The only things as great as saving money is getting stuff for free, and since that is frowned upon at most grocery stores, it’s best to stick with finding deals. One way to possibly score some lower prices on foods you love: Check out the shelves at your local international grocery stores.

As DailyFinance points out, if there is any international population in a city, there is likely to be at least one food market with good deals on certain staples. Writer Bruce Watson comparison shopped at a local Indian store and at his neighborhood chain grocery store. While food is already expensive in NYC, as he points out, he still got some good deals.

Since Asian food is one that relies heavily on rice, five pounds of rice was 60% less at the Indian market than the grocery store. Other staples like flour, ketchup, canned beans, tomato paste and canned tomato, olive and vegetable oils and even peanut butter were also found to be cheaper at the Indian store.

Items that aren’t as popular in Asian cuisine, like brown rice and canned tuna, weren’t cheaper — which shows a good rule of thumb: at any international store, foods not usually present in that culture’s cooking will likely cost more.
How to Save on Grocery Staples: Food Shopping at the International Market [Daily Finance]

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