Trying a New Grocery Tactic - October 2, 2013

If you didn't already know, both my husband and I work from home as freelancers. And this means that every month our bills are the same but our income fluctuates. It's continually a learning experience, and we always have to tweak things.

Money has been a bit tight for a few months, so I decided to dig into some of our financial choices and see where new changes could be made. After a chat with a friend of mine, I wondered just how much we were spending on groceries. We never set a specific budget, but I was sure we were fine - I use coupons! I shop sales! I'm vegetarian! I don't buy a lot of processed food!

I went into my files and did the math and...no. We were not fine. We spend way too much on groceries. And we've consistently been overspending for months.

I do shop carefully. I do shop sales. I do use coupons. And my family shops at a range of stores to get the most bang for our grocery buck...and there is what we realized is one of our downfalls. Every time we go to a different store (ahem, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods being the biggest culprits), we get the deals and the items on our list - and then, somehow, we also throw in special items that we can only get at that store. Even if those special items are on sale or inexpensive, they rapidly add up. I admit it - I was in deep denial about this. (Also my husband throws ridiculous things in the cart every time...ahem.)

I still believe that spending more at grocery stores on special treats keeps us out of restaurants and keeps us from stopping for treats (we're surrounded by amazing donuts, cupcakes, popsicles, gelato...). While we overspent in this area for sure, we also dramatically cut back on our purchases of prepared food of all kinds. So that worked. But right now we need to cut back even more. Treats? I've been making multiple batches of these amazing baked vegan apple cider donuts and I'm eyeing a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies next. I'm working on it!

So where am I going with all this? We're trying a new experiment. For the month of October, we're going to only shop at Your Dekalb Farmers Market (YDFM) for food - or at least 95% of our food. (As I've noted in the past, YDFM is a warehouse sized grocery store that's full of organic vegetables, bulk spices, and a gigantic wine selection. It's an amazing store, basically.) I started listing the things that we can only get at a mainstream grocery store and it was very short. The prices on a few things at YDFM (which is cash/debit only and does not take coupons) might be higher than the prices at Publix, Kroger, TJs, Whole Foods, but I think that the general pricing will balance that out.

Better, we'll buy mostly vegetables and basic ingredients if we shop at YDFM. The store does carry treats and snacks, but they're higher quality and easier to avoid as well. One of the best deals is a fresh-refrigerated pizza - far cheaper than going out for pizza and much healthier (and handily beats any general grocery store frozen pizza in all ways). And I won't be swayed by sales or deals because there aren't any. I think this could work.

I will need to shop at Publix or Kroger on occasion - there's a big sale on laundry detergent coming up, for example. If there's some amazing deal on something specific, then we'll run in - and only buy that thing. Yes we will. We will! (Sidenote: I am very disappointed that Kroger has stopped doubling coupons and claims to have "lower prices" that are, in fact, not so much.) This isn't a strict challenge or a game, it's a process. It's about being more mindful.

I'm trying really hard to think of what else I might need from one of the larger grocery stores. Well...YDFM doesn't carry string cheese and I might go get that elsewhere (or skip it, haven't decided). While it does carry the almond milk I drink every day, I can get a much better price with a coupon at Kroger, so I'll probably buy it there. Or maybe try making my own. YDFM carries organic cow milk but it's not homogenized and, well, I prefer that, so we'll have to get it elsewhere. And don't get me started on YDFM's bananas....

There's also a bread issue (oh fine, I'll confess - the preservative-free fresh-made bread sold at YDFM is so much better/tastier/healthier than shelf-stable bread, and I just read Pandora's Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal[that's a referral link, FYI] and I know all about the junk in grocery store bread, but the good stuff goes bad so quickly unless I freeze it and I know it is because it's supposed to but...it's one processed food I got used to! This will be a change), but I might be able to make that work, and my entire family would be healthier if we only buy bread from YDFM.

But we'll skip TJs (we just did a giant run there anyway...oops...) and WF for the month. And also for the first time in possibly ever, I have a dollar figure that is our entire grocery budget for the month, and we are going to stick to it.

This is new territory for me - I prefer coupons and sales and "I saved 50% this week!" - but it's not working. So this is a step. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Could this turn into "Every month I pick one store and only shop at it?" Maybe. But I actually think YDFM is the answer and the clear winner. We'll see.

Am I weird? How many places do YOU visit for groceries? - July 15, 2013

Yesterday as we were pulling away from the small local health food co-op, after shopping at one of the many outdoor farmers' markets in the area, it occurred to me that I shop at a LOT of different places for my groceries. And then I thought how lucky I am to have all these options...and I wondered if I was weird or if this was something everyone does. (I'm not a very good grownup. I have no idea what's right or wrong when it comes to everything from "Do these shoes go with these pants?" to "Is this how everyone else eats dinner?")

Partly this scatteredness does come from my wanting to find the best sales, get the best deals, and so on. That is absolutely true. But part of this is that I'm curious. What ingredients does that little shop over there carry? Does that giant chain have a better selection of flavors of something than that other chain? Is that place's bulk section any better than that other place's? And...of course...who has the best prices? (I do this when we're on vacation too - I went from a kid who would be dragged whining and screaming to a grocery store to an adult who wants to make the local grocery store a stop during any trip. "Ooh, they have this? And they triple coupons? And they charge $X for that?!"

To give you a lay of the land, we are a family of three, we keep a 99% vegetarian household (my husband buys tuna on occasion), and we try to eat as much organic/minimally processed food as possible, but we still occasionally buy things that are not organic, that are processed, and that might even contain questionable ingredients. We do our best. Also, I really should lay down an exact grocery budget and operate within it but...I don't. I do know that the more we buy at the grocery store - and the more appealing it is, even if it's something a bit pricey - the less we go out to eat (we are surrounded by incredible restaurants and constant temptation) and the more money we save in that way. Again, we do our best. My husband is the one who cooks dinner - he's better at throwing things together, I prefer to work from a recipe - so happily he's on board with the way I like to shop, more or less. The kid eats better than I would've expected and is willing to try new things sometimes - and she likes the grocery store too (though she freaks out when we get in line at the checkout about 75% of the time).

So here's my list of where I shop:

• Kroger. There's a small-ish store I can walk to for last-minute needs, a big-ish store I have personally driven* to but don't love, a very big store that we go to as a family (I probably could drive to it myself - I've driven past it before), and a two-level store that sometimes seems to carry more unusual things (for example, that specific branch of Kroger is the only place I've found Polar Seltzer - cans, basic flavors, but still! Polar!). In general I find the prices at Kroger to be OK. I hear people insisting Kroger is has the lowest prices, but only for some things I buy regularly - my favorite almond milk is cheapest here, for example. HOWEVER, lately I've found Kroger to have the best regular-grocery-store selection of organic items, and their in-house natural/organic brand (Simple Truth) is priced well and tastes good in everything I've tried. Slowly Kroger has been taking away coupon doubling in other regions, though, and I think mine is next. The e-coupons sometimes offer decent deals and are easy enough to use, but I will miss doubled coupons terribly if that goes away, and I may have to rethink my shopping if/when.
• Publix. There's a medium-sized store that I can easily get to and a bigger store that is a bit further (we literally drive past the medium-sized store to get to it) that is way better. Publix is the other big-name store I frequent, and I prefer it over Kroger. The BOGO deals are often great (I know the cycles of some of my favorites and wait to stock up on certain products a few times a year) - but they also seem to have better everyday prices on the things I buy often. The people who work at my favorite store are always fantastic - friendly, helpful, nice to my kid. But the organic selection just isn't as good, particularly when it comes to produce, and what they do have isn't always the best price. On the other hand, they don't make me carry a store card for the deals and there have been - thus far - no murmurs of discontinuing doubling coupons. Plus the stores near me take Kroger and Whole Foods coupons (wish they'd also take Target!). That's handy because Kroger often mails me high-value coupons (gleaned from my store card use, I know) and I can use them at either store.
• Your Dekalb Farmers Market (YDFM) - I wish I could just shop here and only here, to be honest. I have gone on and on before about my love of YDFM - the produce! the dry goods! the bulk spices, flours, sugars, grains, dried fruit.... (except you have to buy the bulk things pre-packaged rather than buying exactly what you need - a very minor quibble). The cheese! The....everything! No coupons accepted, cash/debit only, easy easy. I just buy what I want and I know I'm getting a great deal on it all. Bonus: The more I shop at YDFM, the less I buy processed anything. (YDFM certainly sells processed food, and one time I bought in-house-made bread and was disappointed to find it had partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient, but when I go, I spend the bulk of my grocery money on fresh things. Tangent: I used to buy these lovely little fancy ice cream sandwiches there until I read up about titanium dioxide, decided to try to eliminate it from my diet, and then found it on the ingredient list. Sad trombone.)
• Whole Foods - Usually we go when we need something very specific (vitamins, mostly) but then we wind up spending $50+. I don't even know on what - some produce, some bulk items (I do love their bulk section), some...impulse buys. Also: Cheese samples.
• Trader Joe's - I regularly pay the Trader Joe's tax of $50 per walkin (as in, I can't get out of there without spending at least $50). I absolutely love and adore TJs and we used to go about twice a month but lately we've cut back. The prices on some things are excellent, but I always buy things I don't actually need while I'm there. Those things are, again, well priced but not essential. But I like to go at least once a month or two now for some items I can't get elsewhere.
• Super H-Mart - I get here once every two months or so. Great deals on noodles and rice and certain spices and sauces. The branch that's a bit farther away has house-made tofu that is to die for. An amazing selection of produce - not all of it is organic, but it's always fresh and sometimes I find certain fruits/veggies I don't see elsewhere. I used to buy a lot of cookies and candy until I got more sensitive about ingredients (boo). I have a store card and I get their coupon books in the mail.

Those are the stores I go to more than, say, twice a year. But then there are the other stores I go to here and there. Return 2 Eden is a local health food store that is the only place in the Southeast that stocks May Wah fake meat (the best stuff ever - I actually need to get over there for a bag of the fake chicken legs...). Sevananda is a local co-op that has an incredible bulk section. My city has a twice-a-week outdoor farmers' market that we go to sometimes, and then we go a bit out of our way for a really great one on Sundays (and I keep meaning to check out some others in the greater Atlanta area too). We just went into the Fresh Market for the first time and I could see us going back to it once in a great while. There's a tiny market here in my little city that carries gourmet food items that we sometimes poke into. I wish I could get to the Buford Highway Farmers Market more often (I've been once or maybe twice) because I've never seen such a grand selection of international foods in one place before (it's overwhelming!). Oh and then there's Target - the one closest to us just expanded its grocery section and while it's not usually convenient to get much there for various reasons, it has the best price for the bread my family prefers and sometimes, of course, since I'm there I'll get something specific I'm out of. I have been in Aldi approximately three times ever and wasn't impressed with it enough to go out of my way (which I'd need to) but if I was somewhere next to one I'd probably run in for a few things. Please notice that I do not and will never shop at a certain very large very upsetting store with a W. Prices be damned, I just can't do it.

And I am sure I'm forgetting something too.

Again, I'm really lucky to have this sort of variety and choice - but I also take full advantage of it, and I can't imagine paring it all down to a single store.

What about you? Do you shop at more than one place? If you don't because you don't have the variety near you, would you if that were to change?

*I've got a wicked huge driving phobia going on. That's why I mention driving so often. It's essentially me saying how close or far something is from my house though.