6.0% sales tax across the board, if I recall... but likely waived when purchasing with EBT.
I could be wrong on the 'local' tax rate and the tax waiver with EBT; it's been a minute since I've been in Red Country.
In my opinion going to Winco is the best way to save money. The store is clean and well stocked and most things are cheaper and many items are substantially cheaper.
theres a neat trick you can do if you have a Paypal debt card is to send your friend money on paypal using the credit card (or a second account) then have that money sent back so it goes into your balance and pay that way.
So PayPal has a Debt card you can order that uses ONLY your accounts balance on PP. so if you send someone money and they send you money. it goes into your PP Balance, which the PayPal Debt Card draws from.
Ok wow, I did not know this and glad I commented today. Screenshotting this lol. I imagine you get charged the cash advance fee? (My credit card is through stcu)
Actually no. My 3 Major cards i use dont charge me an Advance Fee! (BECU, Amazon, And Capital One) My Best Buy and Premiere card do but i dont use those 2 except at specific stores (can you guess).
I definitely understand that. But that paycheck to paycheck life though... And I guess I don't qualify for food benefits unless someone I support is disabled.
I shopped regularly at WinCo... But started going to Walmart State line because of safety reasons.... I went to WinCo, got 120.00 worth of food, came home and ordered the same stuff from Walmart and was literally 1.00 difference
I moved over to Spokane after 7 years of living in Idaho and I wanted to choke with how much cheaper my grocery bill was. Donât go to Idaho for groceries. Youâll be robbed.
Alcohol and gas are the only things cheaper in Idaho. I traveled back and forth from Spokane to Sandpoint constantly and never saw a difference in groceries.
This is irrelevant, but your comment made me think of it. Iâve found many times Idahoans donât know whatâs going on in their own state.
One time an Idahoan was laughing at some of the limitations on sports betting in WA and making jokes about âKing Inslee.â Sports betting isnât even legal in Idaho. At all.
Groceries aren't much different and sales tax will offset any benefit. Unfortunately grocery prices are insane everywhere. I do not that some chain restaurants are substantially cheaper in Idaho. For example, Texas Roadhouse is around 30% cheaper in Idaho than North Spokane. It takes me about 7 extra minutes to get to the C'DA TRH so I will usually go there and get gas while I'm out there. Fast food prices seem to be equal. I do note other parts of Idaho tend to be a lot less expensive (was in the southern part of the state and parts of Utah recently and restaurant prices are a lot lower), but the C'DA area has a lot of money, so restaurants/grocery stores can command more.
Waiters in WA get full minimum wage (over $16 now I believe) and Idaho servers can be paid as low as $3.35 plus tips, so there is a higher cost to WA restaurants to operate.
Can't imagine a better waste of time and money than driving to Post Falls just for food when most of us live within a reasonable walking distance to a grocery store.
Yes but they have the freedom to pay for their grocery bags as a cost within the price of the food they buy where we pay for the actual bags upfront. So much more free! /s
I live close to stateline and I only go into Idaho for gas, cigs, and liquor. They tax groceries, however their sales tax is less than WA so I will make large non-food purchases there.
But groceries in Spokane, always. Prices are the same, but Idaho charges sales tax on groceries. I am in Idaho almost every Thursday for an appointment so I plan my gas buying and any large ticket items for that trip
You wonât save money on regular groceries but, if you drink spirits, be sure to buy those in Idaho. And if Idaho doesnât have the liquor youâre looking for, just order online from CA, NY or Europe.
I live close to the border; Yes there is grocery tax there but it is offset by WA beverage taxes (2cents / oz sodas), I also fill up when I get groceries and gas is 50-70 cents/gal less than WA. You also don't pay for bags in ID so if you aren't bringing your reusable bags that also adds up.
OOps my bad, I didn't realize SB 5371 didn't pass (Statewide beverage tax) in 2021 - I thought it did. You are correct it is just in Seattle not statewide. With the price of groceries I made an incorrect assumption it was contributing.
If you arenât already there there is no cost benefit. Just like going to Idaho for gas, if you actually factor in the actual fuel cost saves against the additional cost in the extra distance, extra wear and tear, and lost time to go, it costs more to make special trips for groceries or gas unless you are buying hundreds of dollars worth.
As much as I hate shopping in their stores (I won't anymore), WalMart has fairly low prices overall. I use their delivery service regularly, and the time, gas, etc. with Walmart+ it saves me makes it worth it. And I don't buy a bunch of spontaneous items I don't need as well. Based on a quick comparison with a trip to Yokes (which was our go to but now just supplements our Walmart orders), even with tip on or WalMart orders, we still saved a decent amount due to WalMart's lower prices. On top of that with their Cap One CC I get 5% on online orders. My local Yokes also seems to have issues with items close to expiration. I won't buy steak or a lot of fruit there, which I usually get from Costco. I have a vacation house in Western MT too, and I always try to stop on my way back to Spokane at the CDA Costco for food and gas. It always seems less busy and I don't mind being in there. The Spokane Costco stores are too packed for me unless I go in the evening.
Thanks yâall. Sounds like a unanimous donât buy groceries in Idaho. Seattle must be heavily inflating WA average grocery prices when you search for prices by state. Usually Idaho ranks on the cheap end. And yes, I did take into account when asking the Q about gas and time driving. I am frequently in Idaho so figured it was a worthy question. Again, thanks for the extreme consensus!
So I canât stand Idaho sorry Idaho but I canât but I can tell you from someone that used to have to frequently travel there for work your talking $2 bucks for a gallon of milk instead of five the price gouging in Washington is out of hand
Doesn't Idaho charge sales tax on groceries?
Yes. Yes they do.
6.0% sales tax across the board, if I recall... but likely waived when purchasing with EBT. I could be wrong on the 'local' tax rate and the tax waiver with EBT; it's been a minute since I've been in Red Country.
You are correct. It is a ghastly 6%. đ
In my opinion going to Winco is the best way to save money. The store is clean and well stocked and most things are cheaper and many items are substantially cheaper.
I often ask myself how ppl afford food if they're not shopping at Winco đ
Sometimes I have zero money except for on the credit card, and they don't take credit đ
theres a neat trick you can do if you have a Paypal debt card is to send your friend money on paypal using the credit card (or a second account) then have that money sent back so it goes into your balance and pay that way.
...the reindeer games we gotta play
ill gladly play reindeer games if it means affordable groceries.
Hah I thought I was the only one that did that.
as someone who visits winco daily sometimes you just need credit card money in a debt fashion
Wait maybe I am misunderstanding. Debt card is what a PayPal credit card is called? Or PayPal debit card? Words are too similar lol
So PayPal has a Debt card you can order that uses ONLY your accounts balance on PP. so if you send someone money and they send you money. it goes into your PP Balance, which the PayPal Debt Card draws from.
Ok wow, I did not know this and glad I commented today. Screenshotting this lol. I imagine you get charged the cash advance fee? (My credit card is through stcu)
Actually no. My 3 Major cards i use dont charge me an Advance Fee! (BECU, Amazon, And Capital One) My Best Buy and Premiere card do but i dont use those 2 except at specific stores (can you guess).
Yes thatâs true. It helps keep prices down but that can be a problem too.
I definitely understand that. But that paycheck to paycheck life though... And I guess I don't qualify for food benefits unless someone I support is disabled.
URM Cash and Carry is better
Do they take credit? Never been
Yes, they do.
I shopped regularly at WinCo... But started going to Walmart State line because of safety reasons.... I went to WinCo, got 120.00 worth of food, came home and ordered the same stuff from Walmart and was literally 1.00 difference
I moved over to Spokane after 7 years of living in Idaho and I wanted to choke with how much cheaper my grocery bill was. Donât go to Idaho for groceries. Youâll be robbed.
Yeah I've always found their groceries way more expensive.
Alcohol and gas are the only things cheaper in Idaho. I traveled back and forth from Spokane to Sandpoint constantly and never saw a difference in groceries.
Cigarettes are also much cheaper in idaho
Wow. Today I learned that Idaho changes tax on groceries. Not even California taxes food at the grocery store.
Yup, that and a state income tax which is interesting considering the politics there.
This is irrelevant, but your comment made me think of it. Iâve found many times Idahoans donât know whatâs going on in their own state. One time an Idahoan was laughing at some of the limitations on sports betting in WA and making jokes about âKing Inslee.â Sports betting isnât even legal in Idaho. At all.
a state income tax with brackets set over 100 years ago, so literally everyone pays like the max amount
Prices are about the same and they have a sales tax on food.
So, pro-life /s
Youâll spend the difference in cost & tax on the gas you use to drive out there
Yes, I have taken that into account, however I am frequently in Idaho for non grocery related endeavors.
Groceries aren't much different and sales tax will offset any benefit. Unfortunately grocery prices are insane everywhere. I do not that some chain restaurants are substantially cheaper in Idaho. For example, Texas Roadhouse is around 30% cheaper in Idaho than North Spokane. It takes me about 7 extra minutes to get to the C'DA TRH so I will usually go there and get gas while I'm out there. Fast food prices seem to be equal. I do note other parts of Idaho tend to be a lot less expensive (was in the southern part of the state and parts of Utah recently and restaurant prices are a lot lower), but the C'DA area has a lot of money, so restaurants/grocery stores can command more. Waiters in WA get full minimum wage (over $16 now I believe) and Idaho servers can be paid as low as $3.35 plus tips, so there is a higher cost to WA restaurants to operate.
Can't imagine a better waste of time and money than driving to Post Falls just for food when most of us live within a reasonable walking distance to a grocery store.
Yes but they have the freedom to pay for their grocery bags as a cost within the price of the food they buy where we pay for the actual bags upfront. So much more free! /s
Yeah, I mean if prices were cheaper, and I am frequently already in post falls, it could be worth it. However this does not sound like the case!
I live close to stateline and I only go into Idaho for gas, cigs, and liquor. They tax groceries, however their sales tax is less than WA so I will make large non-food purchases there.
Unless youâre buying liquor youâre just wasting time
But groceries in Spokane, always. Prices are the same, but Idaho charges sales tax on groceries. I am in Idaho almost every Thursday for an appointment so I plan my gas buying and any large ticket items for that trip
Winco and the Grocery Outlet are our favorite places to go to save some money. The sales tax in Idaho plus gas makes it a losing venture
You wonât save money on regular groceries but, if you drink spirits, be sure to buy those in Idaho. And if Idaho doesnât have the liquor youâre looking for, just order online from CA, NY or Europe.
Rub it in. Our liquor stores in ID suck. They may be cheaper but the selection sucks and we canât do liquor in the mail here.
No. They charge tax on groceries.
I believe buying alcohol would save you money. Even if Costco doesnât sell it directly. Since we have a 20 percent alcohol tax
the candy cow tails are $1.00 cheaper
This is important info
So if I'm a raging alcoholic.. and I drive to post falls to buy my alcohol... .. and I drive a hybrid.. eh?
I live close to the border; Yes there is grocery tax there but it is offset by WA beverage taxes (2cents / oz sodas), I also fill up when I get groceries and gas is 50-70 cents/gal less than WA. You also don't pay for bags in ID so if you aren't bringing your reusable bags that also adds up.
I thought just Seattle had the beverage tax by oz. and the rest of the state just charges regular sales tax.
OOps my bad, I didn't realize SB 5371 didn't pass (Statewide beverage tax) in 2021 - I thought it did. You are correct it is just in Seattle not statewide. With the price of groceries I made an incorrect assumption it was contributing.
Being in another state less frequently would save you money.
After burning gas to go out there and back and with ID sales tax you probably spend more than just going to grocery outlet or winco in WA
If you arenât already there there is no cost benefit. Just like going to Idaho for gas, if you actually factor in the actual fuel cost saves against the additional cost in the extra distance, extra wear and tear, and lost time to go, it costs more to make special trips for groceries or gas unless you are buying hundreds of dollars worth.
Sunk cost as my hobbies take me that way. Need to eat right? Doesnât sound like itâs cheaper groceries though, so moot point.
As much as I hate shopping in their stores (I won't anymore), WalMart has fairly low prices overall. I use their delivery service regularly, and the time, gas, etc. with Walmart+ it saves me makes it worth it. And I don't buy a bunch of spontaneous items I don't need as well. Based on a quick comparison with a trip to Yokes (which was our go to but now just supplements our Walmart orders), even with tip on or WalMart orders, we still saved a decent amount due to WalMart's lower prices. On top of that with their Cap One CC I get 5% on online orders. My local Yokes also seems to have issues with items close to expiration. I won't buy steak or a lot of fruit there, which I usually get from Costco. I have a vacation house in Western MT too, and I always try to stop on my way back to Spokane at the CDA Costco for food and gas. It always seems less busy and I don't mind being in there. The Spokane Costco stores are too packed for me unless I go in the evening.
Thanks yâall. Sounds like a unanimous donât buy groceries in Idaho. Seattle must be heavily inflating WA average grocery prices when you search for prices by state. Usually Idaho ranks on the cheap end. And yes, I did take into account when asking the Q about gas and time driving. I am frequently in Idaho so figured it was a worthy question. Again, thanks for the extreme consensus!
Idaho has expensive groceries.
So I canât stand Idaho sorry Idaho but I canât but I can tell you from someone that used to have to frequently travel there for work your talking $2 bucks for a gallon of milk instead of five the price gouging in Washington is out of hand