Living well at the grocery store
In a doctor’s office waiting room, the conversation turned to how overpriced a certain supermarket was.
“Oh! You mean the one in town A, but the same store in town B is pretty competitive. When I first moved here I went to the one in town A, and I thought I’d starve in Massachusetts. “
The same store chain? So, chains do not all price the same. That was a revelation to some in the waiting room. Some chains are individually owned and operated; some just price differently depending on demand.
I knew this. I used to live in Winter Hill, Somerville. The nearest grocery store was the Star Market there. The prices were outrageous. Once we figured this out, we only shopped there for fill-in items. It sort of became our extended convenience store. We grocery shopped elsewhere; it was worth the gas.
Why was it so overpriced? One theory was that it was walking distance to Mystic Housing project, so it had a captive audience of shoppers without cars. If that theory is true, they were intentionally inflating the prices on a poor population…evil. Time went by. We moved away. A Stop and Shop opened up on McGrath Highway. That Winter Hill Star went out of business. Good riddance.
What’s this got to do with Living Well? One of the things that you will spend thousands on in your new town is groceries. So, when you are town-shopping find out what food prices are doing compared to where you are now. The results may surprise you. The lowest prices are not always in the lowest income areas. If your groceries are $50 a week more in the new place, that is going to add up very fast.
What to do: look at your typical grocery list. What are the five most expensive items you get regularly? Shop for those things in your new town. See if there is a supermarket that will suit your needs without breaking you budget. Try to break even with what you have now within a reasonable drive of your new town.
Where is the best grocery shopping in Massachusetts? Supermarkets are important, but so are specialty shops.
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Costco.
The highest prices will be in the lowest income areas. Those areas have residents without cars. See here for more details:
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051702053.html
Actually, Rona, there was an article about living poor in the Washington Post yesterday that talked about just this--how stores in poor areas where less of the population have cars are ALWAYS priced higher. Good thing to note--not everyone has a car to get to cheaper prices, so that population is just trapped.
(or BJs)
Market Basket is famous for different prices in different towns - affluent versus poor!!!
Market Basket is famous for different prices in different towns - affluent versus poor!!!
My family also follows the Costco diet.
There are certain foods/ingredients that are not available at Costco and I buy these at Whole Foods or specialty markets (i.e, Asian).
But, overall, the bulk of our diet comes from Costco and we are very pleased with the quality and pricing.
I live in Southborough. We used to shop at StopnShop in Westborough, but Hannaford in Marlborough is 25% cheaper on average week over week. It is a substantial cost savings, and the meat and produce are great. Im not a frugal person, but this one is a no brainer.
I live in South Plymouth and regularly drive 15-20 minutes to shop at the Super Wal-Mart in the North Plymouth area. Granted it is still in the same town but Plymouth is a big place. The first time I visited the Super Wal-Mart I saved a whopping $50 on my weekly shopping. I could not believe it. Two years later I am still making the weekly trek to the Super Wal-Mart. I see no reason why I should be paying an average of $1.50 more per item at Shaw's or Stop and Shop. Say what you will about Wal-Mart; there is no reason why I should have to pay between $250-$300 per week to feed a family of four.
have you noticed that 'stop/shop and shaw's sale prices are market's basket's regular price??
I get my groceries delivered by Peapod, and shop for vegetables in Chinatown, Haymarket, or in-season in my garden or at the farmer's markets. (I eat very little meat.) No, the prices are not cheaper, but staying out of the stores and ordering for a planned menu from a list is the strategy that has worked best for me in cutting costs. I also have a large freezer for cook-ahead meals and to store the occasional bargains.
This is nothing new. Prices at the Prudential Center Shaw's are double the prices of the Shaw's in Leominster. The South Bay Stop and Shop charges more than the Quincy Stop and Shop.
I was a big Market Basket fan when I lived in Fitchburg, and I was overjoyed when I found their Boston locations. I hated shopping for produce at Haymarket, but many Chinatown shops have better produce for lower prices. Super 88 has great deals on brown rice. When we moved to Somerville and Everett, my husband swore by McKinnon's for meat.
liz - the chinatown super88 closed down
The Super 88 on Washington that closed is now a C-Mart.
I was referring to the Allston Super 88.
Thanks much for this well written blog post.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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