What grocery stores have best prices on brand name foods?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so over the cost of groceries but never find anything we like at Aldi or TJ.

Does Costco actually cost less? I am never convinced of that when shopping there. What about Giant v Wegmans v Safeway v Harris Teeter?

Wegmans is cheapest on every day name brand prices if you don’t want to have to wait for sales. Giant is cheapest if you only buy what’s in the circular and use their points program religiously. I cannot do a full shop at any of the warehouse stores, as each is missing something I regularly buy, but their name brand prices are better if you can use the quantity. Their sale prices are often a better value even if you don’t end up using everything before it’s stale, but you still need to store it. BJs and Sams allow you to do a very accurate online shop to see if they might meet your day to day needs, but everything on Costco’s website is marked up and inventory not terribly reliable. Not to mention that shopping at Costco these days is like trying to cross the East German border circa 1986 these days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It completely depends on what brand name stuff you are looking for. Costco is great for "cost per unit" of certain things - chips, breakfast cereal, bread - and their price to quality ratio for other things (cheese, most meat) is excellent. But if those aren't the things you are buying, it won't solve your problem.

This. Can’t beat Costco for most things in terms of the price to quality ratio. Their meat in particular is a good value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Milk has gone up in price recently, but it is typically $1/gallon less at Costco than Giant. And the plain whole milk yogurt I buy at Costco is far less expensive.

I actually find cereal to be cheaper at Target than Giant.

Rarely do TJ's/Aldi/Wegman's/H-Mart/Safeway, and haven't shopped Whole Foods in years.

Is this the Indian yogurt? I believe it's called Dani? If so, how would you say it compares to a more european style? I have been wanting to try it (and yes, the price is excellent) but I would hate to waste it if I don't enjoy the flavor.

Yes, Indian style, Dahi. Probably -slightly- less creamy in texture, not very tart. It’s my standard breakfast most days. I add fruit, chia seeds and granola or muesli. I used to eat flavored or fat free yogurt and honestly couldn’t go back to that stuff.

Is it stored near the Greek yogurt? I like plain yogurt but have only seen fat-free plain yogurt at Costco.

I'm the poster who asked about the Dahi. I shop at the Wheaton Costco and it's in the same area as all the other yogurt. I am going to buy it next time I'm there. I only eat plain whole fat yogurt and that's the only one they carry. Thank you PP for the flavor info!

Thank you. Maybe they don't carry it in DC.

If your still around, do you know if they have coconut yogurt in Wheaton? They had it in DC just got a very short time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Milk has gone up in price recently, but it is typically $1/gallon less at Costco than Giant. And the plain whole milk yogurt I buy at Costco is far less expensive.

I actually find cereal to be cheaper at Target than Giant.

Rarely do TJ's/Aldi/Wegman's/H-Mart/Safeway, and haven't shopped Whole Foods in years.

Is this the Indian yogurt? I believe it's called Dani? If so, how would you say it compares to a more european style? I have been wanting to try it (and yes, the price is excellent) but I would hate to waste it if I don't enjoy the flavor.

Yes, Indian style, Dahi. Probably -slightly- less creamy in texture, not very tart. It’s my standard breakfast most days. I add fruit, chia seeds and granola or muesli. I used to eat flavored or fat free yogurt and honestly couldn’t go back to that stuff.

Is it stored near the Greek yogurt? I like plain yogurt but have only seen fat-free plain yogurt at Costco.

I'm the poster who asked about the Dahi. I shop at the Wheaton Costco and it's in the same area as all the other yogurt. I am going to buy it next time I'm there. I only eat plain whole fat yogurt and that's the only one they carry. Thank you PP for the flavor info!

Thank you. Maybe they don't carry it in DC.

If your still around, do you know if they have coconut yogurt in Wheaton? They had it in DC just got a very short time.

PP who buys Dahi regularly, but in Fairfax. Haven't been to the DC store in ages, but it may cater to a different customer base. Fairfax has a lot of Asian/South Asian foods. Heck, it sells whole Halal goats. No liquor like DC, though, which is a bummer.

[Anonymous]

I think if you want brand name items you have to shop the sales and stock up when prices are low.

[Anonymous]

This is a really interesting conversation because it seems to really vary depending on area. Where I live, Safeway is never the cheapest. I'm an Aldi fan, but will go to Giant or Teeter for brand name sales. As others have said, shop the circular and stock up.

[Anonymous]

I’ve found the best way to save money is to limit how often you go into the store and be willing to run out of crap instead doing a top up shop. I do a pick up order at Giant every Saturday to strictly to skim off the best flyer deals (plus a half dozen poppyseed bagels), hit up one of the warehouse stores every pay day, and alternate Aldi/Wegmans every Wednesday.

For the warehouse stores I have a premade checklist I print out and check off what I’m out of. If it’s not on the preprinted list I don’t buy it. If I don’t need it badly enough to make a second trip for it, I don’t need it at all. For Aldi/Wegmans I have a use-or-lose ten dollar slush fund for impulse purchases. If I stay on list, I get a powerball ticket ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Milk has gone up in price recently, but it is typically $1/gallon less at Costco than Giant. And the plain whole milk yogurt I buy at Costco is far less expensive.

I actually find cereal to be cheaper at Target than Giant.

Rarely do TJ's/Aldi/Wegman's/H-Mart/Safeway, and haven't shopped Whole Foods in years.

I’ve found Target to be cheaper for everything compared to Giant but my Target doesn’t have a huge grocery area. English muffins are $3.50 at Target versus $5.50 at Giant and Harris Teeter for example.
HT sales are very good though.

[Anonymous]

Harris teeter with their BOGO sales. If you buy one, it will ring at 1/2 price. You have to shop sale though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so over the cost of groceries but never find anything we like at Aldi or TJ.

Does Costco actually cost less? I am never convinced of that when shopping there. What about Giant v Wegmans v Safeway v Harris Teeter?

Wegmans is cheapest on every day name brand prices if you don’t want to have to wait for sales. Giant is cheapest if you only buy what’s in the circular and use their points program religiously. I cannot do a full shop at any of the warehouse stores, as each is missing something I regularly buy, but their name brand prices are better if you can use the quantity. Their sale prices are often a better value even if you don’t end up using everything before it’s stale, but you still need to store it. BJs and Sams allow you to do a very accurate online shop to see if they might meet your day to day needs, but everything on Costco’s website is marked up and inventory not terribly reliable. Not to mention that shopping at Costco these days is like trying to cross the East German border circa 1986 these days

While I haven't made a comprehensive study, Wegmans seems to have the lowest prices on regular items. For instance, the same brand holiday fruit cake is $7.99 at Safeway and $6.49 at Wegmans. That's just a recent example that stands out. The Safeway club card brings down the prices to near parity at times. However, Safeway is closer so it's convenient for small purchases. I did manage to earn a free frozen turkey, so you can't just look at individual prices to make an entirely fair comparison.

And yes, I like fruit cake. No one else does, so I don't buy it because I can't eat a whole fruit cake.

[Anonymous]

I did a comparison about a month ago of the list I was buying that week at giant (including clipping the coupons), Safeway and Wegmans. It’s easy to add everything on the app to compare

They were all pretty similar but Giant was the cheapest (this is in Burke).

I hate buying milk at Costco because it doesn’t fit in my fridge easily - it’s about 1/2 inch too tall and I don’t feel like adjusting my shelves just to accommodate it.