New to Prineville: Groceries and stuff (Salem, Bend: sales, home, buying)

[Hyper_Survivor]

Just moved here from the East Coast. So far I like it here; the weather is great, the people seem friendly and genuine. The grocery shopping in Prineville seems very limited though. Every store has a name like outlet or discount, but the prices are high. Right now I find myself going to 3-4 stores in Prineville just to get the basics at a reasonable price. Being a Yankee, over-paying borders on blasphemy for me.

Costco and Walmart are pretty good in other areas. I understand Safeway is really expensive (it is in CA at least). No hidden gems found in Prineville so far.

I'll probably end up eventually shopping in Redmond and Bend for the big grocery runs; but any tips about grocery shopping in the area would be helpful.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I don't grocery shop in Prineville, but if I did, I would get small needed items at the local grocery store and then drive to either Redmond or Bend once a month or so and stock up.

Costco and Cash And Carry in Bend and Walmart and The Grocery Outlet in Redmond. I don't shop at Walmart, but they do have a very nice large grocery section in the Redmond store where the prices seem to be about the same as the Food For Less in Bend

Prineville does have a good feed store if you have livestock or dogs.

Myself, I go to the Winco in Salem twice a year to stock up on bulk items.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

The best meat is at Costco and Cash And Carry (where meat comes in 20 pound chunks). Best veggies are at Fred Meyers in Bend, but they are expensive. Cash and Carry and Costco are both good places to buy cheese. Cash And Carry for lunch meats and bacon.

I buy ice cream, frozen veggies, butter, Eberharts milk, and tortillas at The Grocery Outlet in Redmond.

[Hyper_Survivor]

Thanks oregonwoodsmoke! A few years ago when I moved, there happened to be several awesome discounted grocery outlets nearby. I cut my grocery bill in half after moving that time, even though it was only a 40 mile move. I'd make the loop, get the best deals at each store, and be home in about 2 hours. Sometimes you get lucky.

We go through a lot of sandwiches. Eggs, yogurt, and frozen burritos too. I like ground turkey for my own meat loaf recipe. I had some extra ground turkey to use up (97 percent lean) once, so I added onions, oatmeal, bread crumbs, and topped it with a dressing made with: 1/2 italian dressing, 1/4 catsup, a bit less than 1/4 mustard. I've tried it with ground beef but it's not the same.

Good veggies are always expensive IMHO. I hope the Bend Grocery Outlet has a lot more than the Prineville one.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

The Grocery Outlet in Bend is large, but I don't like it and don't shop there.. I prefer the little grubby one in Redmond, as do many of my friends.

[Steve Pickering]

The fuel cost of driving from store to store will offset any savings.

[sugarsugar]

Well, I don't think Ray's or Ericksen's Sentry have outlet or discount in their names But each has its quirks and issues, for sure. When I came here over a decade ago, I got a big kick out of my cart rolling downhill on the Sentry's slanted, sinking flooring. I'm a native Oregonian, but I must have some genetic flaw that prevents me from buying things that are overpriced by the amounts I've seen around here.

As you've probably already noticed, Ray's is too expensive for many things, esp. for produce (I've gone to Ray's in Madras on auction days, and the produce was so much cheaper than what they have in Prineville, no kidding, by a substantial amount, plus it was great produce - guess they run out of the good stuff on their truck by the time they hit Prineville? ha ha). Their prices on dairy are way higher than those at the Price Slasher (in some instances, on identical items like sour cream and greek yogurt), but there is no organic milk at Price Slasher (lactose free, yes, but not organic). The best place for produce in town is hands down the Price Slasher; the worst place hands down is Ericksen's Sentry store. I shop each store for the best price on pork and chicken, but prefer to buy it on my Bend runs at Costco; we raise our own beef, so I don't have to shop for that.

Grocery Outlet in Prineville is only useful for a very few items (but on those few items, the prices are spectacularly low compared to stores anywhere in Central Oregon). Bi-Mart sometimes has those odd items that I stock in my pantry for much less than anywhere else in P-ville. By quite a bit, and they are pretty friendly there.

And no, the fuel cost of driving from store to store in Prineville will not diminish these savings by much, if at all. Once you know what you are looking for, you will know where to get it for much less and save a ton by hitting each store once. Probably true in Bend or Redmond, but definitely not for little old Prineville. Compared to the other cities in CO, these stores are just blocks away from each other (or right next door, in the case of Grocery Outlet and Bi-Mart). We also will call ahead to check prices on certain items.

Otherwise, I agree about Cash and Carry and Costco in Bend. I get pretty much everything at Costco, and some canned items and vanilla syrup at the Cash/Carry. I think I will try that Grocery Outlet in Redmond; haven't gone to the one in Bend, and I do not like the one in Prineville and only go there to stock up every few months on 1 or 2 items (they had a great price on rye crackers, like amazing - and I won't even buy them usually because I refuse to pay that much for a silly cracker). If I buy bakery goods, it is always at Costco, or at the least, I buy all my baking supplies there (although Amazon has a wonderful price on yeast, and you can freeze it!) or at Cash/Carry (I usually make my own, like breads and pies and cakes/cookies - better, faster, cheaper.

You are here from the east coast? This must be culture shock on steriods? We drove across country in 2011, ended up going as far as Maine, and I was again reminded of how very different things are on the east coast, esp. here in the quiet of Central Oregon. It was a wonderful experience, different, but really cool to see the rest of America. And I don't know how your weather is tonight (if you are down lower near town), but up on my hill we have just got a ton of snow and the winds are fierce, as in I hear things flying on the deck, my lights are flickering and I'm expecting to lose my dialup any minute, lol.

P.S. Best price on a pack of 5 dozen eggs of late has been at Price Slasher.

[Steve Pickering]

A drive to bend in most any common vehicle is going to offset any savings. You are talking about pennies per item here if you do the math. If you go to Bend to get 20 items, you will need to save 50 cents per item just to break even.

[Hyper_Survivor]

You are here from the east coast? This must be culture shock on steriods? We drove across country in 2011, ended up going as far as Maine, and I was again reminded of how very different things are on the east coast, esp. here in the quiet of Central Oregon. It was a wonderful experience, different, but really cool to see the rest of America. And I don't know how your weather is tonight (if you are down lower near town), but up on my hill we have just got a ton of snow and the winds are fierce, as in I hear things flying on the deck, my lights are flickering and I'm expecting to lose my dialup any minute, lol.

Not so much, really - I'm from New England. I spent some time in the SF area - that was culture shock! The dismal highway infrastructure makes getting about incredibly time-consuming - even for a 10-mile drive. And Silicon Valley is less like a glittery Las Vegas of high-tech, more like a huge NJ strip mall. Very disappointing. I've felt comfortable since the day I arrived here in Prineville. I like the laid-back and down-to-earth attitudes. Not so different from much of New England as people may think.

I'm planning a trip to Redmond and Bend to check out the shopping: I'll definitely visit Cash and Carry and Costco. Thanks for the tips! I noticed that yogurt was much cheaper at Price Slasher; I'll look more closely at their produce next time.

[sugarsugar]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

A drive to bend in most any common vehicle is going to offset any savings. You are talking about pennies per item here if you do the math. If you go to Bend to get 20 items, you will need to save 50 cents per item just to break even.

You saw that I was discussing Prineville regarding savings vs. the cost of driving from store to store there, yes?

Since your example is a drive to Bend from Prineville, then I can say how I do it and save a lot by driving there (and I am not near Prineville proper, rather quite away outside of it, so you'd add that driving time/cost as well).

I actually can't imagine who would drive to Bend from Prineville or beyond simply to buy as few as 20 items at a small savings per item and then come back home as in your example.

In our case, we only go to Bend a few times per year, and I do save big even driving the crewcab. I plan my purchases in advance in detail, and make certain I have the storage space available. I don't go there and buy a 2 pound bag of flour; I buy several 50 pound bags so that I can bake for months before replenishing my supply. And so on, for the basics (and one of those trips are usually around the holidays, so that I can get holiday sale items like butter, etc to put in the freezer). It should go without saying that a person has to know their prices well; sometimes it can be cheaper buying a smaller quantity of certain items than the larger one. I buy the non-basics on a more frequent basis in Prineville (or Redmond or Madras, depending on the schedule of what we need to do in what town). I don't impulse buy. I go along with the seasons and sales and needs. In the summer, I do go the Ryan's fruit/veggie stand in Redmond if we have a reason to go there otherwise, and buy some bulk veggies for the freezer so long as the prices are good (I call first). And I do make a lot from scratch so I can't say if a person could save big doing this if they were only buying convenience foods in bulk. I don't spend much. We eat really well. So it is time well spent for me.

I've been doing the math on this for over a decade, and yes, if you plan it well, then there is a heck of a savings buying certain things in Bend, and while there, sometimes we go fishing or hike a bit before we come home. Which is like getting a gift with purchase