As you can probably tell from my first few posts on this blog, I'm a bit of a contradiction when it comes to my shopping habits. I aim to eat within the 100 mile diet as often as possible but I clearly promote shopping at big box stores that are more than 100km away from my home. While I certainly support the idea of shopping locally, the reality is that I don't consider the Canmore Safeway to be much of a 'local' store. It's a national grocery chain that charges some of the highest prices for groceries in our area (including the Bow Valley and Calgary).
Buying groceries is our second highest monthly expense after our mortgage payment and I will do whatever it takes to shave as much money off that bill as I can. To that end, I travel to Calgary every 4-6 weeks to shop at Costco and Superstore. I try to tack those trips onto other errands that can only be done in the city and I buy in bulk so as to not go to Calgary too often. I drive a fairly small car so a trip to/from Calgary costs me about $18 in gas. I ensure that I am saving enough money on my groceries to also pay for the cost of the trip into the city. I primarily buy staple goods in the city - ones that will do well in my pantry for many weeks. I watch for sales at my local grocery store and buy as many of the loss leaders as I can. I realize that this shopping style isn't for everyone but it works for me and allows me to save up to 30% on my grocery bill each month.
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