The Popular Grocery Store Chain That's Cheaper Than Dollar Tree

Dollar Tree has been in the hot seat in recent months following news that the popular chain is increasing its prices. In fact, once these price hikes take effect, the cheapest items in the store will actually cost more than a dollar — instead ranging from $1.50 to $7. This being the case, some might be wondering if the brand should even be called a dollar store anymore. That said, in light of these price hikes, consumers are likely to seek out alternative discount stores to do their shopping — especially those looking for affordable food offerings. One particularly popular grocery store chain that many consumers are turning to is Aldi, which is often actually cheaper than Dollar Tree.

While may be surprising to hear that a grocery store is more affordable than a dollar store, a 2024 study from the kitchn compared the prices of 12 different food products at both stores in order to find out for sure. In the end, nine of the 12 items were cheaper at Aldi.

If you're looking for some clever tricks to save you money at Aldi, purchasing any of the nine cheaper items found at Aldi is a great place to start. The first item on the kitchn's list was frozen waffles, which are around $1 less than the ones sold at Dollar Tree. The second item was frozen pizzas, which were sold for around $0.14 an ounce at Aldi compared to $0.19 an ounce at Dollar Tree.

Next up, pancake mix and corn tostadas were both sold for $0.01 an ounce less at Aldi in the kitchn's study. Italian salad dressing was also about $0.70 cheaper at Aldi, while canned green beans were about $0.60 less, and a 7.25 oz box of macaroni and cheese was roughly $0.67 cheaper at Aldi compared to Dollar Tree. For those looking to treat themselves with a fun desert, the brownie mix at Aldi was around $0.07 per ounce compared to $0.09 an ounce on the ones typically sold at Dollar Tree. Finishing out the list, was Philadelphia cream cheese, which was $0.11 cheaper at Aldi than Dollar Tree. For anyone curious, the two items that Dollar Tree won out on were frozen chicken nuggets and applesauce pouches.

There are good reasons as to why Aldi is one of the best budget-friendly stores for household essentials. For starters, they employ far fewer workers than your average grocery store — typically only two or three employees are scheduled to work per shift. The reason they're able to do this is largely due to the actual design of the store. Specifically, products are kept in boxes stacked on top of each other on the shelves, allowing employees to restock them less frequently.

Another reason why Aldi is so affordable is because the majority of their products are private label, rather than brand name products. That said, the name brand products they do sell are typically purchased by the retailer at a discount from other stores when they are running a surplus on those items. This, in turn, allows Aldi to sell these products at a discounted rate to customers, effectively making the process a win-win for all parties involved. Despite this, it is worth noting that, in comparison to Aldi, Dollar Tree has a larger selection of brand name products you can purchase at a discount. However, if you're looking to more specifically purchase your groceries, you're going to get a much better bang for your buck at Aldi compared to Dollar Tree.