Let's see how my second post to #MarketFriday goes!
For @dswigle I do hope that I get things right this time. If not I hope you send me a message on what I should do to make it better.
I wanted this to be a good post and went to pretty much all the different grocery stores in area to check out different items for breakfast. My goal was to get the best deal on the best breakfast and post about it. Unfortunately, my idea turned into a gigantic monster post. If it was too big for me to want to go through and edit, its too big for anyone here to want to read. Oops.
In that regard I divided it into three portions: The first portion is a brief overview of what I bought and where I went. The second portion is a brief overview of what what wrong. The third portion is all the photo's and all the math I did plus my viewpoints along the way.
Part ONE
Today's post is about breakfast! Well, went shopping for breakfast stuff this last week.
Now as a Canadian breakfast is a pretty boring proposition. Unlike many other places in the world, breakfast here is simple. Usually just milk and cereal. In the Philippines its sausage (longanissa), egg and rice... or maybe just coffee and rice. My Turkish friend says a full Turkish breakfast is a true experience. In Canada it is boring.
I'll be looking at four breakfast options here:
- Cold cereal which is either
(a) a sugary cereal for the children
(b) a less sugary cereal for the adults
or
- Hot breakfast which is either
(a) heated cereal like oatmeal for the adults
(b) a higher effort eggs, bacon/sausage, toast/pancakes/hashbrowns.
This week I shopped at a lot of stores. Most of them are near my home so comparison shopping doesn't take a lot of effort. Two of them (Wal-Mart and Costco) aren't close to home but I had to go there and stick around for a couple hours while my dog got a haircut.
Where did I go?
Superstore:
Where my doggo got a great deal on chicken, which I turned into chicken jerky for him.
and Honey Nut Cheerios
as long as I used their loyalty program ($5.50 / box instead)
and Sausages
as long as I used the flashfood app ($1.93 instead)
Silver Hills Bakery
Where I ended up getting a great cookie
Freshco
Which had such a great deal on sugar I couldn't pass it up.
Side note: Take sugar out of car before letting son take the vehicle to the USA. Not good taking that much white powder across the line as my son found out by accident.
Shoppers Drug
Which is the cheapest place to buy Coca Cola and pretty good for milk too!
Save-On Foods
Which has the cheapest price on Oatmeal
Costco
Which has the best deal on Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Mini Wheats
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Wal-Mart
Where I bought a loaf of bread not because it was the best deal but because it was Saturday and my son needed bread and Dollar Tree is always sold out by Saturday :(
Now here is a quick version of the prices of things to answer the what wins for breakfast. All of the actual math is in the longer section underneath but it is a long long post.
For sugary cereals:
Those are some of the most expensive because they are marketed at kids who pester their parents into buying them! $1.00 per 100g is about average but doing a little looking you can cut that price in half to just over 50 cents per 100g. Hence the Cinnamon toast crunch at Costco.
For less sugary cereals.
They tend to be less expensive because they are marketed at adults who are more likely to chose based on price. Again $1.00 per 100g is average but generic versions bring it down to about 60-70 cents per 100g. With a little looking I got that under 50 cents / 100g on the Honey nut cheerios.
For hot adult cereals
My grandparents had a good idea when they were eating oatmeal. The individual packages were a terrible deal as they are again marketed at children. However, the big bag of oatmeal worked out to 17 cents/100g when purchased at Save-On Foods. Only a small fraction of what cold cereals cost.
For hot more work breakfasts?
Eggs are 30 cents each at Superstore. Which is roughly 60 cents/100g. Not any more expensive than cereal and with way more protein and vitamin B12. Bacon at $1 / 100g isn't too expensive for breakfast but getting a deal on sausage at under 40cents/100g was a real steal and again higher in protein. Bread at 1.99/loaf (1lb) is still only 45 cents/100g so cheaper than cereal. When I get it at 1.50/loaf even cheaper still.
Honestly cooking sausage, eggs, and toast works out cheaper than boxed cereal in most cases and is tastier too!
Milk is a staple for breakfast around here and at almost every store in the area it is the same price. It's cheaper if you make your own soy milk but that's the subject for a different post 😉
Why did I bring up Coca-Cola... well, some people have their morning coffee. I have my morning Coca Cola... and I nurse that one bottle through the whole day. It may not be good for me but it's a vice I'm not willing to give up yet.
Part TWO
If you made it this far, awesome. Thank you.
Looking things over again I tried to put way too much into this post. I could have made a number of very good, smaller posts. After some thinking I could have come up with any of the following posts instead :
Saving money as easy as 1,2,3 by doing a little work at home.
Shop close to home. Travelling to big box stores may not save you money
Check out the weekly savings. There are deals to be had, just be careful not to get sucked into buying stuff that isn't a deal.
Sometimes the best deals aren't advertised
Do the math! Please do the math! A big sale sign and low price doesn't mean its the best deal.
Don't be a sucker for a 50% off sign. It may a great deal but then again, maybe not.
Your money or your life? How much are you really saving when you start counting for your time?
Beat the high cost of inflation by getting the best food for the least cost.
Which leads me to a few questions I have for the members of this group :
First: How long is too long when posting?
Second: Would it be appropriate to make multiple posts using the same photo's but with totally different written content?
Third: Assuming I did make those 8 posts listed above. How many could I post in a week without it being considered spamming the channel? Or maybe all 8 posts in one really HUGE post?
(and unrelated to previous three questions)
Fourth: I was going to use this image as my first image in the post to set the theme for what's for breakfast:
but it is an AI Image created by DALL-E. I didn't really want to get banned from the channel for using AI but I also figured it wasn't a major part of the post. So if I could get clarification on whether it is allowed or not I would appreciate it.
Fifth I wanted to give nutritional data and a breakdown to show I was getting best value and nutrition for my hard earned money but then thought maybe I was getting too far off the Market Friday topic. Any chance on clarification on how to stay 'on topic' enough?
Thanks.
PART THREE
Are you a sucker for the long slog on how I go through shopping? Want to see why I do that math to see what the best deal is? Want to see all the cereals and stores I was looking at to find the best deal for the week?
Well, then this is the part for you.
....and you must be really really bored. However, welcome to the second half where I'll show you all the stores, all the cereals, all the prices, and a whole lot of math.
I had a lot of fun making this half because I'm a math guy. Most people will probably just have their eyes glaze over. Still....there is something to learn if you persevere I suppose.
This was to be the original post. Unedited because it was too long
First up:
Real Canadian Superstore.
Yes, its a big box store. Lots of cars. Big inside. Typically has decent prices.
Primarily I'm here for this:
Now the $11.99 isn't a great deal. But.... with their app they are selling it for $5.50 for 1.3kg means 42 cents per 100g which is an awesome deal!
I also sort of came for this:
Which at $7.68 per half kilo is again a terrible deal. However, using the flashfood app it turned into
Doing the math 1.94 for 496g means 39 cents / 100g which is a steal!
Now sugar is often put on top of the boring cereals like corn flakes. Plus it has lots of other uses in baking. $11.99 for 10kg of 12 cents/100g. Not bad but I can do better.
Oatmeal aisle. Lots of different types. Was the favorite of my grandparents for years and I always thought they were crazy for eating the stuff. I grew up with it because my family was broke growing up, didn't care for it then. Now I realize its actually pretty good stuff for my health.
2.25kg for $6.49 means 29 cents per 100g. Pretty good deal.
Add flavors for brand name and put in individual packages then 264g for $4.29 means $1.63 per 100g. 5x the price for individual packaging. No thanks.
Want to go generic? $1.51 per 100g. Still a terrible deal.
How about sweet cereal for the kids. My son likes cinnamon toast crunch and I'm cheap and want the generic. So of course I check out the generic brand. I like that it has less packaging but then again, its plastic.
$4.99 for 540g which means 92 cents per 100g. Now I've told my kids I won't pay more than $1 per 100g because it makes easy math for them. This is one that I will buy if they are with me, but try to avoid because I know there are better deals.
Like the Honeycomb cereal. Another sweet kids cereal but on sale for $3.49 for 595g. That's only 59 cents/100g. About half of what the generic cinnamon toast crunch costs. I'd be pushing the kids for this one even though its still twice the price of the Oatmeal in the beginning.
How about the brand name Cinnamon Toast crunch? $5.49 for 591g. Doing the math its 93 cents/100g. Almost identical price to the generic so why buy the generic to save so little money?
How about the smaller size? It looks like a great deal! Only 3.33 when you buy 3. Doing the math though 3.33 for 354g is 94cents for 100g. Buying smaller costs more. A lot more if you only buy one box. Thank you but pass.
How about the jumbo box? $8.99 for 830g. What does it work out to? $1.08 per 100g. Sure it has the yellow sale price tag but it is actually the most expensive box to buy.
Take home message:
DO THE MATH
don't get fooled into paying more money!
Moving on to the Frosted Shredded Wheat. Now this is my compromise cereal with the kids. More nutritious than the Cinnamon toast crunch of Honeycomb but still sweet enough that they won't complain too much.
Cost : $ 3.99 for 700g. Which works out to 57 cents / 100g which is way cheaper than the Cinnamon toast crunch and less expensive than the Honeycomb cereal also.
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios is also a compromise cereal. Sweet enough they will eat it, nutritious enough I don't feel too bad about giving it.
$5.47 for 778g. Price per 100g = 70 cents. Not terrible but not the best deal.
As for the brand name Mini-Wheats? $10.49 for 1.2kg or 100g for 87 cents.
Nope
Raisin Bran is my go to 'no compromise' cereal. No added sugar except the sweetness from the raisins.
$3.99 for 625g. Not the cheapest price at 64 cents per 100g but not too far away.
Remember those small boxes of Cinnamon toast crunch from earlier? The ones that are one of the most expensive options so far? It gets a gigantic display at the end of the aisle. Looks like a super deal to save you money.
Don't get fooled! not the cheap deal at all.
Okay, this isn't really breakfast for the people in the family but my dog likes a treat for breakfast. My wife and kids love giving him treats and we end up with a lot of stuff like this in the house. $10.49 for only 227g. Not bad stuff with turkey, peas, and pumpkin.
but
1.82kg of lean ground chicken is only $10. Put it in the dehydrator and end up with about 700g of pure dried protein that my doggo LOVES. 3x the dog treat for less money. My kind of deal 😉
How do I turn ground chicken into jerky?
Then there is milk. $5.69 for 4 liters of milk. No cereal or oatmeal is just the same without milk so have to get that.
What did I end up buying here? Milk and Ground Chicken. I'm pretty sure I can do better than that for the cereal.
Next up is the Sprouted Oven by Silver Hills Bakery.
Now they are known for their organic options and it's a very good place to buy bulk organic grains. They also have their own bakery and its a pretty good place to buy high quality bread.
Notice the big bags of different grains? Quinoa, Rice, Barley, Wheat, and other stuff like that.
More bags of grains to make bread. Plus giant bag of horse carrots.
At $8.50 for 2.25kg of organic oats its not actually a bad price. Sure its more expensive than Superstore for the regular Oats. However, if you want the 'pure' choice 38 cents per 100g is cheaper than the boxed cereals and healthier too.
They also have the really big 40lb bag of oats. I came here to double check their price on the industrial size bag because sometimes its a great deal.
Let's look at the math: 40lb * 454g/lb means 18.16kg for $62.19.
How much per 100g? 34 cents per 100g. Not much cheaper than buying the smaller bag and more expensive than the regular stuff at Superstore. That means a pass for me.
What do I end up getting here? A S'more cookie. They actually have a nice bakery section and coffee with a sitting area. A nice place to meet a friend and chat over a yummy treat 😁
I may be cheap but I still like a treat every now and then.
Next up is Freshco.
They happen to have the 2kg Sugar for $1.88 which is 9.4 cents/100g. Cheaper than the sale price on the 10kg pack at Superstore. Pretty much anything under 10cents / 100g is a steal .. at least where I live.
Cheerios at $5.47 -- same price as Superstore. Not a bad deal but I'll just say no today.
Packaged oatmeal. Same price as Superstore. Nope.
$3.99 for 1kg. Nah. The $6.49 for 2.25kg is the price to beat.
$9.97 for 1.15kg? 87 cents/100g. Nope. 52cents is the price to beat.
Hmm. Looks familiar. Same deal as Superstore. I'll pass.
Hmm... $5 for 794g. Looks like it might be a winner. Let's check the math.
63 cents per 100g. Not actually a bad deal, but the 57 cents are Superstore is still a better deal.
In the end I only picked up 10 x 2kg bags of Sugar. How can I pass up that deal and the stuff pretty much never expires. Just need to keep it dry and sealed so it doesn't clump or get bugs living in it.
Side Note: I got lazy and didn't take the sugar out of the car right away. Now normally that isn't a problem but my son decided to take the car down to the United States to meet a girl.
I got a text from him on the way down to the states: "Dad I got pulled over at the border, something about having 20kg of white powder in the back of the car". I felt bad but had to laugh, pretty hard actually, he got a full inspection but in the end no problem because it was just sugar after all!
Continuing on to the next stop:
Save On Foods.
Now if you read my last post you saw that I don't usually shop here because its more expensive. Here is my proof so you can judge for yourself.
However, if you need flowers for your wife this is actually a pretty good place to get them.
But first. I mentioned that they have the big bags of oatmeal. 18.1kg for $ 29.89. What is that in cents per 100g? 16.5 cents per 100g. I can verify that's about the cheapest you can possibly get for cereal and that's why I buy it here for myself 😁
Sugar for $5.79 for 2kg? I'll pay the $1.88 at Freshco thank you.
$5.69 for milk. Yup. Same price as Superstore.
I included the cheese because the 50% off while quantities last makes it seem like I should get it! I like 50% off. But again, always do the math!
$8.44 at half price is $4.22 for 350g. That is $1.20 per 100g and the regular price is $1.10 per 100g at Superstore.
Pass on that.
Now I did find a surprise on the bacon!
$3.89 for 375g which makes if $1.03 per 100g. That's pretty much my cut off for cereal which is mostly carbs but this is a lot more protein at $1/100 so I picked that up. My contribution to the eggs, bacon and toast breakfast
Box oatmeal $4.49 brand name and $3.99 generic. Same price as Superstore and Freshco. No deal there.
$6.79 for 2.25kg oatmeal. More expensive than Superstore. No deal here.
$3.99 for 775g Raisin bran is actually 52cents / 100g. Not a bad deal. I'll have to remember that next time.
Mini wheats $11.99 is more expensive than Superstore.
$5.49 for Cheerios. Looks familiar. Same deal as other stores.
Sugary cereal. I wouldn't touch the stuff. However, $3.99 for 580g means 69 cents per 100g. Not the best deal out there but at least not terrible.
This is one that hurts though. $8.29 for a 6 pack of 710ml Coca-Cola? Shoppers Drug Mart is $3.49 for the same item on Saturday. No way I'm paying that. I'll give up my coca cola before I pay that much!
Another side note: Superstore actually has a decent selection of local wines. That's an oddity here with none of the other stores having alcohol. Alcohol is typically purchased in a liquor store.
So, a bit of an oddity. I don't drink so it doesn't matter to me. However, if I did this might be a store I shop at more.
Next up. Shoppers Drug Mart
The best place to buy Coca Cola. Only on a Saturday or Sunday though.
and not a bad place to buy milk
Notice the milk again. $5.69? Seeing a trend here? Milk prices are fixed in Canada so they rarely change from place to place. I actually went here two days after my Superstore run as my kids drank the whole 4L in two days. Shoppers drug mart is less than 1km from my house so only a short trip. The price on milk is the same as elsewhere BUT I get points on it worth about 3% cashback. So it is actually the cheapest milk I can buy in town. Go figure.
Also notice the sign saying limit 1/customer. It is in both English and Hindi. Why would they do that? We have a very large Indian population in Abbotsford. It is not uncommon to see an Indian family pick up a large quanitity (think 8+) jugs of milk at one time. Shoppers Drug Mart doesn't keep a huge supply of milk so they do limit quantity.
Also a good place to buy cookies. Although cookies are cheaper to make yourself.
With my receipt for proof of the points.
I did consider a trip to bulk barn for the Oatmeal because they had their $5 off a $20 purchase coupon.
Which can be used with bring your own container discount on Sunday.
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And oatmeal was on sale 15% off.
But doing the math if I bought $20 worth of oatmeal. $5 is 20% discount:
30 cents / 100g x 20% coupon discount x 15% container discount :
30.8.85 = 20.4 cents / 100g. which is a great deal but not as good as the 16.5 cents at Save-On Foods.
Result: I didn't bother going to Bulk Barn this time.
I did end up going to Costco though. Now typically I hate going to Costco. It's a long way from my house, the parking is terrible, the store is crowded and I don't find I get the best deal all that often. However, I had to take my dog for a haircut and this was nearby so I went in so I could add some pictures for comparison to the other stores I already went to.
excuse the blurry picture. But the place is very industrial looking, not friendly and things are piled sky high.
Sugar at $21.49 for 20kg bag is about the same price as Superstore and more expensive than Freshco. Why would I bother lugging such a heavy bag when I can get cheaper elsewhere?
$18.29 for 5 dozen eggs? That works out to $3.66 per dozen and Superstore sells for $3.59 per dozen. Again, more expensive.
$5.59 for milk is 7 cents cheaper. However, add the points I get at Shoppers drug mart this comes out about the same.
Gotta do some math on this one for sure. In short it works out to about $2.19 per box so half the price of the other stores. Looks good but the amount per 100g is still in the $1 per 100 range so not a wonderful deal compared to just making the oatmeal from the larger package.
Honey nut cheerios at $9.99 / 1.51kg? Works out to 66 cents/100g and better deal is 52 cents.
$7.99 for 1.42kg? 56 cents/100g. Not bad but still not the target I'm looking for.
(
$6.99 for 1.2kg. This one looked interesting. It is 58 cents per 100g. Way cheaper than either the generic of regular brand name on sale at Superstore. Sure its more than a couple other options but its my son's favorite so I had to pick up some at that price.
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Mini wheats at $10.99 for 1.6kg? Works out to 68 cents / 100g. Not super deal but good enough that I'll buy it for my older son who likes it.
Then I have to wait 8 minutes in line to checkout. I timed it to verify.
Overall not my favorite place to shop but there are deals to be had if I'm in the area.
Next up is WalMart. I hate Walmart. Again, its far from my house and while you can find good deals they aren't necessarily worth the time an gas to go there.
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$2.97 for sugar? Nope.
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$3.87 for bread? Nope I can get for $1.50 across the street at Dollar Tree.
$1.97 for generic bread? Nope. 95 cents at Superstore.
$6.97 for bacon? Nope. Got for $3.69 at Save-On Foods.
$4.88 for a dozen eggs? Nope. Got for $3.59 at Superstore.
$5.69 for milk. Seems right but honestly can get the same price closer to home.
$6.27 for a 6 pack of coke? Nope. Got for $3.49 at Shoppers Drug Mart.
Okay 3 for $8 isn't bad for the small package but still too much for oatmeal.
$6.97 for 2.25kg? Nope. Cheaper at Superstore or Freshco.
Okay, I'll give WalMart this one. It was 10.99 at Superstore. Still the 1.6kg package at Costco was a better deal than this.
Family size $6.47 for 650g? That's a terrible deal when you can get almost twice as much for only $2 more!
Looks like a deal at $3.33 but that's actually 79 cents/100g and it was 70 cents per 100g at Freshco, Superstore and Save-on foods. Not a deal here.
Better deal at costco. $6.47 for 830g or $6.99 for 1200g? No comparison.
Almost $1.00 per 100g. Even worse deal here.
Okay. This one is $1 cheaper than Superstore. But not nearly as good a deal as Costco.
Works out to the same price as Superstore although this box is a little larger. No price benefit here.
So, off to the checkout
Only bought one loaf of bread. Yes, I know its cheaper at Superstore but I'm here, my son needs bread, so sometimes I get a deal that just isn't as good. Normally I would go to Dollar Tree but they are always sold out on the weekend as they get limited quantity. As it was Saturday my options were limited.