We’re all trying to save money these days. I was inspired by a news story to find new ways to tighten my belt and share my results with you. I’m starting with grocery shopping. I am going to take my basic grocery list to several grocery stores and see where I get the most bang for my buck.

My grocery list contains the following “staple” items:

Multi-pack of chips
Hamburger buns
Loaf of bread
Baby Spinach for salads
Sliced Turkey
Sliced Pepperoni
Can of Spaghetti Sauce
Small tin of ground coffee
Gallon of Skim Milk
Ground Beef
Frozen All Beef Hamburgers
Case of Coke Zero 

In order to begin my price shopping mission, I need to know where you shop for groceries most often. The results of our poll are in, and the results are below.

Giant Eagle – 31%

Marcs – 23%

Aldi – 19%

Heinens – 15%

Trader Joes – 4%

Sam’s – 1%

 
I will visit each of these stores (with the exception of Sam’s, unless someone wants to donate a membership to the cause) and compare my basic weekly shopping list. Wal-Mart was an option in the poll, but received zero votes. Unfortunately for me, that is where I started my shopping mission. Here’s how I did.

Multi-pack of chips – $6.48
Hamburger buns – $1.98
Loaf of bread – $1.98
Bag of Baby Spinach for salads – $2.88
1 pound Deli Sliced Turkey – $6.47
1/2 Pound Deli Sliced Pepperoni – $2.53
Can of Spaghetti Sauce – $1.00
Small tin of ground coffee – $3.38
Gallon of Skim Milk – $2.98
Ground Beef Roll – $10.98
Frozen All Beef Hamburgers – $6.98
Case of Coke Zero – $3.98

TOTAL – $51.62

I imagine that the result its going to be that some stores are better than others in certain departments, worse in others. But I want to see the results for myself. I’ll start visiting stores in the coming weeks and share my results with you!