OT - Shopping in Buffalo - all the different stuff!

[busyshrew]

So we're going to shop in Buffalo, and I have my "gotta get groceries" list all planned out. Things like multi-coloured goldfish, habanero cheddar, Rotel, etc...

We're also planning to hit a Target. But I haven't really shopped there much. Do they really have stuff that is much different from our Zellers stores? Or is it simply that Target offers things at a cheaper price?

Would any other DISers like to chime in: what do you buy in the US that you just can't get in Canada?

I'll start with one thing: I visit Victoria's Secret. Love love LOVE their IPEX line!

[abdmom]

Target is in no way like Zellers. :sad2:

They have quality clothes and decently priced groceries. It's one stop shopping at its best.

[son3disfan]

So we're going to shop in Buffalo, and I have my "gotta get groceries" list all planned out. Things like multi-coloured goldfish, habanero cheddar, Rotel, etc...

We're also planning to hit a Target. But I haven't really shopped there much. Do they really have stuff that is much different from our Zellers stores? Or is it simply that Target offers things at a cheaper price?

Would any other DISers like to chime in: what do you buy in the US that you just can't get in Canada?

I'll start with one thing: I visit Victoria's Secret. Love love LOVE their IPEX line!

This post made me laugh!
I just went to Buffalo on Thursday for the EXACT things you listed!
FYI,
I couldn't find Rotel at Target.
I purchase my groceries at Walmart. Rotel was $1.09.And the Gram /Goldfish crackers (marshmellows and multi coloured crackers) were are on sale as well.

Walmart just opened by the outlets in Niagagra Falls.
Have fun!

[DaniB]

OP - we will be in Buffalo overnight on our way back from WDW in September.

I'm always hearing great things about purchasing food not available in Canada but never had an opportunity to do so before.

Would you mind telling me what kind of items do you have on your "gotta get grocery" list?

What are Canadians NOT allowed to bring back grocery wise?

[busyshrew]

I don't mind sharing my list - and if anyone else can suggest new food things, that's wonderful too!

oyster crackers
multi-coloured goldfish
pretzel goldfish
Busch's baked beans
salsa - there are a few US brands that are very good
fresh tortillas
Rotel (is there anything more baaad and more goood than Rotel-n-Velveeta?)
dried pinto beans
dried ancho chiles
Good Season's Italian Salad Dressing (the dry packets of seasoning)
Old Bay seasoning
Habanero cheddar
low sodium (heart healthy?) Cream of Chicken soup
frozen pearl onions
Stouffer's frozen "french bread" pizza (shhhhhh, don't tell on me)
frozen sweet potato fries
White Lily Flour
Aleve
Excedrin migraine

I am not claiming that the items above are not available anywhere in Canada - but they are definitely not easy for me to find in my local store (or it's much cheaper to get them in the States).

[momlee4]

I just came back from shopping at Target about 3 weeks ago. I thought the clothes were just okay, similar to Zellers - brands like Cherokee and Massimo. The pricing was a bit better. Theres a kids line called Circo thats cute. I ended up buying a really cute bedroom set for my daugther (lamp, wall decal, pillow, quilt). Circo also had clothes and toys and towels from what I saw.

Another good place to shop is Kohls. Its like a winners. They had discount racks there for up to 80% off!

Have fun shopping!

[alohamom]

We are going over for a quick overnight on April 1st (I checked, the stores are open Good Friday) and I have started stocking up on coupons now! There are so many sites you can print use to source deals etc so long as you do your homework. check out www.myfrugaladventures.com or wwwmommysavesbig.com. I also discovered that Kraft grated parmesean cheese is much cheaper across the border-last time I was over the regular everday price was 3.47 at Tops near the Walmart-Galleria area and I had a coupon so I paid even less. We use a lot of it and I usually pay somewhere around 5.99/6.49 here for the same size. It got me thinking that this could be true for many other shelf type good so I will be looking and comparing come this Friday!

[abdmom]

What are Canadians NOT allowed to bring back grocery wise?

From the CBSA website travellers are required to properly declare any meats, fruits, vegetables, plants, animals and plant or animal products they bring into the country.

So, no fruit, meat, vegetables, or plants

[Disney Ontario]

We are also trying for an overnightner next week, but got to get that income tax money in our account first. DD17 its Frosted Cherrios, DD21 its Peanut Butter Captain Crunch.Me its Orvals Caramel Popcorn Mmmm and anything scrapbooking. Love Big Lots, Target, Walmart and MEIjers is open 24 hours.

[busyshrew]

We are going over for a quick overnight on April 1st (I checked, the stores are open Good Friday) and I have started stocking up on coupons now! There are so many sites you can print use to source deals etc so long as you do your homework. check out www.myfrugaladventures.com or wwwmommysavesbig.com. I also discovered that Kraft grated parmesean cheese is much cheaper across the border-last time I was over the regular everday price was 3.47 at Tops near the Walmart-Galleria area and I had a coupon so I paid even less. We use a lot of it and I usually pay somewhere around 5.99/6.49 here for the same size. It got me thinking that this could be true for many other shelf type good so I will be looking and comparing come this Friday!



Oh that's a GREAT suggestion!!! I always forget about coupons. I will check out those websites.

[dancin Disney style]

I buy...

Peppridge farm cinnamon bread
Thomas's strawberry mini bagels
smores goldfish
red velvet cake mix
Pillsbury pumkin bread mix
Oscar Myer bacon bits....they are $1.50 there VS $4 here
fat free Hidden Valley ranch dressing
Lean pockets
Hillshire farms cold cuts
milk...gallon size there cost $1.75 VS $5 here
Brummel and Brown yogurt spread
Yoplait yogurts...they have amazing flavours that we don't have
Sunny D....they have gallon size for around $2.25...here we pay about $4 for 1.89L


I also buy make-up there...it's about half of what I pay at home. When we are on vacation in the US I buy new work shoes and they usually cost approx half....or sometimes less than half. I do need time to shop around for those that's why I do it when we are on vacation.

Oh ya....one more thing...the ink for my HP printer is about $35 at Target for the black/colour pack. Here it's around $60 and almost never goes on sale. At Target I often have found it for on sale for under $30.

[snickerboo]

We get all the goldfish, too! Love the cheese and pretzel, ranch and smores. My kids like the rainbow ones. My kids also love Capri Suns and Hawaiian Punch.

They have chocolate cheerios there now. They also have all the cereals we used to have when we were kids (unhealthy LOL) like Frankenberry. We go up and down the aisles and get anything cool and different.

I was shopping in the US over March Break and Walmart US had a lot of different Easter candy and cheaper. They had bags of Easter nerds, starburst, jelly bellies, laffy taffy, skittles, jolly rancher suckers, etc for $2 per bag. I just opened the bags to make their baskets and there was alot more candy in those bags than you get in a bag in Canada.

I prefer Walmart to Target since a lot of the clothes and shoes at Target are Cherokee, Massimo, and all those Zellers brands. For stores, I love Marshall's for shoes. It's the same as Winners but the shoes are much cheaper. I just bought a pair of Chinese Laundry ballet flats there for $15. They also have a Marshall's Home Goods which is like HomeSense but definitely cheaper. At Christmas they had the big Yankee Candles for $7 there. I did half of my Christma sshopping at Marshall's this year.

[formill]

From the CBSA website

So, no fruit, meat, vegetables, or plants

Declare does not mean you can not bring back. It means you have to tell them what you have. Same with alcohol.....etc. You can bring back meat etc- we have bought turkeys there-eggs, butter we just tell them. Turkeys can be an amazing price there!

From http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5056-eng.html#s3x6
The CFIA and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada have set limits on the quantity and/or dollar value of certain food products that you can bring into Canada duty-free or that you can include in your personal exemption. Unless you have an import permit from Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada for quantities over and above the established limits, you will have to pay duty based on a rate ranging from 150% to 300% of the value of the goods.

The following are some examples of the limits that apply to personal importations of food products from the United States:

2 dozen eggs;
20 kilograms of dairy products not exceeding $20 in value (e.g. cheese and butter);
3 kilograms of margarine or butter substitutes; and
20 kilograms of edible meats and meat products, including turkey and chicken.
Within this limit, more CFIA and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada restrictions apply as follows:

a maximum of one whole turkey or 10 kilograms of turkey products;
a maximum of 10 kilograms of chicken; and
a maximum of 5 kilograms of edible meats and meat products from cattle, sheep, goat, bison and buffalo.

[candielips]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I am always crossing the border to do shopping and didn't know about half this stuff.
One thing not mentioned that I love is the Fat Free Pringles.

[princess pooh]

Now you all have me craving a shopping trip to the US. We went to Vermont and Florida in February and a lot of things were so much cheaper! I'll never buy shoes in Canada again!

I love Target...especially their kiddy stuff. The dollar section was filled with Sesame Street board books and I like their Circo line.

There was a Marshall's closeby to our hotel in Miami and I really scored there. The boys Polo shirts were dirt cheap and some books were being liquidated for 70 cents. I probably bought five pairs of shoes there. They have a lot of the same stuff as Winners but much cheaper.

[iluveeyore]

If you're getting groceries, I get sooo many things cheaper over at Walmart or Target every other week. For example, butter $1.48, milk $1.68, shredded cheese $1.97, bread $1.24 or $0.89 for whole wheat. Target always has great deals on dvd's or blu rays (just bought Pirates At Worlds End on blu ray for $13 last week). I'm sure there are many more deals I'm forgetting and lots to find. With our dollar being almost at par, and their taxes half of what ours are, everything's a deal!

[busyshrew]

Hmmm. It looks like I will have to include Marshall's in my visit!

And I agree. With the dollar at near-par and the huge tax gap, I'm really excited about our upcoming trip. I think I've even convinced a good friend to bring her family along and make it a really fun break for everyone. :yay:

I am taking notes and making my list .... any more suggestions?

[dsneygirl]

Some groceries are dirt cheap. You can get a gallon of milk (4L) for $1.99. The bags of shreded cheese for $1.99 (like $5.99) at home.

Honestly shopping at Target is a joy compared to Zellers. Their customer service is outstanding.

I really like their kids line, Circo and the seasonal department always rocks (Xmas, Easter etc) they have the coolest stuff.

For shoes my go-to is DSW at Walden Galleria. It's a warehouse type store but all brand names (Steve Madden, Skechers etc) I always have good luck there.

[TLPL]

I shop my Disney movies at Target. Last week I got Toy Story 1 & 2 Blu-ray combo for $16 total. What a steal!

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Kohl's is wonderful & the clearance sales can be amazing, have had great luck getting Adidas winter coats for a tenth of the original price. If you sign up for email alerts often you can print a coupon for additional discounts & they also do Kohl's cash cards back for purchases, i.e., spend $50, get a $10 Kohl's card back.

A Super Target is my all time favorite store, can't say enough good things about Target.

If you like Marshall's, you'll probably like TJMaxx, along the same lines.

[Reese]

My must have if plain old Chex Mix. I also love shopping for kids clothes, it is so much cheaper at Walmart. I was able to pick up disney short sets for $5.

[Diamondintheruff]

Rice Chex cereal. My kids always go for Cookie Crisp cereal but after one bowl they are always begging to have some of my rice chex.

[Think I'm Tink]

When we shop across the border we always come home with cheap beer, cheap Velveeta, and Playtex Thermal Pads (for girlie pains). And if I need jeans, there's a style of Lee jeans in the States that I can't find here and they fit me perfectly. We always go for 48 hours because we treat it like a holiday and bringing home bargains is just a bonus. There's also IBC cream soda and bottled flavoured iced tea (the brand escapes me right now) that I like to bring home. And we stop at EVERY McDonalds we can so I can buy 2 large sweet teas. It's a darned good thing our McDonalds don't sell sweet tea, or I'd weigh 2000 pounds and not have a tooth left in my head! I ♥ that stuff!

[busyshrew]

Ok, did NOT know about:

Cheaper toner cartridges for the printer
Cheaper DVDs (sometimes)
those thermal thingies
and I most certainly did not realize that US McD's sell sweet tea. We've never bothered going into one over there.... I just assumed it was the same as home!

I was planning on visiting Schwabl's however. DH wants beef-on-weck. For me, it's gotta be with extra pickles!

[Disney Ontario]

Our two DDs would rather have American McDonalds,they love thier food.We also got to hit a Golden Correl for supper, and they are hard to find.

[Tinkerjane]

The one thing I cannot ever go without having is a Wegman's sub, it is like no other sub I have ever tasted. Everything about it is delightful:thumbsup2
I like Kohl's and Marshall's (both sort of like Winners but better prices.)

[michelle1]

I love Sam's Club...I didn't really like it when it was in Canada but I still keep the membership for when we go into the States. We have gotten some really good deals on electronics, clothing and we always stop to get Dh a couple cases of beer to bring back. Food is cheap there also (4 x 1lb butter for $6.59) so we load up on groceries before we head for the border. We are going this weekend and was surprised to find out that the outlet mall is open on Easter Sunday.

[capitalmom]

Love, love, love shopping at Target... Just got back from Miami and they've unveiled a whole new line of "Liberty's of London" products exclusive to Target (yes, THAT Liberty's - with the $300 floral print scarves). Everything is soooo beautiful! They have adult clothes, kids clothes, accessories, housewares, picture frames, even rubber boots (!) - all in the famous Liberty floral prints. Also, if you're a scrapbooker, they have great deals - I found a Making Memories leather album for $14.99 - the same one is $34.99 at Michaels's in Canada! Happy shopping!

[SaraMc]

Love target.

One thing we always get when we are there. Cherry Coke.
Target usually has it onsale for 3 case for 11.00. DH loves the stuff and rations it till he can get more.

[busyshrew]

Now, if only I could get Cranberry Canada Dry Gingerale. Why why WHY did they only make it for Christmas!

[mousy_in_canada]

target has their own coupons that you can stack with manufacturer coupons as well. I have got MANY items for free or 2 cents there before. I LOVE target. Check out afullcup.com they have a list of what items you can combine and all the printable coupons listed. One time I was there and my bill went from 93.68 to 16.23. Man was I happy! The people in line behind me ... not so much! LOL

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Love, love, love shopping at Target... Just got back from Miami and they've unveiled a whole new line of "Liberty's of London" products exclusive to Target (yes, THAT Liberty's - with the $300 floral print scarves). Everything is soooo beautiful! They have adult clothes, kids clothes, accessories, housewares, picture frames, even rubber boots (!) - all in the famous Liberty floral prints. Also, if you're a scrapbooker, they have great deals - I found a Making Memories leather album for $14.99 - the same one is $34.99 at Michaels's in Canada! Happy shopping!

I want the womens bike, it's so cute!!! :lovestruc

[my3kids143]

When we shop across the border we always come home with cheap beer, cheap Velveeta, and Playtex Thermal Pads (for girlie pains). And if I need jeans, there's a style of Lee jeans in the States that I can't find here and they fit me perfectly. We always go for 48 hours because we treat it like a holiday and bringing home bargains is just a bonus. There's also IBC cream soda and bottled flavoured iced tea (the brand escapes me right now) that I like to bring home. And we stop at EVERY McDonalds we can so I can buy 2 large sweet teas. It's a darned good thing our McDonalds don't sell sweet tea, or I'd weigh 2000 pounds and not have a tooth left in my head! I ♥ that stuff!

LOL! I ALWAYS have to stop in at McD's for sweet tea! The whole family loves it and I buy it by the jugs to bring back home.