Can Shopping at Trader Joe's Really Help You Save Money on Groceries?

San Francisco Chronicle writer, Amy Graff, went to both markets and compared the prices of kitchen staples like olive oil, organic milk, bananas and various jars of nut butter. When she could, she compared each store's in-house brand, but she also looked at national food producers like Applegate Farms.

If you were to pick up the following healthy staples, you'd save $10 every time you stocked up!

Organic Whole Milk (1 gal)
Organic Low-Fat Yogurt (6 oz)
Organic Bananas (1 lb)
Frozen Peas (16-oz bag)
Cut & Peeled Baby Carrots (1 lb)
Roasted & Unsalted Cashews (16 oz)
Applegate Farms Roasted Turkey Breast ( 7 oz)
Alvarado Street Whole Wheat Loaves (24 oz)
Almond Butter (16 oz)
Peanut Butter (16 oz)
Canned Black Beans (15 oz)
Organic Diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (33.8 oz)
Grade A Maple Syrup (12 oz)

Considering most people have to buy most of these items at least twice a month, that's a yearly saving of at least $247 — about the cost of a new pair of sneakers and a full-body massage. Wouldn't you rather use your hard-earned cash for that? We know we would!

Photo: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com