Grocery Budgets: The Salvage Grocery Stores

 In many blogs and YouTube videos, I keep hearing about salvage grocery stores.  And I had no idea what those were.  Salvage stores and bulk stores seem to be fairly common in Amish or Mennonite areas.  Well guess what? I live right down the road from the 4th biggest Amish community in the country (and about an hour away from the second biggest).  So I decided to see if I could find some salvage stores and check them out to see what all the hype was about.  

I'm about 20-30 minutes away from two of the salvage stores that I found.  And since I've never been to a salvage store, I did not know what to expect or how my shopping experience was going to go.  10 minutes from both stores are Aldi, Walmart, and Giant Eagle so I had those as back ups and to fill in with fresh produce.  In the summer, fresh produce is plentiful in Amish country.  But we are in March in Ohio, and not much much grows here now.

I mapped out which salvage store to start with and worked my way to the big chain grocery location.  I even found a surprise bonus store on my way back.

With no list for the salvage stores, but a nice grocery list for the big chain stores in hand, I headed out.  I brought my own bags because I wasn't sure if the salvage stores had their own bags (and I know for sure that Aldi does not).

Salvage Store #1:  I was nervous.  I know that sounds odd, but I get anxiety in new situations.  Plus on the way to store it occurred to me that these Amish run stores might be cash only.  And did I stop at the bank before I headed out? No, I did not.  I have some emergency cash in my wallet and figured that if worst came to worst, I could use that and skip the second salvage store.  Luckily the first store took debit/credit cards.  I really had no idea what to expect.  These stores are quite small (they remind me of the grocery stores that we went to on Abaco island in the Bahamas),  but they have carts for you to use.  I was surprised by what I found.  You can pick up so many items!  The thing you have to look at is flavor, how damaged an item is, and the BEST BY date.  Most of the items that I found were past the Best Buy date.  If you are ok with that, then you will be fine.  If not, it's probably not worth your time.  I found some canned goods, boxed goods, and even a frozen meat that would work for me.  I'm ok with buying things close to or just passed the best by date.  But buying something 2-3 years past the best by date isn't something that I want to do. But I will say, they had giant pieces of meat (full deli hams, ribs, sausage packs) that were past the best by date but frozen and if I truly had limited funds I would head there to bulk buy for my family. Everything looked safe and clean. We need to feed our people and when funds are VERY tight, you can feed your people for a long time here. Things you will find:  dented cans, crushed boxes, trial flavors, items that didn't sell well in a regular box store, seasonal items (lots of Christmas themed cookies and candy), slightly damaged items (broken caps on shampoo bottles, but not broken seals).  I bought a few items and my bill came to just over $15.

Salvage Store #1

2 types of yogurt, and 1 pack of uncured hot dogs

2 boxes of cereal (1 box went to the food pantry),  2 boxes of Kodiak Cakes Mix,  Baggies,  Crushed tomatoes,  Minute Rice, and a can of Anchovies

Salvage Store #2:  On the way there, I passed a cheese co-op and made a mental note to stop on my way back.  Store number 2 was much of the same, but they offered different items. and paper products whose original package was damaged so they had been repackaged.  This is the store that made my trip worth it.  I found a King Arthur Gluten Free Flour just past it's best by date for $2.99.  It's normally over $12 per bag (I took a picture of the regular price at our Giant Eagle ).  This store only took cash or check.  Luckily I had my check book with me. Again, I spent just over $15.

2nd salvage store

over $13 for the GF flour at the grocery store

Gluten Free flour mix for $2.99, Annies Mac N Cheese for $.59 per box (bought 3 boxes), 2 bulk pack of oats (2# each) for $2.39 each, Goya beans for $.39, Carnation powdered milk for $1.69, and muffin mix for $1.50 each.  1 of the bulk packs of oats and the muffin mix went to the local food pantry.

The Cheese Co-Op:  I've passed this before and never stopped.  I think it was last year that I did a post where I stopped at the store at the actual cheese factory, and this co-op is a much smaller version.  The cheese I got there was decently priced, but so delicious.  It's so fresh and creamy.  It's a nice treat from the $1.99 Aldi cheese (cost effective but sort of bland).  

The Cheese Co-Op

A large roll of butter, 3 types of cheese, and small bag of snacking cheese for my lunch, cheese curds, and a large maple syrup.

I went to Aldi and Giant Eagle to finish out my shopping.  All together, I was probably gone 3-3.5 hours.  Did I save money?  I'm not sure.  I have my receipts, and I will have to do the math on those.  I bought a lot of food for the boys to take back to college and it's things that I normally wouldn't buy.  I will go over the receipts and update you here later this week.

If nothing else, it was a kind of adventure.  I have lived here for 22 years and I have to say seeing those horse and buggies trotting along the road never gets boring.  And I had never been to a salvage store before so it was a completely new experience. And the cheese I got from the co-op is delish.

My take-a-ways from the salvage store:

1.  Make sure you have the appropriate currency.  Some may take credit or debit, but some may be cash or check only.

2.  Best By Dates, packaging, dents, flavors:  These are all things to look at.  Do what you feel comfortable with.

3.  Some stores will have a day where you can get extra savings.  One of the stores I went to said that on Mondays you can get an extra 10 percent off.  

4.  If they are Amish owned or heavily Amish run, these stores will be closed on Sundays.  Always check days and times of operation.

5. Have patience.  The stores are small.  But with carts and people will feel crowded.  Even though you may be going the correct way in an aisle, someone else may not.  Have patience and offer grace,

6.  You never know what you are going to get.  If you just want to save money, driving an hour or more to visit a few salvage stores may not be worth your time and gas money.  But if you are in the area, by all means, stop by and see what kind of savings you can get.

7.  These are small, local stores.  If you live near by, please stop by and patronize to keep them in business.