Finding the cheapest groceries can be difficult, especially if you’re consistently worried about purchasing healthy food as well. With the rocky economy we are constantly on the hunt for saving money and what better place to start than with something that we have to shop for whether we want to or not. With tires screeching we swung into the parking lots of our local supermarkets on the hunt for the cheapest groceries!
This article will be comparing prices at Smith’s and Food 4 Less while we try to locate who has the cheapest groceries. We created a shopping list for food that could be used to make an entires weeks menu for breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks, with one of the snacks serving as desert.
Comparing Prices
Here is the list of one weeks worth of food, for two people, we used when investigating who sold the cheapest groceries.
| Food Item | Smith’s Price | Food 4 Less’ Price |
| Whole Wheat Bread | .89 | .79 |
| Eggs (1 Dozen) | 1.79 | 1.38 |
| Sugar Free Syrup | 3.49 | 2.79 |
| Strawberries (16 oz) | 2 for 3.00 | 2 for 3.00 |
| 2 Gallons of Milk | 4.38 (2.19 each) | 4.36 (2.18 each) |
| Sweet Potatoes | 1.29/lb | .94/lb |
| Pita Pockets | 2.69 | 2.69 |
| Olive Oil (25.5 oz) | 7.99 | 5.98 |
| Oregano (.67 oz) | 1.00 | .98 |
| Garlic Powder (1.83 oz) | 1.00 | .98 |
| English Muffins | 1.69 | 3.52 |
| Swiss Cheese (8oz) | 2.99 | 2.98 |
| Apples 1lb | .79 | .98 |
| Peanut Butter (28 oz.) | 2.49 | 2.68 |
| Liquid egg substitute (32 oz) | 5.49 | 3.48 |
| Chocolate Yogurt (48 oz.) | 2.77 | 1.98 (ice cream) |
| Chocolate Chips (12 oz.) | 1.75 | 1.78 |
| Honey nut cheerios (25.25 oz) | 2.99 | 4.78 |
| Salad mix (24 oz) | 2.99 | 1.58 |
| Light Ranch Dressing (24 oz) | 4.99 | 3.76 |
| Tuna | .62 | .68 |
| Graham Crackers (16 oz) | 2.19 | 1.98 |
| Yogurt | .60 | .52 |
| Canola Oil (48 oz.) | 2.41 | 2.41 |
| Onions (1 lb) | .89 | .98 |
| Chicken | 7.99 | 6.98 |
| Pasta (1 oz) | 1.69 | 1.33 |
| Black Pepper (1.75 oz) | 1.01 | .99 |
| Chicken Broth (32 OZ.) | 2.99 | 2.66 |
| Turkey Sausage (14 oz.) | 5.99 | 2.98 |
| Spaghetti Sauce (26 oz.) | 1.10 | 1.17 |
| Parmesan cheese (8 oz) | 2.92 | 2.88 |
| Chocolate Pudding (1.4 oz.) | .53 | .48 |
| Barbeque sauce (12 oz.) | 2.49 | 3.05 |
| Light mayonnaise (32 oz.) | 4.19 | 3.87 |
| Wheat Buns (8 buns) | 3.19 | 2.70 |
| Carrots (32 oz) | 2.49 | 2.28 |
| Butter (45 oz.) | 2.49 | 2.41 |
| Turkey Bacon (12 oz.) | 2.50 | 2.16 |
| Ham lunch meat (5 oz.) | 2.49 | 1.78 |
| Turkey Breast Lunch Mt. (5 oz.) | 2.49 | 1.78 |
| Lettuce Head | 1.29 | .78 |
| Tomato Soup (10.5 oz.) | 1.50 | 1.43 |
| Grand Total | 112.51 | 99.69 |
In the end we ended up with a grand total of $112.51 for Smith’s, and $99.69 for Food 4 Less. We took anything that was on sale without a coupon and used it as the current price. we did not use any coupons or electronic discounts to receive the totals. Since Smith’s has a free members program we assumed that the savvy shopper would already have there own Smith’s card and included that total in the final price for the cheapest groceries.
While it is true you might have some of the items listed above om your pantry, we figured the best test would be to start from scratch at both stores. It is also worth noting that we did a separate list for the groceries we actually needed which totals were:
$69.04 Smith’s, and $63.76 Food 4 Less.
In both cases Food 4 Less was the obvious winner but was actually closer than we thought the savings would be. Come back next week when we compare more stores with the same list at Wal-Mart, Fresh and Easy, Vons, and Albertsons. If you have different stores in your area try printing of the same list and take it with you the next time you go running to your local supermarket, than tell your readers who had the cheapest groceries.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, I am surprised. I thought Smith’s would be cheaper. The down side of Food 4 Less though is you have to bag your food yourself and their produce is a kinda crappy. But ya… it cheaper!
Hey as long as it’s edible I am all for saving a couple bucks! But I agree there is a noticeable difference in quality between the two stores