Where I shop

Further to yesterday's post about how the so-called "budget" stores really aren't that cheap, I thought I'd share this article about WinCo, the supermarket I use the most. Unlike Walmart, WinCo isn't a giant nightmare of commercialism, which is part of why I like it. It has lots of bulk bins (I adore bulk bins) and a decent, if not encyclopedic, range of produce and products. There are few luxury goods, but since I write a blog called The Penurious Kitchen, I think that's probably a good thing. The store-brand products are usually as good as, or better than, the name-brand versions.

There are a couple of things that are inconvenient, of course. Sometimes they run out of certain staples--for example, last week I couldn't get bread flour in the bulk section--and they stay out of stock for weeks on end. (For the past six weeks I've been unable to buy new tights there, which is very annoying.) Sometimes their dairy products are dangerously close to their sell-by date. Their meat products are mostly factory-farmed, which is why I typically buy meat from local vendors or the organic foods co-op I belong to (and believe it or not, this stuff is actually comparable in price to WinCo's products). You can't pay with a credit card, but then again, that's also probably a good thing for me, since it forces me to spend real money and not the imaginary, plastic kind.

These issues aside, it's a far pleasanter experience than shopping at Walmart, the employees seem happier, and it's far, far cheaper. Walmart had better look out, because I seriously never, ever go there, and I can't be the only person in the American West who feels this way.