One mama's adventure in "The Compact": fred meyer

Monday, April 25, 2011

Why I shop at 2 stores for nearly EVERYTHING

This sounds bizarre, right? However, it's finally dawned on me that I can "make money back" money by shopping at Fred Meyer and Costco. I shop at Freddy's every week and receive a 1% cash back check every quarter. Plus, I shop at Costco 2-3x a month and we have the executive membership where we get 2% back every year, which should almost cover the cost of the $100 membership. You probably already know what I buy at Costco every month from this post where I listed prices in our local area.

For those of you who are familiar with Fred Meyer you know that they have nearly everything. On top of groceries, they have a great natural foods section, clothing, shoes, toys, games, garden, household, kitchen, bedroom, crafts...and the list goes on. So, if I'm going to spend the money on shoes for Miss A, why not make 1% back? I will say that Freddy's has a nice shoe selection and often has great clearance and good coupons too.

So, back to Costco; we spend about $200 month there, so $2400/year. 2% of that is $48, but I'm going to start buying things there that I've usually bought at Shopko/Target/etc. Things like light bulbs, greeting cards, workbooks for the kids...you get the idea. I estimate that our 2% reward will end up being about $75/yearly.

Yes, I still try to buy as much as I can used...especially clothing for all of us, but sadly there are a lot of items we need that are non-grocery items.

As for gift buying, I have found Heartsy, which is like Groupon for Etsy, but safer because you can use Paypal. They have a handful of stores they feature every day and you can purchase "gift cards" for usually 60% off. I have purchased 4 items so far, which are all gifts and I'm planning to purchase as many gifts as possible from here :)

Do you shop at stores that give you cash back?

Are you an Etsy shopper?

Monday, January 3, 2011

Will Costco save our family more money?

The Hubbs and I started debating whether shopping at Costco on a more regular basis would save us more money. We generally shop there every 3 months or so. Together we wrote down what we had just purchased at Costco last week and what it would cost at Fred Meyer, where I shop every week. This short list is just what we purchased last week. At the bottom of this post are current prices on everything we would buy at some point from Costco.

Costco purchases on 12.27.2010
Organic olive oil, 51oz~$10.49
Organic sugar 10lbs~$8.89 *will last more than 1 month
Organic frozen corn 5lbs~$5
Organic frozen peas 5lbs~$5.29
Organic frozen green beans 5lbs~$5.29
Organic strawberry jam 42oz~$6.49 *will last more than 1 month
Tillamook sharp cheese 2.5lbs~$7.55 *will not last 1 month
Tillamook colby cheese 2.5lbs~$6.59 *will not last 1 month
= $55.59

At Freddy's I would pay (I'm comparing the exact same item, but probably diff. brands)
Oil 48oz~$24
Sugar 10lbs~$12.90
Corn 5lbs~$20
Peas 5lbs~$20
GBeans 5lbs~$20
Jam 42oz~$14
Sharp cheese 2.5lbs~$9
Colby cheese 2.5lbs~$9
= $128.90

For a savings of $73.31

So today, like the type-A-list-making nerd I am, I went to Costco with nothing in my mind to purchase but I wanted to make a price list. It was of course packed...1pm on Monday shouldn't be, but it was. So here is what I found, I hope it helps :)

Organic Broccoli - $3.49/3lbs
Tillamook sharp cheese 2.5lbs~$7.55
Tillamook colby cheese 2.5lbs~$6.59
Frigo mozzarella 2.1lbs~$4.29
Organic frozen corn 5lbs~$5
Organic frozen peas 5lbs~$5.29
Organic frozen green beans 5lbs~$5.29
Organic salted butter 2lbs~$6.89
Polish hot dogs 3.81lbs/14 hot dogs~$10.99
Maple syrup 32oz~$12.55 *every other month
Organic strawberry jam 42oz~$6.49 *every other month
Organic peanut butter 56oz~$7.89
Organic Better than Bouillon (chicken and beef) - $6.49 ea? *every 3 months
Steel cut oats - 72 oz/$8.99 ??? *every other monthOrganic olive oil 51oz~$10.49
Organic sugar 10lbs~$8.89 *every other month
Organic animal crackers 64oz~$7.99
Pace salsa 76oz~$5.39 *every other month
Mayonnaise 64oz~$6.89 *every 3 months
Classico spaghetti sauce 64oz~$6.99
Organic tomato paste 72oz~$5.99 *every 3 months
Organic apple sauce 189oz~$8.79 *every other month
Organic quinoa 4lbs~$9.89 *every 3 months
Organic short grain brown rice 12lbs~$13.99 *every 3 months
Listerine 3liters~$9.99
Smokehouse almonds 38oz~$8.69
Jerky 18oz~$11.99 *we only buy this on coupon
Triscuits 38oz~$5.99
Craisins 48oz~$6.99 *every other month
Prunes 50oz~$5.99 *every 3 months
Organic raisins 4lbs~$6.99 *every 3 months
Fruit leather 48oz~$10.65 *once in a blue moon purchase because of the waste created
Trail Mix $9.99 *when the budget allows
Organic Almonds - $9.99/4lbs
Tortillas $4.99/5lbs 14oz (40 large) *the all natural ones
Vinegar (white, distilled for cleaning/laundry/dishwasher rinse) $3.49/2 gallons
Toothbrushes *only on coupon

I'm not including produce because the price fluctuates so much and we try to eat in-season produce. We get our milk and eggs from local farmers and we purchase our meats directly from our local farmers/butchers :)

This breakdown has shown me that I need to adjust our budget and shopping to make Costco more of a priority.

What are your Costco staples? Can you find any comparable products at your grocery store for less?

Posted over at We Are That Family for WFMW