In 1979 Aldi Nord purchased the U.S. operations of Trader Joe’s, which had been founded in California in 1958. Trader Joe’s operates as a separate division of the pparent.

You co-own the cat.

Compari tomatoes are totally worth it. I make garden salads every day and I've tried all sorts of tomatoes. The Compari tomatoes are delicious and I rarely find a bad one in the container. The only tomatoes that are better are the ones we grow ourselves.

2021 0305 Friday @ 16:22
it is 36 degrees outside where I am right now. The wind is only just dying down from a very blustery day.

I am indoors. The laundry is done. The clothes are put away. The cooking is done for this evening. The house is clean. I get online to speak to my family overseas (in Europe) before they retire for the day.

re: nothing better to do
While online, I like to take time to speak to my neighbors in TV. I call it "being neighborly".

re: nothing better to do
I'll ballroom dance this evening for three hours.
:-P

We shop at Publix and Fresh Market 2 to 3 times a week and always by car (I am not a huge fan of golf carts). Prior to COVID we had lunch out about 4 times a week and dinner 3 to 4. Currently, not many luches and dinner out 3 times a week and takeout once or twice. We have no problem with storage. Just wish we had Wegmans, but Earth Fare is opening here 2nd quarter and I'll be very happy.

The company that owns the stores you know as Aldis is Aldi Sud. It is a different company. The brothers split up BEFORE Trader Joe's was bought by Aldi Nord. One brother took Sud, one took Nord. The two are only related in that they are both called Aldis. They share nothing at this point, since both brothers are dead.

"The Parent" in your reference is the parent company of Trader Joe's, which is Aldi Nord. The store the USA refers to as Aldi's is owned by Aldi Sud.

And no, there are two cats. One is mine, and lives at my house. One is my sister's and lives at her house. We are sisters, but we do not share ownership of either of those cats.

We use to eat out but not in the past year. I love to eat out but the wife, not so much. We go to Publix once a week but go back once or twice to get things we forgot or need if plans change. Also need to run into Winn Dixie to get Krispy Kreme donuts. Everything is by golf cart, stores, town squares etc. groceries are definitely more in Florida than back home. And it is not pennies it is $1-3 higher for many items.

I understand your questions and had the same before I moved to TV. Getting an idea of the daily flow is helpful. Storage is usually an issue for most, unless you buy a really big house. But people downsize their possessions and get creative.

Precovid I shopped at Publix probably twice a week via golf cart; I put either a big cooler or a laundry basket on the front seat for things I thought might fly out when going thru the tunnels. People use the mesh bags in the golf club area but I find them hard to use-things get squished.

Post covid I prefer Fresh Market curbside delivery, with once a month car trip to Walmart curbside for paper products, laundry detergent, etc.

I haven't eaten inside a restaurant for a year, but do takeout/dine outside or delivery a couple times a week.

Some people live without a golf cart but I find it a joy to joy ride around and essential for the pool-no wet butts in my nice car.

There is an almost endless supply of fitness, card games, art, etc clubs meeting all the time; if you can't find something to do here, check your pulse. Two cars per household probably not necessary unless you still work; one car and one or two carts are good enough for most people, depending on whether you share activities.

Best of luck and see you soon.

Have not eaten out for more than a year but get take out from Bonefish, Naldo's, Beef O'Brady's, Subway, NYPD Pizza, and some other places.

Grocery shop almost every other day at Walmart, Publix, Winn-Dixie, Target, and other places. Go by car most of the time but love using the golf cart.

Use various Publixes to shop depending on what I am doing and would often shop at Winn-Dixie after seeing a movie at the Old Mill Playhouse and this would be with the golf cart.

When donating platelets at One Blood in Lady Lake or using the Lady Lake Public Library would go to the two Publixes on US 441/27.

I'm back to grocery shopping nearly every other day. I go in with very short lists. Early on in the pandemic, I grocery shopped every couple of weeks but that is a thing of the past. I usually take the car.

Hubby and I dine out in restaurants for breakfast, probably on average of two to three times a week. In the afternoon is when we dine out for what we call "lundin", which is a combination of lunch and dinner. We do that about three times per week.

Order groceries online at Walmart. Then just drive up to loading area and they’re loaded into my car. Free service. Very simple, very easy.

I shop mostly at Public on average once a week.
I eat out 1 to 2 times a week half of that I order curbside.
On Sundays I batch cook dinners for the week. This keeps me from wanted to just grab something on the way home.
I prefer eating home cooked meals. When I batch cook I put half in the freezer and the other in the refrigerator so’s not to waste food if something comes up.

I have been looking in the pre-made food delivery Freshly couple of friends use them and love it. The food is already cook you just have to heat it. It runs about $10 a meal......my batch cooking runs about $4 a meal so........

Groceries are very expensive in Florida and quality and selection is not so good. We order some stuff online, make a monthly trip to Costco, and go local shopping about once a week. What would cost me $100 at Wegmans cost $130 at Publix. If you doubt that, take your Publix receipt and go to the Wegmans web site and build the same cart full. Produce here is poor quality when compared to up North. I know that doesn’t make sense, but is true.

Just starting to eat out again after dining at home for the past year. Usually use car for shopping, golf cart for golf and squares.

Usual Routine
 

Grocery Shop each Monday 7am Publix then Walmart and any extras come occasionally from Winn Dixie . All mask wearers at that time of day. Car mostly then cart to Winn Dixie at Sumter.

Rarely ate out before Pandemic, its amazing what passes as "food" in some places. Certainly would not eat out now.

You are really putting some thought into this!!! I bought the house that met my first two priority needs and looked great! Once we moved in, I realized there were other advantages I should have looked at - thus, I assume, the reason "many Villagers move an average of three times (within the Villages)"!!

We are going on seven years living here, year round. During the first two years, it seemed we were more on the go with multiple activities and socializing. These last few - albeit we have been grounded by the virus - we have not been on-the-go as much out of the house as before. We've now figured out our favorite routine physical activities and what meetings/table games etc. we prefer. For us, location-location-location seems to be the biggest advantage. We have one car and one golf cart, so deciding where we would need to conduct our physical activity choices and hobbies was the deciding factor in what area we bought in. We settled on a home within a 15 minute golf cart ride to five rec centers, pools, one grocery store, and a town square. As for groceries and eating out - we may only eat out once or twice each month. Maybe a bit more in the slower season (May-November). We belong to Sam's Club, and make that run once every 3-4 weeks for things we like to buy in bulk - paper and cleaning supplies, and some of their higher end meats. Like others said, we make it a habit to visit Fresh Market on Tuesdays, probably every three weeks or so, for the chicken breast and ground beef sale. Many weeks I head to the Farmers' Market on Saturdays in Brownwood for vegetables. The rest of the shopping is done once a week at Winn-Dixie/Publix/Walmart after I have planned dinner menus for the week . Since we tend to put all of our purchases on a rewards credit card, it is easy to see what our spending habits are like, and it does seem we spend more here than before retirement, but I cook every day and we always have breakfast and light lunch food available as well. Good luck with your home search, and hopefully you will love it here as much as we do!!

We grocery shop when we need something. Mainly shop at the nearest Publix which is 7 minutes by golf cart or at the Walmart Neighborhood Market near colony which is 16 minutes by golf cart, or at the nearest Winn-Dixie which is 25 minutes by golf cart. Some weeks we may go a couple of times, and some weeks more than that. We don't shop for and buy in bulk. We almost always go to these three stores by golf cart unless it is raining or forecast to do so. We occasionally shop at Sam's Club, go by auto since we can not get there by golf cart. We occasionally shop at the Walmart Superstore on 466 and usually go by auto since it is a 44 minute golf cart trip. But if the weather is nice and we don't have anything else planned, and if we are not buying frozen items, we have driven there and back by golf cart.

We have eaten mostly at home for the past year. We either cook at home or bring carry out back home. We get carry out a couple times per week. We have eaten indoors at a restaurant only three times in the past year. Once Covid is "controlled" to our satisfaction, we will begin eating indoors at restaurants again probably two or three times per week. Again we go by golf cart unless the weather precludes it or the trip by golf cart exceeds 35 minutes each way. Most of our trips within the Villages are by golf cart.