Currently I live in Boston in the U.S. and I'm trying to calculate/budget as best I can what I might be spending on groceries. I know food/fresh food/produce and things are more expensive, but I have three specific questions.
Please share your thoughts/experiences:
1) Do supermarkets have 'frequent shopper' or 'membership' clubs that provide a card or something and may allow discounts or sales on certain items?
2) Does the concept of 'coupons' even exist in Switzerland? Are there manufacturer coupons or some type of weekly circular where they can be obtained?
3)Are groceries cheaper in areas that would be considered 'the suburbs'?
For example in downtown Boston most things cost 10% greater than if you bought them from the same supermarket chain 15 minutes outside of the city.
Both Coop and Migros (the two big chains) have a loyalty card. Instead of discounts, or special sales, you get "points" which you can eventually redeem (a couple times a year) for heavily discounted cookware, etc.
Coupons aren't really part of the culture. Occasionally you see them for bookstores, electronics, fast food... but not really for groceries. (There are weekly specials in all the grocery stores, but you don't have to bring the flyer along with you to get the sale price.)
Groceries are definitely cheaper if you go to Aldi, Denner, Lidl... which are generally located in the suburbs. I think a Migros in the suburbs would have the same price as a Migros downtown - open to correction on that though.
If you have a Migros loyalty card, they send you some CHF5 vouchers once every few months (depending on how much you've spent in the intervening time) which you can use at their stores like money.
It's fine to budget CHF600-700 worth of groceries for two people each month.
The suburb thing applies mainly for Germany and France, not for Switzerland - in towns such as Zurich and Basel, you may find Aldi and Lidl right in the very centre, too. Same for Migros.
All chains have the very same prices - be it downtown or somewhere in the green.
I have not seen coupons, but both major chains do issue a weekly circular publicizing their weekly sale items. This is the best time to stock up on necessities such as detergents, and you can occasionally get really good deals on meats and proteins. I generally plan my shopping and menus around these. The Coop website publishes store-specific sales, and Migros has a weekly newsletter they mail out. Lots of recycling that way, but I have saved a bundle going through it every week.
I agree to practically everything stated above. Prices at Migros, Coop etc. are the same all over the country. Practically no coupons, which makes perfect sense in my opinion. You buy things that are on sale; why should you have to use your scissors and carry those stupid slips around to get a reduced price you can get anyway? The latest on-line coupon versions in the USA aren't any better. I still can't see the purpose of the whole coupon thing.
As for paying more than in the USA -- generally that's correct, but there are certain things that can be amazingly expensive in the USA for no obvious reason, bell pepper for instance, which sometimes costs twice as much as here. And the stuff continental Yoorupeeans call decent bread can cost an arm and a leg on the western side of the Atlantic.
Commented on it before, but when thinking about food try and think seasonally.
Out of season fresh produce can increase in price by 100% vs. when in-season. Thinking of bell-peppers, mentioned above, can go from 3-4 CHF/kg to 8-9 CHF/kg.
I actually don't find that we spend more on food here than we did in the US. But, there I was working full time and didn't have much time to cook, whereas here, I'm at home taking care of the kids and cooking daily. We no longer go out to eat and I send lunch with my husband most days of the week.
In the US, we ate a lot of more ready meals and would eat out/bring home food much more often (at least once a week). Here, we go out maybe once or twice a month (and don't get ready food).
On average, we're spending the same amount of money or even a bit less here than we did in the US.
Shopping at Discounters like Lidl , Aldi and Denner and taking advantage of their weekly offers (see links) seem to garantee a cut in a monthly grocery buget of at least 25%.
I know many students who couldn't make it w/o Discounters.
Discounters Pros: No need for carrying Coupons. Prices better than coupon reductions.
Contras: They tend to have the same choices. No diversification.
I have been only once to Aldi, which was like 10 to 15 minutes by bus from the city center, and i only bought the stuff i normally buy from Migros, which seems cheaper than Coop. Well, that what normally would cost me 80 CHF in Migros, cost me about 40-45 CHF in Aldi. So, even if you have to pay for the bus ticket it looks like it is worth to take the ride, if you need some proper grocery shopping. But of course, the quality is not as good as in Coop, or Migros.
I would say the quality is quite comparable at Aldi and Denner (don't know about Lidl as I've only been there once); only a few things are noticeably of lower quality or size but the prices for 95% of things are indeed lower, some substantially so. However, the packs are large, for example chicken breasts or thighs from Aldi.
Dried spaghetti, for example, is only about CHF1 per kg in Aldi.
3) The ultimate answer is drive 25 minutes to the nearest Aldi in Germany just over the border and buy everything in bulk (only limitations are on meat and alcohol, you can pick up a pamphet at the border crossing). Passport checks and obligatory stops are a thing of the past, 9/10 times you just drive through anyway. You will save 40-60% on just about everything. Make sure to buy a big freezer.
I was just about to apply online for a supercard and I notice they also have a supercard ticket card. I've tried my best to translate but I'm non the wiser as to the difference (afraid my German is very limited but I am trying ) Can anyone tell me the difference?