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Some of you may know that I champion Long Island. I understand that others may not be in as comfortable position as I am, but we may have something in common - we pinch pennies.
I'm interested in knowing if any of you can recommend affordable restaurants and grocery stores. I've noticed that there are few discount places at which to shop for food. There used to be many of these around Chicago where I once lived, but none here (that I know of).
I'm not sure WHERE in Suffolk you live but you can compare and contrast stores for sales. Most towns have at least 2 supermarkets. A lot of people swear by Cosco/BJs/those warehouse places.
Pathmark used to be cheap but some of them are quite run down. King Kullen and Stop and Shop are sort of pricey but have sales. Shoprite often has a lot of sales.
I've found food has just gone up-- you can spend half your day chasing specials all over town just to waste gas driving around.
I'm not sure WHERE in Suffolk you live but you can compare and contrast stores for sales. Most towns have at least 2 supermarkets. A lot of people swear by Cosco/BJs/those warehouse places.
Pathmark used to be cheap but some of them are quite run down. King Kullen and Stop and Shop are sort of pricey but have sales. Shoprite often has a lot of sales.
I've found food has just gone up-- you can spend half your day chasing specials all over town just to waste gas driving around.
Rule of thumb....shop on the North Shore,buy on the South.
(Apparently they think were all rich)
Particularly big ticket stuff Cars/Appliances etc.
I've always come out ahead that way.
We also shop at Pathmark...seedy as hell but we get about 20% more grocery wise, the meats are poor so we hit our local butcher, buy bulk and freeze it.
I have a friend that swears the Pathmark on Jericho Turnpike in Greenlawn is the cheapest grocery store in the area. She rattled of a list of items and their prices at the various local stores.
Also check out Baja Grill in the Elwood Shopping Plaza if you like burrito-styled sandwiches and the like. Very good food and fairly cheap, particularly if you refrain from adding beverages.
As for Clamboy's advice I agree completely. It's the strangest phenomenon but very true. We bought one car on the North Shore and two on the South Shore and there was definitely a difference in price and service.
I am a true penny pincher & I pride myself on being frugile.
I have found that the best way to pay the least for groceries is this-
first get yourself a "coupon organizer" from a dollar store
If you don't get the Sunday paper, start subscribing the coupons in there are much better/different than the paper you buy in the store.
Cut out all of the manufacturers coupons for only the brands or products you know you'd buy.
Use the weekly store circular that comes on Thursday now, pick the store you like the best that is convenient to your home.
Once a week sit with your circular (king kullen often has a ten dollars off coupon right on the front), your coupon organizer & possibly a cook book. Look at what is on sale & what you have coupons for & start to plan all of your meals based on those items. If your family brings breakfast & lunch(they should if you're trying to save $$) buy lunch meats that are on sale (king kullen has Boars head). You will soon see that the store sales often align themselves with the manuf. coupons from the week before.
Most stores double up to one dollar.
Sodas & snacks are not purchased by brand preference but by what is on sale.
Now add the stuff you need to your list, when it comes to paper products I buy only what is on sale.
I buy mostly organic meats so its hard to get great discounts there but when the organic meats are on sale I stock up.
We have a large freezer & a big pantry so we can buy in bulk when its a good deal.
Go to the store with your list, your circular(this will be helpful to check sizes of sale items) & your organizer & do not buy anything but what you planned.
Most stores allow you to buy less than what the sale says, for example if something is 10for $10 you can buy five & still get them for a $1 each
The coupons that come out with your reeipt are usually for products you bought that day, so add those to your organizer.
On average I save 40% on my groceries with this method & I get everything we need & buy 99% name brand food.
If there is a CVS or walgreens in the shopping center w/your choice supermarket you'll often find the TP & paper towel goes on sale there for a price that can't be beat.
I buy alot of my produce from local farm stands & I think I'm getting a great value on those items. Think like a locavore, banannas need to travel thousands of miles to get here & when they do they are loaded with pesticides, they were frozen when they arrived & brown two days later. Don't bother, focus on buying foods that can be or were grown in our area. Its better for us, our environment, our local economy & our pocket.
When it comes to wholesale clubs, I'll tell you what items work out to be a good deal.
Large cans of coffee
Laundry soap/dryer sheets
dishwasher soap
olive oil
q-tips
shaving cream
some soaps & shampoos-you need to know your brands & what the CVS or walgreens sale prices are to be sure
Garbage bags
ziplocks
meats if you can use bulk packs or will take the time to separate & freeze.
Things like canned veggies/pasta are usually NOT a good deal. You'll find when they are on sale in the supermarket they are much less expensive. Same with paper towels & that stuff. Do not even bother going down the center aisles in BJs or costco if you are trying to save money. The whole center is crap you don't need. BJ's sends out great coupons to members too.
Walmart also is signifigantly less than food stores in their grocery section if you can deal with shopping there. You can use coupons at walmart.
When it comes to clothing I shop mostly at Tanger outlets, however I do not shop during peak sale times like "back to school". The sales are MUCH better in the middle of the week when there is no holiday or sale season near by. I also use the coupon book there, sign up for email coupons in the stores you like & look for coupons in the sunday paper.
Entertainment-we borrow books & DVDs from our awesome library instead of paying for on demand movies or netflix. We go to Splish splash, the aquarium & other places when we have coupons-sometimes the library will have a date to go to splish splash & get tickets for almost half price. Local libraries also have great computer classes, kids & adult craft classes & sometimes day trips to NYC or other areas.
I don't shop for non-essentials w/o coupons. For example Bed bath beyond & linens & things take each others coupons, they take their own coupons when they are expired. Every week there is a 20% off linens & things in the sunday paper. Michaels & AcMoore take each others coupons too. Custom framing prices are negotiable at michaels.
Stay out of stores like target if you are trying to save money, they have excellent merchandising strategies & you'll always buy tons of stuff you don't need there.
Big items like electronics-PC Richard will beat the lowest price you can find-even online by 10%. We always look for scratch & dent appliances, you can easily & inexpensively order new parts to replace the dents. We often buy discontinued appliances.
I do alot of online shopping but rarely pay shipping, I use sites like coupon cabin, coupon mountain to find discount codes for online stores like Victorias secret, shutterfly, old navy, sephora.
I no longer shop as recreational pastime. I try to get rid of at least one thing a week I don't need. I freecycle or craigslist tons of stuff we don't wear, use or need anymore.
The biggest savings of all is my time, by steamlining the way I do things & doing it the same way every week I have so much more time to do what I like.
We bought our first Honda CRV in 1998 in Huntington. We missed the fact that there wasn't a cassette deck in the car which was a huge miscue on our part (we just sort of thought cassette/CD was standard). Also no floor mats despite the fact we were promised as such. They eventually caved and threw in a couple of cheap plastic things.
We bought our second Honda CRV in 2002 in Babylon. The went over every feature with a fine tooth comb, bent over backwards to get us a tickler rate though I missed the tier by 20 FICO points (saved us $30 per month). They gave us decent floor mats with little negotiation. We received service coupons and letters periodically in the years after we purchased whereas the dealership in Huntington basically forgot about us the minute we drove off the lot.
The one exception to the rule was the Chrysler dealership in Smithtown where we were fortunate to hook up with a great salesman. I've never had someone work that hard to make a deal and keep a customer happy. We were forced to shop there because of limited inventory on the car we were looking to buy. Unfortunately he was an anomaly as the dealership was awful in servicing the car, a long story that's not appropriate for this forum.
And I need to adjust my numbers, I bought two cars South Shore and two on the North Shore. I'd go back to either place on the South Shore and neither of the North Shore places.
I have to agree a lot with KellyFG--don't shop for recreation (it's a Long Island past time to just go shopping). Use those discount stores and utilize your library. Ours was awesome in Islip--we could get the latest DVDS, magazines galore, and new books or you can do a little thing called interlibrary loan. You will be able to get books or dvds from any library in Suffolk County.
Why make Blockbuster/videostores/and so on (unless you want to own the item) rich?
As far as Pathmark...I don't know why most are trashy. The one on Sunrise in Oakdale or whatever (Bohemia?) is not too bad. The one in Bay Shore needs an overhaul and it is sort of a magnet for some bizarros.
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A few things....
