Decided to cash out my CostCo rewards and see if maybe it wasn’t time to try a new venue…….
TL;Dr version: Winco: Emphasis on Win
The longer I identify and live my life as a survivalist (and, yeah, I’m gonna go with that over ‘prepper’) the more I am convinced that in 90% of the most likely emergencies I will face the most important things to have will be a) money (or money-like instruments) and b) food. To that end, I stockpile food and I sock away moneystuff. Winco will be my new go-to for food.
The Winco at the corner of South and Reserve opened up last week and a friend of mine recommended I check it out. Selection was broad and prices were very competitive, I was told. Okay, I go check it out. Ah…you had me at the food storage section:
Interestingly, those are not Gamma Seal lids on that top shelf but rather some sort of knockoff….so…lose a few points on that one. But, they have oxygen absorbers, which is nice. Also some fairly decent water storage containers.
Selection was quite good and prices were competitive with the local chain groceries, although noticeably absent were signs comparing their prices to Walmart and CostCo. However, the selection was much, much, much broader than CostCo and, for many things, the prices seemed better.
More importantly, for me, was the ability to buy cases of a product easily, and they also had a very large selection of ‘bulk’ items like pasta, rice, spice blends, etc.
Their ‘house brand’ canned goods seemed very reasonably priced but I need to try them before I commit to buying a case of something.
All in all, if you’re reasonably local to Missoula and youre the kinda guy who likes to stock up, this is a place you definitely need to go visit.
Strange; the ones I have were all bought at the winco store in my locality, and they all have ‘gamma seal’ as part of the cast on them; the older one I have is in a different style as compared to what is currently sold. I’ve also bought the buckets for them as well from winco.
The other interesting thing about WinCo is that they are employee-owned, which is nice. If you have one in your area, it’s worth dropping in and checking out to see if it fits your needs.
Got one just a couple miles from the house. Their house brand stuff like corn or green beans, etc taste just fine.
I love WinCo, it’s one of the few grocery stores in my area that still sells meat at something like a reasonable price and their produce area is second to none.
I can vouch for the canned corn and green beans, stay far, far away from the mixed veggies with potatoes though. Those are truly terrible.
The 10 pound blocks of milk chocolate are nice, too. They store for years in the freezer and make great Christmas gifts for the grandkids.
looks like a bag labeled ‘Commander’ in the bottom right corner. They have your stuff!
Good eye! I hit the “embiggen” button and yup. Commander brand.
Can’t tell if it’s rice or beans, or….
“…the most important things to have will be a) money….”
If deflation comes, the man with cash on-hand will be king.
Tim
Even higher is the chance of (more) rampant inflation –
Metals NOT cash!
Ceejay, you and Tim are both partially right. Each of you is covering one of four bases. Those bases are (a) having cash on hand, (b) having some precious metals on hand, (c) having an up-to-date paid-off charge card, and (d) having a stash of things to trade.
If people don’t want to sell their goods to you for cash or metal, you still have options. For example, where I am right now, gold, cash, and barter are all but useless for buying things. The majority of stores will only accept charge cards because they don’t want to deal with the hassle of disinfecting cash.
Honestly, I expect we will run through all four, pretty much in c, a, b, d order…. I’m not in too bad shape for that. The reason to believe that is that is what will gut the majority of the middle class the most while leaving it all in the connected (they sure the f’k aint “elite”).
They also have some food items in bulk supply as well. I have had them do a custom order on some grains. Well worth checking out.
For us, COSTCO and WINCO are a hour and a half journey from where we live. So, we hit them both once a month.
Very nice CZ. The fact that Winco is employee-owned and operated is good and if there were any within a reasonable distance of where I live, I’d shop there. I do hope that they are everything you hope they will be.
Winco, with its headquarters located in Boise, I believe, has stores that are spread all over the Western US, including California. The first time I was in one, perhaps five years ago, 30-day buckets of food were being sold, as well as a small selection of dehydrated food, plus mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. Last year, however, I did not find anything but a few cans of dehydrated food with a serious layer of dust on top of them. This probably reflects the unfortunate, smaller interest in preparedness in California than in the American Redoubt.
One good thing is that (at least pre-Chinese Virus) Winco sold bulk food, such as rice, beans of all types, candy, and a wide variety of other items. The option to buy certain types of food without buying it, say, in 25 lb. bags is attractive to some customers.
For those interested, Winco actually got its name from where it operates; Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon…
Where I used to work around the offshore oilfields, I got used to going to the WinCo store as it was so much better than any others, even Costco. CostCo demands a membership, Winco, fahgeddahboudit. Only draw back was that they wouldn’t (at that time) honor or allow credit cards, was pretty much a cash only store. Which worked well for me cause all my life I’ve always paid cash for groceries & items you commonly got at the grocery. Thats how I stay on budget.Allowing myself a certain amount of cash per month from the bank, divide it by 4 and that s what I s”can” spend every month, If I run out thats it, wait till next month. Whats left over gets crammed inna secret spot & fahgeddahboudit. My pound it up yer backside smelly hole fund….. Now I’m limited to the local grocery cause it’s 40 miles one way to anything larger. But I figure I’m way ahead ….. If the local guy don’t carry it, I don’t need it……
I see people buy groceries on credit cards and it boggles my mind. At the end of the month theyre still paying for groceries they crapped out thirty days ago.
Depends on if they are paying off the balance each month. If so it is easier than carrying cash. I have 2 bills. Mortgage and Credit card. Everything goes on the card.
Used to be able to double dip on rewards by using my AMEX at Costco. Got my AMEX rewards and my Costco rebates… AMEX had to be paid in full every month so it took discipline not to overspend like you can with a credit card.
n
I realize that most people who have credit cards do not pay off the balance each month. If they can do so each month, they are throwing money away by not making every purchase with a credit card that gives cash back or which gives airline miles.
Obviously, cash purchases get no discount, and many credit cards give nothing back to the user. Why not use a credit card that provides some benefits to the user?
Because there is risk involved.
If you lose your job you now have no income and a debt hanging over you.
Since the card returns are low (1-3% usually), there is the temptation to buy something that is more expensive than what you would usually buy under the argument that “But I’ll get a bigger rebate later and that’ll make up for it”.
Additionally, there is always the temptation to purchase more than you can afford.
IF a person has the self-discipline to not buy anything more than what they would buy if they were paying cash, and IF they pay the card off EVERY month WITHOUT FAIL then it might work for some folks. But it seems theres more risk than many people care for versus the potential ‘rewards’.
I’ve used a credit card for almost everything for a decade plus, and just treat it like a debit card. Even with my fairly casual accounting system, I’ve never had a problem – as long as my bank balance is staying the same or going up from month to month, I know I’m doing OK.
As for risk: If my credit card number is ever stolen, I can simply freeze the card and use cash or checks until things get sorted out – the money is still in my account, ready to be used directly if need be. Lose a debit card, and you might lose everything in the account, and while you will eventually get it back, you will have to deal with an empty bank account for up to a month (unless they’ve changed the law). Check fraud is even worse, but fortunately much rarer.
I spent some time as a phone bank operator for one of the big NE bank systems, and spent enough time filing claims for compromised debit cards for folks that suddenly had no money at all until the paperwork was processed that I will no longer use a debit card. With a credit card I’ve got a buffer between me and the thief.
I’ve done a majority of my grocery shopping at Winco for several decades. I’ve always had other choices, but I keep going back to Winco. Their prices are usually better than Costco and their wide selection is great. I especially like the bulk foods section, which is better than the bulk foods sections I’ve ever found elsewhere.
FYI…
I frequent a different one in Montana and found that you can call ahead and order large lots of their bulk items in bags; some things that are not on the regular shelf (like navy beans in 25# bags). That’s how I built up a large stock of bulk foods in the last 2 years.
Only problem down here is that visiting WinCo is like visiting a third world country.
Still, worth it, occasionally.