Grocery Price Showdown: Smart & Final VS Grocery Outlet
Smart & Final and Grocery Outlet are two grocery stores but they aren’t exactly your typical grocery store. Smart & Final describes themselves as a warehouse club without the membership fee. Grocery Outlet offers a lot of products from inventory surplus and product over runs.
This means both stores have a limited inventory and don’t always carry the same items all the time. This is a good match up to see which one was cheaper this week!
Key Takeaways
- Both stores had some really great prices and some crazy high prices.
- Grocery Outlet won the challenge by $1.20
- Both stores were easily 33% higher than our total at the local Walmart Supercenter
Meal Plan and Grocery List
Every week we put out a new meal plan and we price it out at a High Cost of Living area Walmart Supercenter.
This week we priced this one out in Santa Clara, California and the Walmart total was $93.97. Let’s see how Smart & Final and Grocery Outlet compare in their prices!
Is Smart and Final Cheaper than Grocery Outlet?
Smart & Final sometimes has really good deals in their sales flyers, so I am excited to see how they do this week!
| Ingredient | Smart & Final Price |
| Apples (3lbs) | $ 3.49 *on sale* |
| Bananas (x6) | $ 2.04 |
| Spinach (10oz bag) | $ 2.99 |
| Carrots (1lb) | $ 0.99 |
| Celery (1 bunch) | $ 1.99 |
| Potatoes (5lb) | $ 2.99 |
| Tomato (x1) | $ 1.44 |
| Cucumber (x1) | $ 0.69 |
| Bacon (1lb) | $ 5.99 |
| Ground Beef (1lb) | $ 6.34 |
| Chicken Breasts (5.5lbs) | $ 20.84 |
| Ham (1lb) | $ 5.99 |
| Pepperoni (6oz bag) | $ 4.79 |
| Flour Tortillas (20ct) | $ 3.29 |
| Sandwich Bread | $ 2.99 |
| Peanut Butter (16oz) | $ 2.69 |
| Oatmeal (18oz) <42oz> | $ 4.79 |
| Brown Sugar (2lb) <1lb> | $ 1.99 |
| Garbanzo Beans (16oz can) | $ 1.49 *on sale* |
| Mayo (15oz) | $ 4.29 |
| Soy Sauce | $ 2.69 |
| Hoisin Sauce | $ 4.29 |
| Sesame Oil | $ 4.29 |
| Spaghetti Noodles (16oz) | $ 1.89 |
| All Purpose Flour (2lb bag) | $ 2.79 |
| Chicken Boullion Cubes | $ 2.49 |
| Active Dry Yeast (3 pack) | $ 2.19 |
| White Rice | $ 0.99 |
| Black Beans (16oz) | $ 1.49 |
| Powdered Sugar (1lb) | $ 1.99 |
| Cream of Chicken soup (10.5oz) | $ 1.89 |
| Tomato Sauce (8oz can) | $ 0.79 |
| Frozen Broccoli (12oz bag) | $ 1.59 |
| Frozen Mixed Veggies (12oz bag) | $ 1.99 |
| Pie Crust (2 pack) | $ 5.69 |
| Eggs (12ct) | $ 4.49 *on sale* |
| Cheddar Cheese (16oz) | $ 4.99 |
| Mozzarella Cheese (8oz) | $5.39 |
| Milk (gallon) | $3.79 |
| Sour Cream (8oz) <16oz> | $2.99 |
| Total: | $140.80 |
Smart & Final came out with a total of $140.80. They did have a few things on sale this week, but overall, not great prices. The thought the prices for meat were really high.
Is Grocery Outlet Cheaper than Smart & Final?
I’m a little nervous for Grocery Outlet because sometimes they don’t have all the items on my list. So let’s see!
| Ingredient | Grocery Outlet Price |
| Apples (3lbs) <5lb bag> | $ 5.69 |
| Bananas (x6) <3lb bag> | $ 2.29 |
| Spinach (10oz bag) | $ 2.29 |
| Carrots (1lb) | $ 1.49 |
| Celery (1 bunch) | $ 2.29 |
| Potatoes (5lb) | $ 2.89 |
| Tomato (x1) | $ 1.00 |
| Cucumber (x1) | $ 1.49 |
| Bacon (1lb) | $ 6.89 |
| Ground Beef (1lb) | $ 6.89 |
| Chicken Breasts (5.5lbs) | $ 12.59 |
| Ham (1lb) | $ 3.38 |
| Pepperoni (6oz bag) | $ 4.59 |
| Flour Tortillas (20ct) | $ 3.89 |
| Sandwich Bread | $ 1.69 |
| Peanut Butter (16oz) | $ 3.09 |
| Oatmeal (18oz) <42oz> | $ 4.39 |
| Brown Sugar (2lb) <1lb> | $ 1.49 |
| Garbanzo Beans (16oz can) <1lb dry> | $ 1.49 |
| Mayo (15oz) | $ 6.89 |
| Soy Sauce | $ 3.99 |
| Hoisin Sauce | $ 4.09 |
| Sesame Oil | $ 7.39 |
| Spaghetti Noodles (16oz) | $ 1.69 |
| All Purpose Flour (2lb bag) | $ 5.19 |
| Chicken Boullion Cubes | $ 1.19 |
| Active Dry Yeast (3 pack) | $ 1.99 |
| White Rice <5lb bag> | $ 3.99 |
| Black Beans (16oz) <dry beans> | $ 1.49 |
| Powdered Sugar (1lb) | $ 3.69 |
| Cream of Chicken soup (10.5oz) | $ 1.19 |
| Tomato Sauce (8oz can) <15oz can> | $ 1.49 |
| Frozen Broccoli (12oz bag) | $ 3.09 |
| Frozen Mixed Veggies (12oz bag) | $ 2.29 |
| Pie Crust (2 pack) <did not carry this item> | $ x |
| Eggs (12ct) | $ 3.99 |
| Cheddar Cheese (16oz) | $ 5.38 |
| Mozzarella Cheese (8oz) | $2.69 |
| Milk (gallon) | $5.19 |
| Sour Cream (8oz) <14oz> | $2.89 |
| Total: | $139.60 |
Grocery Outlet came out with a total of $139.60. They were missing one item that was the pie crusts, so we would have to go to another store to pick that item up.
Food for Thought
My goal is to always come out under $100 for the week, and unfortunately neither Smart & Final or Grocery Outlet was even close to that.
Now if we had the time and were able to go to both stores and just buy which was cheaper, we could possibly save some more money!
By going to both places, our total would have been $120.10. That is an additional savings of $20.70 which is about 14.7%.
Considering that if we shopped at Grocery Outlet, we would have had to go to another store to pick up pie crusts, this actually worked out pretty well.
The new total of $120.10 is still above our goal, but it’s getting closer. I think it would have been worth the time to get the savings!
