Saturday, June 26, 2010

Let's Dish - 6/26

I hope ya'll are doing well. We are slowly but surely settling into our new routine and town. We are really loving it. There are so many wonderful family things to do and as we speak we are getting ready to head out to the farmer's market and park. The absolute hardest thing for me to get used to though, is that my only grocery options are Walmart and a small store called Harps. There is a Dillons (Kroger affiliate) and Safeway only 55 miles north and while I plan on driving there once a month or so to stock up on certain items and take part in Mega Sales, etc, I will have to utilize my local choices when in a pinch. Don't get me wrong, I'm not too "good" to shop and Walmart, I promise you that! As stated in this post over at Southern Savers, it is just so much cheaper to shop at a grocery store that runs specials and takes coupons. I used to go way over budget at Wal-mart and that was usually buying the off brand stuff. Also, my shopping experience is never as pleasant at Walmart than it is at Kroger. Have ya'll experienced this as well?

So, let's dish about it. Do you grocery shop at Walmart? What have you found to be a good bargain, etc? Do you think I'm crazy for driving to a grocery store an hour away? ;)

10 comments:

Laura said...

walmarts up here are few and far between. The closest one to us is about 30-45 mins in either direction. We go to walmart to stock up on a few items that are cheaper there - namely the off brand crystal light mixes. That's the main thing. Sometimes we can find cereal there for cheaper and housewares.

But, for the most part, we split our grocery shopping up between 2 different stores depending on sales and the rest is Target.

mom2k said...

Have you thought about Aldi's in Springdale? I know it's not Kroger, but some things are cheaper there. I only buy Wal-Mart when I have to. Even if something is on sale I usually leave there spending more than I want to.

Anonymous said...

Wal-Mart is banned in our house by my husband. I have had nothing but horrible experience's there. Nope I don't think your crazy for driving 55 miles. I am planning on doing that in August. We have a Kroger in Waycross, Ga, about 56 miles from me.

Bethany said...

Laura - What grocery stores do ya'll have?

I have shopped at Walmart more in the past week than I have in the past 3 years, no joke! I forgot to mention that we have an Aldi in Rogers and yes, I will be shopping there. I should be able to get most of our produce there and some other stuff as well. It'll just take some adjusting. And, of course, any time we are down in R'ville I will be making a Kroger run :)

Courtney - I hope they'll be running a good special when you go!

Kelly said...

I hate Walmart! I live 2 miles from both Walmart and Kroger and I avoid Walmart at all cost. I have a much better time at Kroger, I only go to Walmart for non-grocery items. I wish I lived close to a super Target - although I bet I would spend more if I did....

Bethany said...

Kelly - I'm so glad I'm not alone! We had a Super Target over in Germantown that I would go to sometimes but found that in our "little" target, once they added the little grocery section (that had meat, eggs, produce, etc) they often had really great specials and markdowns! I will miss that. Our Target here has the usual frozen/refrigerated goods but not a 'fresh' section. You'd be surprised at how much you can save at Target, it's NOTHING like Walmart - and that's a good thing :)

Laura said...

Our two main stores are Shaws (AKA Star Market) and Stop & Shop. We buy the majority of our stuff at those stores and reserve milk, eggs, yogurt, and a few other things for Whole Foods. Beer, Wine, and organic cookies at Trader Joe's. Housewares and some sale food at Target. And now that it's July - our produce will mostly be coming from the farmer's market...which is super exciting.

I've definitely learned that there is no one-stop shop up here. and that's ok - takes a little planning, but that's all.

Ginny said...

Over the last 2 years I have bought bad milk twice, bad yogurt, and a bag of Great Value chicken breast that had a roach frozen into the ice glaze! FYI, these were from the Cordova super center and the Collierville store. I will not buy anything perishable anymore at wal-mart and really limit my shopping there to just items I am getting for free after coupons.

Bethany said...

Ginny!! Oh my goodness! What in the world did they have to say to a ROACH frozen to your chicken?? I would have died or thrown up. Maybe both ;)

Ginny said...

about the roach... I looked all over the bag for an 800 # or somewhere to call/write about it, but there was NO contact info on the bag so I returned it and they acted like it was no big deal.