Comparing Publix, Kroger, Aldi's, Sam's and Wal-Mart for groceries

Which is your favorite grocery store in Snellville?

For me, it's Publix, hands down.

Best service, most knowledgeable/helpful employees - the prices are good on some things, not so good on others, but overall the service overrides everything else. But here's a list of what NOT to buy at Publix . If you combine coupons (most double) with the buy-one-get-one free deals, you can get lots of stuff free or almost free. They will ask you if you need help, you don't have to hunt someone down. I have never, ever had a bad shopping experience at the Snellville Publix on Scenic Highway in Snellville. As good as it is, the Publix store in Loganville at Cooper Road and Highway 20 is even more incredible, service-wise.

Kroger is okay for the things I don't buy at Publix. You can find some deals there if you pay close attention. Kroger also doubles coupons, but they don't double .35 cent coupons and Publix will.

Aldi's Snellville (Hwy 124/Scenic Hwy) - no name brands, can't use coupons, but they say their savings more than makes up for that. You can use a debit card but no credit cards. You need to bring your own bags. Bring a quarter for the shopping cart. I understand why they do all that, but it can be a pain if that's not what you expect when you walk in there. They buy older fruit and vegetables in order to save money and pass the savings along to you, and as a friend of mine (who is a loyal Aldi customer) told me, you need to plan to eat it right away if you buy it from Aldi's, because it will spoil fast. (Illinois)

Sams Club Snellville (Hwy 124/Scenic Hwy) you need to pay a membership fee. There's too much hassle involved for the savings...if you really know prices and compare you will see that they more than make up their money they save you on the "loss leaders." Loss leaders are the items that are super low, to entice you into the store...then they make up their money on overpriced items. I've always felt like the checkout process is like a cattle drive. (Headquartered in Bentonville AR)

Wal-Mart Snellville (Hwy 124/Scenic Hwy) - Savings on groceries, but if you have a problem like moldy bread (I did), expect a fight with customer service to get your money back. (Headquartered in Bentonville AR)

Target on Scenic Hwy in Snellville also has a grocery section. You can find some really good deals on cereal, dairy, and snacks sometimes. Avoid their condiments the prices on those are sometimes twice what they are from the regular grocery stores. Avoid their laundry detergents. Service: I was denied use of Target store coupons I printed out from the Target website. The Snellville Target would not let me use them, even though they were unexpired, valid Target coupons. It's no use to try to reason with a sales clerk, so I contacted Target headquarters for clarification on their coupon policy, and they never communicated with me.

I have none of these difficulties at Publix. I am very frugal, but good service is worth paying for. Another point for Publix is that if you want to help local people more, Publix is based in Florida and has a large warehouse in Lawrenceville, GA.

What's really a deal at Kroger this week?

Now I'm going to assure you that I'm the biggest price nerd you know.

I opened the Sunday newspaper this morning to find Kroger's weekly ad, featuring a "Case Sale!"

I thought it could be promising. We are conditioned to think that if we buy in bulk, we are getting a great price.

Here are some examples of the Kroger Case Sale and my comments:

Kroger Canned Vegetables. Case of 24: $13.20.
The little red graphic star reads "Wow! Just .55 cents ea."

I know this isn't the lowest price. At least a couple times per year, Kroger puts their brand of canned vegetables on sale for .50 cents each. You can make that into your case sale when they go to that lower price. Help yourself to the cardboard "flat" on the vegetables shelf, and create your own mix of canned veggies then. 24 cans would be $12, or you could just buy 12 cans for $6.

Kroger Chunky Soup
Case of 12, $15.48
Advertising text reads: "Wow! Just $1.29 ea"

Again, the Kroger soups is another item that goes on a deeper sale. I've seen this on sale at Kroger for $1.00 each.

Kroger Cheese
Case of 12 for $18

This is one deal I might consider and freeze it up. By getting 12, the price each is $1.50.
Usually, the lowest price Kroger has on their cheese is 3 for $5 ($1.66).
Choose from selected varieties, bars or shredded cheese, 8 ounce sizes.

Pillsbury Cake Mix
Case of 12, $10.68
Advertising text reads: "Wow! Just .89 cents ea"

My eyes got wide on this one. This is not a deal, and I'll tell you how to get a deal.
Pillsbury, Duncan Hines, etc regularly compete with each other. Very often, a store will have the cake mixes on sale for .88 cents each (remember their .88 cent sales?!?) or even a dollar each. There are very often .50 cents off coupons, which double to make the item free - or almost free, if you have a smaller value coupon.

Last week, on Publix's Buy One Get One Free sale, I was able to get a package of Pillsbury Cake Mix for only .05 cents (FIVE CENTS PEOPLE!!!) because I only bought one at half price, then used a coupon that doubled.

So if you are a professional cake baker, maybe the Kroger Case Deal would be a good deal by making it easy for you to buy a lot. But for the average consumer, this is not a deal.

BEST DEALS:

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (Thin sliced or Tenders, Perdue) on a buy one get one free sale.
• Also Ready Pac Garden Salad (bagged) .99 cents
• Tyson selected varieties are .25 cents off.
• Pork Chops, $1.99 per pound.
  

Sale runs Sunday February 8th through Saturday, February 14, 2009.

FINAL VERDICT:

Kroger really needs to try harder to present some real bargains to consumers.

Links:

Save money by buying ahead (stockpiling)

Kroger deals this week

Here is a selection of just a few of the Kroger deals this week (Nov 9 - Nov 15, 2008):

Hormel marinated pork tenderloins (Buy one get one free, no price stated)
Fresh Express shredded lettuce $1
Dole Mushrooms $1
Gallon of Milk $3.28
Tyson split chicken breasts .99 cents a pound
Smithfield Bacon (Buy one get one free, no price stated)
General Mills selected cereals $2.99
Pillsbury Dinner Rolls/Biscuits 1.99
Kroger breads $1.19
Florida Naval Oranges 2.99 a bag

Milk Prices Snellville GA

UPDATE July 2010: Price of milk in the SNellville area is generally about $2.08 to $2.28.

Posted in 2008:
The lowest price for milk has consistently been Aldi Foods, located on Scenic Hwy.
They sell a gallon of milk for $2.49.

Kroger and Publix have regularly had milk from $3.19 to $3.39.

Nov 9 - Nov 15, 2008 Kroger Gallon Milk is $3.28

Aldi definitely has some bargains if their location is convenient to you. Keep in mind that you will need to bring your own bags to Aldi, and a quarter to borrow the shopping cart (the quarter is returned to you when you return the cart to the rack). Aldi also does not accept credit cards or checks, so bring Debit card or cash to pay for your purchases. Their prices are low and the products are their own brand, so you can't use coupons there, but you also won't be stuck behind someone like me with a lot of coupons to be scanned! :)

Kroger Gift Card Promo is NOT a "Deal"

From a marketing standpoint, the promotion is brilliant. Whoever thought of it should be promoted. But from a thinking customer's standpoint, it's a stinker.

Recently, Kroger started a promotion to sell their gift cards. Rather than promoting them for people to give as gifts, the promotional idea was for shoppers to buy a gift card for their own use - essentially pre-paying for groceries.

If a person bought a $300 card, it would be worth $330, if you bought a $600 card, it would be worth $660, and so on. It really sounded like a good idea to me - if you consider there are 6 people to feed in my house! It would translate to 10% savings.

You know I love a deal, so I was extremely tempted by this bait. I never bought one, though. Something about it bugged me. I don't like being 'locked in' to one store. I like to let Publix and Kroger duke it out for my money. So, I decided to watch and observe, and consider taking Kroger up on it the next time around.

I have watched the weekly sales ads for both Kroger and Publix for the last few weeks, and I have noticed that since the gift card promotion, Kroger hasn't had as many good deals. They have tried to have the appearance of really good deals, with "10 for $10" sales and now a .58 Cent sale. Neither of these sales are what they appear to be. Of the usually 10 things offered in these "sales," only 2-3 of the items offered are truly good deals. You really need to stay aware of what the prices are normally, to know if you are getting a good deal or not.

I am disappointed in Kroger, because they have gotten people to prepay for their groceries, and they aren't offering truly excellent deals because they know they have people locked in to buy from Kroger.

So I think that what is really happening is that although a person thinks they are getting $30 of "free" groceries when they bought their Kroger gift card, if the prices are generally higher than normal, then a shopper hasn't really "saved" anything. We also rationalize in our minds that we have $30 or more of 'free groceries' because we bought the gift card. This usually causes a shopper to spend more. A gift card also feels less painful than paying cash, so again, it's easy to spend more.

Pre-paying for a grocery card can help someone stay within their grocery budget, but I don't believe it's the way to get the best deal.

Back to School Deals: Kroger 7/13-7/19

Kroger is having their 10 for $10 sale...ie, $1.00 each (aren't you proud of me that I could figure that out? LOL)

80 count notebooks
Composition books
Book Covers,
Pens,
Glue
More
See Sales Circulars Online

Kroger Sale List - Today Thru Saturday July 19

Here are some of the Kroger deals this week. To view the circular, click here, but I will give you an overview of what is a deal and what might not be a deal here.

Kroger is having their 10 for $10 sale again. Keep in mind that some things for a dollar are a great deal for the dollar, but on some of them a dollar isn't really a super price. I haven't listed any of the dollar deals that are mediocre.

If there is a coupon circulating for the item and I know about it, I'll put an asterisk before the item. This is not a complete list, but just a list of some of the things that caught my eye.

Kroger frozen vegetables, $1

Pictsweet Steamers, $1

*Bounty Basic Big Roll Paper Towel $1 - look for free printable coupons
July 6th Proctor and Gamble Sunday Insert had .25 cents off coupon. Doubled, it would take .50 cents off each roll, making it only .50 cents your final cost.

Kroger Saltine Crackers $1 ... these aren't strong saltines...they don't hold up to a spread and they are very crumbly, but if you don't mind that, they are a great value.

Kroger Waffles (Frozen) $1 - I'm not a fan of these. They aren't very tasty and sometimes have a 'freezer' smell and taste. I'm an Eggo Waffle enthusiast. You can often get Eggo Waffles on sale for $1.12, so I would wait.

Everyday Living Bleach $1...This is the Kroger brand generic bleach. I think bleach is bleach, so this is a good price. Sometimes Clorox brand bleach will go on sale for $1.50

*Rice a Roni/Pasta Roni $1 Stock up if you have coupons...check the expiration dates on the packages and add to your stockpile as appropriate. It usually keeps a long time. Look for free printable coupons

*Hunts Snack Pack Pudding $1
If you don't need/want pudding in individual cups, keep in mind that Publix has the tubs of Kozy Shack Pudding on sale Buy one Get one Free this week. It is delicious but the Kozy Shack isn't individual cups, like this Snack Pack deal. These are nice for school lunches. Look for coupons

Glade Air Freshener Aerosol $1...

Kroger Cream Cheese Bar $1

*French's Yellow Mustard $1...there is a .30 cent off coupon circulating, and once Kroger doubles it, then your mustard ends up being only .40 cents Look for coupons
The coupon was in the June 22 SmartSource Insert.

Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce $1

Betty Crocker Cake Mix $1...ever notice that frosting will never be on sale the same time as the cake mix? Get the cake mix when it's a good deal, but avoid the temptation to buy the frosting. The frosting will be on sale later on. Once you have a bit of a stockpile going, you can always afford to wait for the best price.

*Duncan Hines Brownie Mix $1, wonderful to have on hand. Check for coupons.

Boneless, skinless chicken breast $1.99 lb...good price...stock up if you have a freezer

Keebler Town House Crackers, buy any 4 selected Keebler cracker and cookie selected varieties and get $6 off your total at checkout when you use your Kroger Plus Card. Makes the final price $1.50 each.

Half Gallon Milk is $2.27. The way I figure out if it's a good price is by doubling it to get what the price would be per gallon. 2.27 x 2 is $4.54, which is a fairly good price. It works out to about a .50 cent per gallon discount.

Bone in pork chops 1.99 lb. Pretty good price for pork chops, but the kind Kroger has with the bone in are kind of hit and miss. Often the pork chop on top in the package looks great and the pork chops underneath are a disappointment.

*Carolina Pride...the full line of Carolina Pride meat products is 40% off. Look for coupons

Tostitios 2.50...fairly decent price

*General Mills or Post Cereals 2.50..some stores have had cereal on sale for 1.99 lately so I'd just buy what I need and save stocking up for another time and a better deal. Look for coupons

*Tide 2x detergent, 24-32 load bottle ... $5.99 ...I don't usually buy Tide because it is so expensive, and I still think this is expensive, but it's a good price for Tide brand. Look for coupons
.35 cents off coupon was in the July 6 Proctor and Gamble Sunday Coupon Insert. This coupon will be worth .70 when doubled.

Popsicle treats Buy one Get one Free

Pepsi 12 pack fridge cans 4 for $12...don't you hate how they do that? Why don't they just say $3 each?

*Tropicana Orange Juice Carton $2.99...typical price but look for coupon

Freschetta Pizza $4.50 ... Kroger has had this special price a lot lately. Publix had these for $5.00 each.

Breyer's Ice Cream 2.27

*Suave Shampoo 1.50 Look for coupons
Suave Coupons were in the July 13th Red Plum Sunday Insert.

*Suave Conditioner 1.50 Look for coupons
Suave Coupons were in the July 13th Red Plum Sunday Insert.

*Suave Deodrant 1.50 Look for coupons
Suave Coupons were in the July 13th Red Plum Sunday Insert.
Suave Deodorant Coupons also were in the May 18th Red Plum Insert (.75 cents off)

Suave or Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion 2.49 Look for coupons
Suave Coupons were in the July 13th Red Plum Sunday Insert.

Orbit Gum $1

Hormel Natural Choice Lunchmeat $2.50 Look for coupons

Kroger is moving out their summer furniture and merchandise (patio sets, pools, etc) while supplies last, clearance for 40-50% off original retail. If you have been thinking about getting a patio set, you should check it out immediately for the best selection.

Kroger Daytona 500 Promotion

Kroger is having a Daytona500 special, if you buy 10 products with the Daytona 500 logo on them (see yellow tags on shelves to help you find them) you get $3.00 off your total purchase when you use your Kroger Plus card.

Kroger has Purex in the 32 load size on sale for $2.50. There are .50 cent coupons circulating, so maybe you have some. I had ten of those coupons, and Kroger doubles manufacturer's coupons so that knocked my price down to $1.50 each. After taking the $3.00 additional discount into consideration, that made my final cost per bottle $1.20. I have 4 kids and do at least a load or two of laundry per day, so 10 bottles is really not a ridiculous amount to have. It won't go bad before I can use it.

Now I'm wondering if I can find a listing of all the Daytona500 promotion eligible products. There could be even more great deals to be found. In any case, I am now stocked up for laundry detergent for a good long time!

If I can find the list of eligible products, I will post them here.

28 June 2008 UPDATE: I contacted Kroger and they told me they don't have a list of the products in a format that they can send to me. They advise that we ask our local store for a list of the products (bah)

Happy Saving!!!

Kroger Grocery Deals

Through June 28th, Kroger stores in Snellville have gallons of milk for $3.58. That is probably the lowest price around. Did you know you can freeze milk? You can. The key is to pour out some of the milk from the jug first (eat a bowl of cereal I guess!) so there is some expansion room in the bottle before you freeze it. I haven't done this myself, which is amazing since I'm such a cheapskate! But if I find a super low price on milk, I might go for it.

Kroger and CVS have 12 packs of Pepsi cans for $2.75. That comes to .23 cents a can. If you regularly buy a can of soda from a vending machine at work each day at .75 cents, over the course of a year, the difference in price (.52 cents a can) adds up to $135.20 a year, assuming there are 260 work days and you bought a soda every day. Or, you could drink water (free) and save $195 a year!

Other deals at Kroger this week, and if it's in bold that means I know there are coupons out there!

Ragu 1.87
Moist n Tender Pork Loin is Buy one Get one Free (but I don't know the retail price for one)...this is the Kroger brand.
Kroger Cheese in bars, shedded, or 6 ounce deli slices: 1.66
Breyer Ice Cream 2.27
Deer Park Water 3.99
Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs (BOGO but price unavailable)
Strawberries 2.50
Purex Laundry Detergent 2.50
Betty Crocker Fruit Rollers/Gushers: 1.66
Kroger canned beans .44
Cheez Its 1.98
Hormel Chili with Beans $1
Chef Boyardee cans $1
Manwich cans $1
Lawry's Marinade $1 (use .50 coupon, it doubles and these are free after coupon)
Revlon Cosmetics 50% off full line
Almay Cosmetics 50% off full line

Click here for links to sites with good free printable coupons. You'll be surprised at how many times you can find coupons for products that are on sale. If you find a coupon you really need to have more of, check the other links to printable coupons on the page and the different sites often offer the same manufacturer's coupons.

Remember when a product like the Oscar Meyer franks is buy one get one free, you can use 2 coupons...a coupon for each item.

Click here for more information on how to save a lot of money by using coupons.

Find coupons too much hassle? Spend a lot of time fumbling with them?
Here's how to organize your coupons. The binder system is working fantastically for me. It's very quick and efficient.

Kroger Paperback Book Sale

Kroger is having a sale on books in all Atlanta area stores. Buy two paperback books, get one free. This includes new releases and bestsellers. To get this deal, use your Kroger Plus Card, and all the books must be purchased in the same transaction. Limit one reward per transaction. This sale is good June 22 - July 19, 2008.

Mayfield Ice Cream Deal at Kroger

Mayfield Ice Cream is on sale this week at Kroger - the price is $1.99.
The usual retail price on it is $5.30 each.

There are Mayfield Ice Cream coupons circulating now for $1.00 off, that makes final price on the ice cream only $1.00. I was able to get 3 containers. What a deal!

3 for $3, instead of 3 for $15.90
Saved: $12.90

Have I convinced you to use coupons yet?!?

...I'll even help you organize your coupons! <---- Check out this page.

99 Cents for Excedrin After Coupon

Kroger has the 24 ct box of Excedrin Extra Strength on sale this week for $1.99.

There were $1.00 off coupons in the SmartSource coupon inserts in the Sunday paper on 5/4/2008.

Kroger has it on sale for $1.99, and the coupon is for $1.00, so your final price is .99 cents

Using Coupon Tips