I am still shocked at how expensive things are here in Jersey. A lot of things are comparable, but a lot are also a lot more than they are in Indiana. I am still doing my couponing, which is saving us money every time we shop. But honestly, it's still not saving us as much money. Perhaps this expectation, of spending close to the same amount of money on groceries was naive of me. Perhaps I'm just crazy and thought we could be spending similarly, considering the fact that there are Walmarts and Targets here.
We only have a Walmart, no SuperWalmart. We also don't have any Super Targets. The prices at these two stores are pretty much the same as they are in Indiana, but they don't carry all of the things that we normally would buy there. Walmart is a little inconvenient to get to and its also kinda ghetto, so we only go there about once every 2 or 3 weeks. Only when we've run out of something that we can get there for a good price. Target is much closer and MUCH nicer. There is a new one that opened just a couple of miles away and we really enjoy shopping there.
As far as grocery stores go I shop the sales! (of course, right? lol) I have a couple of stores that I regularly keep track of their sales and they are close together, so we can stop at both during the same trip. Coupons are doubled up to 99cents, so that's a great deal! But coupons are worth less here. The paper will have a coupon for something like 20cents off a package of wipes, whereas in IN I know the coupon would be for 30 or maybe even 50cents off.
We're doing pretty well, though, with grocery shopping. We only go to the store once a week, as opposed to several trips per week to wallyworld when we lived in IN. We've started cutting out junk food (which is pretty expensive here) and getting more fruits and veggies. I was looking at some receipts and we've spent close to $50 on junk food for the last month (chips, cookies, candy) so we decided we need to cut those things out, because we really don't need them. They're kinda just sitting there in the cupboards. We also don't eat out at all. Ben has lost 5lbs.! We're maintaining about $100-$115 a week for groceries (including junk food). So imagine how much more we could be saving if we got rid of the junk! We can do it!
My goal is to cut out more off our grocery bill. Thus far, I have been saving between 40 to 50% off my total bill. I want to increase it and I think I can. I just need to familiarize myself a little bit more with stores and sales here. I also think we're gonna split a membership to Costco with my sister (she needs to renew hers).
What's your take on my shopping drama?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
I’ve got to wonder if there’s some weird law in NJ about supercenters, cuz there’s not a single Super Walmart nor Super Target in the entire state, but all you have to do is drive 5-10 minutes into NY and you’ll find one. It’s probably something to do with the same law that prohibits grocery stores from carrying alcoholic beverages.
Best of luck with your coupon clipping! Are you members of any online coupon sites? Those are always great!
Actually, I was doing some research today and apparently there are 3 superwalmarts in the state. one of which just opened or is about to open. I think we only h ave 2 or 3 sams clubs, too. I'll just have to find my savings elsewhere, I guess! :-)
I guess welcome back to the east coast.
There's always BJ's too. They have those in NJ, right?
Kudos for cutting back on junk food purchasing!
We do a mixture of wholesale (BJ's) and retail (Giant) grocery shopping. Between coupons/deals at BJ's and coupons/deals at Giant, we (I should say Kelly, since she is the orhestrator of all this money-saving) typically save anywhere from $10 - $30 or more on groceries per trip.
Post a Comment