Comments on: Monday Q&A | Sunday Meals, Grocery Shopping, and Snack Foods

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:04:03 +0000

In addition to being frugal, I like to frequent the family-run stores. I live in a small town in the middle of “country” (I have to drive 45 minutes to get to a big city) and I feel like I have some great options. While I don’t have Aldi here, I do have a small discount store in town–only 2 blocks away, even! I get great prices on produce (although not always the freshest–I can’t expect fresh from WM, either–a disadvantage of small town with few choices), meat, milk and cheese, not to mention pantry items.

By: Linda

Linda — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:57:35 +0000

Erika,

There is an Aldi’s in Tauntan/Raynham off of Rt 44. It is near the Super Walmart. There are also some PriceRites (cheaper than Aldi’s but not as clean). I have also seen some Save-A-Lot stores. All are discount stores. I also think there is an Aldi’s in Cranston, RI. Hope this helps.

By: Rockzann

Rockzann — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:14:28 +0000

One thing I did not see here is the mention of balanced snacks. A little protein, carb and fat. If the kiddo’s are hungry this is the best combo to satisfy. I am a big proponent of hummus with vegi’s. Hummus is easy to make, get a can of chickpeas(garbanzo beans), some garlic powder, salt and a couple teaspoons of olive oil and whip it up in a blender or food processor. My kids like to dip carrots, red and green peppers, cuc’s, zucchini and crackers in it. Here are some other suggestions:

Peanut butter with apples
Stringcheese wrapped with lunchmeat
Mix half a carton of yogurt (8oz size) with half a cup of cottage cheese (great ice cream substitute)
Pudding in 1/2 c. portions with grahmn crackers

By: Jeniffer

Jeniffer — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:06:09 +0000

Kristen,
Thank you for sharing Zoe’s birthday celebration pictures. They were great!

By: Forest

Forest — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:31:18 +0000

Great Q&A as always…. I am really missing Aldi’s back home in England now

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:08:21 +0000

You guys have Winco! Lucky you!! If you haven’t been there, check it out. Huge stores, magical selection, great prices, incredible bulk foods section. Better still, these stores are employee owned. Their stockholders (employees) earn a living wage, have health benefits and stock options. An added bonus is that since everyone’s an owner, the level of help in the stores is unsurpassed. Many stores are open 24 hours. One of my frugal girl friends and I occasionally make Winco a late night “date”. We go after 9:00 pm on a Friday night and shop ’til we drop!

By: Tangee

Tangee — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:54:22 +0000

I lovingly refer to Aldi’s as ‘stupid cheap’ because the prices at other stores seem so ‘stupid’ in comparison. A suggestion for the meat dilemma is that I hit the major grocery stores on Monday mornings. They seem to stock up on their meat for the weekends and slash the prices on what’s leftover Monday mornings. (Especially in the summer and during football season!) I can get large packages of steaks or roasts or chops and repackage them into smaller portions at home. If I do this once/month, our meat is taken care of and I don’t get distracted by their other budget bashers. (just one trip into a Giant Eagle can kill my entire month’s budget if I’m not careful!) While our Aldi’s does have great produce, I am a big supporter of local farmer’s markets and make that my FIRST stop during the season, which is getting longer and longer thanks to innovation in greenhouse techniques. When fresh produce is coming in fast and strong, the prices are great and I can freeze or can enough to keep us in strawberry smoothies and tomatoe sauce for months.

By: Shana

Shana — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:43:57 +0000

Kristen – WOW! I just searched and we actually have a Save-A-Lot in my very city

I think I’ll plan a trip – however – both locations are in VERY dicey neighborhoods, so I’ll need to bring my great, big husband with me :p

By: HeatherS

HeatherS — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:08:42 +0000

Many store labels are packaged by national brand companies. I worked for a national brand salad dressing company and they packaged many store brands also. However, they are not necessarily the same recipe as the national brand. Many private labels have their own recipe and just have it packaged at the national brands’ plant. So you may see some taste difference.

By: Frugal Liz

Frugal Liz — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:53:54 +0000

My kids like to eat cereal as a snack. I get it really cheap by shopping sales and using coupons. I recently got 4 16oz boxes of shredded wheat for $1 each! I only buy high fiber, low sugar cereals, like grape nuts, shredded wheat, and cheerios. Another thing they like is apples with peanut butter, which can be pretty cheap if you buy the apples on sale. I recently got red delicious apples for $1 per pound at publix.