Least expensive grocery stores in NoVa (Chantilly, Leesburg: sale, house, buy)

[fiasco]

Family of four, two kids under 5 years old. Moving to NoVa in the next few months.

Where we live now, it's pretty easy to get groceries on a budget. There are "discount" stores that are very competitive with each other, and we've been able to keep our monthly food budget (not including eating out) to around $350 to $400 a month.

I'd love to keep it close to that in NoVa, but that might be a complete pipe dream.

My strategy is to hit the discount grocery stores for one or two MAJOR shopping trips in the month, then get staples throughout the month from the closest store for convenience.

Where do you shop for groceries in NoVa when you're really trying to save money??

[Flamingo13]

There aren't "discount" stores - just shop the sales/loss leaders at all the chains.

[ChristineVA]

A lot of people use Aldi. They like their house brands. I've been there a few times and it's okay.

Overall, I find Wegman's to have the best prices on groceries. Just stay out of the outer perimeter.

If you've got a Super Wal-Mart near where you live, that will probably beat out Wegman's.

Shoppers Food Warehouse is next.

After that, they can all be pretty pricey. Food Lion can be cheap on some things but I find their selection lacking.

[pcity]

I was going to post pretty much the exact same thing ChristineVA posted.

Target, Costco, and BJ's are three other places that over good prices.

And of course the loss leaders at Harris Teeter, Giant, and Safeway beat most other stores' regular prices.

[lisag81]

We live in Leesburg and have made the trip out to Charles Town, WV for the Aldi store. If you've never shopped there before, it's ridiculously cheap/discount. It's good for staples, canned goods, cereal, snack foods - but we don't buy fresh items or meats there. We go to Wegmans for a lot of produce, dairy and meat. People think it's such a high-end store, but their generic brand products are excellent and very competitively priced.

I just heard they opened an Aldi store in Chantilly, but we haven't been to that one yet.

[CAVA1990]

Bestway is popular with the immigrants who are pretty deal conscious. You might also try some of the Supermercados and smaller Hispanic stores which have some pretty phenomenal deals on produce. Food Lion which operates in some of the more remote suburbs also has good prices, especially on packaged goods.

I'm a pretty creative cook but I'd have a tough time feeding a family of four on less than $150 a week around here.

[mlv311]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

A lot of people use Aldi. They like their house brands. I've been there a few times and it's okay.

Overall, I find Wegman's to have the best prices on groceries. Just stay out of the outer perimeter.

If you've got a Super Wal-Mart near where you live, that will probably beat out Wegman's.

Shoppers Food Warehouse is next.

After that, they can all be pretty pricey. Food Lion can be cheap on some things but I find their selection lacking.

Ditto what Christine said.

[JfromReston]

WEGMANS is the only grocery store worth shopping at in NOVA.

[HEATHER72]

I go to to Lotte for produce. BJ's is also good for some produce items.

[Carlingtonian]

I would get a frequent-shopper card at Giant, Safeway, and Harris Teeter and then hit all of them each week, for the sales. Ignoring the sales, I'd bet that Shoppers is among the cheapest--though I'd believe WalMart as well.

But (and maybe you already know this) I think you can save more based on what you buy rather than where. E.g., if you buy Joe's O's at Trader Joe's ($2.29 for a 1.5-pound box) rather than Cheerios. And someplace will always have pastas on sale for a buck a pound. If you find bread or meats on a great sale, you can stock up and freeze them. Other cheap eats would be bulk oatmeal, frozen veggies. If you eliminate sodas, bottled water, and those horrific juice boxes, I think you have a good shot at staying on budget.