Since my local Farmer Jack closed and went out of business I’ve been paying attention to different groceries stores and prices. I didn’t pay as much attention to pricing as I should since my mother worked at a Farmer Jack’s and I wanted to support them (also, I felt they had good prices). Plus, it’s just me and it’s not worth driving around all over to save a little bit when I don’t get that much (I average less than $30 a week but I do pick up some grocery items when on sale at Target).
My nearest FJ was purchased by Kroger. I’m not a big Kroger fan for two reasons: I’ve never been thrilled with their meat section that much and it always seems like their dairy products don’t have very long life for their expiration dates. Also, they never seem to have Orange Juice on sale for very good prices (I drink a lot of it).
So I’ve been checking out the other stores nearby: A Meijer which I like but isn’t very close and a Wal-Mart closer and on the way home from work. The prices are significantly different between the stores, I need to hit these other stores on purpose and more often. I need a grocery web site when I can put in (and have it remember) my most often purchase items: OJ, milk, cantaloupe, bananas, jumbo eggs, etc. and have it tell me where I should shop this week.
When my kitchen gets a lot smarter with RFID this will probably be a breeze. It’ll know what I need and tell me it’s time to go shopping or (better yet) tell me to wait a few days since everything I need goes on sale at one of the stores. And tell me while I’m not low on cereal it’s so cheap this week I should stock up.
Gary, if my kitchen did that, it would revolutionize my life. I work fulltime, goto school in my spare time (yeah right…spare time) and I run a household and two small kids. Unfortunately, it happens all too often that childcare, the running of a household AND working full time (most households are dual income) falls squarely on the female’s shoulders. Not sure why. And I am sure that is not the case for everyone. Word to those men still out there single,
when you do get hitched, pitch in just as you did when you lived alone. Really, don’t marry your mother. In the end, that will destroy a marriage because what woman whats to raise kids and have an adult child to look after also? And learning how to run a household is a skill that is practiced over time. Especially the part about looking for the deals weekly to stretch the ever shrinking dollar. BTW, my average food bill per week (including all the other essentials because we shop at wallmart) is over $200 easy. Two kids and two adults. So looking for deals is critical. But I agree, it’s not worth driving all over town for a sale. Defeats the purpose, and you time is worth something as well. Great post.