Her are my following tips:
1. Get a Zipcar membership. I will discuss Zipcar more in a subsequent post, but for now suffice it to say that your grocery shopping with be so much easier if you have access to a car. I invested in this membership and usually have not had a problem convincing a friend or two to join me on a trip to the grocery store. Zipcar now has cars for $8 an hour and with my tips you will be able to make it there and back in 90-12o minutes. Two friends in two hours = $8/pp. Not bad. In order to account for drop off time I advise starting with 30 minutes adding 30 minutes for each person going to the grocery store if you are staying in Manhattan. If 3 friends go thats 30 mins plus 90 mins for 120 minutes total. You do not want to be rushing around trying to drop everyone off at their apartments with only 10 mins left to get the car back to its garage. You can usually extend the Zipcar reservation by 30 minutes if you find yourself out of time, but that is only if someone hasn't reserved the car immediately afterwards. I recommend doing one large grocery shopping trip per week and one run to Costco every other month. If for some reason you don't want to get a zipcar membership, then I would recommend still doing a large trip to the store each week but take a cab home so you can buy everything you need at once.
2. Be organized! This will be a recurring theme. BE ORGANIZED! If you are not an organized person, you need to become organized to thrive in the City. In the case of grocery shopping I plan my menus by the week and buy all staples at Costco. Organize your grocery list by section if not isle. Since I have a small family and stay home I plan on cooking 4 meals a week for dinner and have many easy items on hand for lunches if we're not having left overs. We usually eat out for dinner or order in on the weekends so I plan which day I will cook what and go over each recipe twice to make sure I have everything I need.
3. Shop at Fairway or Pathmark or go the grocery store in New Jersey or Queens. Shopping at any other grocery store in Manhattan will result in overpaying for what you get and having a vastly limited selection. You might not think those things are so bad, but once you have to pay $7 for your favorite cereal or $1.20 for a jar of baby food you'll do anything to shop at a regular grocery store.
Fairway-There are two Fairways in Manhattan, one on 72nd St and Broadway and one on 125th St in Harlem by the river. Fairway is pretty much an overgrown mom and pop store. Normally mom and pop stores are cute and you feel great for supporting local businesses. But shopping at Fairway is a frustrating experience until you've been there a few times and you know what you're up against. I HATE the Fairway on 72nd. It is perpetually crowded and carries about 50% of the selection of the 125th st. location. The Harlem location is great if you live on the Upper Westside because it is the closest store with a wide variety of products and normal prices. If you are shopping at either Fairway for the first time allow an extra 30-60 minutes to acclimate yourself to the store. It is confusing and many times the same product will appear in several different parts of the store. Also, Fairway is not known to always carry nationally known products. For example, the sell many Jell-O products, but I have not found instant vanilla pudding on many occasions. I also can't find toffee chips for cookies, chopped frozen onions, or Super Stuffer hard taco shells. Just know that if you are looking for specific products that you may not be able to find them here. If you really want a traditional grocery store experience see the next item.
Pathmark-There are various Pathmark locations scattered throughout Manhattan. This grocery store publishes a weekly circular online. It is by far the best circular of any grocery store I've ever seen. Not only does it carry many loss leaders every week (products a grocery store sells at a loss to draw in customers) but it also will publish if a particular product on sale qualifies for a coupon currently available in the Sunday paper. Another reason I love Pathmark is because it is a taste of the West in New York. Large grocery stores carrying national products at reasonable products.
New Jersey or Queens-I have a lot more experience shopping in New Jersey than in Queens, but you want to get out of Manhattan if at all possible. You will probably enjoy the jaunt in a car to a lesser crowded area. Just be absolutely certain you have the correct driving directions before you head out. If you own a navigation system, now is the time to use it. Plan where you are going and use the trip out of town to pick up any essentials from Target or Trader Joes.
Costco-These are the staples I purchase at Costco. You need to familiarize yourself with what Costco carries if you don't already know, but here are the products that are MUCH cheaper at Costco. I usually save between 30%-50% on the following products:
Sugar, brown sugar, water bottles, sweetened condensed milk, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, shredded cheese (I divide the larger bag into smaller sandwich bags and freeze them until I need them), frozen chicken breasts, cereal, juice, milk gallons, baby wipes, sodas, shortening, peanut butter, mayo, jam, fruit cups, detergent (this is a big one-detergent is very expensive in Manhattan), ziploc bags, trash bags, butter (another big one), hot dogs, frozen berries, pasta, tin foil, cleaners, pain relievers, feminine hygiene products, and bread crumbs. Of course anything you eat regularly that is non perishable should be purchased in bulk. If you think you have no where to store bulk items, you just aren't looking hard enough. If need be you can store things under the bed by measuring the distance between the floor and the bottom of your bed and purchasing flat storage containers that fit. You can also store things by lining the back of a closet with goods. Many apartments in New York also have a lot of storage space above the cabinets in the kitchen. You can store things under or behind your couch or you can even get those shoe holders that are hung behind a closet door and put food items in there. I also purchased a very cheap ($10) metal shelving unit that fits inside my closet along the right interior wall. You probably have the space, it's just a matter of finding it.
And there you have it! Just to recap, be organized. Rent a car or take a cab home to enable you to purchase as much as you can at a time. Buy in bulk to save an immense amount of cash.
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