I am interested in where you feel is the best place for DC food (bulk items). I am a Walmart fan, and we have an Aldi and a Sam's club here. A friend of mine orders online in bulk, does anyone do that too? I never thought Sam's was cheaper but some swear by it here.

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I love walmart too! Sams is more expensive at first but in the long run it is cheaper, as long as you can use the food before it expires! We use Sams club for items that we go through quickly! Like dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, garbage bags, baby wipes/diapers, bananas, apples, meat, cheese exc. we also use Aldis and Fareway. Just depends on which stores have the best deals for the week.

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I daycare grocery shop monthly (aside from milk and produce), and I do it at Aldi. We don't eat any processed food, so I am buying ingredients only. So I don't have to worry too much about the quality of the food. If I were buying items that were pre-packaged with added ingredients, then I might worry more about the ingredients - but I am purchasing fresh fruit, fresh veggies, wheat bread, pastas, rice, eggs, cheese, etc. I have checked enough to see that what I would be buying with convention brands at Target contains the same ingredients. I am able to feed the children healthy non-processed foods (not organic) for rather inexpensively. I also think buying monthly helps, because I can buy in bulk.

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I wish I was organized enough to make monthly trips to the store instead of weekly. I used to like walmart but ours has really gone down hill in reguards to customer service. There are never enough cashiers so the lines are really long. Lately I have been shopping at smith's (kroger's for some of you) I think it just depends on what ever works for you.

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I do a combination of places because some things are cheaper in different places. I shop usually once a month at Costco and stock up on things that last along with some things that I know I will use quicker like produce. I also shop at Aldi's for some stuff and then hit Walmart (along with ads from other places for price matching) for anything else I need.

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I just heard we are getting a Costco too. I am going to price compare at Sam's and Costco but I imagine they are similar.

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Here too. We get our ingredients at Winco, the rest at Trader Joes.

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Costco or Raleys. Costco for big stuff when we need it, Raleys for our small in between trips. I went to Costco the last 2wks to get some bigger items but now I only need to run to Raleys in for our small fresh items.

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Aldi for food absolutely! Also, we have a Sams club membership for staples like rice, beans, and sugar, flour etc.

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You are in the land of the Amish!! Find yourself a nice Amish bulk store I go to ours every 4 mos and drop about $1000. But I have food coming out of my ears! 50# of oats is $17, 50# bread flour $18.50. 1/2 pints of spices are $1. Cheese is 40lbs for $1.78 LB!! Ground beef is $1.99 for 80/20 and chicken breast is $1.39 lb. I get a bushel of apples (50lb) for 7.99 and 50lbs of potatoes for $8.

I make EVERYTHING from scratch. It is so easy and so rewarding! I love feeding my family of 5 and daycare 12 breakfast, 8 lunch, and 12 dinner plus bag lunch for hubby and 3 kids for $100 a week!

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Wow, you sound like the super woman of child care!! :-)

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