Watertown, NY Cheap Groceries? (Campbell, Hope: for sale, rent, insurance)

[OhioHopeful]

Some of you may have seen my previous posts. If not, my wife and I moved to Watertown in January of '08. It's taken us a little while to get used to the cost of living here. We knew to expect high rent because of the proximity to Ft. Drum. We were recently able to purchase a nice house for equal to if not less than renting; that includes mortgage, interest, insurance, and taxes!

Were looking for some input on how to save on groceries. Our monthly food bill has been between $350-$400 for 2 people. We never go out to eat , don't buy junk food-besides a couple frozen pizzas, and my wife makes just about everything homemade.

Here's a typical Grocery list:

-Bread
-Eggs
-Milk
-1lb. bag of carrot nubbins
-Bananas
-Green Pepper
-Block Cheese
-2 boxes of Crackers
-4-6 Frozen Entrees if on sale ($1-$1.50 each)
-2 Frozen Pizzas if on sale (<$3.00 each)
-Apples
-Yogurt
-1 lb. Ground Beef or Chicken
-2 lb. Noodles
-2 boxes of cereal


We use a lot of left over ingredients we brought with us from our last town to make casserole. Paying $200/month for groceries in our last town seems like a great deal now. Until last week, we were shopping at P&C foods, but finally figured out why there's never anyone in the store: everyone's at Price Chopper (took us a while to figure out it wasn't a dollar-type store). Can anyone give any suggestions at saving money on groceries? Is Wal-Mart comparable or cheaper than price chopper? Any other discount food stores in town?

Thanks in advance!

[zakandmaksmom]

hello,
I used to shop P&C, and Price chopper, I found that both were pretty comparable in prices, there were some products higher at one store and vice versa. I have changed to doing most of my Food shopping at the Super Walmart. We are a family of 4 and I spend approx 100-125 on groceries a week and that includes those great frozen pizza's and goodies for the kids. The prices at the Walmart are noticably lower on almost everything. I reccomend checking it out and I think you will save a good amount or atleast get more for your money. I find myself over buying sometimes but still get a lot for our money. the only pro about price chopper is for every $50. you spend you get 10 cents of a gallon I have saved 80 cents a gallon before, but still prefer teh super walmart. hope that helps!!
kristina

[zakandmaksmom]

There is a store called aldi's that is also very cheap, but i have never and probably wont shop there. Just a personal preference but itson aresenal street a little ways down from price chopper.

[juppiter]

The Watertown Price Chopper gives you credit at the neighboring gas station if you shop there often enough.

[ktclick]

$400/month on groceries is actually less than I spend, but I do have a couple of tips for finding cheap groceries in Watertown.

Shop at Aldi on Arsenal Street for staples like milk, bread, eggs, juice, etc. They also have the cheapest canned goods in town. Their dairy products are also very high quality. I never spend over $40 in there, and that's with a cartload of groceries. You have to bring your own shopping bags (or you can buy them if you forget) and "rent" a shopping cart. The place isn't aesthetically pleasing in the least, but it has great prices on food. Beggars can't be choosers. Produce at Aldi is also relatively cheap but they don't have much of a selection and I've never been impressed with quality.

I also do a lot of bulk shopping at Sam's Club, especially on frozen vegetables, frozen meats (like fish and chicken fingers), salad/produce and "snacky" items like huge boxes of Cheez-Its and the economy pack of granola bars for my husband's lunches.

Finally, I shop at Hannaford for either name brand items (I only like Campbell's condensed soups and a certain brand of hummus, for example) or specific produce I need in recipes but can't find at Aldi and don't want five lbs of at Sam's.

I check the weekly ads for Price Chopper and Hannaford online for sales on meat (especially chicken), which I then buy in bulk and freeze.
www.hannaford.com
www.pricechopper.com
New sales start every Sunday

I did try shopping at Super Wal-Mart when I had non-grocery items I had to get, but it is quite a bit more expensive than shopping around at the stores I listed.

I don't think I waste gas going from store to store since they're all within a few miles of each other.

Every Wednesday from May to September (I think), there's an amazing Farmer's Market on Washington Street where you can get beautiful seasonal produce. It's also a lot of fun! Hope this helps.