We've rounded up some of the most popular national and regional grocery chains in the country to give you a better idea of where you should be shopping if you want to save your hard-earned cash. These stores use a variety of techniques to ensure you're getting the best possible prices.

Let's take a look at where you should be shopping for the best value buys. If you want to save money on your groceries, there's perhaps no better store to shop at than Aldi.

You'll find Aldi locations across the country and overseas, all of which guarantee competitive prices compared to the other grocery stores in your area. So, how do they do it? There are a few ways the chain keeps its prices so low. First of all, Aldi doesn't carry many name-brand products. Instead, the chain focuses on selling its own store-brand products.

These items are often cheaper but many report that these goods are nearly identical to the name-brand versions of the same products, which makes it a no-brainer to shop here if you're trying to save money but don't want to sacrifice when it comes to taste. Additionally, Aldi stores tend to be smaller than the average supermarket, which means the selection is more limited and the staff is streamlined.

Since you have to bag your own groceries and take your own cart back to the store, you don't have to pay for those services through the price of your groceries. Sure, the shopping experience at Aldi is a little different than what you may be used to at other grocery chains, but the low prices are totally worth it in our book.

Trader Joe's is another one of those super-popular, more affordable grocery chains that customers tend to flock to on a regular basis. If you like the feel of Aldi but are in the market for more specialty products, you may want to make your way to Trader Joe's.

The store is similar to Aldi in that it doesn't offer many brand-name products, instead stocking its own unique offerings.

Some of these products have become cult favorites amongst Trader Joe's shoppers , so you're not sacrificing much in terms of quality by shopping at this store. Additionally, the chain keeps its operational costs low by building smaller stores that require fewer staff members to manage.

Since it doesn't offer coupons and run ads, you're not paying for all those extra incentives and advertisements. Rather, customers know that they're almost always getting a pretty decent deal when they decide to shop at Trader Joe's.

There are currently locations in 42 states plus Washington D. and if you live in an urban or suburban area, chances are you've got a Trader Joe's somewhere near you. Walmart has long been known as a place where it's possible to snag cheap groceries.

But why are the store's products so cheap compared to other, similar stores? There are a variety of factors that contribute to the cheaper-than-average prices. Low operational costs are one such strategy, but so is lack of competition.

Often, you'll find Walmarts in places where there aren't many other retailers to compete with. In smaller towns and more rural areas, Walmart may be one of the few places in town where it's possible to snag groceries.

Because the local population depends on the store, Walmart has a reliable customer base. This customer loyalty means that they don't have to charge quite as much for its food and other products.

However, some of the chain's affordability factor comes from the fact that it doesn't pay its employees very much. Human Rights Watch has outlined major issues with Walmart's labor practices , including encouraging employees to work off the clock and refusing to grant overtime.

Lidl is a grocery chain that was founded in Germany but can now be found in various towns and cities across the U. Like so many of the other chains on this list, this store keeps its prices low by limiting its name brand offerings and providing customers with store brands instead.

Additionally, it tends to stock products that people use on a regular basis — think pasta, canned tomato paste, and produce staples like cabbage and carrots — that often move in and out of the store pretty quickly. There aren't many products that are going to sit on the shelf for a long time, which means that the company isn't waiting around for a return on investment.

Plus, it takes less labor to run a Lidl than it would to operate a larger, more expansive grocery store. Fewer products means less need for a ton of workers, and the fact that the store displays its products in the boxes they're shipped in is just one of the ways the store cuts its labor costs.

For those with big families or just a lot of roommates , shopping at Costco seems like a no-brainer. The chain cuts down on costs by keeping its stores relatively simple — you'll notice the bare-bones design that's more about utility and function than it is about style and ambiance.

Meat and protein plus many prepackaged items are cheaper than average at Costco, even when you're opting for brand name items over the in-house Kirkland brand.

If you know you're going to use these products anyway or you just remember to freeze them before you use them , doing a monthly shop at Costco might just save you some of your hard-earned cash.

Of course, we can't forget about the membership costs — you have to have a Costco card to shop at the retailer. But the savings you'll accumulate throughout the calendar year should more than make up for that cost.

If you're lucky enough to live in the Northeast, you may just have a Market Basket near you. The regional grocery chain is a fan favorite for those who love to save money on their grocery bill because of its surprisingly low prices. One of the main ways the company keeps its prices so low is by making sure it stays debt-free.

While this may seem like a logical move, it's one that most companies — including most grocery chains — don't stand by. Another way Market Basket offers such competitive prices is by offering pretty much the same goods at all of its locations.

Because of this strategy, it can buy in bulk, ensuring a lower wholesale price. It can then pass those savings on to its customers, who keep going back to the store to take advantage of those low prices.

One of the main benefits of shopping at Market Basket is the fact that you can get a lot of your favorite name-brand products for significantly cheaper than you would find them at other grocery stores.

If you've never gone to a Market Basket before and you happen to live near one, you have to check it out — you may just be shocked at how low the prices are. Like Costco, Sam's Club is a membership grocery store with a focus on selling products in bulk.

When you're shopping this way, you may be spending more upfront, but generally, you're going to save money in the long run as long as you use what you buy. Of course, the membership cost of shopping at Sam's Club helps the company offer lower prices.

Although Sam's Club offers its membership prices for less than Costco does, you'll generally find lower prices on goods at Costco. But that doesn't mean you can't get a good deal at Sam's Club too. consumers to come up with the data, asking shoppers which retailer offered the best value for their money.

We've also included a list of tips for maximizing savings regardless of where you get groceries, including why you should sign up for loyalty programs and shop online. Although Karl and Theo Albrecht opened their first location in the s, it took another decade for the German grocer to expand to the U.

Consumers pay a deposit to use a shopping cart, for example, which encourages people to return their own carts. Cheap private label items also abound, another attraction that could save you a lot at the register.

This employee-owned , Wisconsin-based chain is a regional operation , one that consumers hardly know outside of the Midwest. To begin with, the warehouse-style store keeps its prices low by buying in bulk directly from manufacturers.

Back in the s, two Idaho businessmen founded an affordable, warehouse-style grocery store called Waremart. After the founders died in the s, employees took ownership of the no-frills retailer, eventually renaming it in as WinCo Foods.

The store is able to undercut competitors — yes, even Walmart — by buying products directly from farms and factories. Customers are asked to bag their own groceries. Lidl went from a small German supermarket to an international brand that employs more than , people across 32 different countries.

That said, the retailer is relatively new in the U. Shopping at Lidl is a lot like shopping at its competitor store, Aldi. Instead, Lidl sells private-label brands in small, no-frills stores that cut costs on things like lighting and labor.

When Athanasios and Efrosini Demoulas opened The Acre in , a grocerette that catered to the immigrant community, they could have never predicted that it would be around years later. And yet, their legacy lives on under the name of Market Basket, a chain of nearly stores that operate in the New England area.

You might find Halloween-themed cereal in November alongside coveted name-brand products. For more shopping guides and roundups, please sign up for our free newsletters.

Related: Costco Prepared Meals That'll Feed Your Whole Family. Related: Sam's Club vs Costco: Who Has the Best Bakery? Other than those small differences, however, the store takes a similar approach to keeping its prices competitive.

One possible edge it has over Costco? Related: Things You Should Never Buy at Costco, Sam's, or BJ's. Joe Coulombe, a convenience store owner in Los Angeles, had a different idea for a grocery store in What if you built a supermarket for yuppies?

Related: 5 Trader Joe's Products That Fans Say Have Gone Downhill. MarketForce Information's U. Grocery Benchmark Study includes a total of 20 brands. Understanding why some grocery stores are cheaper than others can help you pinpoint low-cost retailers. Pay attention to the below four factors to find the best deals.

With their loss leaders, free samples, towering displays, and labyrinthine layouts, supermarkets are designed to make you spend. You can avoid those forces altogether by ordering your groceries online for pickup or delivery.

Target, Sprouts, Whole Foods, and other popular retailers all offer free grocery pickup some require minimum order amounts , while others offer affordable delivery, too. By ordering online, you'll resist the urge to impulse buy and can take advantage of online coupons.

Just be sure that you're not paying a premium for pickup or delivery, or you'll end up spending more. If you stick to the above groceries stores and remember a few money-saving tips, you can save a lot on your food bill. But it's also important to note that being a savvy shopper in Los Angeles might look a lot different than in Racine, Wisconsin.

We encourage consumers to shop around and use this as a loose guide. Once you've learned your area, hopefully you'll have a little extra cash in your pocket every week.

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