SPRINGFIELD -- With plenty of grocery stores from which to choose, we wanted to know where you get the most for your money. With our hidden camera in tow, we went shopping at stores of the four largest grocery chains in the city: Wal-Mart, Dillons, Harter House and Price Cutter. We bought the same 14 popular items at each one and then added it up.

In first place, perhaps no surprise, was Wal-Mart, where our items cost a total of $33.90.

In second place, the items at Price Cutter cost $5.34 more than Wal-Mart, for a total of $39.24. The biggest price difference was among the frozen green beans, toilet paper and ice cream. The ice cream alone cost $1.49 more at Price Cutter.

The bronze medal goes to Harter House, where our grand total was $42.20, $2.96 more than Price Cutter. Its third place finish could be blamed almost entirely on the cost of Tide. When we did our shopping, the detergent was on sale for $5.99 at Price Cutter, compared to $8.69 at Harter House.

It's a little disappointing for store owner Randy Richards, who says his stores do their best to always beat Price Cutter, but he says Harter House has a lot more to offer than just low prices.

“With Harter House, it's a tie between customer service and quality. My father had two philosophies: number one is give good customer service; number two is see number one.”

Finally, bringing up the rear is Dillons. Even after using its free customer loyalty card, which promises discounts on many items, our total bill was $44.63, $2.43 more than its closest competitor and $10.73 more than Wal-Mart.

A spokesperson for Dillons told us the stores offer a number of ways to save, including doubling coupons.

Mary Lou Cross says, despite what we found, it won't stop her from shopping there.

“They are more expensive on some things but I shop for things I know are on sale,” said Cross.

She is a grocery store hopper, going where she can find the best deals. She says Dillons, Price Cutter, Harter House and Wal-Mart can each boast the cheapest items from time to time; you just have to do your homework.

Wal-Mart and Price Cutter could not be reached for comments.

Below is the complete list of our purchases and their cost at each store.

To see our complete results, click here.

To see a statement from Pricecutter about our findings, click here.