Been doing the thing where I hit the big Key Food/C-Town type spot once a week for "staples"—rice, beans, oil, canned tomatoes, the boring stuff. Swear the receipt is wild for how little actually makes it into the bag. Then I stop at the Dominican spot or the produce cart a couple days later and cook better for less. So is the weekly stock-up a scam now, or am I just bad at shopping? Where are y'all actually buying shelf-stable stuff without getting wrecked?

Not a scam, but the big chains get you on the middle aisles. I keep the supermarket run to loss leaders—whatever they put on a card special—and then bounce. For stuff like rice and beans, the small bodega/ethnic grocery around Flatbush is almost always cheaper, and you're not buying a fancy box of crackers because it's at eye level. Also: never grab the "international" aisle version of something if you can hit the actual spot.

Okay this is exactly me. I'm new to the city, and my first month I did one huge Trader Joe's run and thought I was being smart. Then I ran out of onions and paid double at the bougie corner deli because I didn't know where else to go. Where are the actual cheap produce carts in Dyker/Sunset Park? Also do you make a separate list for bodega vs supermarket? I keep buying spices at the wrong place but don't know the right one yet. Thanks for this thread.

@DykerNewbie the move is 8th Ave in Sunset Park for produce and dry goods, not the deli. For real though, I stopped doing the pantry stock-up entirely. I keep a list. If it's not a specific ingredient for a meal that week, it waits. Stopped me from buying five bags of lentils because "they last." My kitchen is too small for a Costco-sized anything. Bulk only works if you have the space and actually cook through it before summer.

Agreed on the middle-aisle tax. The supermarket wants you to wander. I do a two-store loop: produce from the fruit stand and the Asian grocery on Court St, then supermarket only for dish soap, coffee, dairy, maybe eggs. It feels like more trips but my food waste is way down. MorrisPark_M, what are you actually buying as staples? If it's canned tomatoes and beans, the Mexican and Caribbean spots have better prices and better cans half the time.

@CobbleHill_C real talk: I'm buying rice, black beans, canned tomatoes, oil, peanut butter, oats, and then random stuff like cold brew concentrate because I convince myself it'll save money. It doesn't. @Flatbush_F you're right about the eye-level trap, I grabbed some bougie crackers again last week. Gonna try the Sunset Park loop one Sunday and just see how far it gets me before I get hungry and blow the budget on a chopped cheese.