12 Foods You Should Absolutely Never Buy At CVS

You'll find a CVS on most street corners in the U.S., making it easy to drop in and grab the essentials when you run out of shampoo or band-aids. However, shopping for eats and treats at the drugstore is a whole different story. A big part of the never-ending CVS receipt is the higher-than-average food pricing structure that the chain uses to maximize profits — and this rarely benefits everyday shoppers. Even the store-branded Gold Emblem products don't do enough to minimize your expenses. It's tempting to do a one-stop shop while you're cruising through the aisles, but your hip pocket is sure to feel the pinch.

Certain foods are less advisable as CVS purchases, even if you're in a rush and not able to grab them elsewhere. How much are you willing to spend just to minimize your errands, and would it change your mind if you knew which foods you should avoid purchasing at CVS? Read on to discover just how high CVS hikes up its food prices and see if it's worth your trouble to curb your casual overspending in favor of making more profitable budgeting decisions. Prices are sure to vary based on location, but the differences are likely to be similar.

Quick oats from Quaker are a great way to add fiber to your daily nutritional intake. Oats seem to have become one of the higher priced grocery items in recent years, kind of like a high ticket stock that just keeps rocketing up the stock market tally board. CVS makes it easy for shoppers to jump in on the oatmeal game, but the cost at which this nourishing staple comes at the drugstore dynamo is prohibitive enough to require caution tape around store shelves.

How much can you keep in your pocket by skirting CVS for your Quaker Quick Oats? Considering the $9.59 price for a 2-pound and 10-ounce carton listed at CVS and the $5.12 price for the same size package at a nearby Walmart, you'll be holding onto almost half the CVS price just by taking a detour to a more grocery-dedicated store instead. Even Fry's Food, a Kroger property, only charges $5.49 for a carton. With options most likely just up the road from where your CVS is, you can save your hard-earned cash for fruit toppings as a simple way to make your oatmeal even tastier.

There's no rule that says you have to eat Honey Nut Cheerios as a breakfast cereal. You could just as easily tear open the box, rip into the bag, and shovel it in whenever your need for something sweet and not entirely unhealthy gets the better of you. But if the urge happens to hit while cruising the aisles of CVS searching for deodorant and a birthday card for your grandma, you'd be wise to clamp down and rush past the dried food display as fast as possible. What you'd pay in CVS to get a box of Honey Nut Cheerios could easily deplete your shopping budget without the bee on the box batting an eye — or flapping a wing.

CVS currently shows an 18.8-ounce family-size box of Honey Nut Cheerios at $6.99, while Kroger lists the same box at $5.99; to misquote the classic adage, a dollar saved is a dollar earned. Take a trip to Walmart and you'll find your sweet cereal for the even more appealing price of $4.44 — a saving so considerable it's worth bypassing CVS entirely. That's money you can put toward milk, which is a whole different kind of expensive and another item you should also purchase anywhere but CVS.

Jerky snacks like Jack Link's are almost always found at cash register impulse displays — sneaky little add-on purchases that get you on the way out the door. With CVS stocking Jack Link's in a variety of flavors, those add-ons end up taking a major bite from your wallet, and it is loss you may not even recognize until you're halfway to the parking lot with a fuller belly but an emptier bank account. It is possible to find great snacks at CVS for under $6.00, but this packet of dehydrated beef bites isn't one of them.

When you see the eye-popping shelf tag over the Jack Link's pouch listing the $16.49 price point, you may think it's some sort of terrible mistake. But the only mistake happening at CVS will be you closing your eyes, holding your breath, and tossing a bag on the counter in hopes that your debit card can cover the whole thing. You'd be better off waiting until your next Walmart run to stock up on your savory snacks. There, you'll pay only $13.47, which gives you a little more than $3.00 to put toward your next bag. Any opportunity you get to hold back a few bucks for a future round of treats is worth seizing.

If there's one food item you should never buy at a store that doesn't offer a warehouse membership, it's nuts of any sort. In the case of CVS, the company's Gold Emblem Cashews are a prime example of how much more expensive these natural noshes can be outside of their usual grocery-based habitat. Healthful snackers, thinking they're doing the right thing by grabbing a container can do even better by comparing prices before making a poorly planned purchase.

The container in question is a 24-ounce plastic canister that weighs in at a hefty $17.99, which couldn't possibly sound like a purchase worth making no matter how careless a shopper you might be. Cashews come at a premium, but divided out it comes to about $12.00 per pound. If you're eager to scoop up a handful to snack on or even to soak and blend up into a clever plant-based cream cheese, you can find a 33-ounce tub for $11.98 at Sam's Club, a $6.00 saving that's nothing to sneeze at. If you're a Costco shopper, the Kirkland version provides a 40-ounce bag for $14.99, an even better deal to keep you rolling in cashews for the foreseeable future.

Whether you consider an alternative ice cream like Oatly to be an essential in your freezer or just an impulse item you pick up as a little treat, it's best to resist the urge when passing by the freezer section of your nearby CVS. This indulgence may seem like a pick-me-up that you can pick up after getting your flu shot at the MinuteClinic, but the price of this pint-size carton is enough to ice you out and make you feel ill even as you're in the process of protecting yourself from the most menacing airborne viruses on the planet.

Reach for a pint of Oatly Mint Chip and you'll have to shell out $7.49 before you can pop the lid and cop a scoop. Why make such a rash decision when shopping at Target will get you the same pint for a cool $5.99. Even better, swing by a Kroger location and drop $4.99 in the till so you can enjoy your dessert without tapping into your rent money. You may be hungry for something sweet and chilly to soothe the ache in your needle-jabbed shoulders at CVS, but that's no excuse for throwing away much-needed funds that can be used in far more important ways.

A word of advice to anyone thinking of picking up a frozen dinner at CVS on the way home from work: just don't. The basics are expensive enough in this wonderland of hiked-up prices, but a luxury purchase like Amy's Vegetable Lasagna easily ends up in the stratosphere of over-spending. Sure, it's a health-minded selection that's bound to nourish you and your family. But a quick stop at the corner drugstore means spending almost twice what you should be, and that sort of misstep will only leave you hungry for more price-friendly prospects.

So what's a hungry shopper on a hunt for lasagna to do? If Amy's is the only brand on the list, stepping away from the $8.99 box in the CVS freezer is a great start. Driving to Target and spending $5.99 for the identical item is even better. Kroger offers it for $5.99 too, which gives you two superior options right off the bat. Ever the competitive chain, Walmart one-ups (or maybe two-ups?) both of those stores with a slightly softer $5.92 landing. Any of these choices are far better than spending more on lasagna than necessary, even if you do happen to be in CVS replenishing your cotton balls and chewing gum supplies.

Nothing says "I forgot to plan something for dinner tonight" quite like coming home with a Red Baron Pepperoni Pizza in your briefcase. It's an easy heat-and-eat solution to those moments when more complex cuisine just isn't in the cards. But if you pick one up at CVS instead of continuing on to somewhere like Kroger or Walmart, you'll be spending considerably more of your paycheck on this last-minute grab then you may be bargaining for — and the word "bargaining" as it applies to this CVS purchase is used as loosely as possible.

Picking up the box with the barnstorming pilot on the front comes with a $7.99 charge — high enough to order a fresh pizza and pick it up on the way home. Or, you could do a Target run and pay $4.89, keeping over $3.00 in your pizza account. If there's no grocery-stocking Target Superstore in your vicinity, Kroger isn't too far off with a $4.99 offer for the self-same pie. It's best not to get boxed in by the prospect of buying your pizza in the same store where you get your photos developed, and with outlets making the search a simple affair, skip the CVS pizza plans and hold onto your dollars a little more tightly.

Who hasn't gotten swept up in the Nutella craze over the last several years? A groovy alternative to traditional nut butter spreads, this transplanted European favorite is a delicious addition to everything from toast to cupcakes. Having a jar handy to quell your cravings for something chocolatey and sweet is a no-brainer in the 21st-century. Buying said jar at CVS is also a no-brainer but not in the way that term is usually intended.

Don't get creamed by the outrageous $5.79 for a 13-ounce jar that CVS will make you spend to soothe your Nutella itch. You'd do much better to cruise over to Walmart and pick one up for $3.97, proving your financial savvy to yourself and anyone standing in line behind you. If you need a larger supply, try Sam's Club, where a pair of oversized 26.5-ounce tubs can be had for $10.98. Of all the mysterious things you may not know about Nutella, knowing you can find it in a more fiscally-appropriate setting than a store that spools off receipt tape like it's going out of style shouldn't be on the list.

Whether you go through a jar of Jif a week making lunches for your kids or you swipe it slowly as a topper for your carrot and celery sticks, it seems like you can never have enough of this silky staple in the cupboard. If you happen to run out and think it might be a good idea to grab an extra jar while picking up razors and gummy bears at CVS, you might want to think again. It's possible the inflated price of Jif peanut butter purchased here can get you into a sticky financial situation you didn't see coming.

Getting Jif in a jiff on your CVS adventure may sound like a real timesaver, but the chain charges you fantastically for that time saving, to the tune of $4.49 for a 16-ounce jar. Why get stuck in the high-priced muck when this wildly common spread is available at Kroger for $2.99? Walmart holds a steady stock for just a tad more at $3.12. With so many different stops you could make on your way home from CVS, there's no reason to toss a jar in your red plastic tote. Take a few extra minutes and save a lot of extra money.

A step up from the usual boxed mac & cheese, Velveeta Shells & Cheese is a luxurious comfort food that doubles as a quick and easy meal, sure to satisfy even your pickiest eaters. But the satisfaction stops when you consider CVS to be a grocery outlet and pick up a box while reaching for antacids and extra pens. There are all sorts of red flags around buying your boxed foods in a non-traditional grocery setting. But food prices at CVS take the red-flag concept to new extremes, presenting them more like the giant red inflatable guys wiggling uncontrollably outside of a car dealership.

CVS will make you shell out $5.29 for a 12-ounce package of this fast-cooking favorite, practically drugstore highway robbery when you discover Kroger has a whole shelf's worth of the stuff for $2.99. Should you need more than a single box, you can find a three-pack at Walmart for $7.99, giving you bulk options at a cost that's just slightly higher than one CVS purchase. It's like winning the shopping lottery and getting paid in pasta and money at the same time. Yay!

With so many intriguing uses around the kitchen, a CVS shopper might be tempted to toss a bottle of organic apple cider vinegar into their basket and give it a go. From adding zing to salads and jazzing up simple bakes to drinking it as a nutritional supplement, ACV is an all-around powerhouse in the kitchen and a great addition to any pantry. However, grabbing ACV at CVS is anything but A-OK when you realize the price could require an SOS at the ATM. And that's nothing to LOL about.

You'll definitely feel the sting if you slide a 32-ounce bottle of Gold Emblem Organic Apple Cider Vinegar across the scanner. At $5.49, it's bound to leave a sour taste in your mouth. Instead of being impulsive while making healthful choices, you can pop into a Kroger and pick up an equal bottle of Simple Truth Organic Apple Cider Vinegar for $4.99. It may only be 50 cents, but save enough of those and you'll have dollars falling out of your pockets someday. That's better than feeling bitter about spending more than necessary on your ACV, TBH.

No matter what you consider soup season to be, it's nice to have a can of quick and easy options like Progresso Reduced Sodium Creamy Tomato Basil at the ready all year round. But CVS isn't doing you any favors with the pricing structure of its Progresso selections. You may be doing your best to keep your blood pressure under control by taking less salt this way, but it's sure to rise when you look at the never-ending receipt and realize how much you've paid for the convenience of soup-based sustenance in a bold blue can.

If you're so anxious to heat up a bowl and settle in for your soup sesh that you let CVS tempt you into making the purchase, you'll be staring down $5.19 glowing on the cash register monitor. Compare that to paying $2.38 at Walmart or $2.39 at Target and whatever soul-soothing that soup was meant to do goes right down the drain. Even if it's one of the most popular canned soup brands on the market, you don't have to pay top prices to enjoy it. Leave it wherever CVS has it and make sure your comfort food actually comforts you by buying it elsewhere.