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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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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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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