WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The squeeze of inflation may be impacting your wallet. The overall cost to buy groceries has gone up 6.5 percent from a year ago.
You may get the sales ads in the mail every week, but how often do you sift through to see where you can score the best deals? It turns out shoppers are saving more, and it's paying off.
These days, Garry Hiebert of Royal Palm Beach doesn't mind spending a little more time to save a lot of cash.
"You got to shop smart. You got to look around," Hiebert said.
He starts off his shopping day with a list that his wife creates, strategically planning out which stores have the best deals.
"She looks through the ads," Hiebert said. "She'll look online to see what's going on."
His first stop is BJ's Wholesale Club.
"We saved $3 on that Charmin. We saved $2 on those batteries," Hiebert said while skimming his receipt.
His next stop is Aldi where Garry paid $3.45 for organic orange juice. In comparison to other stores, you'd pay $3 more at Publix and at least 50 cents more at Walmart.
"It does add up, and we can use that money for something else," Hiebert said.
He then heads to the last store on his day of shopping, a stop at Winn-Dixie.
Some would say that even though he is saving on grocery costs, he's negating his efforts by using more gas by visiting multiple stores.
But the total trip from store to store is less than five miles.
Hiebert said it's worth it rather than overpaying to shop for it all at one place.
"Sometimes you walk out of there and go, 'I got a real small bag of stuff and it was $40 to $50," Hiebert said referring to shopping at one place.
At Winn-Dixie, Hiebert saved $10 on a bag of shrimp. His total savings of the day was about $16.
"I get fresh food and generally save 20-25 percent for just a few minutes of effort," Hiebert said.
WPTV's Michelle Quesada wanted to see what the savings are like, so she picked two stores, Publix and Aldi, and selected the same 10 items to buy at both stores.
Shopping off-brand and being mindful of comparing weight and ounces of products at Publix, she spent $38.41.
At Aldi, immediately there was a huge price difference for the same items.
For example, a dozen large eggs were 85 cents compared to a dozen large eggs at Publix for $3.09.
It was about $11 cheaper shopping for the same items at Aldi.
Hiebert said if you're willing to go off-brand and shop around, you can save.
"[It] feels great to go home and have a nice lunch," laughed Hiebert. "I save some money at the same time."
Overall, meat, chicken, fish, eggs and fruits and vegetable prices are up almost 5 percent since last year.
"While food costs are rising, we continue to stay committed to offering the best value possible. At our core, the ALDI mission is to save people money on the food and products they want most so they can focus on life outside the grocery store. Our goal is to provide shoppers with the items they want at affordable prices, no matter their dietary needs, lifestyle or preferences," said Aldi Royal Palm Beach Division Vice President Chris Hewitt.
Some shoppers have reported they've saved money by shopping the sales at multiple stores, switching stores for better prices or only shopping where they can earn points in cash.
