So, most of you know that my Harris Teeter is closed, and that I did a LOT of my shopping there. In an effort to help my grocery budget (and yours), I am going to work on a price book this summer.
I still have several stores to choose from: Food Lion, BI-LO, Lowes Foods, Sam’s Club, Aldi, Galaxy, Walmart, and Target (smaller store). (Clearly during the school year, I don’t have time to shop at all of these. I need to choose one or two to be my main stores.)
Here is my plan. (You can follow along and do the same thing with your stores!) I plan to visit at least one store per week and look at tons of price points. I will record regular prices on the items I buy most often. That way I can get a feel for which store will make my best everyday store. In the meantime, I will also try to record any great sale prices I see at those stores in the coming weeks. I can’t promise regular updates (like on a certain day of the week), but I will update you with my price list for each store as I make it.
I grouped some foods together, so it will really end up at closer to 50 items. I also plan on pricing as many organic options as I can find while I am searching.
Here are the 30 items we buy most often in no particular order:
Milk
Fresh produce (especially lettuce and salad items)
Fresh Fruit (especially bananas, pears, apples, and watermelon)
White Bread (hubby)
Cereal
Boneless Skinless Chicken breast (prefer fresh)
Spaghetti Sauce
Spaghetti
Salsa
Tortillas
Tortilla Chips (gluten free chips)
Canned Tomatoes
Eggs
Cheddar Cheese (block or shredded)
Other Cheese
Ranch Dressing and Thousand Island Dressing
Ketchup
Mustard
Spices
Steak (ribeye, strip steak, or other on sale steak)
Ice Cream
Lunch Meat (prefer gluten free)
Nuts (Almonds and Cashews)
Bacon (prefer nitrate free)
Baby Back Ribs
Whole Chickens
Buns
Frozen Veggies
Rice
Drinks (bottled water, soda, juice)
If I can get a good grip on these grocery items, I might move on to household items like cat litter and cleaning supplies which I also bought at Harris Teeter.
I would love for you to join me. Your first step is make your list of items. What are your top 30 or 40 or 50 items you buy at the grocery store? Make your list and choose a store to shop at this week! Record all the regular and sale prices of the items on your list.
Let’s do this together to save money!!
I disclose : There may be affiliate links in this post.
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This is a great idea, and so nice of you to share with us!! We have Harris Teeters everywhere here (Triad, NC) and Lowes…but I try to balance those with Walmart so I can splurge once in a while at Whole Foods.
We would probably have a lot of the same top grocery items as you – I am always buying yogurt for my preschoolers though – we love coupons for Danimals and yobaby.
Things may change soon those because we are getting a Trader Joes in a few months – yipee!!!!
It would be awesome if you could share some of the data you find in your area, especially with Harris Teeter! :)
I’m still lamenting the loss of my Harris Teeters in Gastonia….haven’t tried Lowes yet……thanks for ALL you help us with! (enjoy your summer break, “teacher”!)
I hope I can help ease you into the transition!
I have been enjoying every minute…. so far!
I used the Sam’s club website to get pricing info. I found that many items there are a good deal w/out having to wait for coupons and deals. I.e.–cat litter (scoopable fresh step), Sam’s club brand dish washer tablets, Sam’s club toilet paper, lance crackers nekots, and many more.
I will be checking them out!
Thats true Rhonda, I forgot about checking prices online. Sometimes with Lowes and HT, when I have time ;) I use the online shopping option just to check prices and compare before choosing between the two and heading out.
Also, our Whole Foods has some great “summer” deals that change each week. These have included 1.99 blueberries and 4.99lb premade burgers (85%)
I will make a list for HT and submit for the top 30 or so items.
I am sorry you lost your Harris Teeter, I on the other hand lost my Lowes, so the Charlotte area is now overcome with HT’s, not exactly to my liking. I do like HT for Super Doubling or Tripling, but they were not my mainstay for everyday fill ins. You have to do this when you have a household of 7 plus a dog. Hubby, myself and our 5 kids. ;) Honestly for the 2011 year, I had the most savings at Lowes Foods, although I did most of my non edible shopping at HT in Super Doubles or Triples. I have hardly ever had to pay full price on Purina Dog Food. This year to date I have had my most savings at Bi-Lo followed by HT. I do like HT, but I liked having Lowes as well, between HT, Lowes and Bi-LO, I had the ability to stretch my dollar farther. I will have to get used to shopping mainly between HT and Bi-Lo now. I did find out that one Lowes still remains about 12+ miles away. Not as convenient, but if the sale is right….. :)
I have recently started shopping at BI-LO and I like it. I only have the 2 of us, but have found that most of the everyday items I buy are expensive at Lowes Foods.
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