Usually I do all my grocery shopping at WalMart since our town has a Super WalMart and it’s the easiest way to get all my shopping done. I can get toiletries, baby items, clothing items, food, etc. all in one place. However, I’m not entirely sure it’s the best choice financially, so I did an experiment today. I had read an article on The Simple Dollar that suggested going to different stores and compare prices. Then you buy the cheapest items at each store.
This is the excerpt from the article that caught my attention:
Start a price book (p. 33) Get a three ring binder and a small pile of sheets with three holes punched on them. At the top of each page, write an item you buy regularly (toilet paper, peanut butter, etc.). Then start going to different stores and writing down the prices on the brands that you buy. Spend a month or two trying different stores out and jotting the prices, then start planning shopping trips using that book, focusing on stocking up on the items that are cheapest at a particular store. Plus you can find out if store flyers are actually saving a lot of money versus the competition.
Today I went to Save-A-Lot, Big Lots, and WalMart. Our monthly groceries usually cost around $350 for the month, all of it spent on one or two trips to WalMart. Today I spent a total of $167.11 by going to three stores.
Save-A-Lot=$66.31
Big Lots=$15.06
WalMart=$85.74
Coupon Savings=$3.13
Total Spent=$167.11
2 Comments
May 17, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.
Tim Ramsey
June 5, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Clicked through from the Festival of Frugality #128. Nice savings on your groceries!!