It takes a lot to feed our family of ten. A huge reason we started farming was to grow our own food because buying all organic food for a large family is soooo expensive! There is no way we could do it by shopping at Whole Foods. We try to buy as much organic as we can, but it’s not always possible due to our budget. Enter Mariano’s. We had seen bags with Mariano’s on them but until we shopped there we did not know anything about this store or that they offered organic produce.
My husband and I went out ALONE to Mariano’s in Jefferson Park, Chicago. It was a rare treat to be alone but it was also a treat to go into the city for a change. We looked forward to purchasing organic milk, natural products and organic produce. First we went to Whole Foods in Sauganash, Chicago, then we went to Mariano’s in Jefferson Park. The stores are literally only a couple miles apart. We bought the exact same items at each store. The goal was to see how much money we could save by shopping at Mariano’s for organic produce and all natural products.
Mariano’s in Jefferson Park
Mariano’s in Jefferson Park is a large spacious store. There was lots of room to maneuver aisles, even though there were lots of people in the store. It was pretty easy to find everything. The only thing we couldn’t find right away was Kombucha but we found it just before we checked out because I almost forgot to buy it!
Shopping at Mariano’s was a good experience for us in that we discovered a new store we can shop for organic produce and all natural products our family loves and enjoys and SAVE money, which makes my hubby very happy!
Here’s a list of items we bought:
Organic Valley Milk
1-1.5 lbs Organic Tomatoes
2 lbs Organic Carrots
2 lbs Organic Blueberries
2 pkg.Applegate Organic Bacon
1 bottle of Kombucha (fermented tea that is carbonated)
Below is our receipts from both stores to show you how much we saved by shopping for organic produce at Mariano’s. We saved a whopping $12.24! We were impressed.
This past weekend was customer appreciation at Mariano’s. In celebration of this they featured over 3,000 roses on display at all stores – just $1 each. Over 100 varieties – a rainbow of color and called it their Rose Extravaganza! It was truly a gorgeous display of roses. Robert and I loved looking at the roses and we even took time to stop and smell them.
Customer appreciation at Mariano’s includes a FREE rewards card with the potential to earn rewards!
We are looking forward to shopping at Mariano’s again in the future.
Please mark your calendars because you are invited to Mariano’s Twitter Party which will be on Thursday, August 29, from 12-1pm CT/1-2 pm ET RSVP link: http://cbi.as/5bh5f #cbias #MyMarianos. Consider “liking” them on Facebook as well.
$12 may not seem like much, but it really does add up. I would love to save that much each time I shopped. I wish that I had somewhere nearby to shop for organic products.
I have been wanting to try Mariano’s. I am waiting for the kids to go back to school this week so I can go without having to lug them with me.
I drove past one when I was at BlogHer last month and I wanted to go inside so badly. From what I see on blogs, they look like THE place to shop!
I’ll check it out when I come to Chicago
I am always looking for new ways to save money while I shop for organic natural products for my family. I sure wish a Mariano’s would pop up here in the Las Vegas area!
Grr! I’m so jealous – we have 2 grocery store options within a 100 mile radius. I’d love to check out Marianos
I can’t believe those savings! It is such a dramatic difference between the two stores!
Wow, that is an impressive savings. Now I want one of those stores around here.
My husband came home this week saying there’s a new Mariano’s going up 30-40 minutes away from here which brings one that much closer to us. Jefferson Park wasn’t a bad drive but it was a little over an hour with traffic, so another one closer is just that much better. Plus we go to a farmer’s market in that same town where the new Mariano’s is going up so it will be convenient to stop there after market since the market closes at 7pm and Mariano’s is open ’til 10pm!
I don’t by much organic but I would say that savings times more food would definitely be worth changing stores.
That store looks great! &It’s right near where I grew up, too!
Looks and sounds like a great store!
We don’t have a Mariano’s but it looks like a nice store.
That is a heck of a deal! We don’t have any affordable options for healthier food here.
Looks like a nice store – love that they had organic options! Some of our stores don’t even have organic products and I end up traveling further.
It looks like such a nice store. We don’t have them here.
When are you coming to Gurnee