Brands! AGH!

AMAZING week at Myrtle Beach with my best friends! We left early Sunday morning and returned on Thursday afternoon.  This week was a bit of a challenge as far as the shopping goes, and the return trip proved to be especially difficult as well.

First of all, we wanted to find the lowest prices that we could since none of us really had much money to spend on a vacation.  Second of all, we had no idea what was actually available until we arrived at the beach and searched shopping places on the GPS.  In order to find the "good" places, you really need to hear it by word of mouth from the locals, otherwise, if you go to the front desk at a hotel and ask where you can go grocery shopping they'll say, "there's a wal*mart up the street!" because that includes everything that anyone could need while on vacation.  We didn't ask the front desk where we could go, but we did search on the GPS.  We found a Food Lion (C) that was only about a mile away.  Not as good as the local grocery stores which we had no idea where/how to find, but good enough that I would go there. 

One of the difficult things that I frequently encounter when I go grocery shopping at grocery stores that I know are safe are whether or not a particular brand is safe.  Luckily for me I have the Better World Shopper App readily available on my iPhone that I can utilize as often as necessary!  I think that on our grocery shopping trip at the beach I may have tickled a few nerves because there were times that people would pick something and then I'd mention I have to double check whether it's okay or not, (thankfully every time it WAS okay) and I heard back once that if it wasn't okay then I could pay for something else myself!  Which I don't blame 'em because the price for something that is quality is typically more expensive then it's unjust counterparts!  But unfortunately for me, it's a bit difficult to stick to my commitment around friends because I don't like being a jerk about things...but nevertheless, it's important!

Andy and I both returned from our week away yesterday (he was in Florida with the baseball team) so today we were in for a decently large shopping trip!  We stocked up on fresh produce from the co-op because that's the BEST place to go where we don't even need to take out the app to check whether a brand is OK or not.  And then after that we decided to check out Food Lion to see what kind of prices they have and how it compares to Red Front (our local grocery store that frequently has expired goods on the shelf.)  It did prove to be cheaper and we even got a dozen eggs for free with the purchase of our Tropicana (B) orange juice(?) even after we already but a dozen from the co-op because they're locally produced without drugs or horomones!  One of the tough parts of shopping at middle of the road places like Food Lion/Giant is that you have to choose very wisely because they still carry brands such as Kraft (F), Orville Redenbacher (D-), Hunt's(D-), Hidden Valley(D-), Oscar Meyer (F), Tyson (F), and tons of the other widely known and often the main brands of what you are buying.

Overall, we had a successful shopping trip and only spent about $60 at Food Lion on quality, good products :)

Fun (not so fun) fact: if a brand has the word earth, or good in it, it does NOT necessarily mean that it is in fact a quality brand (in the way that this blog describes them to be.)  Though many of them ARE quality, it's hard to tell.  For example, Good Earth Tea? D+! Good Seasons dressing? F! Green Works cleaning products? D-!


My next post will be about chocolate!  You're (probably not) going to want to read that one if you're a chocolate lover!

Enjoy your Better Shopping! :)