Grocery Pro Tip #1: Try New Stores

In a prior post, I wrote on why I gave up couponing. Now, I will share how I save money on groceries.

My first tip is to break with conventionality and to try out new stores.

I remember when I was young, my dad and step mom would often shop at this place called Save a Lot. It sells mainly off-brand groceries for far less than the more traditional grocers. I liked that they had decent food for less than conventional grocers.

Moving to Oklahoma City, I was hard pressed to find a place like this within striking distance. However, a few years ago this chain called Aldi opened up. Aldi sells mainly in-house brands that taste identical to their name-brand counterparts. They lower their prices by hiring fewer checkers, having people bag their own groceries, and limiting selection.  Now, I do about 75 percent of my food shopping there. The rest I do at either Sprouts (this terrific natural food store in my area), or I buy a few things at Target that I really like. And yes, I do shop at Wal-Mart on occasion (put down the rotten tomatoes).

There are a couple of other places I want to try out when they move into Oklahoma City (namely, Trader Joes and WinCo). But I like sticking to one or two stores. It saves time and gas money if I am not stopping 75 different places to buy groceries.

Another good place to look are ethnic supermarkets. Occasionally, I will go to this HUGE Asian supermarket. They have the COOLEST Asian candies. (Actually, I think the wrappers are the most fun part of the candies!) Plus they have an excellent selection of spices. I can find things like sesame seeds and cinnamon sticks for great prices. They even have a whole section of just tea bags!

Basically, if you know what you like, you can find anything for a good price, if you know where to look.