We have been shopping in person throughout the "pandemic" and we go twice a month on the discount days.
I haven't been grocery shopping in two years or longer. We have an Aldi and I have been there twice three or four years agp maybe. Some food is cheaper, some much cheaper,but I didn't like shooping there. Fist I didn't like paying a quarter for a basket and sommetime having to hunt one. I didn't get around that well. I didn't like the way they market some things, once a week. Time and again surveys have indicated most people likt to show in clean,. wide isles stores. No doubt Aldi's knows this. For a number of small reasons, I didn't like Aldi's. I didn't like its location. Having shopped twice, I never went back. Since I seldom get out I make lists. I keep a note pad and pencil on the kitchen table as as we find we need something I write it down (bad memories).We now havesome help on a couple of days a week. Fifteen minutes ago our help is taking my roommate grocery shopping. She's almost blind and won't be able to read anything on the shelf. She'll be tired and give out when they return ans will swear she'll never do it again. Our help will wonder what he's got himself into. But she has my list, and I wrote in dark felt so one of them might be able to read it. Of course a list only guides awpmen through the store. What one buys thats not on the list is the real grocery shopping.
I go about once a week. Short list of only stuff I have to get. Lately canned cat food is the limiting factor. There has been a shortage of it here for some time. For now at least, my cat has decided she only wants pâté style Tastefuls by Blue Buffalo. Stores are always in short supply of that. An Aldi store opened here about 2-3 years ago. I went once. It closes too early, and I want to be able to get everything I need in only one store. Couldn't tell if things were cheaper or not because they didn't have anything I normally buy. It had a huge wine section (or was that Trader Joe's?). Seemed like it took up half the store. Probably my imagination.
I tried Aldi again here recently, it is OK, but would never be my Go To store. I use the small Wal art Neighborhood store, reluctantly . I do plan shopping, with my Our Groceries app. Have used it for years. I also write out seven days and then list what might be eaten those days. When my SS check comes in I buy the most, then fill in rest of the month as needed. Do any of you consider household items part of grocery or do you think of them as separate ?
We don't have Aldi's here, that I know of. But I'm a mile or less away from 3 groceries, and maybe 2.5 miles from 2 others. With one or two more available on a home delivery service. So for me shopping is about what store has the bakery, or deli or prepared meals I'm in the mood for that day. I keep a running list on my phone in the notes app when I run out of something or have a hankering for something I know is only available at a certain place. No where has everything I want and like, so I get the home delivery to carry the heavier stuff to the door, and go pick up the produce and such myself. @Gloria Mitchell, because household items can be acquired at many grocery store, I usually pick them up there. A few things I need to get at a Target or Fred Meyer.
The past 2 months, Kroeger has been sending me coupons that I can actually use. Most coupons in general are for national brands whose prices are too high for the coupons to offset to any degree...I usually buy house brands. These Kroeger's coupons are for generic stuff that I actually buy: bulk produce (onions, lettuce, bell peppers, asparagus, etc), house brand stuff like coffee filters and jars of fat (duck fat, ghee), and a free package of sliced Sargento cheese (any variety, 6oz-8oz.) I receive them the end of each month, and they are good for the entire subsequent month. It's an interesting thing. These coupons are customized for me. They are all for stuff that I already buy there, so Kroeger is cannibalizing their own revenue rather than incentivizing me to buy new/more stuff or get me in the store more often...there's not a single coupon for a product I don't routinely purchase there, since my non-produce shopping is generally done elsewhere. And the coupons are nearly all for generic bulk like produce or house brand stuff where there is no national company (like Nabisco) subsidizing them. While I'm please to be saving money on stuff I already buy, it's sure different to get coupons for lettuce and potatoes. I've never seen it before.
Perhaps it is a bit of "loss leader" to get you into the store hoping you will buy more. My wife handles the coupons, and Kroger used to be her favorite grocery store. She has now noticed that many things have risen in Kroger affiliate that have not risen as much in Target or Walmart. We shop twice a month.
Maybe they are trying to lure me in more. I'm in there one a week replenishing my salad supplies because Walmart and Food Lion's produce quality leaves a lot to be desired, and the selection is not very broad. I make a 50 mile round trip drive to hit Aldi, Kroeger and any other incidental stores in that area (Harbor Freight, the Indian market, etc.) That's interesting that Kroeger has held the line on price increases. I have to admit that since stores stopped putting prices on individual products, I have a hard time remembering what things cost, and I used to be real good with that. My crutch is having the Walmart app on my phone. I can scan any product in any store, and if Walmart carries it, the app tells me what my local store charges and if they have any in stock. Food Lion's sale prices are always more expensive that Walmart's daily prices. I'll have to do a random check next time I'm in Kroeger.
I always chuck that "e" in there. Kroeger is a non-grocery wholesaler. I don't think I ran into them in my career, since they carry consumer items.
When I was driving and doing my own shopping, Evelyn and I went to Krogers several times a week, just to look for the markdown managers specials. Then, our Kroger closed, and Evelyn moved away to live with her daughter, so all of that ended. Bobby totally hates any kind of shopping, so what I do now is order on line for the drive through pickup. Then I schedule the pickup for when we are going somewhere that Bobby wants to go, like to the fitness center, so we can just drive by the Baby Walmart and get the groceries on the way home. You can’t get specials, or pick the produce you want that way, but it works. The other day, Bobby had to go to Lowes for parts for something, and Lowes is right next to Sam’s Club, so I asked him to drop me off at Sam’s and I got to go shopping while he was getting his part from Lowes. That was an unplanned shopping trip, but a happy experience !
I like the clearance areas. I try different things that I would never pay full price for. Several years ago, my Walmart rearranged its grocery area (sadly, they were downsizing their "from-scratch" offerings.) I just happened to be there while they were in the middle of it and got some very nice high-end ($20+) bottles of olive oil for $1 each, a variety of smoked sea salts in grinder bottles for the same price, and a bunch of other stuff. I hung around for quite a while to see what they were gonna mark down next...the stuff was nearly free and it was going as fast as they could put it out. When clothes are involved, I buy and get outta there...I hate that kind of shopping. When food and cooking stuff is involved, it's like finding tools at a yard sale...I'll get lost in time.