It is often debated as to where is the cheapest place to buy groceries. I decided to do a price comparison of 10 common grocery items.
|
Items |
Aldi |
Supermarket |
Wal-Mart |
|
Peanut Butter 18oz. |
$1.29 |
$1.29 |
$1.64 |
|
Grape Jelly 32oz. |
.99 |
$1.55 |
$1.06 |
|
Wheat Bread 20oz. |
$1.49(24oz) |
$1.49 |
$1.47 |
|
Oatmeal 42oz. |
$1.69 |
$2.05 |
$1.98 |
|
2% Milk ½ gallon |
$1.76 |
$1.99 |
$1.98 |
|
Large Eggs |
$1.75 |
$1.89 |
$1.85 |
|
Lettuce 1 head |
.99 |
$1.29 |
$1.48 |
|
Bananas 1 lb |
.37 |
.69 |
.67 |
|
Chicken Breast 3lbs. |
$5.99 |
$5.85 |
$5.00 |
|
Ground Beef 1lb |
$1.89 |
$1.69 |
$1.83 |
|
Totals |
$18.21 |
$19.78 |
$18.96 |
The results came out as I expected with Aldi being cheapest then Wal-Mart and the supermarket last. I used the cheapest store brand where applicable for the comparison. I probably should have used a different item than the chicken breast since it skewed the results somewhat. Since Aldi was cheaper on most products though I think the results are a fair price comparison. The supermarket was cheaper on some products and they offer double coupons. If you used coupons strategically you could probably get the supermarket cost to about the same as the others. As a single person it is easiest for me just to do the bulk of my shopping at Aldi.
I used to shop at Aldi when I lived in Germany in the late 80s, they had the cheapest foods by far in the region. I was surprised and pleased to see that their expansion leads them to North America, as well. It’s good to have some insurance that you are getting decent prices in the grocery and foods marketplace.
Jerry
http://www.leads4insurance.com
Unfortunately we do not have Aldi here in California (at least not that I know of), and Wal-Mart is too far away (I would spend more on gas getting there and back than I would save), so I am stuck with just my local supermarket. I do use coupons as often as possible, and try to buy things on sale to save money.
Wow. I wish we had an Aldi close-by here. The nearest one is over an hour away, and it doesn’t make much sense to drive that far.
What types of things do you find coupons useful for? I generally buy storebrand items cheaper than coupon deals, and most of what I buy is “basics”, not convienence foods.
Also, I want to mention that where I live, there are $1 stores around that sell day-old bread from local bakeries for $1.00 even. It might be worth checking those out.