BOSTON – Back in 2022, WBZ-TV wondered if where you shop makes much of a difference on the how much you spend. So, WBZ-TV’s Samantha Chaney decided to do some comparison shopping without loyalty cards at Boston-area supermarkets. 

Thanksgiving is in less than a week and grocery store aisles in Massachusetts are filled with shoppers, scrambling for ingredients to cook their favorite Thanksgiving dinner. 

“For Thanksgiving, I don’t cook, I go to my mom’s,” Aphiena told WBZ-TV. However on Friday, she was at the store helping with the shopping. 

Whether you pack your holiday plate with traditional food like turkey, stuffing, and macaroni and cheese, or you switch it up with something new, “you try to budget now. You go for the cheaper things to make your meals,” Aphiena said. 

Grocery list

• 14-pound turkey 
• 5 pounds of potatoes
• 5 pounds of butternut squash
• 24 ounces of stuffing
• 2 jars of gravy
• 2 cans of cranberry sauce
• 2 dozen rolls 
• Apple pie
• Butter
• Milk
• Eggs

Price comparisons

Some of the sale items varied. In 2022, the total at Star Market was $78.58. In 2024, shopping online dropped the price to $69.48.

At Market Basket, two years ago, the cost was $51.12. This year, it jumped to $67.22.

At Stop & Shop, the total decreased by $1.85, going from $75.70 to $73.85.

While some say food has gotten pricier, “There has been, essentially, no food price inflation for a year,” said William Masters, an economist at Tufts University. 

According to Masters, things are consistent with the exception of eggs. “If you just look at your own wallet and your own bills you know this. But if you just go with anecdotes and stories in social media or in the news, you would get a very different picture,” he said. 

Masters said one thing that will cost more this year is the wine you pair with your turkey, adding that prices for most alcohol products are higher.