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, avocados at Trader Joe's cost $2, while cucumbers cost $1.

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.

These multiserving kits cost roughly $4 on average, which isn't bad for a couple fast meals.

Similar salad kits were only $4 at Trader Joe's, which had 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.

The cheapest filet I could find at Walmart was $10.40 for about 1 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 could choose smaller (and cheaper) individual pieces at Trader Joe's.

After digging around, the cheapest filet I found was $8.60 for a little under 1 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 $7.

I looked for a pack of oven-roasted turkey as big as the one I found at Walmart, but the best I could find at Trader Joe's was an 8-ounce pack for $6.

Though the turkey was cheaper, I got twice the amount 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 $2.

A 12-pack of sliced cheddar at Trader Joe's was $4.80, which I found way too expensive.

Walmart's Bettergoods has impressed me so far. The private label's 32-ounce tubs of Greek yogurt were just $4.

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

Similar 32-ounce tubs of Greek yogurt were $6 at Trader Joe's, only coming in basic flavors like vanilla and honey.

Though there were a bunch of name-brand frozen pizzas at Walmart, including Tombstone and Jack's, I wanted to check out its Great Value brand, which the chain established in 1993.

The Walmart brand offered a selection of frozen pies that cost between $5 and $7.70.

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

The cheapest option that appealed to me was the $5 vegetable pizza, which was pretty much in line with the competitor.

Walmart offered a basic 20-pack of triflavor ice pops for about $2.50.

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 flavors, like root-beer float and tangerine cream.

The flavors were fun, but $3.30 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 $2.40.

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

I found the same kind of sauce for only $2 at Trader Joe's.

The sauce wasn't organic, but 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 $38.60 at Walmart and $42.30 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.