Frugal Grocery Shopping in Mexico

While I don't have a car here in Mexico, my sources for groceries are quite varied.

I live in Historic Centro in Merida. If I go one block east, there a tienda (mom and pop connivence store) where I can get soda, orange juice, bread, rice, noodles, snacks, eggs, yogurt, raisins, lunch meat and more. Plus, I can get some spices, fruits, vegetables like: garlic, bananas, pears, onions, potatoes, avocados, pepinos (cucumbers), tomatoes, bell peppers, and chili peppers. If I go one block west, there are two tiendas with similar selections with some variations.

I can go to Paseo de Montejo and walk north several blocks up to Chedraui's, a Mexican grocery chain.

Now, from my experience Mexican grocery stores don't have regular sales like in the states. They do have some items on sale but I haven't figured out where they advertise the sales. If I find an item I use frequently on sale, I stock up.

Once I am done, I catch a cab home at the corner near the Mexican National Monument (Monument a la Patria).

Or I could go to the Santa Ana market, an open air market and get freshly butchered chicken or pork as well as many of the spices, fruits and vegetables mentioned and more.

Pepinos from HoboTraveler

When I first came to Mexico, I tried to price various items from various sources to get an idea of where the best prices were -- I am still working on this because sometimes food vendors will give you the "foreigner" price which is higher than the Mexican price.

Stocking up on items I use frequently and limiting my visits to the grocery store saves money because I am not tempted to spend more than I intended and I save on cab money.