The Best Time Of Day To Find Deals At A Grocery Store

With ever-rising grocery prices, we're all feeling the pinch and looking for ways to stretch our dollars farther. One of the easiest choices you can make to save money on groceries is to stick with generic brands. Another trick requires more effort but will score you deeper discounts: Looking for mark-down deals like the yellow "Woohoo!" tags at Kroger or the marked-down pantry items that sometimes crop up in Aldi's Aisle of Shame. Is there any one specific time to look for those deals, though? Your mileage may vary depending on the store, but many shoppers suggest getting there soon after the store opens.

One Redditor suggests that early mornings are when the staff mark down any perishables that are set to expire within a day or so. (Worried about eating them? Don't be, your freezer can delay any spoilage indefinitely and even the USDA says that many dates are more about product quality than safety.) While that particular thread is an old one from back in pre-pandemic days, more recent Reddit posters concur. Several Facebook users, however, said that some stores (Aldi included) mark down meat and baked goods in the afternoons. One person said they tended to find the best bargains at Aldi between 3 and 4 p.m. Yet another Facebook Aldi fan noted that whenever the markdowns occur they tend to be snatched up fast, and this goes for other grocery stores as well. If you want the best bargains, you may need to do a little detective work to determine your particular store's routine. (You might inquire of a store worker, but be sure to ask nicely and only if they're not busy.)

Not only the time of day, but the day of the week can affect grocery store markdowns. Sundays and Mondays are often good days to find deals on dairy, produce, and bakery items as the store tries to clear out the remainder of the previous week's shipment. Wednesday morning may be a good time to shop at Aldi since that's the day it rolls out a new set of specials. Meanwhile, Fridays can be a good day to look for cheap meat since this item often ships out on either Wednesday or Thursday.

Another time to score serious savings is on the days immediately preceding or following a holiday. A Canadian Redditor noted that the night before a holiday closure (especially one of more than a day) is great for finding markdowns. A Facebook user agreed, saying, "The very best time is the morning before a day they are going to be closed! I got chicken, salmon & ground beef on Christmas Eve morning and there was plenty left for others." As for the days following a holiday, who hasn't seen discounted butter lambs and chocolate bunnies after Easter or peppermint bark and gingerbread on clearance starting December 26?