Any Deals?

In the summer I go to the Royal Oak Farmers Market. I also go to Eastern Market in Detroit. It may be a drive, but your nine year old might find it enjoyable.

I agree with the previous poster on getting produce at a higher quality market. I go to Produce Palace on 12 and Dequindre. Great produce.

We shop at Trader Joe's, Value Mart and sometimes Target. I do not clip coupons as they never work out for me. Have you found a Wal-Mart super center by you? They have good prices too.

Remember to look for specials with the markets website, I can get chicken for 1.89 a pound at Produce Palace if I time it right. We stock up and freeze. It is nice chicken too.

Happy Shopping.

L.,

Where do you live? We live in Rochester Hills and the grocery store closest to us is pretty expensive so I do most of the big shopping at Wal-Mart(which I hate-- but there is a nice new one by me) and buy a lot of our fresh veggies and fruit at a gormet market closer to home (more expensive). If you are really looking to save money my advice is to plan out your menu for the week, including lunches, and buy only what you need for the week. If you see chicken, meat, or something you use regularly on sale, stock up, otherwise stick to the list. It will save you lot so money.

We now get much of our shopping list done at Target. I also cut coupons and you would not believe how much you can really save. I always save at least 15% just with the coupons (just yesterday I my bill was $60.00- and I had $18.00 in coupons-not bad). In the summer, we have a small garden and go to the farmers market in Royal Oak. We save a lot of money that way.
I do recommend investing in some tupperware/snap ware designed especially for produce- it is really worth it. I mostly use the tupperware for produce and my fruit and veggies last soooo much longer. I can now shop for fruit at costco and it will last 2-3 weeks in the containers. Also, when buying produce, be very careful- make sure its heavy for its size, not damaged, if in a container (like strawberries) make sure theres not one bad berry to cause them all to rot. I have found that produce purchased at more expensive places, like Holiday and Westborn, lasts so much longer than what I have purchased at Meijer/Value Center. Finally, with items in packages, take them out of the original package and inspect them-throw away any piece that is going bad-and never wash berries till you are about to use them. (visit foodnetwork.com for more produce storage tips)

Good luck at school- its a great career for having a family.