Add ideas, deals, thoughts, saving $$$ these days is always a great idea.


We do alot of our shopping at super 1, Idaho or fairchild AFB Commissary....unfortunately I entered a Walmart in spokane valley today. Price differences, observed...washington prices are walmart..Idaho Super 1.Fairchild AFB

Eggs cage free

ID     2.58 Large dozen
Wa   4.33
AFB 2.50

Milk homo
ID     2.98
Wa   2.92
AFB 2.72

Farmland breakfast sausage 1lb
ID   3.12
WA 3.12
AFB2.57

Ground beef 80% 1LB
ID.  4.76
WA 4.97
AFB 3.30

I've observed that Jimmie dean an Farmland are switching from 1lb to 12ounce chubs with no price reduction.

The commissary also charges a 5% fee..the PX/BX does not



Unleaded gas WA $3.49...Stateline, ID $2.99...Fairchild $3.39..diesel is $1.00 cheaper in idaho.

We use coupons religiously..the Commissary is extremely coupon friendly..we only shop sales an the bi yearly case lot sales.

Additional food an household savings..

We visit family in  C.WA during fall harvest an glean fields after for onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes..free, as they'll just get disked under. Enough to fill a 8ft truck bed full an a 8ft trailer.

Beef we buy a beef every year an give my parents a quarter...we have chickens, they eat anything an they free range.need to get some feeder pigs..we have goats, but they are basically living lawn mowers...

I do alot of fishing..license for freshwater costs me $9ish dollars..my gear is relatively cheap, but puts alot of fish on the table.

I don't hunt much anymore, bad knee from military limits my mobility for pheasant..an frankly after cost analysis it's cheaper to buy meat. Unless Bambi strays into our front yard.

.theres a fair amount of barter in our area..eggs, honey, meat, firewood, hay, livestock..Etc.

We don't buy much toilet paper, we Installed bidets an it really helps out the septic. We keep some on hand for guest an grandkids. Well water ofcourse, wood heat, scored a deal on used commercial solar panels...so that'll help this year.

Woodford reserve

ID $28.99
WA 31.99+ WA extra sin tax.9-10.00 = $40+
AFB 19.99 currently on sale..I bought till it hurt.

Ammo is alittle cheaper in idaho..6% sales tax, PX/BX is expensive an I don't buy ammo their. I understand commissary/px isn't an option for most..but if you are a veteran with a VA rating,  go get an ID card an use the commissary an PX.
 The PX ships directly to your home, no shipping, no sales tax. Home depot has been added as a vendor for appliances, furniture store is nice(sells ashley brand). An I save money on tires every year.

I also hunt FB Marketplace an rural yard sales an estate sales..got some great deals on tools an equipment.

Some of the prices between WA and ID are closer than I would have expected.

On the Woodford, I'm guessing that price is before the WA Liquor Tax though.  Most stores don't put it on the tag, it gets added at checkout.  So add about another $9.39 to the WA price ($41.38 is my guess, based on Total Wine's website price of $31.99 before tax)

The price similarities are due to post falls being close to state line I gather..if you push on to CDA, Athol, Sandpoint, down to Moscow it gets alittle cheaper.

You are correct, I always forget the extra tax..I rarely buy alcohol off post..

Gas is about the only thing that I have noticed as being considerably less expensive in ID. Last fall I filled up at Costco in Woodinville and then again at the Costco in CDA, full dollar a gallon less in ID. Maybe this summer I will remember to do some cost comparisons between the local Fred Meyers, the Super 1s in Rathdrum and CDA, and the Broulim’s grocery stores in eastern ID.

what pisses me off is how much they tax Diesel, it's easier to refine and is a more stable fuel but because some jackasses see exhaust and think "black smoke bad" they tax the everloving fuck out of it.

I know if we didn't have our commissary we'd be worse off than we are.  Gas at our commissary isn't a savings, I can usually get the same price or even better at Safeway and Costco.  We buy about 98% of our food from the commissary with Costco occasionally and Walmart rarely. It's funny, I was just discussing this elsewhere, came here to see if there was anything gun related and saw this post.  Growing up and until I retired from the Navy I never concerned myself too much about money because I never had any.  Just when I thought we were on our way to having breathing room Biden stole the election and our financial picture soured.  It seems our town builds a new school every year, we keep having votes about new levies or whatever they call them, this newest one is gonna really add to our bill, at first glance 25%.  As badly as we don't want to leave Washington, moved back here from across the country to retire, we have to move to a fixed income friendlier state.

161Infantry, you sound like you have sound approaches and would probably manage whatever is thrown at us.  I'm positive most don't have the fiscal sense you seem to.  My own kid, 36, and as hard as I try to instill in her to make sound fiscal decisions, she doesn't.  She's moving up in her career but she does the same thing my dad used to complain to my sister about.  She would make $40K/yr but spend $60K. She'd make $80 and spend $120 and so on.  She's was making high six figures 20 years ago so I'd be frightened to see what she spends now.  My kid is on the same path. Her saving grace is that she works hard like her aunt. Maybe it is but financial handling should have be a subject taught nationwide, it wasn't for my generation.

The Commissary has gotten very expensive. You can get better deals at Winco

Just back from the local Fred Meyer and geez, the price of eggs really shot up recently. $3.59 for a dozen large. I swear I just paid that for an 18 pack a couple of weeks ago.

You're right it has gotten expensive but I was assuming the other stores had increased as well.  I've been to Winco a few times, my wife doesn't like it for some reason, but I'll do some comparisons this week, maybe that'll change her mind.

That's why we shop the sales..managers specials at the commisary..an pork is still reasonable..got chicken legs today on sale 5lbs $2.50..we also hit grocery outlets. Last month they had bacon, butcher cut 1lb on clearance..$1.99..it expired in 2 days, but I bought every package they had= 45lbs. An put it all in our freezer.

Because feels.

I was wondering why the eggs at Safeway are in different cartons now.  

Time to clean out the old coop and get some chicks again.

Indeed,we're adding more chickens, ducks an some turkeys...excess we give to our kids, my parents an some struggling folks in the area.

When we moved to Idaho from Western Washington the first thing, we noticed was how much more expensive groceries were here.

I understand that it costs more money in fuel to bring them over, but damn some things are stupid expensive over here.

We live near Priest River and shop at Super 1 most of the time because I hate Safeway.

Things may have change since covid, so maybe the price difference isn't there anymore.

Great write up op.

My aunt in Texas had a deer feeder behind her house on her 100 acre ranch. Come deer season, she could harvest one from her window.