I really adhere to the philosophy that you need to shop at multiple places if you really want to save money, as different categories are cheaper at different places. Normal supermarkets are good for a lot of produce and bulk things. There are a lot of things cheap at Super King (Southern California), but not everything. You have to look at the prices and pick and choose. And I normally wouldn't have listed them a few years ago as anything budget, but Trader Joe's has had a lot of prices not go up with inflation, suddenly making some things budget over the last few years (very case by case and particular), along with always being the cheapest place to buy alcohol.
Also I would have to really up Aldi. I don't live near one anymore, but they are always very cheap. But you really have to know where you are drastically sacrificing quality versus not. And that it is not great for vegans, as most prepared meals have meat and cheese, but the produce and bread/pasta are decent and cheap.
My Aldi's has a protein bread that's got like 10g per slice and is vegan and keto friendly as actually tastes really good imo. Much more dense than regular bread and is great for sandwiches. I like to toast it and eat it with my various kinds of baked beans I make using lacto fermented beans. Good stuff.
I really adhere to the philosophy that you need to shop at multiple places if you really want to save money, as different categories are cheaper at different places. Normal supermarkets are good for a lot of produce and bulk things. There are a lot of things cheap at Super King (Southern California), but not everything. You have to look at the prices and pick and choose. And I normally wouldn't have listed them a few years ago as anything budget, but Trader Joe's has had a lot of prices not go up with inflation, suddenly making some things budget over the last few years (very case by case and particular), along with always being the cheapest place to buy alcohol.
Also I would have to really up Aldi. I don't live near one anymore, but they are always very cheap. But you really have to know where you are drastically sacrificing quality versus not. And that it is not great for vegans, as most prepared meals have meat and cheese, but the produce and bread/pasta are decent and cheap.
My Aldi's has a protein bread that's got like 10g per slice and is vegan and keto friendly as actually tastes really good imo. Much more dense than regular bread and is great for sandwiches. I like to toast it and eat it with my various kinds of baked beans I make using lacto fermented beans. Good stuff.