How would it work? Sales or Bogo’s change all the time.

So do gas prices. They’re consumer reported. But I can’t imagine that being feasible with thousands of items. A local consolidated sale list would be nice, but even then so many ”sales” are like 20¢ so who knows if that sale price is better than another store’s regular price.

edit - Some of the larger stores have all their prices available online, I giess either it’s worth comparison shopping that way or not. I check the flyers for big ticket items and try to stock up on pantry stuff when I happen tl see a sale.

Comparing grocery prices is way too tedious for me. I do know, however, that Cárdenas has the lowest prices for just about everything in Coachella Valley (at least for what they sell), and so I do the majority of my shopping there. We go to Trader Joe's for a few things, but not all that much, and we have a tendency to buy too many snacks when we are there. They have the best basil plants, and I go there for that.

When shopping for seafood or sushi, we do not look for bargains, as quality is much more important, and so we go to Bristol Farms (in L.A.) or Gelson's (Rancho Mirage) for that. These stores also have a better selection of cheeses than Trader Joe's, but I do occasionally find the cheese I am looking for at TJ's. Bristol Farms has a 10% senior discount on Tuesdays, and so I try to go there then. We try to avoid buying staple items such as flour or grits at these stores because they have the highest prices.

I have a photographic memory for recipes but not for grocery prices.

I don't think it would be feasible. The stores that aim to have lower prices on branded products would gladly furnish data, the ones with a different approach would not. With the tens of thousands of SKUs the average store has, the bulk of data is too large to gather manually.

I think through patronage one can develop a sense for which stores' prices are generally lower and which generally higher. Armed with which, for many people, won't necessarily tilt the balance for which store gets more visits. There are too many other personal preferences and objectives that also get weighed.

There are apps for that. Look at Basket and Flipp and see if either works for you.

Wow, just playing with Basket and it definitely works. It’s missing the smaller markets, but the regional and national chains are inclided in the comparison, both regular and sale prices. Thanks!

Or...go to Google put in the food your searching for "Kraft Mayo 32oz", then hit "Shopping" up top, then to the right relevance "Low to high".....Link

Thanks for the Basket and Flipp suggestions. All I'm asking for is a site that looks at the weekly flyers and specials. Not every item in the store.

I have no idea if this is available in your area, but one of our main TV/radio stations has a similar feature on their website. They have a woman who is the Smart Shopper. She highlights all sorts of things, but every week she compiles all of the main grocery chain ads in the area into one post. She used to sort it by grocery department, so all of the meat specials were listed together, etc. Now she does it by store, so it takes a little scrolling, but it's easier than looking up each individual ad.

For those inclined to go to multiple stores, would the amount of gas you use come into play.

I had co workers that talked about the latest and greatestvat Stew Leonards. They would stick up and freeze various expensive meats.

For me, going to multiple stores is not a problem. One is closer than the others, but has the highest prices, so it's only good for running in for milk or bread. The others are somewhat equi-distant, and are near other errand-related stops. And a couple of stores have items that no one else carries. Stores like WalMart, I'll have a list of staples and non-food items, and go every couple of months. Target is every 6 weeks, because Jim has a regular medical appointment right across the street.

I have done on-line grocery shopping comparisons using 2 local grocery stores to place identical (or very similar) orders. 1 store is a big chain that offers fuel/food perks and the other is a smaller, really nice local chain but fewer choices and higher prices. I check the current sale prices for each. After filling my basket at both stores, I compare the total price. I do usually order mostly repeat items each shopping trip and it's pretty simple to go through my order history and add to the cart. It's not exact, but depending on what I need to buy, it will usually sway my final decision on where to place the order or shop without driving all over or spending a huge amount of time checking all the individual prices.