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Here are some ideas on alternative places to shop for your
groceries, rather than the sometimes high-priced grocery store
chains.
Check your area to see if there are any year-round farmers'
markets, and food terminals or "cash and carry" stores that
usually sell to restaurants that are open to the public. For
example, we have a farmer's market and food terminals ("cash and
carry" stores) in my area (near a medium-sized city) that are
open all year.
Since it is presently winter, I can usually get winter storage
vegetables like apples, potatoes, squash and cabbages, at a very
reasonable price from the farmer's market. Of course the items
available usually depend on the season, but also, sometimes the
vendors at the farmers' market have non-local fruits and
vegetables, such as oranges and grapefruits that they have bought
at a discount from the nearby food terminals (where all the fruit
and vegetables for the area restaurants are trucked into). They
then sell these to the public for very low prices. For instance,
today at the farmers' market I bought 3 gallons of apple cider
for $5, a huge head of cabbage for $1, 4 grapefruits for $1, and
8 oranges for $1.
The same items bought in the supermarket would cost at least
twice as much money. I also like to frequent the "cash and
carry" stores at the food terminals and look for good grocery
deals. Since these stores mainly sell to restaurants (not all of
them are open to the public), the quantities of food may be
large, and you may have to break up a package and then freeze it
into smaller portions. I do this often.
When I purchase a 5 lb. brick of sliced American cheese there the
price is only about $1.56 a pound, versus about $3.00 a pound at
the local grocery store. My best deal recently was the purchase
of some high-gluten flour at the cash and carry for about 10
cents a pound; since I have a bread machine and I also bake quite
often, this was a great deal for me. So look around -- you may
find places to shop that you never thought of before. You don't
necessarily have to do all your food shopping at the
higher-priced grocery chain stores!
Salvage and Warehouse Stores
In my state (Indiana) we have salvage or warehouse stores where I purchase a lot of canned items that are slightly dented. I am also able to buy cleaning products here. The owner of the store buys the merchandise for x dollars a pound. They can resell it for quite a bit below the supermarket price. Aldi's is an international chain of bag your own groceries at a lower price. (12/09/2000)
By ajdutchtown
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