Swamp Shopping Guide

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 9:04 pm

And so Johnnie gets it. Will be out in mid-February, so I assume some lucky Hungarian girl will be getting a nice Valentine's Day gift.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:07 pm

Yo Douglases, anyone know where I can get cheap soccer jerseys? I want this one:

I'm still kicking myself for not buying a cheap one while I was in Barcelona. I'm not paying more than $30 for a damn shirt.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:15 pm

Looks like eBay will do about $50. Might have to do

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:31 pm

Gunpowder wrote:Looks like eBay will do about $50. Might have to do

The days of cheap jerseys on eBay are gone. I have gotten some good ones off of Chinese sites, but it can be hit or miss, particularly with sizing. They can run 2 sizes small, other times they are accurate sizing, and you just never know. I don't remember where I ordered some US jerseys pre-World Cup, but they were shockingly high quality. Often with Nike jerseys, you get authentic products that are stolen or sold out the back door of a factory or something. I got a couple, as the sizing was an issue. After doing a thorough analysis, I am highly confident that one was a real Nike "replica" shirt, the kind that go for $90 in stores, and the other was a real Nike "authentic" jersey, the kind that go for $150 or so. I paid around $20-$30.

The key with the shady Chinese sites is to look for "AAA Thai Quality." There seems to be honor among trademark violators. I don't think it is common to get the real deal, but some of my knockoffs are really damned good. Since Barca jerseys are made by Nike, it is a lot easier to find high quality and possibly real Nike products for cheap. The sites seem to get shut down more frequently, but reopen under new names, so it is impossible to find a site that worked out in the past. My parents got me a shirt for the holidays, and the website was gone within a few days. My father was convinced we'd get screwed, but after a week or two, they actually responded to his e-mail with a tracking number, and sure enough it arrived on time. Now that Nike moved to Puma, it is harder to find a halfway decent knockoff, but this one is pretty good. I also find the pictures on the sites are accurate to what they ship. If you look closely, you can tell if it is decent or crap.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:47 am

I'm a boss when it comes to Chinese jersey sites. Just don't want to go that route right now because it means ordering like 10.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:22 pm

Gunpowder wrote:I'm a boss when it comes to Chinese jersey sites. Just don't want to go that route right now because it means ordering like 10.

Naw, I order one at a time, all the time.

phxgators · Post by **phxgators** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 3:59 pm

The last TV purchases mentioned in this thread were several months ago, anyone buy one recently?

We're going to be in the market for a couple of them after we close on our house next week. We'll probably end up buying something from Costco, maybe one of these (http://www.costco.com/.product.10010954 ... opProducts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) if they have it locally available. Seems like $900 is pretty good for that.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 4:38 pm

That looks like a great TV. I love my Samsung TV more than my LG TV. And it doesn't look to be one of those LED-LCD ripoff 80 lb TVs. I know that they are both just LED backlit but this looks like the better kind.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:47 pm

phxgators wrote:The last TV purchases mentioned in this thread were several months ago, anyone buy one recently?

We're going to be in the market for a couple of them after we close on our house next week. We'll probably end up buying something from Costco, maybe one of these (http://www.costco.com/.product.10010954 ... opProducts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) if they have it locally available. Seems like $900 is pretty good for that.

That is $900 after the $400 rebate, right? It's been a couple years since I bought a TV, so unless prices have dramatically fallen, that seems like a good deal. That has a bunch of features that didn't exists, at least not in this price range, 2 years ago. The screen mirroring is awesome, and if the ecosensor works, that is a sweet feature. When I bought, the dude at Best Buy talked me out of buying a smart TV, saying if you have WiFi, it's irrelevant. No idea if smart TVs can do things mine can't with WiFi. The only negative about my TV is that it won't play video off of a flash drive. It shows slide shows of pictures, but not video.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:42 pm

Gunpowder wrote:That looks like a great TV. I love my Samsung TV more than my LG TV. And it doesn't look to be one of those LED-LCD ripoff 80 lb TVs. I know that they are both just LED backlit but this looks like the better kind.

What do you not like about your LG? There's a place here that's been selling LG 65" TVs for $750 (ETA: Link) and if/when my brother moves out and I sell him my main big screen, I was eyeing that one.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:58 am

Brontoburglar wrote:
Gunpowder wrote:That looks like a great TV. I love my Samsung TV more than my LG TV. And it doesn't look to be one of those LED-LCD ripoff 80 lb TVs. I know that they are both just LED backlit but this looks like the better kind.
What do you not like about your LG? There's a place here that's been selling LG 65" TVs for $750 (ETA: Link) and if/when my brother moves out and I sell him my main big screen, I was eyeing that one.

I love my LG other than the fact that the panel went out a year in and I had to have it repaired. Warranty work, works fine now. I didn't think I'd like the SmartTV stuff but we use it for Netflix all the time. It beats having to fire the old 360 up every time you want to watch it. Picture is great, sound is great (though I use a soundbar) and it looks nice in my living room.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:04 am

The LG is fine, especially at that price. Samsung is just better. It's a slim LED, which is cool. The LG is less cool.

phxgators · Post by **phxgators** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:29 am

The Sybian wrote:
phxgators wrote:The last TV purchases mentioned in this thread were several months ago, anyone buy one recently?

We're going to be in the market for a couple of them after we close on our house next week. We'll probably end up buying something from Costco, maybe one of these (http://www.costco.com/.product.10010954 ... opProducts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) if they have it locally available. Seems like $900 is pretty good for that.
That is $900 after the $400 rebate, right? It's been a couple years since I bought a TV, so unless prices have dramatically fallen, that seems like a good deal. That has a bunch of features that didn't exists, at least not in this price range, 2 years ago. The screen mirroring is awesome, and if the ecosensor works, that is a sweet feature. When I bought, the dude at Best Buy talked me out of buying a smart TV, saying if you have WiFi, it's irrelevant. No idea if smart TVs can do things mine can't with WiFi. The only negative about my TV is that it won't play video off of a flash drive. It shows slide shows of pictures, but not video.

Yep, $900 after rebate. I don't care too much if our TVs have wifi, though this one does, since we'll be putting a Roku on each one.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:10 am

Didn't get that TV as they lie on the packaging and say the refresh rate is not the 60HZ native to the screen plus it only has two HDMI inputs.

It now seems like it's down to a Vizio and Sharp, both with the same specs and price. Any recommendations either way?

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:18 am

Can someone who knows about Aldi supermarkets tell me if there's anything special I can expect?

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:21 am

Ryan wrote:Can someone who knows about Aldi supermarkets tell me if there's anything special I can expect?

Funny, I thought I was going to make my first Aldi's trip last week, but Food Lion was on the way. Curious to hear the answer.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:23 am

While I'm here, where does one go to buy sunglasses that fall in between the crappy drugstore Forster Grants and $200+ options at Sunglasses Hut or optometrist offices/Lenscrafters type places? Amazon has a huge selection, but it's hard to buy without trying them on.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:26 am

You can try them on at a Sunglass Hut then go get them online. But you would need to be pretty good at remembering the model number/name I guess.

Surely sungleass hut and the like have some reasonably priced options though.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:33 am

A_B wrote:You can try them on at a Sunglass Hut then go get them online. But you would need to be pretty good at remembering the model number/name I guess.

Surely sungleass hut and the like have some reasonably priced options though.

Have you ever looked in one? Clearance items are like $150.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:41 am

It's been a while and I was in teh market for maui jims, so not really.

I guess maybe a department store might be your best bet, then.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 10:40 am

Ryan wrote:Can someone who knows about Aldi supermarkets tell me if there's anything special I can expect?

They're grocery stores aimed entirely at shopping on a budget. It's been several years since I've been in one, but they sold name brand/national products, but not that many of them.

From my very-long-time-ago experience, you will need to bring your own bags (you may still be able to pay per bag) and you also have to put a quarter in a machine to get a cart, which you will get back upon returning the cart. Seriously.

There's one across the street from the giant Wegman's here and, as long as Aldi's is open, the parking lot is 1/3 to 1/2 full.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 10:47 am

So for one quarter, you can also bring your own cart?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 10:49 am

We go to Aldi fairly regularly. It's about as far away as the Kroger. We don't get all of our groceries there however. We have found we don't care for their meat products very much, but their produce is usually very well priced against Kroger and since you use it fairly quickly we haven't noticed anything different in quality.

We also get things like bottled water/gatorades, etc. They have good prices on those things and they are almost always in stock with gatorades. Some of their forzen stuff is good too to have on hand for quick lunches/dinners. Their deli meats are better priced and just as good as anything OScar Meyer has, but not as good as actually going to the deli counter at Kroger.

Their cheeses are also cheaper and we haven't noticed any difference We've tried the Aldi brand salad dressings/condiments and they are solid and cheaper.

The kids don't care for their cereals at all, but the store brand chips are really really good, especially the tortilla dippers and kettle cooked ones.

So my recommendation is to go for certain things but not others, but YMMV. We have good friends who swear by the meat department but we just got some really fatty chicken and a bad pork ternderloin so typically stay away.

GoodKarma · Post by **GoodKarma** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 10:52 am

Ryan wrote:Can someone who knows about Aldi supermarkets tell me if there's anything special I can expect?

I went through an interview process with them many years ago. They claim that a lot of their house-brand or generic items are made by the name brand manufacturers... e.g. their house brand of Cheerios is made by General Mills.

My parents do shop their frequently, though...they love it for the cost of items when they don't care about the brand name.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 10:54 am

I have heard the same thing about the store brands being the same thing but in different packaging.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 10:58 am

A_B wrote:I have heard the same thing about the store brands being the same thing but in different packaging.

I can specifically tell you this is true for cereal at least. Store brands are made by the big cereal companies (Kellogg's, Post, etc.) on contract. The ingredients aren't necessarily identical, but they're made in the same facilities by the same people.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 11:00 am

Pretty sure they're owned by the same group/corp that owns Trader Joe's, so expect a similar type experience with the store brand stuff. I think in general, Aldi's has a wider range of stuff in store, and I don't know if they have products come and go (and come back) the way TJ's does.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 11:18 am

Someone here called Trader Joes the white woman's aldi.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 11:28 am

If it was closer to us and I didn't pass four other stores on the way, I'd go there more often. The milk and eggs are ridiculously cheap. For a while, I was really good about scouring the papers for the specials and hitting up different stores for things. Saved on our grocery bill, but I just got tired of doing it.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 11:28 am

rass wrote:Pretty sure they're owned by the same group/corp that owns Trader Joe's, so expect a similar type experience with the store brand stuff. I think in general, Aldi's has a wider range of stuff in store, and I don't know if they have products come and go (and come back) the way TJ's does.

TJs is tough on their vendors when they have a product that is selling
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 1:59 pm

Aldi is in America now? Nice. I shop at Wasgau, Edeka, Globus, and Lidl every so often (when I'm not shopping on base), so I'm not totally familiar with how they are set up. But it looks like I'll have to see and then let you guys know.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 2:23 pm

A_B wrote:I have heard the same thing about the store brands being the same thing but in different packaging.

This is true of almost all store brand products. You used to be able to tell which company made the products, as the listed address on the product was the same as one of the named brands. The few times I have recently looked, the address seems to be a store address. When I worked at Wegmans I saw a list of every Wegmans brand product, and who made them. Almost every single product was a major name brand, often the exact identical product, but they can sell it for less without advertising costs and the brand name markup.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 3:34 pm

Johnnie wrote:Aldi is in America now? Nice. I shop at Wasgau, Edeka, Globus, and Lidl every so often (when I'm not shopping on base), so I'm not totally familiar with how they are set up. But it looks like I'll have to see and then let you guys know.

The first Aldi I set foot in was about 15 years ago, maybe longer.

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 3:34 pm

Not a fan of Aldi. Used to do it in school but one of the few places that I dont think is worth the savings. Maybe if I could do all my other shopping there but its definitely a two store shopping deal. It is cheaper but it is kind of a terrible shopping experience. Not comparable to Trader Joes in any way, shape, form. More like filling your cart out the back of a semi trailer.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 3:45 pm

HaulCitgo wrote:Not a fan of Aldi. Used to do it in school but one of the few places that I dont think is worth the savings. Maybe if I could do all my other shopping there but its definitely a two store shopping deal. It is cheaper but it is kind of a terrible shopping experience. Not comparable to Trader Joes in any way, shape, form. More like filling your cart out the back of a semi trailer.

It's not liek that at all here. It isn't as nice of a presentation as Kroger, but it's easy to get around in and things have their place.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 5:27 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote:The first Aldi I set foot in was about 15 years ago, maybe longer.

Whaaaaaa? I had never seen one until I got here.

I just used their store locator on their website. They're in lots of places. Especially around the Boston area. Where they aren't is Shreveport and Tucson. And here I thought this was a European specific store. Weird.

Anyhoo, let me know when Julius Meinl am Graben comes to America: http://www.meinlamgraben.at/Home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(Julius Meinl has coffee shops in Chicago, but this other place is a ridiculously high end super market. 3 floors. The bottom floor is a wine and cigar bar.)

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 5:35 pm

rass wrote:Pretty sure they're owned by the same group/corp that owns Trader Joe's, so expect a similar type experience with the store brand stuff. I think in general, Aldi's has a wider range of stuff in store, and I don't know if they have products come and go (and come back) the way TJ's does.

Yup. Well, Trader Joe's is the name exclusive to America under the "Nord" (North) half of the company.

And they've been in America since the late 70's. Interesting

Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 7:43 pm

Yeah. Too tough. Just have bad vibes from carrying groceries 10 blocks without easy conveniences/bags.

duff · Post by **duff** » Fri Aug 07, 2015 9:01 am

The Aldis store on the north side of town is nice. The one on the east side not so much. They do have good produce. Much better then what we get at Kroger. And I highly recommend their tortilla chips.

It can get pretty ragged in the store. Depends on what time you are shopping or what day. And bring your own bags or boxes. Also, cash or debit. No credit.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 4:14 pm

through tonight you can get a really good deal on an Arsenal or Newcastle jersey. 40% off with FRIENDSFAMILY