When I leave my house I usually announce to my renter that I am going to (name of store). If I say market it means the farmer's market. I say the name of the store because if I go to Byerly's there are things he wants from there - like green tea sushi rice. Or if I go to the Wedge there are certain things I can only get there - like black, green or lavander quinoa. In general, I think most Minnesotans use the term grocery store more often than supermarket.

I totally get it about turning around and leaving TJ's. I used to as well. It takes awhile to learn what they have and don't have and to coordinate it with other shopping. There isn't one go to everything I need in one place store here (or maybe because there's so much variety, including the Persian market, etc., which I forgot to mention before (and I was only including full sized markets with carts, not mom and pop grocers) that my perception of what one might need at the store is skewed), so it's a matter of timing which store I need to go to when. (That sentence is somewhat ungrammatical and I refuse to fix it.) Yeah, two buck chuck isn't two bucks anymore. It's amazing how long they held it down. It also comes in some varietal names now, too. The quality varies because it's made from wine lake (i.e, surplus juice), but they try to keep it palatable, which many wineries do not. :) I use it for cooking. :) Trader Joe's was always meant to be something between a specialty/gourmet store and a convenience store. It's not a place for staples, though you can get a roll of TP, and while they generally have good quality produce, the selection is limited and often only available in packages. The prices for the quality on what they do have, however, are fabulous. If you want a whole box of Persian cucumbers and a bag of roma tomatoes, as well as a packet of shucked English peas, they're the place. If you want several varieties of kale and chard, and rutabagas, turnips and tamarinds, go to Whole Foods. I'm not big on packaged food either, but I buy a few quickie type things when my freezer isn't full of my good cooking. The quality is also excellent and affordable. Real food, not like I see in the chains from national brands. The meats are kind of middling, but they're hermetically sealed or something, so I'll sometimes buy some ground beef or chicken tenders that can hang in the fridge for awhile without going bad. That's free range but packaged. No pink slime. Extruded, though. I work hard at hacking through the grinder ribbons so the ground beef doesn't look funny. :) Bellsmom, I get baking your own. ;) The breads at TJ's might be different by region, but one of the things I love about TJ's is the bread. They have a lot of selections that are 100% whole wheat (not mixed with white) and good. Not cardboard. My brother is an expert milk taster and says that TJ's is okay. They have good, fresh juice. Free range eggs. The best nuts and dried fruits. So it depends on the list. I can often do a moderate shopping at TJ's. I buy papergoods at the big chains and most meats at Whole Foods or one of the local independents, but milk, eggs, yoghurt, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, melon, berries, eggplant, apples, ground beef, orange juice, bread, tortillas (they're non-traditional, but I love the wheat and corn ones), etc., I can get through a basic list.

You should take a look at Cheaptoday.com. Almost all their deals are at least 40% off or more, and they have everything from kids clothes to electronics. Here is a link that might be useful: CheapToday.com

Actually there used to be a site that would list the ads and compare them, but the one time I looked at it the problem was comparing sizes and the like. Many of the stores have their ads online so you can check their ads. Not always are they sale items. But it could be a good starting point to compare and I too saved my receipts and logged them for a while. I've gotten to know good price points on common purchases so I can tell if it's a good deal or not. But one thing I did was use a comparison standard. For instance an 18oz jar of peanut butter was OK at about $1.60, and less than that, all the better. So if I saw a 28 oz jar for $1.99 it was easy to tell it was a good deal if I could use that much. Another example is toilet paper. Scott paper at 50¢ per roll is a pretty good deal. So anything else needed to give me for instance 4-250 sheet rolls for 50¢ to compare. And calculating out a Scott 6 roll, 12 roll, 16 roll or 20 roll pkg is relatively easy. I recently got some for 38¢ per roll which is very cheap nowadays. Grapes are good at 99¢/# and I have a thing that I just won't pay over $1.29/# no matter how much I want them, unless I NEED them for a certain event. Now if you really get into it you can have a price book for everything and keep it maintained, but I don't go that far anymore. Right now the selection of grocery stores is diminishing so there's essentially two local ones that are competitive in pricing. Another smaller store I think of more as a convenience store. Excellent quality on produce and meat, but you pay more. But closer for something needed for a spur of the moment BBQ with friends or the like. One thing I try to caution people about saving on groceries is that look for opportunities to save money on frequent purchases first. For instance, if you buy one can of coffee every two years, you can pay a couple dollars more for it and amortized out, it's not that significant. However if you go through a loaf of bread a week and can save just 10¢ per loaf, you'll save far more over a years' time. Also, if you buy an "expensive" frozen dinner, but it keeps you from going out to eat, you're still spending less! Then if you make that a regular happening and can get that item cheaper, all the better. Oh, one other thing, FWIW. Since my price book hasn't been updated for quite a while, I'm starting to keep a log of stores and certain special things they carry or have great deals on. For instance when I know I'm going to Aldi, I check my Misc. list for Aldi and see that they have a great pie occasionally, produce, salad bags, etc. I may not need it right then but if it's cheap enough I stock up so I have it until next trip since I don't go there often. Also, there's a few things I make note of that I can only get at one or two places. Saves a lot of frustration. I also have the prices in there so I know when they go up or down. Very helpful. Sort of a modified price book. Happy...