Everyone loves a bargain. It's nice to have so many grocery stores that offer competitive prices, but it can also make finding the best deal difficult. Whether you are a loyal Target, Walmart, or Dollar Store shopper, you need to know which place does have the best price.
Competitively priced stores
Dollar General and Walmart both market their low prices and money saving products as a reason to shop at their stores. At Walmart, you get more variety in products, brands, and costs. However, at Dollar General, you instantly feel like you are getting the lowest price and best deal because you are shopping at a “dollar store.” Dollar General is not an actual dollar store because their prices are not all a dollar.
I’ve often wondered if shopping at Dollar General does get me the best deal or is it just a portrayal? So, where should you shop to save money?
Product vs. product
At Dollar General and Walmart, I looked at three similarly branded products and compared their size and price. The three products I looked at were Lysol Disinfectant Spray, Charmin toilet paper, and Suave shampoo. The Lysol spray was a 12.5 oz can at both stores and was priced at $4.25 at Dollar General and $4.22 at Walmart. This product was just a tad cheaper at Walmart. The Charmin toilet paper was a 24-roll pack at both stores and priced at $10 at Dollar General and $9.97 at Walmart. Again, Walmart was just a few cents cheaper. The last product I looked at was Suave Shampoo.
At Dollar General, the shampoo was $1.75, and it was $2.94 at Walmart. However, the size of the Dollar General bottle was 22.5oz, and the Walmart bottle was 32oz. This price breaks down to about $0.09 per ounce for Walmart and $0.08 per ounce for the Dollar General bottle. Therefore, while the Walmart bottle may seem like the better deal, it’s a little more per ounce than the bottle from Dollar General.
There are a lot of products like this, and sometimes it's the other way around. For example, some toothpaste bottles are priced cheaper at Dollar General, but the bottles are smaller than they are at Walmart. When you divide the price by the ounces, you get the actual breakdown of price per ounce. A lot of the time you'll find that, while the price is higher, you're getting more for your money with the larger bottle.
This is not the case for all products, which is why it is essential to check the price per ounce to see which one is the better buy!
The results
In conclusion, both stores offer competitive prices. Some products are a bit cheaper at Walmart while others are cheaper at Dollar General. It’s easy to assume that one store is always less expensive than the other, but that is not the case. When you're looking for the lowest price, it is vital to compare other stores, brands, and product size.
