Hooray, it is Wednesday! I hope your week is going marvelously. I'm excited about today's post because I feel like it might actually be helpful! That is, only if you care about how much money you drop at the grocery store. If you are totally unfazed by these things, you might not feel as "helped out" by my research. :)
So, here's the dealio. I usually get my groceries at Aldi (if you never have, you are totes missing out), because the prices are amazing and it is good stuff. However, the Aldi over here is a good 15 minute drive and with my weird split schedule, I'm usually pushing it to get over there and back home so the chicken won't melt before heading back to work. Especially when my car breaks down mid-drive (okay, that only happened once). Occasionally I'll hit up Hy-Vee, but I get angry that the produce there is so expensive. $4 for spinach!? Anyways. So today I said to myself, I'm going to test out Trader Joe's! I've been there before (how awful would it be if I lived a mile away and never had!?), but only to pick up this and that, never for the full-blown grocery trip. Alas, today was the day. I have a pretty good idea how much I pay for everything at Aldi, so I thought I would compare and see the difference in my overall bill. I found myself slightly surprised at the checkout, as I only spent about $10 more than I usually do on my usual week-and-a-half to two-week grocery trip!! AND I included a few items I don't usually buy, such as a four dolla Moscata (Moscato). To answer your question, yes, I made that one up myself. Not quite as catchy as three buck Chuck, but I gave it my best. :) Alas, here are my conclusions as far as price comparisons go:
FRUIT: This took a little bit of thinking to compare, because Trader Joe's does the price by each piece of fruit rather than per pound. After some calculations, I discovered the prices are pretty close. Example: bananas were 57 cents a pound when I stopped at Hy-Vee the other day, and they were 19 cents a piece at Trader Joe's. 3 bananas weigh over a pound, so that means Trader Joe's was a teeny bit cheaper. Grapes were sold by the pound, as usual, and they were $2.69 for 20 ounces, which puts them at a little over $2.00 a pound. That's about what I usually pay! I also got a seedless watermelon for $3.99, which is WAY cheaper than the $5.99 Hy-Vee wanted (lame).
VEGGIES: The same price as Aldi!! Bell peppers were 79 cents a piece, 10 ounces of mushrooms were $1.79, and sweet potatoes were 49 cents a piece! I also paid $2.79 for 4 on-the-vine tomatoes, which tend to be spendier (I know this isn't a real word, but it should be) than off-the-vine ones. Carrots were $1.79 for a pound and a half (A pound is usually 99 cents at Aldi or $1.29 at Hy-Vee), and I believe I saw baby spinach was $1.99 (I didn't buy any because I'm not out yet), which is what I also pay at Aldi. Good job on the veggies, Trader Joe's!
MILK: Well, Aldi won this one, but I wasn't surprised. I get a 1 gallon of 2% for only $2.69 and Aldi, and it was $2.99 at Trader Joe's, which is still pretty good in comparison to other places.
MEAT: The fresh stuff is definitely more expensive at Trader Joe's, but it is very high quality. I paid $6.99 for a bag of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which I usually pay around $5.99 or $6.29 for, so that wasn't too bad. The bonus was that these chicken breasts were nice and thin, which is SO much better than cooking those 3-inch-thick (slight exaggeration) ones!
OTHER STUFF: A huge thing of coffee creamer was $2.99 which is really good, and my large (24 ounce) box of shredded wheat was only $2.99! That is super good, because cereal has gotten ridiculously expensive. 100% whole wheat bread was $2.49 for a large loaf, and it is usually $1.99 at Aldi (and about $3.50 at Hy-Vee). Whole wheat pasta was nice and cheap at $1.39. Not-from-concentrate orange juice was on the spendier side at $2.99 for a half gallon, but you can't have it all cheap, right?
There you have it! The lowdown on grocery prices for next time you are trying to decide where to go. I hate paying extra for things just because it is closer to drive to (aka I hate being lazy), so I've happily decided I can go to Trader Joe's if I am on a time crunch and I won't have to resolve to spending 30 extra dollars!! Cheers to that with the four dolla...let's just say with the Moscato (by they way, I'll let you know if Riley and I like it!) :)
Spend some time outside today, it is supposed to be chilly tomorrow (here in Iowa, that is)! I'm off to lift, but I'll be back with something good very soon! Perhaps a workout?? Fingers crossed! :)
--KQ
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