PAYING FOR CONVENIENCE
We all love convenience but for many people the need for a 24 hour grocery store is vital.
Who uses a 24 hour grocery store anyways?
The customers who roam the aisles of the grocery store late at night when most people are sleeping are those that aren’t tucked up in bed.
I know it sounds simple enough but for one reason or another sleeping is not on the agenda.
You may find shift workers, students, party goers and even those with disabilities or someone who might be afraid of /dislikes crowded places who visit the 24 hour grocery store for late night shopping.
There are also the customers who run out of an item and it’s needed in the middle of the night or someone falls ill and a medicine is needed.
Your child may come down with an illness and you need some medicine and the only shop open besides the local convenience store is the 24 hour grocery store.
Granted that not every 24 hour grocery store has a pharmacy section open for those that do it is a huge benefit to those seeking relief in the middle of the night.
If you are so lucky you may find during a holiday that a 24 hour grocery store is the one that stays open over the grocery store that typically has regular hours (i.e. closes at 10pm).
This is great for the people who forgot to buy something on their grocery list or are in need. You may find less staff and the wait time longer but don’t complain, at least they are open.
Many people won’t blink twice during a holiday to spend $7 on a 4L bag of milk at the local convenience store because they are the only shop that might be open in their area.
The same goes with the 24 hour grocery store though. The biggest pitfall of shopping at a 24 hour grocery store is pricing.
You will pay more money without a doubt for everyday food items if you opt to shop at a 24 hour grocery store or if you have no other options because the nearest grocery store to you is too far away.
The nearest 24 hour grocery store to us is Metro and I won’t lie and say we haven’t went because we do go late at night. It really depends on what hours I work and sometimes I work during the early hours of the morning, so if we need something I go.
Trust me when I say I cringe when I have to pay higher prices because as a grocery guru I know my prices but there are times where you have to bite the bullet and move on.
Often you won’t find a cashier waiting at the cash register all night either. Most 24 hour grocery stores have the self-scanner and someone around to man them while late night shoppers are in the store.
You may find a night supervisor and stock people getting the store ready for the next rush of customers in the morning.
24 hour grocery store pros and cons
The perk is that the store is very quiet and you don’t have to rush or get pushed around by other crazy shoppers who are in a rush to get in and get out. A friend of ours with limited mobility prefers shopping late at night for these reasons.
Admit it, you’ve been that crazy shopper once or twice and have even gotten irritated at the cash because someone is too slow or something breaks down.
The downfall of the 24 hour grocery store is that you might struggle to find customer service if the staff member is off stocking shelves or doing paper work. You may even find some sections of the store closed off as well.
You might not have a manager around to solve an issue so you will have to call back or go back in the morning. The store might be out of stock on a sale product and you will have to wait until the shelf is stocked the next morning. The prices will always be higher unless you go for flyer sales.
Do you think a 24 hour grocery store is necessary? Sure as long as the store is making money and can call for having that extra staff person watching over the customers that come in late at night.
I’ve seen over the years other grocery stores go from a 24 hour grocery store back to regular hours simply because it made no sense to pay an extra staff member.
With Metro though it’s already a higher end grocery store in terms of pricing so you will pay the extra money either way so they obviously see the benefit in staying open.
Have you used a 24 hour grocery store in your area? Did you notice the prices are much higher in these stores? What would be the reason you shop in a 24 hour grocery store?
September grocery game challenge posts
If you missed any grocery game posts for the month I will post the line-up for the month each week here in this section for you. Join in the Grocery Game Challenge fun and post your grocery shop in the comment section of each blog post… here are the GGC rules!
Each month I hold a draw and one WINNER is chosen. I will post the name of the person who has the winning grocery shop of the month right here so make sure to check back every week.
The AUGUST WINNER for the Grocery Game Challenge goes to…… # 4 Dee!
Special Note
GGC Posters: Please note that in the event my wife goes into the hospital I may not be able to get my GGC posts up. That doesn’t mean I want you to stop posting because when we stop doing something we get out of routine and it’s hard to get back into it.
If I do go MIA continue to post your shops under the current GGC that I have posted and once I return to the posts I will moderate them all and give out ballots.
The important part of this lesson is that we continue the journey to sticking to our grocery budget. If you have any questions you can send me an email or comment on this post. Mr.CBB
Grocery saving tips
Click, Save and Print. It’s that easy!
Free Money Saving Downloads are awesome lists that were created to get us on track to work towards reaching our budgeting goals and now we are sharing them with you.
I hope you take the time to get back on track and start the savings process in your grocery budget today.
Get organized with a FREE freezer inventory, meal plan, shopping list, price comparison list and much more all for FREE. CLICK HERE to download all the free lists and even our family budget spreadsheet for FREE.
NEW!! You can now download the FREE Canadian Budget Binder Budget Spreadsheet in Excel…Grab it while you can… It’s FREE! We use it to budget and in large part a reason we could pay our mortgage off in 5 years, check it out!
Ultimate grocery shopping guide
Everything you want to know about grocery shopping in Canada is below with new information added monthly.
If you missed a Grocery Game Challenge post some of the most popular posts are listed below or you can now find the posts listed on their own page called The Ultimate Grocery Shopping Guide.
If you know a topic that should be discussed send me an email.
Food food and more food
If you are a foodie like I am you will enjoy going through my Free Recipe Index where recipes from CBB foodie Nicola and myself are shared every Sunday on the blog. Check it out! Try a recipe and leave a review for other fans!
Zehrs
- Alymer Ketchup Sale $1.88
- Sesame oil Sale $3.48
- Bananas $1.71
- Jicama $1.87- $0.50 coupon
- Romaine Lettuce $1.69
- Bakery rolls $2.50-pink sticker $1.25- $0.50 coupon
- Whole Wheat tortilla wraps Sale $1.99
Total out-of-pocket $12.87
Shoppers Drug Mart
- 2 x Neilson Milk $3.97 (bonus 800 Optimum points)- $1.00 (Snap Groupon)
- 1 x Neilson Cottage Cheese 2%- Sale $1.99
- 3x Granulated Sugar Sale $1.99
- 2 x Cheerios Sale $2.99
- 1 x Shreddies Sale $2.49
- 4 x Habitant pea soup Sale $1.49
- 4 x Cream of mushroom soup Sale $0.59
Total out-of-pocket $30.70
Earned 9100 Shoppers Optimum Points worth just over $11.00 🙂 with a spend of $30.00 on food using personalized Shoppers Drug Mart email coupon.
Grocery shop results
Yearly grocery budget for two: $2820
(The above total does not include the stockpile budget of $240 per year or $20 per month.)
- Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $235.00 or $78.33 week with potentially one no-shop week per month or $58.75 for 4 weeks per month. (During the months with 5 weeks we just make it work)
- Total Budget for August $235.00-$11.50=$223.50/4= $55.87 per week
- Total Coupons Used this Week : $ 1.00
- Total Coupons Used to date: $57.69
- Total Discounts this Week: $1.25
- Total Discounts Used to date: $46.86
- Total Gift Cards Used to date: $33.18
- Total Rewards Points Used: $0
- Total Rewards Points Used to date: $20.00
- Stockpile Budget ($20.00): $
- Stockpile Budget Used to Date: $20.00+$19.08+$17.94+ $2.06+$20.00+$15.10 + $20.00 (June)+ $22.44 (July) + (August) $8.00
- Snap Groupon to date: $19.25
- Zweet to date: $4.00
- Cart Smart to date: $0
- Checkout51 to date: $10.75
- Total Spent This Week: $43.57
- Total Spent So Far September:$43.57
- Total Over/Under spend this shop: $n/a
- Total Over/Under spend for the month: $n/a
- Total Left to Spend for the Month: $179.93
- Total to Carry Over Next Month: $ n/a
- Total Spent To Date This Year: (does not include stockpile budget) Jan $242.66+ Feb $191.74+ March $255.82+April $235.07+May $223.62+June $275.37+ July $203.36+ August $228.26+ Sept $
- Weekly Overview: We didn’t buy too much with baby on the way and my wife and I just not getting into the kitchen as much as we would like to. We are keeping it simple with salads, soups, cereal and sandwiches for the next little while. Normally we make our own soups but with renovating the bathroom and her being pregnant there is no time. Convenience wins this month! We did buy some Jicama which we’ve never tried before but wanted to try in a salad.
Coupon Sleuth
Did you find any coupons? If so share the details in the comment section of this post where you found it and what the coupon is for with expiry.
We didn’t find any coupons this week that were new to us… did you?
Frequently Asked Questions
- Grocery Game Challenge RULES: Read the rules first and if you have any questions email me or comment on this post with your question and someone will answer you as soon as possible.
- Do I have to be Canadian to post my Grocery Shop?: No, you don’t have to be Canadian to post your shops only to win a monthly prize. We have fans who post their grocery shop who live all over the world.
- When does the Grocery Game close each month?: The Grocery Game Challenge closes at midnight of the last Sunday of the last post for the month. You can post your shops all month-long.
- Does your Grocery Budget include health and beauty and laundry products?: Yes our Grocery Budget includes such items as shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap, fabric softener, dish soap etc. We don’t mind stockpiling items that won’t be affected by expiry dates or have long expiry dates but not so much food any more. It’s just one way to help cut your budget to save money.
- Where can I find Canadian Coupons?: Here are your latest Coupon Match-ups of the week and your weekly Checkout 51 offers from 25 Newspaper Inserts around Canada compliments of Save Big Live Better that you can use to help you save money in the Grocery Game Challenge.
- What is an FPC?: An FPC is a free product coupon which means you can get a free product as described on the coupon.
- How Do I Know what stores accept coupons? : You can find all your store coupon policies here. If you are not sure it’s always best to call the store and ask.
- How Do I Grocery Shop?: I can tell you about grocery shopping and what we do in terms of shopping to save money and how it works for us. There are no wrong or right answers, just smart choices.
Over time you will gradually learn where you should and shouldn’t go in the grocery store or at least how to say no, I’m on a budget I need to buy this or that. You may also substitute items in order to stick to your grocery budget to make it work. Nobody is perfect, heck we struggle with this part of our budget like many people do.
This is why the grocery game challenge was created to not only show you that we are like everyone else but to bring us all together to work as a team to get our budgets on track. If you have just joined The Grocery Game Challenge 2014 get ready to dive deep into your grocery budget and learn just where you are spending, how much you are spending and what you are saving.
Feel free to read all the above posts that I linked to above which I feel are relevant to learning about the grocery budget and grocery shopping in general. You’ve made a wise decision to take control of your grocery budget now show me your shops and let’s get saving!
Welcome to The Grocery Game Challenge Canada 2014!
-Mr.CBB
Are You New To Canadian Budget Binder?
- Follow Me on Social Media: Twitter, Facebook , Pinterest , Stumble Upon and Google+
- Check out my new Free Recipe Index
- If you like FREE then click this link for my FREE Excel Budget Spreadsheet and all my Free Money Saving Lists!
Photo Credit: 24 hours Freedigitalphotos.net/StuartMiles