Shopping!

Here's what we've spent so far in various grocery transactions this month:

Trader Joe's (one transaction of two pictured above): $27+$30 (another trip)=$57

Whole Foods: $26 (picture above...I know, not much, is it?)+$6 (different trip)=$32

Costco (above): $40

Magruders (more on that later, no pictures): $29

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Total so far:    $158

Since our grocery budget is roughly $200 a month, this leaves around $10/week for extras that come up. Time will tell if that's enough. When we were getting our basics at Aldi's, we usually spent around $100-130 there, around $30-40 at Costco, and then several dollars a week (especially on produce) at Harris Teeter or Giant. So at least thus far, there doesn't appear to be a huge difference. Factor in fuel and time costs, and we may be just about breaking even, if not saving a few dollars.

How does it feel? Honestly, I think it's more of a pain that the once-a-month, load-the-cart trip to Aldi's. (Though we did still make extra trips out then, too.) It's probably just the learning curve of shopping at new places, but obviously I've had to make return trips to various stores as I figure out what is the least expensive where, as well as which things certain places do or don't carry. Trader Joe's and other smaller places have pretty large gaps when it comes to certain products, and Whole Foods has a lot of prices I just won't pay when it comes to certain products. Even their bulk foods are expensive, which is too bad because I like the reduced amount of packaging associated with buying that way--especially foods like oatmeal and grains, which we eat all the time. So ideally, I'd like to get away from shopping there much at all.

Anyway, another consideration between Aldi's shopping and what I'm doing this month is the quality of food we're getting. We've never ever been dissatisfied with a product from Aldi's, but, like I've mentioned before, we are trying to move toward eating as "cleanly" as possible, for a variety of reasons. Options like unbleached white flour and unrefined sugar are things we can't find there, and while the differences in flavor and health benefits aren't necessarily remarkable, they're probably discernible. If we're able to restructure our meal plans to include them, and the overall cost doesn't seem to rise, it seems like a favorable thing to do.

Lastly, the ethics involved in buying foods close to home, and supporting local/smaller vendors, balanced against the economic possibility of doing so, are touched on nicely in this article. It's fleshed out even more thoroughly here. Lately I've been struggling with the same issue: if, because of the options available to us in this area and the flexibility of our eating habits as a family of two, we can keep our budget balanced (meaning that it's not appreciably more expensive than our previous method) while buying food that is sustainably grown and humanely produced, shouldn't we? Especially since there are so many people (hello, DC and other inner-city residents, along with many rural settings) who live in areas where such purchases are either totally unavailable or financially impossible?

Putting aside the growing pains of learning a new way to shop, the answer is probably yes. The more I think about it, I probably will get more used to the layout and product offerings of the new stores and feel almost as comfortable there as I did at Aldi's, while gaining what I previously spent in time and fuel costs by driving all the way out there. We're completely grateful to have had access to an Aldi's as long as we did, but I don't want to be guilty of hanging onto a particular system of doing things, past its natural useful time period, just because I'm too lazy to change. 

In reference to Magruder's above: having parents who are self-employed, and hoping to become that way myself in the near future, has made supporting business owned by actual people increasingly important to me. Which is one reason we were excited to stumble onto Magruder's Grocery Store last night. As a bonus, their prices are really reasonable, and they're on our way to errands we run at least weekly anyway.

IF you're interested in further reading...another good article on grocery habits, specifically local eating (which will become even more compelling once the farmer's markets open next month), is here. (Incidentally, you may remember that we read Plenty back when we lived in DC, and loved it; and The Omnivore's Dilemma is currently waiting for my lazy butt to go pick it up at the library).  Another one is here.

And, because what would a shopping post be without a little CVS--here you go. I admit that I was lazy on Monday and didn't go use my last opportunity to save $5 off of a $15 purchase with that red-hot coupon, and I had a couple of others I let expire as well. Again, I'm trying to move toward using the CVS system for mainly things that we actually need, and so in that spirit, I used up $16.95 in Extra Bucks which would have otherwise expired today to purchase such things, and didn't earn a single Extra Buck in return (well, except for a $2 that printed spontaneously):

The breakdown:

CVS Free & Clear laundry detergent: $3.49

CVS Clarifying Facial Cleanser (generic Neutrogena): $4.99

Mesh sponge (since I accidentally melted my last one in the dryer): $2.99

Old Spice Deodorant: $2.99

Nourishing Organic Coconut Milk Conditioner: $6.99 (bought ONLY because it has a mail-in rebate which makes it free)

Total before coupons: $21.67

Coupons: -$2 off of a $10 CVS brand purchase

Extra Bucks: -$16.95

Out of pocket total: $2.62

Extra Bucks back: $2

Coupons: $2/$10 CVS purchase

Rebate: $6.99

=Overage of $7.37

Not a stunner, but not bad for an impromptu trip.