With prices going up across the board, saving money for everyday needs is of utmost importance.
While you can save money by substituting or canceling items from your shopping list, KIRO 7 found you can also save on costs by choosing where you shop.
We checked prices across four grocery stores on one trip last week, looking for non-organic items (almost-all USDA Grade-A products).
For toilet paper, we looked for the cheapest two-ply available.
All locations are in Federal Way, excluding Whole Foods (the closest locations in South King County are in University Place and/or West Seattle).
Here’s a chart, with data listed below:
Safeway (Federal Way):
- Bananas: $0.69 lb
- Whole Milk (1 gallon): $4.29
- Eggs (1 dozen): $2.66
- Chicken (Thigh): $5.99 lb (on sale for $2.99 lb)
- Chicken (Breast): $5.99 lb
- Toilet Paper: $15.90 (12 rolls, 429 sheets each)
- Toiler paper, per roll: $1.33
Fred Meyer (Federal Way):
- Bananas: $0.65 lb
- Whole Milk (1 gallon): $3.29
- Eggs (1 dozen): $1.69
- Chicken (Thigh): $1.99 lb
- Chicken (Breast): $2.99 lb (on sale for $1.97)
- Toilet Paper: $13.99 (12 rolls, 242 sheets each)
- Toiler paper, per roll: $1.17
Grocery Outlet (Federal Way):
- Bananas: $0.64 lb
- Whole Milk (1 gallon): $3.29
- Eggs (1 dozen): $1.99
- Chicken (Thigh): $1.29 lb
- Chicken (Breast): $1.99 lb
- Toilet Paper: $5.99 (12 rolls, 278 sheets each)
- Toiler paper, per roll: $0.49
Whole Foods (University Place):
- Bananas: $0.65 lb
- Whole Milk (1 gallon): $3.89
- Eggs (1 dozen): $4.49
- Chicken (Thigh): $4.99
- Chicken (Breast): $5.99
- Toilet Paper: $13.99 (12 rolls, 286 sheets each)
- Toiler paper, per roll: $1.17
Bottom line: you can’t rely on traditional thinking — or data — if you’re trying to find the best value while shopping for everyday needs.
Not only are prices changing constantly, but the convenience of getting everything you need at one store may cost you.
Responsibility is on the consumer more than ever if you want to truly save costs: keep a running list of prices at your local stores, so you can know where to find the best deal for you.
That also includes keeping up with sales, as this price-check showed sales at Safeway and Fred Meyer significantly decreased their produce costs.
On Monday, we compared prices for two of the most popular, membership-based services: Costco vs. Amazon Prime.
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