Price Wars

A fellow blogger recently did a comparison test between local grocery store prices. She simply bought her usual stuff at each and compared the individual and total costs. Interesting, but my main market lost!? How can that be? I really pay a lot of attention to trying to save money and have long been convinced that Price Chopper is cheaper than Hannaford. Could I be (gasp) wrong? Pride aside I felt a call to action and went to Hannaford to do some price checking on my 'usual' items.

So how to go about my investigation? Compare regular price to regular price? Current price to current price? Ignore sale prices or use them? Oi! I started out by just cruising the Hannaford looking for what I thought were good deals (to make the trip worthwhile) and noting the prices of things I regularly buy. Some prices stood out as high, some low and they didn't carry some of my weekly needs; I buy organic milk for Jake and they didn't carry gallon jugs for example. So today I went to Price Chopper and did some more recon there. The more I tried to get a clear comparison the more muddled it became. Here's why...

Produce prices are always a moving target. Last week Hannaford avocados were $1.39 versus PC's for $1.00, but this week Hannaford has tomatoes on the vine for $1.99/lb and PC's are $2.99 (and last week Hannaford was charging $2.99! See?!) Ragu pasta sauce was $1.99 at Hannaford last week - it's $2.49 'regularly' at PC but on sale for $1.24 today. So if on a regular Wednesday (Prince spaghetti day!) I had a sauce emergency and could only choose between Hannaford and PC, I'd go to Hannaford for a 50 cents savings. HOWEVER, I look for deals like PC's $1.24/jar, add coupons and stock up on stuff like that. If I really did eat spaghetti on Wednesdays I'd be set for about a year with my current stash and pay about half of the regular Hannaford cost.

Are you brand loyal? If so you may pay more for the name if you don't shift your purchases to the currently lowest prices. Even with a coupon, the store brand is often cheaper than the name brand.

Another wrinkle: I also shop for certain things at WalMart. Unless there's a super-sale at PC that I know to be cheaper or I can't wait for a trip to WalMart I wait til my next trip to WalMart. For example Domino's Organic Sugar...Hannaford $2.69, PC $2.49 BUT WalMart $1.78. Yikes! Mount Olive Banana Peppers? Hannaford $2.37, PC $2.29 and WalMart $1.88. BUT PC sometimes has those for sale as BOGO so I can technically get them for $1.15 per jar. See how complex this all is?! Since I do follow the sales, check the fliers, and keep track of prices (yes I even have a dorky spreadsheet) I am quite confident I save money with my PC/WalMart strategy but I'm now more open to adding some Hannaford to the mix. They often have better produce, I like their hippy (natural foods) section, and they have TofuLin baked tofu that I heart (PC doesn't).

Here's an example (roughly) of regular PC to regular Hannaford:

Domino's Organic Sugar 2.49 2.69 1.78
Old El Paso Chilis 1.59 1.83
Swanson Veg Broth 1.29 .99
Ragu Pasta Sauce 2.49 1.99
Mt Olive Pepper Rings 2.29 2.37
Teddie Peanut Butter 2.89 2.89
Store brand mustard 1.49 1.29
Store brand milk gal. 2.57 3.39
Hood Cottage Cheese 2.49 2.49
Cabot cheese 8oz 2.89 2.29
Tofu 2.99 2.99
Goldfish 2.00 2.50
Melba Crackers 1.89 1.79
Store brand sandwich bags (50) 1.99 1.79
Store brand storage bags (50) 2.79 2.99
34.14 34.28

BUT....if I use my usual 'method' and buy PC sale/BOGO items (and assume no other price differences) I could have purchased the list above for about $30.60. Seems that most likely, on average, the higher and lower prices even themselves out over time if you don't do anything but get what you need each week. If, however, you check Price Chopper's flier and stock up on non-perishables and freeze freezables, buy produce at the store with the best prices for what you want each week, and use the cents off on gas you would definitely save a lot at Price Chopper. Add an occasional trip to WalMart for canned and jarred goods, tea/coffee, cereal and non-perishables would mean even more savings.

I've probably made this sound more complicated than it is for me. I've just learned what the things I regularly buy "could" cost and try not to pay more than that. I conclude that more than where you shop it's HOW you shop. Paying attention and stocking up are the saving keys.