DID YOU KNOW?

I was thinking the other day about the Kroger brand names that I found at two different stores. I went to Smith's last weekend, but I also do a little grocery shopping at Food4Less. I noticed that both stores had the Kroger brand as their store brands. Ok, I'm not the sharpest thorn on the rose bush.

I went onto the web and looked for Food4Less. I found no website for them. I then looked for Smith's. Again, no website. So then I looked up Kroger. Surprise! I found that Kroger owns both stores. Hmmmm.

That raised another thought in my mind. What's the difference between the two stores. Personally, I think that Smith's has the "snob appeal". Many of the items that they advertise are higher priced than Food4Less, not by much, but they are higher. Its almost like Smith's is for the middle class shoppers and Food4Less is for the budget /income minded shoppers. My question would be...don't all of the items come from the same warehouse? Why the price difference?

Sometimes I think that women are afraid to admit that they shop at dollar stores, and "discount" stores like Food4Less or Save-A-Lot. Like it's something to be ashamed of. Well, I will yell it from the highest mountain because of the money I save at all of the "cheap" grocery stores. I don't see a difference between brand, off-brand, or store brand items when it comes to certain staples such as sugar (sweetner), flour, spices, etc.

Why pay more?

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Coffaholics or Coffee Drinkers

We drink coffee excessively (I know its not really good for us). We drink pots and pots of coffee every day. We have "burned out" more coffee pots in the past 6 years than I've ever heard of. Yes, of course, we buy them from our local WalMart, but at less than $10 a piece every couple of years, its worth it. We are addicted. For those of you that are coffaholics like us, I'll let you in on where we buy our coffee and no, its not at WalMart.

I would like you to think about how much do you spend on your "3lb can" of coffee. Is it in the neighborhood of $6-$8 per can? We used to buy our Yuban at the local WalMart store and got away with spending around $4.99, but since coffee prices have soared (as you all know) we've only seen it on sale for $5.99 plus. Sure, that's good when the regular price at most super chain grocery stores is around $7.99. The prices at the chain grocery stores really cuts into the grocery budget when you have to buy 2 cans a month.

Ok, okay, we buy an off-brand coffee at our local Save-A-Lot store. Why? Because we only spend $3.99 per 3lb can. Basically we can purchase 2 cans for the price of one and that's their everyday low price. Yes, I know you're going to tell me that the off-brand coffee tastes terrible, but we have found that this coffee competes heavily with our old favorite. Since we drink so much of it...it must be good!! I have to tell you...I love grocery shopping at our Save-A-Lot store. It's also very close to the house which makes it extra special.

So, I guess we are definitely Coffaholics. Are you?


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BRAND NAMES or OFF-BRAND

I have watched other people who are on budgets lose themselves in the brand name craze. I wonder what they are thinking when they overpay, just for a name. I asked one person that once and she told me that it is her husband won't eat off-brand names. She said that since he goes with her grocery shopping she doesn't get a chance to choose other brands. In this instance, I suppose that she has no choice. I suggested that he better get a better paying job. hahaha!

For myself and my roommate, I know that we are not picky eaters. We enjoy the off-brand or store brand items just as much as the brand names. We pay much less for our groceries each month. WOW!! Cheaper Groceries!

Cheaper groceries is why I will shop at the Dollar Tree, Dollar King and 99cent Only Stores. When you can buy off-brand cream soups at a 2 for $1, a large bottle of soy sauce for $.99, and my all time favorite 2 lbs of frozen cauliflower for .99, then life is good.

I have priced these items in the chain grocery stores and even in the discount stores and the prices are as much as doubled, sometimes even triple the amount that I pay.

So, as this blog suggests:
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Public Service Announcement: Check Your Pantries!

I was searching blogs yesterday morning and found an announcement about: "The makers of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Great Value Peanut Butter have announced a recall of their product do to salmonella." Please visit Mom's Fridge to read the all additional information.

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Discount vs. Overrun

Boy, do I hate to go shopping for groceries, especially on Saturday and Sunday afternoons due to the crowds (maybe you do to?). But lucky for me I live in Las Vegas where most of the big chain grocery stores are open late (1 a.m.) or they open early (6 a.m.). Although I use most of the chain stores for emergencies. The other stores that I shop at are usually open 8am until 9pm.

I don't think that I've told you that I do my grocery shopping by bus, so I do have to plan several days in advance to do all my shopping. The reason? Well, I always need something somewhere. When you live on a budget like my roommate and I do, you're always looking for bargains.

I just found out that there is a difference between Wal-Mart, Save-A-Lot or Food4Less and my 99cent Only Stores, Dollar Tree, etc.. Do you know what that is? Ok, don't feel left out. The difference between these is that Wal-Mart, Save-A-Lot, Food4Less, etc. are discount stores and the 99cent Only and Dollar stores are known as over-run stores. We all know what a discount store is, but an over-run store needs some explaining (I think).

If you grocery shop at your 99cent Only stores (or Dollar Tree, Dollar King, or similar stores) they are the over-run stores. You probably noticed that sometimes they don't always have your favorite snacks, veggies, etc. every time you go there. They receive the "over-runs" from the manufacturers. Sometimes the manufacturers don't have an over-run of that product that week.

These over-run stores are used by suppliers to relieve their inventories of excess merchandise. The benefit to you is that you can get groceries and other items at a much lower price, sometimes as much as 80% less.

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Olive Oil -- Extra Virgin or Spanish?

As I was watching the cooking channel last month I noticed that many of the cooks were recommending the use of extra virgin olive oil. This made me wonder about how beneficial this stuff really is. So I did a little research and found that it is extremely good for you.

The problem is that it is so darned expensive. So I went to my local Save-A-Lot grocery store and found a large bottle of naturally pressed Spanish olive oil for less than $4.00. A little more looking around told me that it is just as good for cooking as the more expensive oil.

The extra virgin oil is what you need for salad dressing and light marinades but the naturally pressed oil is better for cooking because the smoke point is higher. As I went to other large chain stores I noticed that the prices they were asking were still quite a bit higher than what I had paid.

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Sweeter or Sweetner?

Well, I can't use sugar because I'm a diabetic. I use a sugar substitute. Do you know how expensive the blue brand name is? I do, that's why I don't buy it. I can't stand the taste of the pink brand name (can you?) besides the threat of cancer scares the heck out of me. So now the question is if I don't use the blue brand nor the pink brand what do I use? Not the yellow brand, its getting as expensive as the blue brand, though it does taste good.

Now you know what I don't use. Let me tell you what I do use. I use the "Great Values" sweetner that I get from my local Wal-Mart. I figure that inexpensive Aspartame is just as good as the expensive aspartame. The only difference I find is the actual price. The Great Values brand is half of the cost of the blue brand product.

If I actually used the pink brand product, I know I can go to my supercenter and find an off brand product there as well.

Feel free to comment!

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