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Hey NYC folks,

Been following the news about the new city-owned grocery stores, especially the one opening in the Bronx, and the plans for a 30% discount on groceries. It sounds like a pretty big deal for a lot of families struggling with food costs.

I'm curious what everyone thinks about this. Do you see these stores really moving the needle on overall grocery prices in NYC? And for those of us who already try to be savvy with our shopping: hitting a few different stores, checking weekly flyers, etc. - do you think this changes much, or will there still be plenty of savings to be found by comparing across all the usual suspects like Trader Joe's, Target, Key Food, and the smaller local places?

I'm always looking for ways to save on groceries, and it makes me wonder how something like this impacts the wider grocery landscape. What are your thoughts?

Hey Leute,

Ich habe neulich einen interessanten Artikel gelesen, in dem die deutlichen Preisunterschiede bei Lebensmitteln zwischen Deutschland und den USA beleuchtet wurden. Das hat mich direkt an unsere eigene Situation hier in Deutschland denken lassen.

Manchmal habe ich das Gefühl, dass die Preise für bestimmte Artikel von Woche zu Woche oder von Laden zu Laden extrem schwanken können. Ich versuche schon, ein bisschen auf die Angebote zu achten, aber bei einem vollen Einkaufszettel wird das schnell mühsam.

Wie sind da eure Erfahrungen? Habt ihr spezielle Tipps, wie man in Deutschland am besten sparen kann, vielleicht für bestimmte Produkte oder bei bestimmten Discountern/Supermärkten? Wo kauft ihr zum Beispiel Milchprodukte, Obst und Gemüse, oder Fleisch am liebsten? Und welche Angebote lohnen sich wirklich?

Bin gespannt auf eure Strategien!

Okay, so I just saw the news about NYC opening city-owned grocery stores with those sweet 30% discounts, and it got me thinking. This is awesome for residents, obviously, but also a cool test case for how to *really* maximize savings.

My initial thought was, "Okay, 30% off is great, but is it *always* the cheapest option compared to everything else nearby?" Especially with how aggressive some of the existing discounters can be, plus weekly deals from the bigger chains.

I've been playing around with a tool that compares live grocery prices item-by-item across stores. It essentially takes your list, looks at what's on sale, and figures out the cheapest way to buy everything. So, you can see if buying certain things at the new city stores and other things elsewhere actually saves you more overall than just doing your whole shop at one or the other.

It's pretty eye-opening to see how even a 30% discount can sometimes be beaten on specific items when other stores have deep sales. Or, conversely, how much you save by sticking to the city stores for most things but grabbing one or two loss leaders from another place.

It’s less about loyalty and more about making sure you’re truly getting the most for your money without needing to manually cross-reference five different apps yourself. Just wanted to share in case anyone else in NYC is also geeking out on how to stretch those grocery dollars furthest!

Ich weiß nicht, wie viele von euch das auch machen, aber ich ertappe mich immer wieder dabei, für bestimmte Einkäufe über die Grenze zu fahren, weil es dort einfach günstiger ist. Sei es der Grosseinkauf in Polen oder Tschechien, oder nur bestimmte Produkte in Frankreich oder den Niederlanden.

Manchmal lohnt sich der Aufwand wirklich, besonders bei größeren Mengen oder Markenprodukten, die hierzulande ein Vermögen kosten. Aber oft frage ich mich auch, ob der ganze Sprit und die Zeit den vermeintlichen Sparvorteil wirklich wettmachen.

Ich schätze, am Ende des Tages ist es eine Abwägung, wie viel einem die Ersparnis wert ist und wie viel Zeit man investieren möchte. Für mich ist es manchmal auch einfach die Jagd nach dem besten Deal, die mich reizt. Aber rational gesehen, frage ich mich, ob es nicht auch hier vor Ort bessere Wege gäbe, wirklich zu sparen, ohne extra Hunderte von Kilometern zu fahren. Ich meine, gibt es nicht schon genug Preisunterschiede zwischen Edeka, Rewe, Aldi und Lidl bei uns?

Wie handhabt ihr das? Fahrt ihr auch über die Grenze, oder versucht ihr, cleverer hier einzukaufen?

Hey NYC redditors! Saw the news about Mamdani's new city-run grocery stores launching with a guaranteed 30% discount. That's huge for a lot of people, especially with how insane grocery prices have been.

My first thought was, how does that *actually* compare to what I'm already paying? A blanket discount is great, but sometimes a specific item is still cheaper at, say, Aldi or even by hitting a weekly deal at a bigger store.

I've been using this app called Best Price Alert (bestpricealert.app if you're curious) that helps with exactly this kind of thing. You just dump your grocery list in, and it compares the live prices and weekly deals for every item across all your local stores, including things like the new city stores, if they’re listed there. It's cool because it shows you your total savings *before* you even leave the house. No scanning receipts or waiting for cashback.

It's been a game-changer for finding the *actual* cheapest way to buy my list, balancing the overall discount stores with the really good weekly sales. Could be super useful for figuring out if Mamdani's 30% actually beats your current strategy, or if a mixed cart is still the way to go. Just thought I'd share for anyone else trying to stretch their grocery budget in the city.

I've been down the grocery comparison rabbit hole, and honestly most of these apps solve for the wrong problem.

The thing is, cashback apps like Ibotta and GetUpside work *after* you shop: you buy, you upload receipts, you wait for approval, then maybe you get 2-5% back. Which is fine if you're already doing the shopping, but they don't help you decide *where* to shop or what to actually buy to save money. Same thing with Flipp and Kaufda. They show you flyers, but you're still manually cross-referencing your list across multiple stores to find the cheapest combo.

The gap nobody fills: **showing you the actual cheapest way to buy your list *before* you leave the house.**

That's where the math breaks down for most people. Yeah, Aldi's usually cheaper, but this week Lidl has that one thing on sale for less. Rewe's got a loss-leader on eggs. And you're not going to three stores to save €3, but if you knew upfront that buying at Store A instead of Store B saves you €8 on *your* specific list, that's worth it.

I've been testing an app that does this: live per-item price comparison across nearby stores, shows your savings *before* checkout, and here's the trust part: no receipts, no claims process, just actual prices. You either trust it or you don't, but there's no friction loop where you prove every transaction.

The thing that makes it different from AnyList or Basket is that it's actually comparing what stores have in stock and on sale *right now*, not just what's supposed to be on sale. And it doesn't ask you to be a data entry machine.

Is it perfect? No. It's only as good as the stores' current pricing data, and not every local discounter is covered yet. But it solves the actual problem: helping you spend less time planning your shopping and more time actually saving money.

If you're in Germany or the US and curious, it's at bestpricealert.app.

Hey everyone, I just saw that new study claiming Kroger has the lowest prices compared to Walmart and Aldi. That's a big statement, and while studies like that are interesting, grocery prices can vary wildly depending on your specific city and even individual store.

I've always been skeptical of blanket statements when it comes to grocery shopping, especially because my weekly list changes so much. What's cheap for one item might be expensive for another at the same store.

For my own shopping, I actually built a tool called Best Price Alert (https://bestpricealert.app) to help cut through that noise. It lets you put in your actual grocery list and then compares live, per-item prices and weekly deals across nearby stores like Kroger, Walmart, and Aldi. You see your total savings *before* you even leave the house, so you know if making an extra stop is actually worth it for your specific haul.

It's been super helpful for me to verify if those kinds of claims hold true for *my* shopping list in *my* neighborhood, rather than just relying on national averages. Might be useful for some of you who are also trying to find the real cheapest way to buy your groceries each week.

Hallo zusammen,

Ich habe gerade eine interessante Nachricht aus New York City gelesen: Die Stadt führt dort ein Programm ein, das 30% Rabatt auf Lebensmittel in städtischen Läden bietet, um den Bürgern zu helfen, mit den steigenden Preisen klarzukommen.

Das hat mich zum Nachdenken gebracht: Brauchen wir so etwas auch in deutschen Städten? Oder gibt es vielleicht schon ähnliche Initiativen, von denen ich nichts weiß?

Ich weiß, die Situation hier ist anders, wir haben Discounter wie Aldi und Lidl, die schon sehr preisaggressiv sind. Aber gerade in größeren Städten oder für bestimmte Produkte kann Einkaufen trotzdem echt ins Geld gehen. Würde so ein Modell (Rabatte in bestimmten Läden) bei uns funktionieren oder sogar etwas bringen? Oder seht ihr andere Wege, wie Städte oder Gemeinden die Lebensmittelkosten senken könnten?

Bin gespannt auf eure Meinungen und Erfahrungen!

Hey, DFW grocery shoppers! I've been diving into some local pricing data, and for those of you who hit up Kroger, I've got some interesting findings about their store brands.

We often hear about national averages, but what actually plays out in our local stores can be very different. My data (which I pull weekly from various DFW Kroger locations) confirms that Kroger's store brands (like Kroger Brand, Simple Truth, and Private Selection) consistently offer really solid value. They're often significantly cheaper than their national brand counterparts, even when those national brands are on a slight sale.

For example, I'm seeing their store-brand yogurt and pasta coming in at 30-40% less than name brands, without much sacrifice in quality. Even on basics like sugar and flour, the store brand difference adds up quickly over a few trips.

This isn't to say Kroger is always the cheapest overall for your entire list: other stores, especially discounters, still win on certain items or specific weekly sales. But if Kroger is already one of your regular stops, leaning into their store brands is a reliable way to cut down your bill without feeling like you're hunting for every single flyer deal.

Just thought I'd share for anyone trying to save a bit more on their groceries around here!

Okay, das ist ja mal ein interessanter Ansatz! Ich habe gerade einen Post gesehen, in dem es darum ging, wie man in den USA 30 % Rabatt in städtischen Supermärkten bekommen kann. Das hat mich direkt zum Nachdenken gebracht, wie das hier bei uns in Deutschland aussieht.

Klar, 30 % sind eine Hausnummer. Aber sind unsere lokalen Angebote und Discounter nicht auch schon ziemlich stark? Ich meine, wenn ich mir die wöchentlichen Prospekte von Lidl, Aldi, Kaufland & Co. ansehe, da gibt es ja auch immer wieder krasse Deals auf bestimmte Produkte. Und auch ohne spezielle Rabattprogramme wie in den USA kann man hierzulande schon ordentlich sparen, wenn man ein bisschen vergleicht und flexibel ist.

Ich mache das oft so, dass ich meine Einkaufsliste aufteile. Grundnahrungsmittel hole ich beim Discounter, und spezielle Sachen, die ich nur in einem bestimmten Laden finde oder die gerade im Angebot sind, eben dort. Ich versuche da immer, den besten Mix aus Ersparnis und vertretbarem Aufwand zu finden, denn die Zeit, um durch zehn Läden zu rennen, hat ja auch nicht jeder.

Wie seht ihr das? Haben wir hier in Deutschland vergleichbare Sparmöglichkeiten, auch wenn sie vielleicht anders strukturiert sind? Oder vermisst ihr auch so ein pauschales Rabattprogramm? Ich bin gespannt auf eure Erfahrungen und Tipps!

Mal eine Frage in die Runde, wie geht ihr im Moment mit den Lebensmittelpreisen um? Ich finde es Wahnsinn, wie schnell alles teurer geworden ist. Habe früher einfach in zwei, drei Läden eingekauft (so der günstige Discounter und dann der „gute“ Laden für den Rest), aber selbst da merke ich, dass ich kaum noch durchblicke, wo was wirklich am günstigsten ist.

Gerade bei den ganzen Apps von einzelnen Supermärkten: da gibt’s zwar Rabatte, aber die sind oft nur für bestimmte Artikel und dann muss man trotzdem noch überlegen, ob sich der Weg lohnt oder ob ein anderes Produkt im Nachbarladen nicht eh günstiger wäre. Manuell jede Woche alle Prospekte und Preise abzugleichen ist mir definitiv zu viel Aufwand.

Ich habe neulich mal ausprobiert, ob es nicht eine bessere Lösung gibt, um wirklich den günstigsten Weg für meinen ganzen Einkauf zu finden. Ich meine, es wäre doch super, wenn man einfach seine Einkaufsliste eingibt und die App sagt einem dann, wo man was am günstigsten bekommt und wie viel man spart, ohne dass man Coupons scannen oder Belege einreichen muss.

Was sind eure Strategien? Habt ihr spezielle Apps, die ihr nutzt, oder schwört ihr auf andere Methoden?

Grocery coffee just hit a record $9.72/lb. Here's how I cut my per-cup cost without downgrading to something I hate.

Context for anyone who hasn't looked: the average pound of ground coffee at US grocery stores hit $9.72 in April 2026, a record since the BLS started tracking in 1980, up roughly 39% since early 2025. It's a real supply story (green bean constraints plus tariffs), not a blip, so "wait it out" isn't much of a plan.

Things that actually moved my cost per cup without making the coffee worse:

1. Whole bean over pre-ground. Usually cheaper per pound at the same quality tier and it stays fresh longer, so less waste. A cheap burr grinder pays for itself fast if you drink daily.

2. Buy the 2-3 lb bag, but check the unit price first. Bigger isn't automatically cheaper per ounce, and coffee goes stale, so only size up if you'll drink it in a few weeks.

3. Dial in your dose. A lot of people use way more grounds than they need. A scale and a proper ratio (start ~1:16 for drip) can stretch a bag noticeably with no taste loss.

4. Store-brand and roaster-direct are worth a blind test. Some grocery house brands are genuinely good now; some regional roasters sell direct cheaper than the supermarket premium shelf.

What I would NOT do is jump to the cheapest stale can and be miserable every morning, that's a false economy on something you drink every single day.

What's everyone doing to ride out the price spike? Anyone found a bean that punches above its price right now?

A simple framework for deciding whether driving to a second grocery store is actually worth it

This debate comes up constantly and usually turns into "my time is worth money" vs "you're lazy." It's really just arithmetic, so here's how I think about it.

Step 1: Cost of the second stop. Add up (a) fuel + wear for the round trip and (b) the value of the extra time. Even conservatively, a 15-20 min detour plus a few miles usually lands around $5-10 in real cost before you save anything.

Step 2: Total savings, not the flashy one. Add up the price gap across ALL the items you'd actually shift to store B this trip, not just the one item that's 50% off. If store B saves you $3 on coffee and $4 on meat, that's $7.

Step 3: Compare. $7 saved vs $6 cost = marginal win. $7 saved vs $9 cost = you lost money to feel thrifty.

The honest conclusion: a second store only pays when savings are concentrated in a few high-volume items you buy anyway, or when it's already on your route. Chasing scattered small discounts across town is a hobby, not a financial strategy (nothing wrong with hobbies, just be clear which it is).

The bigger lever for most people isn't visiting more stores, it's identifying your ~10 highest-spend items and only optimizing those. Everything else, buy it wherever you already are and stop overthinking it.

How do others here draw the line? Curious what people's personal "worth the extra stop" threshold is.

For those tracking Lebensmittel prices: food inflation in Germany has actually cooled a lot, but it's very uneven.

Wanted to share some real numbers because the vibe online is still "everything is unaffordable," and the data is more nuanced than that.

Overall food prices were only about 0.9% higher year-on-year by spring 2026, down from years of steep increases. Some categories genuinely dropped:
- Butter: about -29%
- Olive oil: about -12%
- Edible fats and oils overall: about -18%

But it's not down across the board. Still up noticeably:
- Sugar, jam, honey, confectionery: +6%
- Chocolate: +10% (global cocoa crisis)
- Fruit: +5%, fresh vegetables: +4%, meat: +4%

So the smart play right now is leaning into the stuff that's cheap again (butter and oils are a real win) while being deliberate about the categories still climbing.

Also worth noting for newcomers: Aldi still runs no loyalty app and just competes on shelf price, while Lidl just moved Lidl Plus to a points system (1 point per euro) in June. The discounter price war is a big reason German groceries pass savings through faster than a lot of other countries.

Anyone else noticing specific items getting cheaper lately, or is it just the butter for me?

PSA: we're heading into the cheapest produce window of the year. Cook to the shelf, not to the recipe.

Late August into September is when a ton of summer crops peak all at once, which means growers dump supply and prices drop. Right now that's tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers (peak July-Sept), corn, cucumbers, and stone fruit. Fresh produce was actually one of the only grocery categories to get CHEAPER in the US this June while everything else crept up.

The mindset shift that saved me the most money: I stopped picking recipes first and hunting the ingredients (often out of season and pricey). Now I walk in, see what's stacked high and cheap, and build 2-3 dinners around that.

Some cheap-and-healthy things I lean on this time of year:
- Sheet-pan roast of whatever's cheapest (zucchini + peppers + onion + a protein)
- Big pot of ratatouille-ish veg stew, freezes great
- Grated zucchini hidden in pasta sauce or fritters
- Tomato + cucumber salad as the base side all week
- Peaches/berries as dessert instead of buying anything processed

A glut only saves money if you actually eat it before it wilts, so buy the cheap stuff with a plan to use it in the first 3-4 days.

What's your go-to cheap seasonal meal right now? Looking for new ideas before the tomatoes disappear.

Stop budgeting against the CPI headline. Build a personal price index instead.

Every few months a headline says grocery inflation is "only" 2.7% and the comments fill with people saying that's nonsense because their bill exploded. Both sides are right, and here's why it matters for actually saving money.

The national number is an average across hundreds of items. Your cart is not average. It's the same 20-30 things over and over. If your regulars happen to be in the categories that are spiking, your personal inflation can be double the headline.

Example from 2026: food-at-home is up ~2.7% overall, but coffee hit a record $9.72/lb (up ~39% since early 2025), beef is forecast up ~10%, and chocolate has more than doubled since 2024. Meanwhile fresh produce actually dipped and beverages fell 1.5%. If you drink a lot of coffee and eat a lot of beef, "2.7%" is meaningless to you.

What's worked for me: I keep a note with my ~15 highest-spend regular items and jot the price each time. Takes 30 seconds. After a month you can see exactly which items are dragging your bill up, and those are the only ones worth the effort of comparison shopping, swapping, or timing.

Everything else? Not worth the mental energy. A 20% saving on a $1 item you buy twice a year is not a strategy.

Curious what's at the top of everyone else's personal-index pain list this year. For me it's coffee, by a mile.