I was recently talking with a dear friend about grocery shopping. I prefer a large chain store that offers a one-stop-get-all approach. I'm sure you can guess which one I'm talking about, but just in case, their mascot seems to be a big yellow smiley face. Does that help you figure it out? Well, my friend prefers the same type of store but the one that claims they have "a million different reasons to shop" at their store. My friend is positive the prices are cheaper at her store. I felt sure my store's prices were better.
My friend also says she doesn't have to stand in line at the checkout as long at her preferred store. Ok, that's probably true. I've been known to stand in line at my store a good 30 minutes. With four kids, that 30 minutes can seem like a lifetime, but still if I'm spending less I'll do it.
I finally decided to challenge my friend. Now this is not even close to being scientific, but hey, now we know. My challenge to my friend was that we would each switch stores for one week. She would go to my preferred store and I would go to hers.
My trip did not go well. I left the store with a definite knot in my stomach. I normally spend right at $200 per week on groceries. This is what is budgeted and I strive to stick to it. I plan my menus and then I plan my grocery list.
My two older children knew why we were trying out this new store. My kids are pretty awesome about helping me shop. Yep, they irritate me to pieces because they poke, tease and generally irritate each other when we're shopping, but they still manage to help. We were all a bit shocked at the price differences.
We got one item that was on sale for less than what we normally pay. Every single other item was more expensive. The closest we came to our regular store's prices was .13 cents, and that was one item. The next closest was .30 cents. After that they were all .50 cents or more.
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