Grocery Shopping

  Grocery

Shopping

                The best tips on where to do your shopping           

Grocery shopping in Vancouver can looks expensive or confusing in the begining, but there are many ways for save money and find good things if you know where to look. One of the most know supermarket here is Real Canadian Superstore, who has everything. There is a lot of variety: fruits, vegetals, meats, milk products, cleaning things, snacks, kitchen stuffs and more. Superstore belong to a company that also have No Frills, which is like a more cheap version. No Frills has lower prices, but sometimes not have so much variety or famous brands. Costco is another good opcion for students. Is a different kind of store but very usefull. You can buy big packs, for example 12 yogurts or 10 cans of food. Is very good if you live with others persons or if you cook all the time. The only thing is you need pay a membership for the year, like 60 dollars, but you can share it with other person. The products are good quality and they have international things too.

Something that many people don’t know when arrive is that you can use a card of points called PC Optimum. Is totaly free and you can use in Superstore, No Frills, Shoppers and other stores. Each time you buy, you get points. Then, you can use the points like money. For example, 10,000 points is $10. Is good to download the app in your phone, because it show you special offers for you, based in what you buy before. Another cheap store is Walmart, that have good prices, especially for basics like rice, pasta, bread, toilet paper, etc. Dollarama is not exactly supermarket but sell snacks, cans, spices and cleaning for $1.50 or $5. Not all the things are good quality, but if you look good, you find useful stuffs. There are many international markets in Vancouver. For example, T&T and H-Mart sell Asian food. There are also Latin, Indian and Arabic stores. You can find plantains, beans, arepas, spicy sauces and special condiments. Sometimes the prices is more expensive, but it's nice when you miss your country food.

A good tip for save is look for products with red or yellow stickers. This mean the product will expire soon, but if you cook today or tomorrow is not problem. Sometimes there is 30%, 50% or more of discount. Also is important to see the price for kilo or liter, in the small label, so you can compare better. Another thing is that in Canada they not give free bags. If you don’t bring your own, you pay like 10 or 25 cents per bag. Better bring your reusable bag always. Also, the prices in the shelf not include taxes, so when you go to pay, the total is more higher than you think. First time is confusing, but after some weeks you get use to it. Some stores like Superstore, Walmart or Save-On-Foods let you buy online or in the app. You can order for pickup or delivery, but sometimes delivery have extra cost. If you are busy with school or job, this is very helpful. In conclusion, do grocery shopping in Vancouver being international student no need to be hard or expensive. If you learn some tricks, use the card of points, find the good places and plan a little, you can eat good and save money for other things.

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