I took the same shopping list to Trader Joe's and Target. The bigger chain had more sales but still cost me way more.
- I took the same shopping list to Trader Joe's and Target to compare the chains' stock and prices.
- I expected prices to be similar, so some larger differences were surprising.
I recently discovered that it's much cheaper for me to get my weekly groceries at Walmart than Trader Joe's or Target.
Unfortunately, even though there are over 4,000 locations across the US, Walmart is also the farthest chain from my house.
So, this time, I wanted to compare the same lists at Trader Joe's and Target to see which of those chains offers the best deals.
Here's what my shopping trips were like.
I started in the produce section at Trader Joe’s.
I usually pick up a premade salad kit at the store, so that's where I went first.
Trader Joe's sells packaged salads for $3.69, which I consider cheap based on the amount in each bag. I went with a Southwest chopped salad.
Target’s salads were around the same price.
Target offered similar salad kits, so I grabbed a Southwest-inspired bag from its Good & Gather line for a fair comparison.
It was $3.79, which isn't a big price difference, but it's good to know I can save a little bit on a nearly identical bag at Trader Joe's.
Plus, the Trader Joe's salad pack is 1 ounce larger than the Good & Gather one.
Next, I looked at cucumbers.
I run through cucumbers quickly because they're my go-to snack, so I always look for packs of mini varieties.
Trader Joe's offered a pack of six Persian cucumbers for $2.49.
Target’s cucumbers were the same price.
I was surprised that Target sold a bag of six mini cucumbers for an identical $2.49.
The only downside was that they're packaged by the pound, so it might not be guaranteed that six come in every pack.
I moved on to the meat aisle to grab some salmon.
I love salmon, but it can be pricey, so I'm always searching for the best deals.
The salmon fillets at Trader Joe's were priced at $9.99 a pound, which is on the lower end of what I typically see at stores.
Target sold a smaller pack of salmon for the same price.
Both salmon packages (plain fillets and one with a premade lemon-pepper butter) I found at Target were 10 ounces and cost $9.99.
There are 16 ounces in a pound, so even though the prices seemed similar, I could get 6 more ounces of fish at Trader Joe's for the same price.
For a frozen treat, I looked for boxes of mochi.
I've already compared ice-cream prices at different chains, so this trip, I opted for mochi as my frozen dessert.
Trader Joe's had about six different flavors. Each box had six pieces of mochi for $4.99, which was cheaper than I expected.
The cheapest mochi ice-cream I found at Target was from My Mochi.
Although Target sells boxes of My Mochi mochi for $5.99, luckily, they were on sale for $4.49 during my trip.
Like the Trader Joe's boxes, these each contained six pieces. However, Target only offered three flavors, so there wasn't as much variety.
Cereal was next on my shopping list.
I love shredded-wheat cereals, so I landed on Trader Joe's frosted version, which is similar to Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats.
The box was only $3.49, but it was on the smaller side at just over 20 ounces. It worked out to about $0.17 an ounce.
Target sold bigger boxes and they were on sale.
I could only find family-size boxes of Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats at Target, but luckily for me, they were on sale.
Each 24-ounce box is typically $5.89 (about $0.25 an ounce), but I got two for $9 ($0.19 an ounce).
I'll definitely go through two boxes of my favorite cereal, and the price per ounce worked out to be very close. But without the sale, I'd probably stick to Trader Joe's overall cheaper box.
I love that Trader Joe’s sells Clif bars.
Clif bars are my favorite on-the-go snack, and I love that Trader Joe's sells them individually.
Each bar is only $1.39, and I can mix and match flavors and grab as many as I need for the week.
I only found 10-pack boxes at Target.
I didn't expect to find many individually sold energy bars at Target, but I was able to find 10-pack boxes of Clif bars.
Each one was $13.99, which is the same price I'd pay if I bought 10 at Trader Joe's. But overall, I prefer buying them individually so I can choose how many (and what flavors) I get in any given week.
In the same aisle, I looked for trail mix.
I found a trail mix I hadn't seen before at Trader Joe's.
The "trek mix" had cashews, macadamia nuts, almonds, freeze-dried pineapples, and dried cranberries and cost $6.79 for 14 ounces.
That works out to about $0.49 an ounce.
The trail mix was cheaper at Target, but the contents were different.
I couldn't find a trail mix with freeze-dried pineapples at Target, so I opted for one with blueberries.
The $6.49 bag was cheaper but also smaller at 9 ounces. That's about $0.72 an ounce.
The price per ounce was nearly a $0.30 difference.
Then, I looked for bags of ground coffee.
Trader Joe's sells a plethora of ground coffee, but I usually opt for its French roast.
The bag costs $5.99 for 13 ounces ($0.46 an ounce), which I think is on the cheaper side for a dark roast.
Target didn’t have the same roast, but all its coffee was around the same price.
Although I couldn't find a Target-brand French blend, all the Good & Gather bags seemed to be 12 ounces for $7.69, or about $0.64 an ounce.
The store didn't have my preferred roast — but if it did, a bag would cost me almost $2 more for an ounce less of coffee.
I looked for cheese puffs in the snack aisle.
In Trader Joe's chip aisle, I found a 5.5-ounce bag of cheese puffs resembling crunchy Cheetos that cost $2.49, or about $0.45 an ounce.
That seemed like a good price to me, and I liked that there was a reduced-fat option.
I found a big bag of Cheetos at Target, but they were more expensive.
I found an 8.5-ounce bag of crunchy Cheetos at Target for $5.19, or about $0.61 an ounce.
Since the snack is just for me, I'd much rather pay less and get the smaller bag.
Finally, I looked for packaged noodle kits.
For a quick and easy dinner, I always opt for Asian-inspired or ramen noodles.
Trader Joe's sells a four-pack of spicy garlic and sesame noodles for only $4.99.
The only noodles I found with similar ingredients at Target were way pricier.
Although I could've opted for singular pouches of spicy noodles at Target, I wanted to find a similar-size package with the closest ingredients.
The only pack of spicy garlic and sesame noodles I could find was from Momofuku and cost a whopping $11.69. That wasn't all that surprising though, since the restaurant brand is known for being pricey.
If I wanted to put together my own pack, I could've bought four of the individual NongShim spicy noodle packs for $1.79 each, but that still works out to $7.16.
Overall, I prefer Trader Joe’s offerings and price range.
My list cost $58.90 at Trader Joe's, and the same items (some of which were on sale) were $74.81 at Target.
Although I preferred the offerings and deals at Trader Joe's, grocery prices and store availability are constantly changing variables. Plus, this comparison didn't even take things like proximity, company ethics, or accessibility into account.
There are plenty of reasons I could see someone preferring Target based on their needs. However, for now, the only reason I'd return to Target for groceries is for its sale items. That's the only time its deals really seemed to outweigh Trader Joe's.
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