Related: Sam's Club vs Costco: Who Has the Best Bakery? Other than those small differences, however, the store takes a similar approach to keeping its prices competitive. One possible edge it has over Costco? Related: Things You Should Never Buy at Costco, Sam's, or BJ's.

Joe Coulombe, a convenience store owner in Los Angeles, had a different idea for a grocery store in What if you built a supermarket for yuppies? Related: 5 Trader Joe's Products That Fans Say Have Gone Downhill.

MarketForce Information's U. Grocery Benchmark Study includes a total of 20 brands. Understanding why some grocery stores are cheaper than others can help you pinpoint low-cost retailers.

Pay attention to the below four factors to find the best deals. With their loss leaders, free samples, towering displays, and labyrinthine layouts, supermarkets are designed to make you spend. You can avoid those forces altogether by ordering your groceries online for pickup or delivery.

Target, Sprouts, Whole Foods, and other popular retailers all offer free grocery pickup some require minimum order amounts , while others offer affordable delivery, too.

By ordering online, you'll resist the urge to impulse buy and can take advantage of online coupons. Just be sure that you're not paying a premium for pickup or delivery, or you'll end up spending more. If you stick to the above groceries stores and remember a few money-saving tips, you can save a lot on your food bill.

But it's also important to note that being a savvy shopper in Los Angeles might look a lot different than in Racine, Wisconsin. We encourage consumers to shop around and use this as a loose guide.

Once you've learned your area, hopefully you'll have a little extra cash in your pocket every week. Cheapism may earn a commission if you buy through a link on our site. Leer en Español. All Gift Ideas Gifts by Interest Gifts by Price Gifts for All Gifts for Her Gifts for Him Gifts for Kids.

Sign up for our newsletter. Home Shopping. The 20 Cheapest Grocery Stores in the U. September 14, by Maxwell Shukuya. Then McCord uses the leftover rice to whip up a variety of recipes including Rice Cakes , Leftover Rice Pudding , and Breakfast Rice Bake.

So both of these ingredients can stretch your dollar and time as far as possible. While many people are hesitant to stock up on fresh foods because they are perishable—potatoes are the exception to this rule.

Sick of plain pasta again? Chef Chris Aquilino , director of culinary at Elior North America , likes to jazz up his meals with jarred items, including pesto, olives, jalapeños, artichokes, sardines, and anchovies.

They also stay fresh for a long time. According to Aquilino, herb purées, such as basil and cilantro, can even stay fresh for weeks at a time. So don't be afraid to open up that tube. Aquilino also suggests stocking up on tomato paste. There are numerous ways to cook with tomato paste including topping fish and making barbeque sauce.

While you can easily find canned tomato paste at most supermarkets, Aquilino prefers the kind available in a tube. Then, I added some more specific items that our family uses regularly. Finally, I asked the Joyfully Thriving Facebook page for their feedback and got a lot of great requests for items to add to the list.

I wanted a fair representation of various areas of the grocery store so I focused on 10 different shopping categories. The categories I used were:. I came up with a list of items in 10 categories that I compared at all 4 stores.

I made a huge spreadsheet with all the grocery items and then I began comparing prices at the stores. Next, I went through the store and wrote down prices for everything on my list.

I also used the store apps to check some prices. Some products were name-brand specific but many were simply for the cheapest generic version of whatever store brands that particular store carried available.

I did not include fresh produce in this price comparison since it varies so much by season. I compared ounces to ounces. If a size was different than what was listed, I noted that on the price comparison, and chose the lowest price per ounce option as the cheapest price.

I tried to stick to the same sizes as much as I was able. For the sake of true comparison, I used everyday prices and did not factor sales into this list. I simply wanted to know who had the lower prices.

Please know that prices vary in different parts of the country. These prices are Northern Indiana prices as of April Wherever you live, I still believe you can use these results to help you save money on your grocery bill.

After multiple store shopping trips and researching through various store apps, my list was finally done. Once I found the price totals, I went through and started comparing price to see which was the cheapest grocery store.

First, I went through and highlighted the absolute lowest price for every item. If there was a store that tied on the price, both those stores were highlighted. As I was comparing results, I realized that several stores were within pennies of each other. If you were already shopping at one store, it makes sense to pick up other items that are still a good deal.

Keeping that in mind, I went back through the lists and highlighted every price that was within 5 cents of the lowest price. This gave them a mark for the second lowest price. There were a couple times when stores had the exact same price so multiple stores counted as the lowest price.

There were also several times when multiple stores had the second lowest price, coming in close to the lowest. I counted them all, which is why it might not appear to perfectly add up.

If you are a number geek like I am, then it should all make sense! Finally, I tallied up the totals — both in numbers and percentages out of Here is what I found. You can clearly see that Aldi has the most lowest prices and Kroger has the least. There are a few categories where all 4 stores have prices within a nickel, but only a few.

Aldi had the lowest prices on two-thirds of the items on my master comparison list. That is a lot! Years ago, Meijer used to be my go-to store to stock up at everything at a low price — but not anymore! I was truly surprised by how few of the lowest prices Meijer had.

Meijer really does not have the best deals on very many things at all. Aldi was the cheapest in almost a third of the categories. What I found interesting was that they had the lowest prices on over items but the second lowest on only Also, since Aldi does not carry everything, there were several items on the list that could not be compared at Aldi.

As for Walmart? Walmart is giving Aldi a run for their money. Many of the times when Aldi had the lowest price, Walmart was pennies behind. The advantage to Walmart is that they have everything that Aldi does not. To some people, this is worth paying a couple more cents on items to not have to go to a different store.

Kroger is definitely the most expensive if you shop without sales! This chart does not take sales into account so it is difficult to see that represented. Kroger also has gas rewards and more digital coupons, both of which Aldi and Walmart do not.

That definitely is worth considering when you are comparing prices. If you are going by the everyday low prices at the store, the clear winner to the cheapest grocery store in is Aldi.

Walmart is a runner up, with Meijer and Kroger trailing behind. Walmart is probably the cheapest grocery store available nationwide with overall low grocery prices.

I say probably, because Walmart does not have sales, so that is a factor because sale shopping can save you a lot of money on groceries. To find the cheapest grocery store near you, do your own quick price comparison at your local grocery stores.

Here is how you can do this project in less than an hour. Start by making a list of 20 to 25 items you buy on a regular basis.

Trust me. Pick the top 2 dozen items you use every week and start there. Then, make a list of the grocery stores nearest to you. Maybe you will be surprised by your findings! Next, take your list and price those 25 products at your local grocery store and the grocery chains nearest you.

Quick tip. Many grocery stores now have great websites or apps where you can view the prices from the comfort of your own home. For Aldi, unfortunately, you have to venture into the store to see the actual prices.

Aldi uses Instacart to fulfill online orders so prices online are slightly higher than in store. If you want a true price comparison, go in person to Aldi to compare prices. Once you have compared prices at your closest stores, hopefully it will be clear who has the cheapest groceries near you.

I did it in , and While prices have definitely increased in the past year, Aldi is still the winner as it was back in Here are the results. I did the original research in when Walmart was the cheapest.

This is a huge difference from what we see now! What can we take away from this? It is important to continually monitor prices because they do change.

I will always go where the prices are lowest to get the best value for my every dollar in my grocery budget. That is why I am shopping at Aldi more. Remember, these price comparisons do not factor in sales. Shopping at different grocery stores to take advantage of sales is a great way to save money.

Lidl. Andriy Blokhin / Shutterstock Trader Joe's. Shutterstock Market Basket. QualityHD / Shutterstock

Affordable grocery deals - WinCo Foods. Shutterstock Lidl. Andriy Blokhin / Shutterstock Trader Joe's. Shutterstock Market Basket. QualityHD / Shutterstock

There are numerous ways to cook with tomato paste including topping fish and making barbeque sauce. While you can easily find canned tomato paste at most supermarkets, Aquilino prefers the kind available in a tube. Use limited data to select advertising.

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List of Partners vendors. By Amanda Lauren. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Instead, the chain focuses on selling its own store-brand products.

These items are often cheaper but many report that these goods are nearly identical to the name-brand versions of the same products, which makes it a no-brainer to shop here if you're trying to save money but don't want to sacrifice when it comes to taste.

Additionally, Aldi stores tend to be smaller than the average supermarket, which means the selection is more limited and the staff is streamlined. Since you have to bag your own groceries and take your own cart back to the store, you don't have to pay for those services through the price of your groceries.

Sure, the shopping experience at Aldi is a little different than what you may be used to at other grocery chains, but the low prices are totally worth it in our book.

Trader Joe's is another one of those super-popular, more affordable grocery chains that customers tend to flock to on a regular basis. If you like the feel of Aldi but are in the market for more specialty products, you may want to make your way to Trader Joe's. The store is similar to Aldi in that it doesn't offer many brand-name products, instead stocking its own unique offerings.

Some of these products have become cult favorites amongst Trader Joe's shoppers , so you're not sacrificing much in terms of quality by shopping at this store. Additionally, the chain keeps its operational costs low by building smaller stores that require fewer staff members to manage.

Since it doesn't offer coupons and run ads, you're not paying for all those extra incentives and advertisements. Rather, customers know that they're almost always getting a pretty decent deal when they decide to shop at Trader Joe's.

There are currently locations in 42 states plus Washington D. and if you live in an urban or suburban area, chances are you've got a Trader Joe's somewhere near you. Walmart has long been known as a place where it's possible to snag cheap groceries.

But why are the store's products so cheap compared to other, similar stores? There are a variety of factors that contribute to the cheaper-than-average prices.

Low operational costs are one such strategy, but so is lack of competition. Often, you'll find Walmarts in places where there aren't many other retailers to compete with.

In smaller towns and more rural areas, Walmart may be one of the few places in town where it's possible to snag groceries. Because the local population depends on the store, Walmart has a reliable customer base.

This customer loyalty means that they don't have to charge quite as much for its food and other products. However, some of the chain's affordability factor comes from the fact that it doesn't pay its employees very much. Human Rights Watch has outlined major issues with Walmart's labor practices , including encouraging employees to work off the clock and refusing to grant overtime.

Lidl is a grocery chain that was founded in Germany but can now be found in various towns and cities across the U. Like so many of the other chains on this list, this store keeps its prices low by limiting its name brand offerings and providing customers with store brands instead.

Additionally, it tends to stock products that people use on a regular basis — think pasta, canned tomato paste, and produce staples like cabbage and carrots — that often move in and out of the store pretty quickly.

There aren't many products that are going to sit on the shelf for a long time, which means that the company isn't waiting around for a return on investment. Plus, it takes less labor to run a Lidl than it would to operate a larger, more expansive grocery store.

Fewer products means less need for a ton of workers, and the fact that the store displays its products in the boxes they're shipped in is just one of the ways the store cuts its labor costs.

For those with big families or just a lot of roommates , shopping at Costco seems like a no-brainer. The chain cuts down on costs by keeping its stores relatively simple — you'll notice the bare-bones design that's more about utility and function than it is about style and ambiance.

Meat and protein plus many prepackaged items are cheaper than average at Costco, even when you're opting for brand name items over the in-house Kirkland brand.

If you know you're going to use these products anyway or you just remember to freeze them before you use them , doing a monthly shop at Costco might just save you some of your hard-earned cash.

Of course, we can't forget about the membership costs — you have to have a Costco card to shop at the retailer. But the savings you'll accumulate throughout the calendar year should more than make up for that cost. If you're lucky enough to live in the Northeast, you may just have a Market Basket near you.

The regional grocery chain is a fan favorite for those who love to save money on their grocery bill because of its surprisingly low prices. One of the main ways the company keeps its prices so low is by making sure it stays debt-free. While this may seem like a logical move, it's one that most companies — including most grocery chains — don't stand by.

Another way Market Basket offers such competitive prices is by offering pretty much the same goods at all of its locations. Because of this strategy, it can buy in bulk, ensuring a lower wholesale price.

It can then pass those savings on to its customers, who keep going back to the store to take advantage of those low prices. One of the main benefits of shopping at Market Basket is the fact that you can get a lot of your favorite name-brand products for significantly cheaper than you would find them at other grocery stores.

If you've never gone to a Market Basket before and you happen to live near one, you have to check it out — you may just be shocked at how low the prices are. Like Costco, Sam's Club is a membership grocery store with a focus on selling products in bulk.

When you're shopping this way, you may be spending more upfront, but generally, you're going to save money in the long run as long as you use what you buy.

Of course, the membership cost of shopping at Sam's Club helps the company offer lower prices. Although Sam's Club offers its membership prices for less than Costco does, you'll generally find lower prices on goods at Costco. But that doesn't mean you can't get a good deal at Sam's Club too. Particularly if you're a frequent shopper, you can save significantly on your annual grocery spending by shopping at Sam's Club.

In fact, you can even save more than you would by shopping at Walmart, which is the parent company of Sam's Club. If you're looking for a Costco alternative, Sam's Club is a solid way to go.

WinCo is another celebrated low-cost grocery store with locations that can be found in the West and Midwest, with prices that are sometimes below what even Costco can offer. But why is the chain so cheap? First of all, the chain buys a lot of its products directly from producers. By not going through a wholesale middleman, WinCo can get those products for less money, and it then passes those savings on to its customers.

But the store has another tactic under its belt: It doesn't accept credit cards.

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