Grocery prices are out of control. Whether you call it “inflation” or “price gouging,” companies are going out of their way to charge average folks way too much for food. If you’re looking to keep the grocery bill down a bit, try shopping at some of these affordable grocery stores.
Food Lion
A grocery chain found in the Southeast US, Food Lion is a discount grocery chain that uses connections to local producers to keep their costs from skyrocketing. While they’ve gotten pricier in recent years, they still offer good deals through their weekly ads.
Sam’s Club
If you don’t mind getting a membership card and buying in bulk, you can save a lot of money by getting groceries at Sam’s Club. The only real issue with shopping here is that you need to have enough money at once to buy in bulk to begin with.
WinCo Foods
Midwest chain WinCo Foods offers some prices even lower than Costco. How are they able to do that? They buy a lot of their products directly from producers, due to their location in the Midwest. That makes it really easy for them to pass the savings on to customers!
H-E-B
There are two businesses that Texans know and love: Whataburger and H-E-B. Ironically, both pride themselves on being rather affordable. In the case of grocery chain H-E-B, you’ll find their prices are due to their insistence on working closely with local producers, like WinCo.
Food-4-Less
The Kroger-owned chain Food-4-Less is only in California, Illinois, and Indiana, but if you live in one of those states this is a great budget grocery store to hit up. The best way to save here is to shop their weekly ads, where you’ll find extremely steep discounts.
Grocery Outlet
How does Grocery Outlet keep its prices so low? It’s an outlet, as its name suggests, which means they buy overstock goods from producers and sell it at a steeply discounted price. That does mean that their selection of deals is somewhat limited from time to time, but you really can’t beat the prices.
Market Basket
Another of the regional discount grocery chains, Market Basket is mainly found in the Northeast US. One of their most surprising cost-saving measures is an operational procedure: Market Basket is one of the only debt-free grocery chains in the country.
99 Cents Only Stores
The confusingly-named 99 Cents Only Stores aren’t everywhere, but if you happen to live in a state where they operate you can get some very discounted groceries. Changing times have caused them to have to sell some items for more than 99 cents, but they’re still comparatively very affordable.
Trader Joe’s
This entry might seem weird on a list about “affordable” groceries but hear us out. Many of the chain’s generic groceries are actually quite affordable, and they have some of the best wine prices around. They also buy a lot of their produce directly from suppliers, helping reduce costs.
Walmart
How does Walmart keep its prices so cheap? One answer is the company’s extremely streamlined approach to operational costs. It’s got everything down to a science! Another reason is that they’re so big that they can just buy up huge quantities of goods at wholesale prices their competitors can’t even touch.
Family Dollar
Family Dollar is located all around the country and they can offer a compelling alternative to a standard grocery store. While they have slim offerings for fresh food like produce, they do offer really good deals on frozen food and packaged items.
Costco
Like Sam’s Club, Costco is a wholesaler that offers membership cards to access their low prices. And, like Sam’s Club, the only drawback to this genuine money-saver is that you need to buy in bulk to make the most of the discounts, which can be tough for single people or those with less income.
Dollar General
Like Family Dollar, Dollar General is a dollar store. Lately their prices have been going up. And they also have little in the way of actual produce or fresh food, but they still offer great discounts on things like frozen dinners and boxes of preserved food.
Read More: 20 Grocery Store Rip-Offs You Should Never Buy
Lidl
German grocery chain Lidl is all about one thing: low prices. This chain is found mostly on the East Coast and offers great deals on produce in particular. They make a lot of their savings possible by sharply marking down items the closer they are to their expiration dates, making it ideal for shoppers who don’t mind popping in often to resupply.
Read More: 20 Creative Ways to Stretch a Dollar at the Grocery Store
Aldi
Aldi is the definition of an “austere” grocery store. There are no fancy decorations, no employee discounts, and using a cart costs you a quarter. But the upside is that they offer the lowest grocery prices of any store, even undercutting Walmart. That’s some serious savings!
Read More: The 10 Most Overpriced Grocery Stores in the U.S.
