarkets.

 

[Ready]

We have an Aldi about 20 minutes away. I went there for the first time a couple of weeks ago and found it disappointing. The prices were low, but it seemed like most of the food was overly processed and had a lot of artificial ingredients. We have a Trader Joe’s just a few minutes from the house and virtually everything there is free of artificial ingredients and the foods just seem more high end there while still being very reasonably priced.

 

[RobbieB]

I look for the most expensive stuff I can find and stay far away from discount places. I love to pay more for everything, usually results in better quality.

 

[ckelly78z]

We generally buy with online coupons at Kroger, or Walmart. We get big things at Costco.
The two of us don't eat much, so our weekly food bill for groceries is about $100, we may eat out 1-2 times for a lunch, and a dinner.

 

[brainsagolfer]

When i lived in Reading PA, there was the Reading Farmers Market. All the fresh off the farm locally grown produce, hormone free beef, chicken, turkey etc- grown by mostly menonites in the area. They had EVERYTHING you could want there- booths with mediteranean food, greek, specialty cheese, candy from the old days.... God i miss that market- nothing even close in big old Charlotte, NC!

 

[imoldernu]

For those who mentioned Trader Joe, here's an interesting article that does a price comparison.

https://clark.com/deals-money-saving-advice/aldi-vs-trader-joes-price-comparison/

Aldi now has an ever growing selection of organic foods. Many if not most stores have been upgraded, enlarged or moved, and SKU's have increased by about 30% I think.

Some recent low prices here in our town.... chicken breasts $.69/lb, dozen eggs $.64, all 1 gallon milk 1%,2% etc. $1.29, 12 .oz Strawberries..$1.29, organic chiquita bananas $.32/lb, Rye bread, $.79, whole sliced ham, $.95/lb, green grapes $.99/lb, whole pineapple $1.29, and my favorite, sunflower seeds... (everywhere else in town $2.89) ours $1.49.

BTW... fresh fruits and vegetables are almost always fresh... more so than at Walmart.

 

[ckelly78z]

About monthly, we head to a local farm market that mostly sells produce, and fruit to resturaunts. The prices are incredibly cheap, and often have deals on stew ingredients that will make a stew large enough for many leftovers. We buy beef 1/4 cow at a time, and have it processed to our specs. Sometimes we get a deer for venison., and have our own chickens, for meat, and eggs.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

For those who mentioned Trader Joe, here's an interesting article that does a price comparison.

https://clark.com/deals-money-saving-advice/aldi-vs-trader-joes-price-comparison/

Aldi now has an ever growing selection of organic foods. Many if not most stores have been upgraded, enlarged or moved, and SKU's have increased by about 30% I think.

Some recent low prices here in our town.... chicken breasts $.69/lb, dozen eggs $.64, all 1 gallon milk 1%,2% etc. $1.29, 12 .oz Strawberries..$1.29, organic chiquita bananas $.32/lb, Rye bread, $.79, whole sliced ham, $.95/lb, green grapes $.99/lb, whole pineapple $1.29, and my favorite, sunflower seeds... (everywhere else in town $2.89) ours $1.49.

BTW... fresh fruits and vegetables are almost always fresh... more so than at Walmart.

Some of my bargain this past week - vegan cheese $1 for 9 ounces, shrimp $5 pound, organic strawberries for $1 pound, 30 organic eggs for $5, organic pears $1.50 pound, living lettuce for $1 a head, yams .50 pound, tomatoes 3 pounds for $2, butternut squash $1 each, vegan macadamia nut milk $1.50 carton, grass fed beef $3.99 and Cheerios for $1 box.

I also find the produce to be fresher at the outlet stores and ethnic markets. They seem to have faster turnover than the local supermarkets.

 

[jazz4cash]

I’m not sure how Aldi does it but there’s a lot of transportation costs embedded in most of the major chains (giant Safeway Kroger etc). They have distribution centers hundreds of miles away from their stores. Gas distribution works that way too.

 

[Gumby]

We start our grocery run at Aldi's, then we go to either ShopRite or Stop&Shop for things we can't get at Aldi's. We only go to Whole Foods for the fish counter. Occasionally we go to Trader Joe; it is my understanding that TJ and Aldi are the same company.

 

[imoldernu]

it is my understanding that TJ and Aldi are the same company.

The Albrecht brothers... the whole story is fascinating, but here's the wiki article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Albrecht

The US Aldi headquarters is a little more than an hour from our home... in Batavia, IL. IMHO the smartest, most advanced grocery chain in the US... We know many of the managers, and try to stay on top of what they're doing. The "team menbers" from management to workers are top drawer... High energy and hard work. Aldi pays well, and expects a lot.

1600 stores... Plans for 2500 by 2022. Will be 3rd after Walmart and Kroger. BTW... Kroger is the 4th largest employer in the US... with 440,000 employees.

 

[Nick12]

In New Jersey there are a number of wealthy immigrants from India that have invested and opened up food stores that cater to the immigrant crowd and all others. The fruits and vegetables are cheaper than the nearby big block chain grocery stores. The local residents have caught on and take advantage of the cheaper prices.

 

[jazz4cash]

The Albrecht brothers... the whole story is fascinating, but here's the wiki article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Albrecht

The US Aldi headquarters is a little more than an hour from our home... in Batavia, IL. IMHO the smartest, most advanced grocery chain in the US... We know many of the managers, and try to stay on top of what they're doing. The "team menbers" from management to workers are top drawer... High energy and hard work. Aldi pays well, and expects a lot.

1600 stores... Plans for 2500 by 2022. Will be 3rd after Walmart and Kroger. BTW... Kroger is the 4th largest employer in the US... with 440,000 employees.

When I first started going to Aldi in the late 80’s they were taking over stores in working class neighborhoods that Safeway had outgrown. They really helped me feed our 3 young kids. Fast forward to today and Aldi just moved into a location that Safeway abandoned because they could not compete. Aldi only uses 50% of the space and they stay busy but not packed. I see more and more national brands every time I go. One thing I am getting tired of is how they stack merchandise. They don’t have regular shelving so the shipping boxes for things like breakfast cereal have to self stack and many times the product boxes get slightly crushed. I don’t like that.

 

[ziggy29]

Until we left our tiny little town in Texas a few months ago, they had recently opened an Aldi about 50 miles from us. (And since the closest decent grocery store was 25 miles away, it wasn't a big deal.) We were increasingly doing most of our "stocking up" there since we usually only went that far about twice a month.

 

[tapahelp]

In New Jersey there are a number of wealthy immigrants from India that have invested and opened up food stores that cater to the immigrant crowd and all others. The fruits and vegetables are cheaper than the nearby big block chain grocery stores. The local residents have caught on and take advantage of the cheaper prices.

Where in NJ? Edison, Iselin, Jersey City?

But very few Americans and other ethnicities will shop outside their preferred or mainstream stores.

 

[Sunset]

We vary our shopping to about 6 or 7 stores, all for various reasons, but only hit 2 or 3 per week, as convenience dictates.

We shop at Aldi's for a number of basic things and canned goods.

I noticed our Aldi is looking for a worker, they sign says they pay $13.50 /hr plus benefits.. pretty good wage.

Costco is our new shopping spot, mostly because I bought a cruise from Costco.
I like how they package chicken in small packs so you only need to open 1 pack (3 thighs) and the plastic is thick so they freeze well.
However they are NOT the cheapest , their boneless skinless chicken breast was $2.99 /lb , at Sam's (we still have membership) it's $1.99 but it is in ordinary big packages.

Both Sam's and Costco both have the great roasted chicken for $5 that beats our local grocery stores trying to flog their skinny tiny roasted chicken at $7.99 !

I get a bunch of our fresh meat and vegies at the mexican grocery store beside Aldi's, which has a large meat counter with about 5 guys serving everyone. They have lots of unique things for sale there.