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Last month, we told you where to find the cheapest breakfast foods that you can prepare at home. This month, we are tackling lunch foods that you can prepare on your own. We're talking frozen meals, canned tuna, soup and bread to go with it.

Do you know where the lowest prices are? You may think the cheapest prices will be at the grocery store. Our exclusive investigation will surprise you. I visited 10 different retailers to compare prices on the same 10 lunch foods that you can make without leaving your house.

The stores that I visited were Hillers, Busch's, Kroger, Meijer, CVS, RiteAid, Walgreen's, Target, Kmart and Wal-Mart. I visited all the stores on the same day -- August 6, 2007. All the prices that I compared were regular prices. I did not take sale prices or clearance prices into consideration.

If a store didn't have the product I was comparing, you will notice a N/A in that column. It could also indicate the store didn't have the size I was looking for. The store may have a smaller or larger sized item, but the price will be significantly different than the products I am comparing.

Here's the results to my exclusive investigation only on AmericaJR.com:

PRODUCTS	Hot Pockets 2 pack Pepperoni	Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese 12 oz.	Tyson Chicken Wings Hot 'n Spicy 14 oz.	Stouffer's Corner Bistro Panini Turkey Club 6 oz.	Stouffer's French Bread Pizza 2 pack Pepperoni	Digorno Pizza 28.3 oz. Pepperoni	Kraft Parmesan Cheese 8 oz.	Bumble Bee Chunk White Albacore Tuna 6 oz.	Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup 10 3/4 oz.	Wonder Bread BIG White Loaf 20 oz.
Hillers	$2.99	$1.99	$4.59	$3.39	$3.29	$6.49	$2.99	$1.79	$1.19	$1.59
Kroger	$2.25	$2.46	N/A	$3.09	$3.49	$4.85	$5.15	$1.89	$1.79	$2.39
Busch's	$2.39	$2.45	N/A	$2.85	$3.49	$4.99	$2.99	$2.05	87¢	$1.79
Meijer	$2.25	$2.49	N/A	$3.29	$3.32	$4.85	$3.49	$1.25	87¢	$2.39
RiteAid	$2.99	$2.49	N/A	N/A	$3.59	$3.49	N/A	$1.79	$1.19	$2.29
Walgreen's	$2.99	$2.59	$3.99	N/A	N/A	$5.99	$4.79	$1.59	$1.19	N/A
CVS	$3.59	$2.69	$4.99	$3.99	$3.89	$5.99	$4.59	$1.49	$1.19	$2.39
Target	$2.19	$2.29	$3.69	$2.89	$2.54	$4.99	$2.99	$1.32	64¢	$2.09
Kmart	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.69	99¢	$2.39
Wal-Mart	$2.33	$1.76	N/A	$2.37	$2.37	$4.98	$2.82	98¢	64¢	$1.57

The Lowest Prices are in BOLD.

 

As you may have noticed, Kmart does not sell frozen food items. This may cause shoppers to make another trip to one of the other stores we visited to finish their shopping. It may also keep shoppers from purchasing other grocery items there due to the inconvenience.

The store with the most lowest-priced lunch items is Wal-Mart. It had the cheapest price on seven out of the ten items including a tie with Target on the chicken noodle soup. The next store with the lowest price was Target with three of the ten items including the tie with Wal-Mart. RiteAid had the lowest price on Digorno frozen pizza.

Another product I would like to highlight is the Kraft Parmesan Cheese. It varied from $2.82 at Wal-Mart all the way up to $5.15 at Kroger. Why such a huge price difference on the exact same item?

It was hard to find the Tyson Chicken Wings in the 14 oz. box in the hot and spicy flavor. Only four of the eight stores we visited had the exact item I was looking for. Most stores featured Tyson chicken products just not that flavor in the size we needed.

Hopefully, this report will influence your shopping decisions. If you are on a budget, now you know where to get the best deals on lunch foods for your family. Even if you aren't on a budget, this report should make you think twice about where to get the best value for your money.

This proves that the grocery store doesn't always have the cheapest price on groceries.

 

RETAILERS	Location Visited for this Investigation
Hillers	15455 Haggerty Road (at 5 Mile Road), Plymouth, MI 48170
Kroger	17447 Haggerty Road (north of 6 Mile Road), Northville, MI 48168
Busch's	37083 6 Mile Road (at Newburgh Road), Livonia, MI 48152
Meijer	20401 Haggerty Road (at 8 Mile Road), Northville, MI 48167
RiteAid	37399 6 Miile Road (at Newburgh Road), Livonia, MI 48152
Walgreen's	17001 Newburgh Road (at 6 Mile Road), Livonia, MI 48154
CVS	40900 Ann Arbor Rd. E (at Haggerty Road), Plymouth, MI 48170
Target	20100 Haggerty Rd. (near 8 Mile Road), Livonia, MI 48152
Kmart	40855 Ann Arbor Rd. E (at Haggerty Road), Plymouth, MI 48170
Wal-Mart	29555 Plymouth Rd. (at Middlebelt Road), Livonia, MI 48150

 

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