Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/195036
Your pocketbook Where are the best buys? warehouse clubs, grocers, or big-box stores? You can save a lot by shopping for the right items at the right store - by Cameron Huddleston uying your food, cleaners, medicine, toiletries and paper products all in one place is convenient, but it means you're probably spending more than you have to on many items in your shopping cart. Savings guru Andrea Woroch has researched the prices on various items at supermarkets, warehouse clubs and bigbox retailers. And she has found that the cost of those items can vary greatly by store type. So you can save a lot if you know where to go to get the best deal on items you regularly purchase. These recommendations from Woroch can help. B Grocery stores Canned vegetables. It's hard to beat the price on store-brand canned goods. And they're often on sale, which makes purchasing canned goods at the supermarket an even better deal. Milk and eggs. Woroch says that grocers keep prices on these everyday staples low so that shoppers associate the store with the good price and come back to spend more on other things. However, the low prices tend to apply to store brands. Name-brands tend to be cheaper at Target, Woroch says. Paper products. Although a warehouse club might seem like the logical choice for a big pack of paper towels or toilet paper, Woroch says you'll actually get a better deal on paper products the first and third weeks of the month when they typically go on sale at the grocery store. She recommends using manufacturer coupons to get an even deeper discount. Produce. The giant box of strawberries for a few dollars at the warehouse club might be tempting, but you'll be wasting your money if you don't eat them quickly enough and half go to waste. Instead, look for fruits and vegetables on sale – which they frequently are – at the grocery store and buy only the amount you can consume. Warehouse clubs Batteries. You'll save nearly 70% per unit on batteries if you buy them in bulk at warehouse clubs such as BJ's Wholesale and Costco, rather than in small packs at supermarkets, which have high mark-ups on this item. Cereal. You can save more than 50% by purchasing name-brand cereal in bulk. Diapers. Spend 25% to 35% less on diapers by buying in bulk. Meat. You'll save money by buying meat, fish and poultry in bulk at the warehouse club rather than in smaller quantities at the grocery store -- as long as you have enough freezer space to store what you don't eat within a few days of purchasing. Laundry detergent. You can save 40% to 50% by purchasing laundry detergent in bulk. But bleach has a shelf life of six months, so you're better off purchasing a smaller bottle at a big-box store. Peanut butter. You'll spend 30% less on a big jar at the warehouse club than several smaller jars at the grocery store. Peanut butter has a one-year shelf life, so the big jar is a good purchase if your family eats a lot of it. Prescription medicine. You can save up to 60% on generic and name-brand prescription drugs at warehouse club pharmacies. And Woroch says that you don't need a membership to access the pharmacy For over-the-counter medica. tions, you'll get a better deal with generic brands at the drug store than the warehouse club's giant bottle of 500 tablets that you probably won't be able to use up before the expiration date. 20 October 2013 DSEA ACTION! Big-box stores Cleaning supplies. Woroch says that big-box retailers, such as Target, have the best prices on name-brand cleaning supplies. By opting for Target's brand of cleaning items, you'll save another 20%, on average. Store-brand cereal and snacks. Target-brand cereal and granola bars tend to be 30% to 40% cheaper than grocery-store brands. Toiletries. You'll find better prices on shampoo, toothpaste and other personal items than at the grocery store. Brought to you by NEA Member Benefits. Content provided by Kiplinger. © 2013 The Kiplinger Washington Editors New member discount: 15% union discount from AT&T wireless f you are an existing AT&T Wireless customer, go to www.att.com/wireless/union plus15 and simply add your account number to get their new 15% union member discount. The service discount applies only to the monthly service charge of qualified plans and not to any other charges. If you would like to add new AT&T wireless phone service, you will receive the same discount if you purchase service online by going to the same AT&T web site. It's easy! To see all of your member-only DSEA discounts, go to www.dsea. I Use your DSEA membership number to access thousands of discounts www.dsea.org o log in to the DSEA website and access discounts, go to www.dsea.org. The very first time you go to this site, you will need to register so that you can see this member-only information. Click on REGISTER and create a login and password, using your DSEA membership number. This way, we can verify that you are indeed a member. After you register the first time, you may log in subsequent times by using your email address and password that you set up when you registered. T www.neamb.com There are additional discounts available at the NEA Member Benefits website. Register at that site using your name, date of birth and contact information. Family members may also register here. After you register, you may log in by using your email address and password that you set up when registering. Questions? Call either DSEA office at 866-734-5834 (toll-free to the Dover office) or 302-366-8440 (the Newark office). Watch for your new DSEA membership card coming in the mail next month ll DSEA members will receive new membership cards mailed to their home address in November. For the first time, your card will be good for as long as you are a member, saving DSEA the cost of producing 12,000+ cards every two years. A www.dsea.org