Trader Joes vs Giant Eagle

Update: we have completed the Bosnian meal and plan to update later today - but until then I thought (Sarah that is) I would briefly write about an experiment Neil and I did. We have found ourselves shopping more at Trader Joe's (TJs) (love their prepared foods!) but wanted to know how the prices compared to Giant Eagle (our typical grocery store). Being systematic people, we completed our full shopping trip at TJs and took our receipt to Giant Eagle and "replicated" the shopping trip using their prices. And (of course) we took into account the different amounts/quantities in each package. Drum roll......

We saved $8.59 by shopping at TJ's (about 20%). While a few things were less expensive at Giant Eagle, a majority of items were 20-30 cents cheaper at Trader Joe's. Many sale items at Giant Eagle would be less expensive than regularly priced items at Trader Joe's, but most of the items on our list were not on sale. Given that we would prefer to do all our shopping in one place - we have decided to continue to go to Trader Joe's. Love to get other folk's opinions though!

	Trader Joe's	Giant Eagle
Cannelloni beans (2 cans)	1.78	2.10
Valencia oranges (4 lbs)	3.29	4.89
black beans (2 cans)	1.78	2.10
bananas (2 pounds)	0.95	1.08
lemons (5)	1.59	3.95
organic kidney beans (2 cans)	2.38	2.73
dozen eggs	1.49	1.48
jumbo red onion (per onion)	0.79	1.25
pita chips (per bag)	2.29	3.99
rice pudding (2 cups)	1.99	2.13
orange juice	1.99	3.39
bell peppers (per 12 oz)	2.29	1.49
boneless pork cutlet (per lb)	4.49	4.19
ground beef extra lean (per lb)	4.49	4.69
instant pudding (box)	0.99	1.59
unsalted butter (2 cups)	3.39	3.49