Get ready. There are a lot of details and prices and statistics coming at you! Let me tell you how I found the cheapest grocery store. If you would rather watch a video to hear about this process and the results, here you go!

Otherwise, keep reading below. Note: This is my fourth update in five years. I did this price comparison in for the first time, and updated it in and then again in With the rapidly increasing inflation, I did a complete update in April to help us all save money on our groceries.

I looked at the stores that had the biggest reach. Walmart is national chain that boosts low prices. Is Walmart really the lowest? Aldi claims to beat Walmart but do they really? Meijer and Kroger are considered higher end grocery stores, but they have a large reach with great sales.

I left those stores out of this comparison because I wanted a true comparison. For the sake of this research, Walmart, Aldi, Meijer and Kroger were the four stores I chose to compare. I started by making a list of the most common grocery items any household would use.

Then, I added some more specific items that our family uses regularly. Finally, I asked the Joyfully Thriving Facebook page for their feedback and got a lot of great requests for items to add to the list.

I wanted a fair representation of various areas of the grocery store so I focused on 10 different shopping categories. The categories I used were:.

I came up with a list of items in 10 categories that I compared at all 4 stores. I made a huge spreadsheet with all the grocery items and then I began comparing prices at the stores.

Next, I went through the store and wrote down prices for everything on my list. I also used the store apps to check some prices. Some products were name-brand specific but many were simply for the cheapest generic version of whatever store brands that particular store carried available.

I did not include fresh produce in this price comparison since it varies so much by season. I compared ounces to ounces. If a size was different than what was listed, I noted that on the price comparison, and chose the lowest price per ounce option as the cheapest price.

I tried to stick to the same sizes as much as I was able. For the sake of true comparison, I used everyday prices and did not factor sales into this list.

I simply wanted to know who had the lower prices. Please know that prices vary in different parts of the country. These prices are Northern Indiana prices as of April Wherever you live, I still believe you can use these results to help you save money on your grocery bill.

After multiple store shopping trips and researching through various store apps, my list was finally done. Once I found the price totals, I went through and started comparing price to see which was the cheapest grocery store.

First, I went through and highlighted the absolute lowest price for every item. If there was a store that tied on the price, both those stores were highlighted.

As I was comparing results, I realized that several stores were within pennies of each other. If you were already shopping at one store, it makes sense to pick up other items that are still a good deal.

Keeping that in mind, I went back through the lists and highlighted every price that was within 5 cents of the lowest price. This gave them a mark for the second lowest price.

There were a couple times when stores had the exact same price so multiple stores counted as the lowest price. There were also several times when multiple stores had the second lowest price, coming in close to the lowest. I counted them all, which is why it might not appear to perfectly add up.

If you are a number geek like I am, then it should all make sense! Finally, I tallied up the totals — both in numbers and percentages out of Here is what I found. You can clearly see that Aldi has the most lowest prices and Kroger has the least. There are a few categories where all 4 stores have prices within a nickel, but only a few.

Aldi had the lowest prices on two-thirds of the items on my master comparison list. That is a lot! Years ago, Meijer used to be my go-to store to stock up at everything at a low price — but not anymore!

I was truly surprised by how few of the lowest prices Meijer had. Meijer really does not have the best deals on very many things at all. Aldi was the cheapest in almost a third of the categories. What I found interesting was that they had the lowest prices on over items but the second lowest on only Also, since Aldi does not carry everything, there were several items on the list that could not be compared at Aldi.

As for Walmart? Walmart is giving Aldi a run for their money. Many of the times when Aldi had the lowest price, Walmart was pennies behind. The advantage to Walmart is that they have everything that Aldi does not. To some people, this is worth paying a couple more cents on items to not have to go to a different store.

Kroger is definitely the most expensive if you shop without sales! This chart does not take sales into account so it is difficult to see that represented.

Kroger also has gas rewards and more digital coupons, both of which Aldi and Walmart do not. That definitely is worth considering when you are comparing prices. If you are going by the everyday low prices at the store, the clear winner to the cheapest grocery store in is Aldi.

Walmart is a runner up, with Meijer and Kroger trailing behind. Walmart is probably the cheapest grocery store available nationwide with overall low grocery prices. I say probably, because Walmart does not have sales, so that is a factor because sale shopping can save you a lot of money on groceries.

To find the cheapest grocery store near you, do your own quick price comparison at your local grocery stores. Here is how you can do this project in less than an hour. Start by making a list of 20 to 25 items you buy on a regular basis. Trust me. Pick the top 2 dozen items you use every week and start there.

Then, make a list of the grocery stores nearest to you. Maybe you will be surprised by your findings! Next, take your list and price those 25 products at your local grocery store and the grocery chains nearest you.

Quick tip. Many grocery stores now have great websites or apps where you can view the prices from the comfort of your own home. For Aldi, unfortunately, you have to venture into the store to see the actual prices.

Aldi uses Instacart to fulfill online orders so prices online are slightly higher than in store. If you want a true price comparison, go in person to Aldi to compare prices. Once you have compared prices at your closest stores, hopefully it will be clear who has the cheapest groceries near you.

I did it in , and While prices have definitely increased in the past year, Aldi is still the winner as it was back in Here are the results. I did the original research in when Walmart was the cheapest.

This is a huge difference from what we see now! What can we take away from this? It is important to continually monitor prices because they do change. I will always go where the prices are lowest to get the best value for my every dollar in my grocery budget. That is why I am shopping at Aldi more.

Remember, these price comparisons do not factor in sales. Shopping at different grocery stores to take advantage of sales is a great way to save money. At the same time, with gas prices increasing as much as they are, we need to be smart shoppers.

Gone are the days of running to one store just because. We need to combine errands and be wise about how we shop. For me, I shop the amazing sales at Kroger because their sale prices usually beat the every day low price at Aldi and Walmart. Then, I do a stock up trip once or twice a month at Aldi where prices are the lowest to fill in the gaps.

This is what it currently looks like for me, but I am constantly reevaluating to be a smart shopper. After this price comparison, I have a list of what I should buy at Aldi and what items I should buy elsewhere.

I also used these prices to create a stock-up list of the best prices for each item — so you can watch for sales at any store to beat those every day prices. That list is included in my printable grocery ebook. See below for more on that.

If you are going to mainly shop at one store — make Aldi your go-to grocery store. But if you really want to save money? Start shopping at more than one store.

Knowing the cheap prices on the staples you buy, allows you to stock up your pantry staples, knowing these are the lowest food costs available. The best way to use this information is to combine every day cheap food items with great sale purchases.

Stacking every day low prices with amazing sales is a great way to stretch your food budget. My plan? I plan to grocery shop at Aldi more regularly, stocking up on their cheap groceries, and supplement with sales at Kroger.

I will occasionally shop the meat sales especially ground beef! at Meijer. Walmart will still be my go to when I need a low price pick-up because their prices are close to Aldi on quite a few things.

I will shop where the prices are the lowest to save me money. Fortunately, I have all these stores very close to me, allowing me to take advantage of the different deals. I will also be using the store apps more regularly to check prices.

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