What if I told you that you could slash your grocery bill in half – or more – by making one simple change?

It’s true.

All you have to do is change where you shop for groceries.

Disclaimer: If you shop primarily at a gourmet grocery store, Whole Foods, or a natural foods co-op, you can cut your grocery bill in half by shopping at my recommended grocery store (see below).

However, if you currently shop at a discount grocery store, your savings won’t be as dramatic. But please keep reading anyway!How to immediately cut your grocery bill in HALF! Yes, I'm serious. One simple change can save you thousands a year!!

Comparing Grocery Store Prices

I had always been curious about the price differences at different types of grocery stores. For example: I knew Whole Foods was more expensive than the “regular” supermarket – but I didn’t know how much.

So I decided to do an experiment. I visited 8 different grocery stores:

  • Whole Foods
  • Trader Joe’s
  • ALDI
  • Super Target
  • Walmart
  • “Regular” supermarket
  • High-end/gourmet supermarket
  • Natural foods co-op

Then I made a list of 21 common grocery items (like milk, pasta, tomato sauce, chickpeas, cereal, powdered sugar, eggs, orange juice, cheese, olive oil, potato chips, ground beef, etc.)

I documented the prices and added them all up.

And the results were shocking.


Which Grocery Store Is The Cheapest?

Here are the prices when you add up all 21 grocery items:

  • Natural foods co-op: $82.99
  • Whole Foods: $72.28
  • High-end/gourmet grocery store: $64.20
  • Trader Joe’s: $56.86
  • Regular supermarket: $53.36
  • Super Target: $46.25
  • Walmart: $39.71
  • ALDI: $33.60

Take a close look at this list of prices. Where does your grocery store fall?

By moving down a slot or two – or all the way down to ALDI (which I love!) – you could save thousands of dollars a year just by changing where you shop for groceries.

What Percentage Will You Save?

Here’s how much you’ll save if you switch from:

  • Natural foods co-op to ALDI (most dramatic savings): Save 84 percent
  • Whole Foods to ALDI: Save 73 percent
  • Gourmet grocery store to ALDI: Save 62 percent

Getting cheap groceries at ALDI

If you really want to start saving money on food, you will probably need to make some changes: To where you shop, to what you buy, to how you meal plan. It will take some planning, but maybe in the process you will learn some life skills such as how to be resilient, resourceful and frugal.

Can You Feed A Family Of 4 For Less Than $100 A Week?

Grocery prices are insanely high right now (this post was updated 5/12/22). Record inflation, supply chain issues, shrinkflation, and other factors are kicking consumers’ butts. People are paying significantly more for groceries than they were a year ago.

I recently came up with a 1-week meal plan to feed a family of 4 for less than $100 a week.

Disclaimer: Since I came up with this meal plan in December 2021, prices have gone up. But it’s still a great plan that makes good use of budget-friendly ingredients like eggs, rice, bananas, carrots, ground turkey, etc.

Shopping At Salvage Grocery Stores

Shopping at salvage grocery stores: Save MAJOR money on food by shopping at heavily discounted salvage grocery stores.

Another grocery shopping option that may not be on your radar are salvage grocery stores.

These grocery stores sell food items at a steep discount. Some of the foods come in dented cans or scratched packaging; Some are just beyond their best before date; Some are seasonal (think pumpkin spice coffee creamer in January).

But these food items are almost always perfectly fine to eat – and you, as the consumer, can save loads of money by shopping at these stores.

More ALDI-Related Posts

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