Thanks again to everyone for reading along with me on my savings adventure. It has been an interesting journey, that has taught me a lot about shopping and saving locally. I was really surprised to see how much prices can vary from store to store, even if I didn’t have to drive that far.
Just for fun, I made a chart of my fifteen items and all of the places that I shopped. You can really see the price difference when you view them side by side.
| Items |
Wal-Mart |
Walgreens |
Dollar General |
IGA |
Woods
|
| Cat Food |
$3.84 |
$4.49 |
$2.25 |
$1.79 |
$1.99 |
| Kitty Litter |
$1.68 |
$2.29 |
$1.00 |
$2.99 |
$1.79 |
| Kleenexes |
$1.24 |
$1.00 |
$1.00 |
$1.25 |
$1.00 |
| Toilet Paper |
$1.32 |
$1.00 |
$1.10 |
$1.65 |
$1.00 |
| Diapers |
$10.67 |
$9.00 |
$8.00 |
$10.89 |
$9.97 |
| Baby Food 2pk |
$0.98 |
$1.39 |
|
$1.19 |
$0.99 |
| Baby Food Jar |
$0.72 |
$0.89 |
|
$0.85 |
$0.75 |
| Gerber Puffs |
$1.92 |
$2.49 |
|
$2.29 |
$2.09 |
| Saltines |
$0.96 |
$2.00 |
$0.85 |
$1.35 |
$0.99 |
| Coca-Cola |
$3.98 |
$3.00 |
$1.99 (6ct) |
$3.50 |
$3.33 |
| Bread |
$0.96 |
$2.19 |
$2.40 |
$1.09 |
$1.00 |
| Eggs |
$1.70 |
$1.50 |
$2.25 |
$1.50 |
$1.50 |
| Milk 1 Gallon |
$3.40 |
$3.49 |
$3.90 |
$3.19 |
$3.69 |
| Flour 5lbs |
$1.58 |
$2.99 |
$1.25 |
$1.79 |
$1.99 |
| Sugar 4 lbs |
$1.98 |
$2.79 |
$1.65 |
$1.69 |
$1.69 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| TOTAL |
$36.93 |
$40.51 |
$27.64 |
$37.01 |
$33.77 |
I was surprised to see Walgreens on the high side of the prices and Wood’s on the low end, although the week that I shopped at Wood’s, many of the Baby Items were on sale.
Wal-Mart still seems to be the best bet for One Stop shopping, and with my two busy boys in the cart that is usually what I have to do. Walgreens is still one of my favorite places to shop, their pharmacy is great, and overall they had the best Customer Service. Dollar General is the best place to shop locally for Baking Supplies, and Cat Litter, they also had great Customer Service too. Wood’s and IGA both run fantastic sales, and incentive buys to save on fuel costs. Those might come in handy as the price of gas continues to rise.
Shopping all around town has also taught me a lot about our community, and sadly a few places that we really need. I think that our little town would greatly benefit from an Aldi, and a Bakery Outlet store. Both stores would really help out with the rising cost of groceries, and maybe get the existing shops to lower their prices, just a bit.
For the most part I’ll stay shopping local, unless gas prices magically drop and I can shop at Dillons and Aldi along with the local shops;) I’ll also be checking those sale ads weekly to see where I can save even more.
I’ll still keep my fingers crossed that maybe one day we’ll get an Aldi or a Dolly Madison Outlet 😉 A girl can dream, and this girl is dreaming about lower grocery prices…
Nico- this is really great. I have never used a price book but have decided I am going to at least give it a try next month. I love your chart!
Wow, what a great way to actually see all the prices all at once. You did a great job on this! Thanks for sharing 🙂 Ellie
Wow, great job on the comparison shopping Nico!
Wow! The cat food is really a big price difference depending on the store. I’m with you on Walgreens, it’s one of my favorite places. I love using their rebates and getting so much back. I just shop the different grocery store sales, and manage to hit whatever bargains I can to fill the freezer or pantry. It’s hard for me to buy groceries at WalMart, I get distracted by all of the mdse. around the registers and become too impulsive and grabby. Great article, thanks Nicole!
Thanks Maggie! It was fun going out and shopping too. I just wish that we had an Aldi, it would really help out with the grocery savings.
Thanks Nana! It was a lot of fun visiting all of the different stores, and the boy’s were great on all of trips too.
Thanks Ellie! I was surprised to see all of the differences in prices from store to store. It really does pay to shop around and look for those savings 😉
Thanks Susan! I really enjoyed all of the shopping trips, and I was surprised to see just how much the prices can vary. I’m still hoping that maybe one day we’ll get an Aldi or a Dillons, both stores have great Produce 🙂
Thanks Mimi! I’m a big fan of Walgreens too, their rebate programs are great 🙂 Walgreens is usually the best place to find a great deal of sweet treats too. This week I picked up Bliss Chocolate there 2/$4.00 at Wal-Mart they are priced at $3.96 each, how I do love Walgreens!
Great job! I mean that is really wonderful! just look at all of those differences! Way to go nico! thanks for the insightful info!
Blessings!!!
Thanks Marva! I was really surprised with the price differences too. Thanks again for reading along on the savings journey 🙂