Supermarket / Grocery Store (Tampa, Gulfport, Seffner: how much, house, buy)

[sklfcats]

Walmart Neighborhood stores are great and the produce is better than at Publix

[mia12]

Walmart is the cheapest, indeed, but their stores can be really dirty and disorganized, depending on the location.

Aldi is also cheap, although is more of a mini-store, and the selection is very limited. But I love it for the European products it carries.

Publix is very expensive, but I find myself buying something from them everyday, because there are too many things I like there and cannot find elsewhere. I hate Winn-Dixie, they are a joke compared to Publix, but have almost the same prices.

I also like Nutrition S'mart, for the organic food (again, this is more of a mini-store). They have a good selection though, and the prices are reasonable. Before moving to Florida, I used to shop a lot at Trader Joe's and Wholefoods for European and/or organic products. Now not so much, because they are too far from where I live.

And then there are BJ and Sam's (wholesale clubs), that could save you some money if you like to buy in bulk.

[chi_tino]

Winn-Dixie's Gas Perks program (4% of all purchases rebated back in gas) can save you an incredible amount of money if you play the game correctly. They recently had a month-long promotion where all gift cards were being sold with a 6% rebate (in gas). Paid for with a 2% cash back credit card, the savings were amazing. Sometimes they offer as much as 12% back in rebates.

I estimated my expenses for transportation, gasoline, home improvement costs and more for the next several months and bought about $3,500 worth of gas cards ($1,000+ worth of Southwest Airlines trips planned, etc).

The result was $70 in cash back and an additional $210 bonus in free gas, on top of the other bonuses that are already in place for shopping there.

More on my strategy: //www.city-data.com/forum/30493702-post32.html

[BucFan]

damn, you told us about that before and I never started doing it - I'll look at it again - thanks for providing the information (again)

[chi_tino]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

I estimated my expenses for transportation, gasoline, home improvement costs and more for the next several months and bought about $3,500 worth of gas cards ($1,000+ worth of Southwest Airlines trips planned, etc).

That should read "$3,500 worth of gift cards". You can buy Shell gas cards as well and get the gas rebate.

Also, through July 8, active and retired military personnel receive double Gas Perks rewards. That's a minimum of an 8% rebate for all purchases, including gift cards to other retailers. Free money.

[rye-rye]

We get our fruits and veggies from a local produce stand and the neighborhood Asian market. The produce is so much fresher and way less expensive.

[stpeteguy]

Originally Posted by Stefanie123

Hi All,

I was just wondering your thoughts on which supermarket / grocery store is the cheapest, and which is the most expensive?

Thanks,
Stefanie.

Least expensive/best value would be Aldi's. I go there a lot.

I still go to Publix for Bogo's and deli stuff, but for the most part, they are expensive. Outstanding cleanliness and customer service though.

Walmart is well.......walmart. I generally avoid walmart whenever possible, cause I just don't like them as a company. And beyond that, their grocery selections are generally poor, picked over, out of stock and customer service is average at best.

Winn Dixie-too expensive. I never shop there. I find it odd that they label themselves "the beef people", but have the worst looking cuts of meat of any store chain.

Sav-a-lot- cheap but terrible selections, mediocre store cleanliness and customer service is average at best. I never shop there either.

Target- a lot of interesting selections, but generally too expensive.

[Sunnydee]

I think Aldi is the cheapest, but their selection is limited. I've had very good luck with every product I've purchased at Aldi, but mainly go there for produce and dairy products.

[stpeteguy]

Originally Posted by Sunnydee

I think Aldi is the cheapest, but their selection is limited. I've had very good luck with every product I've purchased at Aldi, but mainly go there for produce and dairy products.

This is true, they don't have the selection that Publix has, but they have the basics and interestingly enough, they have lots of specialty items i've bought that I have been genuinely suprised by how good they are. For example, they sell cranberry almond chicken salad that is as good as what they sell at Mazzaros. Their frozen section has different things at different times,which kind of sucks if you find something that you really like and then it's gone for a while.

Milk is always a buck cheaper per gallon than anywhere else. Eggs are cheaper, Boneless chicken breasts is always as cheap as Sam's club and hamburger is always cheaper than anywhere else. As said earlier, veggies are as cheap as any of the produce stands around the area.

Yeah, you gotta bag your own groceries, they don't take credit cards and generally only have one checkout person , which means longer wait times, but the money you save is well worth it.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by stpeteguy

This is true, they don't have the selection that Publix has, but they have the basics and interestingly enough, they have lots of specialty items i've bought that I have been genuinely suprised by how good they are. For example, they sell cranberry almond chicken salad that is as good as what they sell at Mazzaros. Their frozen section has different things at different times,which kind of sucks if you find something that you really like and then it's gone for a while.

Milk is always a buck cheaper per gallon than anywhere else. Eggs are cheaper, Boneless chicken breasts is always as cheap as Sam's club and hamburger is always cheaper than anywhere else. As said earlier, veggies are as cheap as any of the produce stands around the area.

Yeah, you gotta bag your own groceries, they don't take credit cards and generally only have one checkout person , which means longer wait times, but the money you save is well worth it.

Totally agree with you about ALDI (and most of what you said in your previous post). They have some really amazingly high quality things at low prices. I shop the one in Bradenton and they have a lot of organic produce, and it is usually fresh. Good cheese, frozen pizza from Italy (cheap!) small selection of wine but excellent and cheap, great prices on good bacon, etc. etc. I always shop ALDI first and then fill in with Publix, SuperTarget and a couple other places.