Have you ever looked at your monthly grocery spending and thought “Why is food so expensive?” If so, you not alone. It is estimated that food prices have risen 2-3% each year since the 1990’s and will continue to rise at this pace going forward. Wow, that cannot be good for your wallet! So, what can the budget conscious consumer do to eat healthy and save money on grocery spending? The key is choosing grocery retailers that will provide substantial cost –savings, while still providing quality.
Check out the “Top Five Places to Shop If You Want to Slash Your Grocery Budget”
- ALDI
Aldi is one of the top grocery chains to shop at for rock bottom prices. They are able to offer, very low prices because they carry their own in-store brand products and customers bag their own groceries or not at all. Most customers bring their own bags or purchase bags from Aldi for less than $0.10.
Each week Aldi puts out an ad for general sales and a special ad for meat products. Aldi offers a variety of low priced basic necessities such as milk, bread and produce. Prices for these items are significantly cheaper than larger retailers such as Walmart and Target. Shoppers can find bargain prices for items such as grapes for $0.99 per pound! Aldi currently operates in over 30 states in which prices can vary by region.
- Winco
Winco Foods is dubbed as the “Supermarket Low Priced Leader”. It is a smaller grocery store chain with only about 100 stores. It is employee owed and is operated in only a handful of states. Winco has stated on its website that it main goal is to save you money. How can you go wrong with that!
Winco offers shoppers extra savings by providing coupons, smart saver tips, and other special. Shoppers even have the convenience of ordering their groceries online. Winco also offers local produce, natural and organic foods and heavily discounted bulk items. Winco is a cash only grocery store that receives its food directly from its source allowing them to cut out the middleman and pass on those savings to the shoppers.
- Fareway
Fareway is a family owned business and ranked the “top 10” grocery store in Iowa. Fareway situated is between Aldi and other major food chains in regards to price. It is a discount chain located mainly in the Midwest and carries typical grocery store items. It offers a variety of shopper savings through cashback incentives, coupons and periodic sweepstakes drawings. It also offers the convenience of online ordering and weekly store savings ads.
One major difference between Aldi, Winco and Fareway is Fareway’s Meat Market. The meat market offers a variety of meat bundles that boasts significant savings to the shopper and great quality meat!
- Sprouts Farmer’s Market
For the more health conscious shopper, Sprouts offers the most savings in your grocery budget for purchasing natural, organic and gluten-free items. If you are someone who purchases groceries from stores similar to Sprouts, you know that grocery costs add up quickly!
Sprouts is known for its very affordable pricing and fresh produce. It offers healthy living for less! There are approximately 250 stores located across the US. Sprouts is also different in that it acts as a healthy living resource center. It provides a variety of recipes, videos, webinars and educational content to shoppers who want to live a healthier lifestyle.
- Trader Joes
Last, but certainly not least on our list is Trader Joes. Trader Joes tends to carry more specialty items than the other stores listed above. It is deemed as the “neighborhood grocery store”. It is known for its great quality, affordable prices and unique product selection. One unique difference from the other grocery stores discussed is that Trader Joes does not put out a weekly ad and does not offer coupons. It boasts that due to their low prices, there is no room for sales, specials or coupons. That sounds like a pretty good deal!
Phew…Now that you know where to shop for the most savings, you will be able to slash your monthly grocery budget in no time and keep more money in your pocket!
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