Today I drove into town. I wanted to go for two reasons. First to test how well I felt driving with my blocked ear. My second reason was to see how I might fare in adding to my pantry/freezer by shopping locally.
Had I felt better about driving, I was going to go on to two other stores in more distant areas, but I found overall that I didn't feel comfortable driving. I am either oblivious entirely to things or I am hypervigilant. Even with low traffic, such as we have mid-morning in our little town, I will stick to being driven about for a week or two or three...I make myself nervous. I certainly don't want to cause an accident because I am unable to hear!
About the photo above: there are items on that bed that aren't mentioned in the narrative below. It's because those are not pantry/freezer items I'd typically buy in bulk.
As for the shopping, I have two stores locally to choose from: Dollar General and our hometown grocery. I do not typically do much local shopping. I don't because I can get much better prices further abroad and also because I am limited to two fairly small stores. I try to do my part locally by shopping at these two stores about twice a month (one visit to each) and generally spend around $50. However, should it be necessary we could/would shop there...and that's why I wanted to stop in and see how we'd fare overall, as well as to see what I might add to my pantry/freezer supplies today.
I didn't take my pantry/household lists with me which was silly on my part. I'd have fared better if I'd had them, because I would have looked harder at the shelves I was passing as well as gone down a couple of aisles that I avoided altogether, but this was more an exploration of possibilities than it was meant to be a full on shopping trip.
My first stop was Dollar General. In the past year, our Dollar General has really expanded their grocery stock by adding in freezer/refrigerator cases along one wall. Now we can buy things like eggs, milk, some frozen prepared foods, etc. I didn't really look hard at these things. I was most interested in basic pantry foodstuffs today. I probably ought to have scouted a little harder just to see what is available if we ever do need to shop locally, but there were several people chatting in that space as well as two distributors stocking so I bypassed that section entirely.
First I walked down the cereals aisle. I'm definitely getting a far better buy at Aldi on cereals unless I can find a bulk bag of one we'd eat. Prices there were okay. It's storage that would be an issue for me, so it's something to think about.
My next aisle was a kitchen aisle and you might think I'd avoid that one but I like to look at storage options especially since I'd just been pricing bulk cereal bags. I did see some storage boxes that might work well with cereals.
I found a really nice Anchor Hocking Glass storage dish with a plastic lid, which is something I find more and more I prefer for food storage in my fridge for leftovers and such. They had two sizes, a 4 3/4 cup container and an 11 cup container. They are both dishwasher, oven and freezer safe. I bought the smaller container today for $3. I plan to return and buy more of these but since I am on a budget I'll buy these slowly and gradually replace the few plastic containers I have.
The next aisle was basic pantry items. I noted here that flour and baking supplies are more at this store than at Aldi, as is rice, dry beans, etc. I was surprised to see most dried beans were nearer $2 a pound but thought it was just Dollar General. After my visit to the grocery where I found them priced much the same, I reasoned that this is likely the 'new normal' price on those. I was pleased to find two 1 pound bags of pinto beans for $1 each which I put in my cart. I looked at prices of tuna, pastas, jams, etc. I did opt for a twin pack of 10 0z cans of chicken breast, but once home realized the cans I buy at Aldi are much larger. I'd felt it was a good price for that item but I feel now I was mistaken.
The other items I bought to stock were seeds, mostly flower seeds, but I did get green beans, butternut squash and basil and cilantro which was the only vegetable/herb seeds they had left. These ranged in price from 25c-50c. I mean to buy seeds but I felt these would be handy to have should I not be able to purchase as I planned. I got a big 30 roll packet of off brand but comparable to brand name toilet paper. I have toilet paper at home but this was $10.
I have to add here that when we were having supper tonight, John commented on my toilet paper purchase. "Were we finally nearly out?" "No, I just wanted to add to my supply. Remember during the pandemic, everyone in the family relied on us for toilet paper." "Well, I'd rather you spent money on food if you're going to stock further. We can't eat toilet paper, but we can substitute for it if necessary. It's not like we've got a street to go out and peddle paper for foodstuffs!" Lol. He's quite right, but I would still like to keep a supply on hand if I might...but no, I won't use my stock up funds for paper products in future!
At the local grocery, I looked at the canned and bottled juices. I was looking for canned orange juice, though it's not really my favorite. However, there was none and I did see Pineapple juice. Pineapple juice is something I also felt I wanted to add to my pantry, since it's a great natural source of both Vitamin C and has bromelain which breaks down mucus plugs...so it's very helpful if you've got a chest cold or blocked Eustachian tube... They had three brands, two of which were canned, and one was a plastic jug. I have always bought the canned juice as I feel it's more long lasting on the pantry shelf and reading expiration dates I found I was correct. Let's face it, if I have a can unless it's bulging or leaking it's going to be good, but plastic will break down sooner. The cost for pineapple juice was $2.49 for a large can. I was accustomed to buy this for about $1.50 but again, this year the cost of pineapple has soared and none was shipped in during the Pandemic, so I'm pretty sure this is nearer being the 'new normal' price on this item. I'm going to check at other stores before stocking more of this, but I will be buying more.
I found canned vegetable prices overall are higher at both the dollar store and the local grocery than at Aldi. Compare 49c for most vegetables and a little more for fruits at Aldi. I might here though that Aldi has been limiting us to 4 cans for months and months now but there's no limit at the grocery. I'll be curious to see what these prices run when Kroger has it's annual canned goods sale which should be coming up shortly.
I found canned fruit prices were pretty high overall, though I did buy two cans of Pineapple tidbits for $1.39 each. This for the smaller 10 ounce cans compared to the more typical purchase of 20 ounce cans. Those were between $2.20-$2.89 each. An item I can't buy at Aldi is pear halves. Our store only carries slices. I found a store brand for $1 a can but they had only the one can. I bought it. My best price on pear halves so far was 97c at Walmart last fall for juice packed.
I looked at the rice and dried beans and pasta here at this store. Not impressed with prices overall. I found a single bag of black beans for $1 which I thought was a good buy and a bag of brown lentils for $1.29. Both bags weighed one pound.
I also found powdered instant beef bouillon for $1. They had no chicken bouillon in stock for this particular brand but there was shelf space there. I'll check back on this but compare to cubes at Aldi, too.
I looked at dehydrated potato and cheese boxes but after reading the list of additives and preservatives and such I put them right back. I seldom buy boxed mac and cheese for the same reason though John does like it. As I told John this evening, I'm really not interested in stocking up on a lot of highly processed foods. I'd rather have plain old vegetables and fruits and plain dehydrated potatoes if I can't have fresh but not the mixes and such.
Canning jar lids for wide mouth jars were in stock at the local store today and I bought two boxes of rings and lids and one box of lids only. I do have several wide mouth jars and should I want to can in them I'd need new fresh lids. These were not cheap but they were available. The lids with rings were over $7 each box and the lids only were a bit over $4. There were no jars at either the Dollar General or the grocery, not uncommon these days.
My last purchases for stocking up was from the meat aisle. The local grocery is pretty good about marking down meats and their beef is generally good Black Angus. I got three packs of Cubed Steak for $2.99 a pound. That's about $2-$3 less per pound than Aldi has it and about a $1 a pound cheaper than the local store sale this week.
All in all, I discovered that while I can buy some basics in my hometown overall prices are much higher, which I was aware of, although I admit I was surprised at how much higher Dollar General was.
I spent about $15 at Dollar General. At the grocery I spent about $45. Almost $20 of that was jar lids.
12 comments:
What an interesting fact finding mission! The nearest town to us has a Fred Meyers (Kroger), Walmart and Safeway. Plus a Grocery Outlet which is a discount grocery. I usually alternate shopping at the Fred Meyers and the Walmart. I prefer the produce and dairy at FM. Thanks for sharing your findings. Blessings, Shirley
I love those glass storage containers. I really need to switch out the plastic storage, they get so gross, and forget microwaving anything in them. I feel the same as you about driving again. I started off slowly last week, but I was a nervous wreck. I haven t driven since the end of January, and even though it’s like riding a bike, I’m certainly over anxious. I went to store tonight, and apparently there is a shortage of ICE CREAM! I can usually buy 2 half gallons ( or whatever they are now because they definitely look smaller), for about 4.00. Today... 2 for 9.00! Thee was a sign on the case stating there is a nationwide shortage wth?? Anyway, my dad used to put 3 drops of whiskey in my ear when I was a child, and plug it with cotton to clear blocked, or infected ears. It’s a thought, and hey if you drink it it probably helps the pain too lol. Anyway, have a great week, Liz
I have been thinking of grocery prices, AND how much driving and comparing I'm willing to do during two months of temps that are usually over 100 degrees. I live one freeway ramp from Aldis and one freeway ramp, in the other direction, from Winco. There are many other chain stores around but I do believe those two are the cheapest.
I don't know which one of those two is cheaper but I'm willing to bet it varies for different products. But I do know that Aldis has only about 25% of the food that Winco carries, so Winco gets me and my bucks. And honestly, that is all I'm willing to do at this point in my life.
I am always surprised by what I see in comments that are shortages in their area. Our discount grocery has so much ice cream in stock that they are selling it by the case and some cases are as low as 1.99!
For one year, when I was in fourth grade, we lived 30 miles west of Jacksonville, FL and the closest grocery store was in Jacksonville. We went every Saturday to shop and if we ran out of something during the week we had a gas station that only had a few canned goods and a few loaves of bread that tasted of cigarette smoke if we had to buy one. All that to say I am happy to live in a town with a grocery store about every mile or two all over town. So, I think you are wise to know what your options are locally. You never know when that knowledge will be useful. Today in Sam's I went up and down most of the food isles just because I rarely do that and wanted to see what is there that I did not know about. I always want to buy the gallon jars of pickles just for the jars! I didn't. We set out to go to two stores today but that became four and we still did not find one item. I came home and checked walmart.com and was able to order it for pick up at a store we don't usually go to but not too far out of the way. Walmart online ordering is where I am finding most things for a decent price and in stock these days. Amazon prices have reached the point of ridiculous.
Shirley, We have groceries within 12 miles east and west of us in those two towns. The one west has one store, the town east of us has two. They are not big chain stores nor best priced for us. Our best deals come from Aldi which is 80miles round trip but what if counties become isolate, perhaps not due to virus but due to floods (it's happened before!) so I really wanted to know what I might have to deal with in shopping locally only. Fortunately with my pantry and freezer we'd likely survive a few months on what we have in house except for fresh produce and fruit or milk.
Liz, I find more and more I prefer glass over plastic storage. It's more durable and I can find replacement lids for less than the cost of most storage pieces, too, especially the Anchor Hocking pieces.
It's normal to feel nervous after not driving for months and it does all come back to you. You'll be out there before long not even thinking about it. I just got nervous because I can hear nothing with my left ear at all.
Anne, I've heard so much about Winco and their great prices that I'd likely shop there too if we had one! Part of the reason why I love Aldi so much is that I am limited to fewer options and it makes me think pantry basics rather than buying a lot of random things that take up space and don't serve their purpose.
Frugal girl(?I think) did a post on Aldi vs. Walmart and Walmart was cheaper overall. I'd have to drive about 3 miles further which would feel like 10 due to the number of stop lights to get to Walmart in the town where Aldi is, so I shop Aldi and then use Publix or Amazon to make up the difference if I need other things.
Lana, I was thinking about Liz' ice cream today as well. I haven't seen any shortages here of that but there are still whole walls of bare shelves at grocery stores here of various things, so who knows...It's a season of buy it when you see it!
Ugh, and lol, on the cigarette flavored bread. I've been in those sorts of little stores...
A few years ago, I noticed they had canning jars and lids and rings and equipment at one of the smaller local old time hardware stores in my area. I never checked at Lowes, or Home Depot. But if you have an old family run hardware store in your nearby towns they may have canning supplies, too. This was they type of old time family run store where my friend who needed to replace a plastic pipe, tied a string around the pipe to measure it, and took the string to the store, and they found just the right pipe for her.
I laughed about your comment about not being able to peddle toilet paper because we have always kept at least a year's supply of toilet paper at our house---the result of years of listening to grandparents talk about no toilet paper at one point in their lives. Anyway, it has been a running joke with friends but when the pandemic shortage hit I ended up selling several cases to people who needed it. I made no profit but it still made me laugh to think that my tp was money in the bank. I also gave it as birthday gifts and it was much appreciated, I can tell you!
Susie, I hadn't even thought to go into our local hardware/auto parts stores to look! I'll keep that in mind next time I'm in town!!
Mable, I might just go on and stock up then, lol If you can peddle toilet paper in Alaska, I can surely get some business in Georgia, lol.
Seriously, I was the source for my niece, mom, and Katie and the back up plan for Sam and Bess during the outages here. I'd followed my instinct to stock more than usual at the beginning of the year and it held us all well. I still have a package from that first of the year stock up despite passing paper out left and right.
Only a quick minute to comment: I love the Pyrex rectangle containers too. Been using them for years.
Aldi had pears halfs for a few months now but they were in that row {ours is near the frozen flat frozen food case} where they have the shelves of the Aldi special purchases. They are in heavy syrup though but were the same price as the cut up ones they usually carry. Ask a worker if they have them at your store. Sarah
Sarah this AH piece looks like a smaller loaf pan and I really like it. I am looking for pear halves in fruit juice. I tend to avoid the heavy syrup ones because of carbs, but should I see them I could rinse them off, couldn't I? I'll keep my eyes open.
Yes I too prefer the fruit in it's own juice verses more sugar and a heavier fruit syrup. I got these pears cause we were there and They Had Them ! I just could not bare to go to another store that day! Tooooo Hot and too weary I tell you the heaviness is not just in the humidity it is in the feelings when out. And the masks don't help ! LOL We go out but want to go home soon ! We went to Costco today..in and out. Then went to Sam's which is right around the corner from Costco. We went to park at Sam's and saw the line to even get into the store was so long we left. Who could wait in the sun in such a long line in 106 degrees of heavy humid too? Well not us anyway thankfully what we were getting there we could surely do without. We were just going cause we were already so close. We used to wait and then shop many places in one outing. Hoping to get all off out 'needs '' list. Now 3 stores + gas for the car is about our limit now a days. Pulling up into our driveway has always been a welcome but now more than ever. :-))) Everyone seems in a hurry and pushy. You have to keep a look out for what you can find and what you need to keep on our list of needed household things for the next time you are out. And yes when you do see something do you get it ahead or hope when you do need it it will be there? It would help if there were places now to sit a spell in any store or eat inside a restaurant to relax a bit but here that is a no no. So where does someone go to cool down and relax a bit with almost everything closed. They tell people to go to local cooling centers. Well if there was one that is.... It is way to complicated anymore. :)
My favorite pyrex cook and store containers are the 3 cup one that is not very tall but 5 1/2" x 7 1/2 " and the larger shortish one that is 8 1/2" by 61/2" . Also the smaller bread one. I have the larger rectangle ones but for the two of us this small size works and we even freeze in them. I put leftover lasagna etc. in them lined with parchment. Freeze then take the lasagna and keep it in the freezer. I didn't know you could buy replacement tops for pyrex. I remember now you mention this another time. We see many used ones with tops or torn tops at the Goodwills. You can't keep the tops on and microwave can you? I got all ours used without instructions ! Thanks for being there for us Terri. Sarah
Sarah, I expect we're all going to learn that "They've got 'em and I'm here" attitude towards certain foods. I have changed my mind about lots since I do the bulk of my shopping at Aldi. More and more I'm accepting what they have in stock and not going elsewhere to pick up too many items.
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