When it comes to shopping smart, there are a few categories to consider. For non-perishable items, or things you may want to take back if they’re not quite right, knowing which stores have the best return policies is key. But for groceries, it’s best to know where to find the cheapest items so that you can decide where and how to splurge versus where to cut costs. Consumer Reports recently released a study finding that Walmart is no longer the cheapest grocery store. Find out where you can shop to save the most money on your groceries instead.
Cheaper Grocery Stores
The Consumer Reports study used Walmart as a baseline and compared several other grocery stores “in six cities representative of their regions” to find out where the best deals are. Six retailers came in cheaper than Walmart.
- Costco Wholesale is 21.4% less expensive
- BJ’s Wholesale Club is 21.0% less expensive
- Lidl is 8.5% less expensive
- Aldi is 8.3% less expensive
- WinCo is 3.3% less expensive
- H-E-B is 0.2% less expensive
Based on this, you’re likely to find the biggest savings when shopping in bulk. But if that kind of restocking doesn’t make sense for you, you can still save money at other discount grocery stores.
Most Expensive Grocery Stores
Of course, given how many retailers were included in this study, Walmart is by no means the most expensive place to get your groceries. If you’ve been feeling the pinch in your wallet, you may want to switch stores. The six most expensive stores in the study were:
- Vons is 26.7% more expensive
- Mariano’s is 27.6% more expensive
- Jewel-Osco is 29.7% more expensive
- El Rancho is 30.1% more expensive
- Shaw’s is 31.9% more expensive
- Whole Foods is 39.7% more expensive
Mid-Range Stores
Some of the middle-of-the-pack stores will save you money compared to Whole Foods or Shaw’s, but still stack up a little pricier than Walmart.
- Target is 5.9% more expensive
- Wegman’s is 7.6% more expensive
- Food 4 Less is 9% more expensive
- Ralph’s is 21.9% more expensive
- Trader Joe’s is 24.6% more expensive
- Albertson’s is 24.8% more expensive
At the end of the day, you will be limited by the variety of stores available to you, but you can cut your costs a bit if you’re able to switch up your routine. Even if it’s just opting to get some items from the cheaper store and saving your favorites for your main one, every penny is helpful.
Source
Most and Least Expensive Supermarkets, Consumer Reports, 2026.
The post You May Be Overpaying for Groceries at Walmart — These 6 Stores Are Cheaper appeared first on Family Handyman.
Article source here: You May Be Overpaying for Groceries at Walmart — These 6 Stores Are Cheaper
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