I took the same grocery list to Trader Joe's and Walmart. My money went way further at the bigger chain, and I found cool stuff.

I buy cucumbers and avocados on every shopping trip, so I started there.

The avocados were only $0.84, and the cucumbers were $0.64.

I was surprised by how low these prices were for such fresh-looking produce.

To my surprise, at Trader Joe's, avocados cost $1.99, and cucumbers cost $0.99.

I wasn't expecting such a large price difference for basic produce.

Walmart had a variety of bagged-salad options, from classic Caesar to Asian-inspired.

The average price I saw for these multi-serving kits was $3.98, which isn't bad for a couple of fast meals.

Similar salad kits at Trader Joe's were only $3.99, and I felt that there were more interesting flavor options.

My favorite from the chain is the miso crunch, which I'm more than willing to pay the extra penny for.

I love salmon, but it can be expensive depending on the cut, brand, and size. I typically dig around until I can find the cheapest piece in the store.

At Walmart, the cheapest fillet I could find was $10.38 for around a pound. That's a pretty amazing deal — I've paid upward of $18 at other stores.

I liked that Walmart had a set price for its 1-pound salmon filets, but it was great that I had the option to choose smaller (and cheaper) individual pieces at Trader Joe's.

After digging around, the cheapest fillet I found there was $8.63 for a little under a pound.

I was overwhelmed by the amount of packaged turkey at Walmart, so it took me a bit to find the best deal.

I landed on a 16-ounce box of oven-roasted turkey from Oscar Mayer that cost me $6.98.

I looked for a pack of oven-roasted turkey as big as the one I found at the other chain, but the best I could do was an 8-ounce pack for $5.99.

Although it was cheaper here, I got a way better deal (twice the amount of turkey) at Walmart.

It was nice that Walmart offered smaller and larger packs of sliced cheese.

The 12-pack of sharp-cheddar slices I went with was only $1.97.

Unfortunately, a 12-pack of sliced cheddar at Trader Joe's was $4.79, which I found way too expensive.

So far, Walmart's Bettergoods private label has impressed me. Its 32-ounce tubs of Greek yogurt were just $3.97.

There were even some fun flavors, like strawberries and cream.

Similar 32-ounce tubs of Greek yogurt were $5.99 at Trader Joe's, and the store only had basic flavors like vanilla, honey, and plain.

Although there were a bunch of name-brand frozen pizzas at Walmart, like Tombstone and Jacks, I wanted to check out its Great Value brand.

The Walmart brand offered a selection of frozen pies that cost between $4.97 and $7.66.

I like that Trader Joe's sells so many different kinds of pizza. But I also noticed that a lot of them were personal-sized or at least smaller than the ones at Walmart.

The cheapest one that appealed to me was the vegetable pizza for $4.99, which was pretty much in line with the competitor.

Walmart offered a basic 20-pack of tri-flavor ice pops for $2.54.

I loved how big the box was, especially for the low price.

I didn't see any variety packs at Trader Joe's, but there were six-packs of ice pops with seasonal, summer-themed flavors, like root-beer float and tangerine cream.

The flavors were fun, but $3.29 seemed like a lot for just six ice pops.

Walmart's Great Value brand had a 24-ounce jar of organic tomato-basil pasta sauce for $2.36.

I expected to find a better deal, considering it's a very common and generic sauce.

I found the same sauce for only $1.99 at Trader Joe's.

Although it wasn't an organic jar, the ingredients were almost identical.

When I brought the same shopping list to both chains, I was really expecting Trader Joe's to be cheaper. But after adding up the totals, I spent $38.63 at Walmart and $42.34 at Trader Joe's.

The price difference may not be huge, but the items at Walmart were also more of a bargain — especially the bigger packs of turkey and ice pops.

In the future, I think I'll only shop at Trader Joe's for a few quick items, like pasta sauce. Otherwise, I'm getting the bulk of my groceries at Walmart from now on.