
(Elizabeth is a guest blogger from Frugalwoods.)
The beauty of the grocery store is that it offers the lure of one-stop shopping. You can stock up on rutabagas, dog treats, and shampoo all in one go—right? Wrong! While it’s certainly possible to load this mishmash into your cart and breeze through the checkout, you’ll pay handsomely for the convenience.
My husband and I spend $350 per month on food for the two of us (well, three if you count our baby) by strategically alternating between the grocery store, Amazon, and Costco. We happen to shop at Costco, but the principles apply at any discount warehouse store like Sam’s Club, BJ’s, or Wal-Mart. The grocery store certainly has its place in providing for our culinary needs but, more often than not, there are dangerously overpriced items lurking in its aisles.
From the grocery store, we’ve discovered it’s most economical to buy:
Here are our best bets for purchase from Costco:
Amazon typically has the lowest prices on:
There’s also a category of things that we never buy at the grocery store or anywhere else—they’re simply a bad deal:
The key to making this type of multi-store shopping sustainable is to identify the best prices for your commonly purchased items and keep track of your findings.
When making these comparisons, be sure to check the prices per unit—not the overall total since it’s unlikely the quantities will be identical from store to store.
After doing this minimal research, you’ll be able to shop on autopilot since you’ll know where the best deals are. Thanks to this method, my family saves hundreds of dollars every month just by knowing where to shop!
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