Wal mart prices are too expensive

I am still learning about "adulting," and today I discovered how much I would save shopping at Winn Dixie which is a supermarket chain in the south compared to Walmart. I set aside 84 dollars for groceries that would last for maybe two weeks or a month. Being that it is just me and I cut back on eating, most of my groceries last me until the end of the month or every two weeks. Out of the 84 dollars, I spent only 57 bucks on groceries today in Winn Dixie. I was shocked. I purchased meats, fruits, veggies, cleaning supplies, and soap for only 57 dollars! If I had gone to Walmart for groceries today, I would have spent at least 100 or 120. I am not sure why the company claims that they have the lowest prices around. The only time I step foot in Walmart is when I need to go there. Other than that, I shop in smaller supermarkets that have low prices and fewer people.

I also do not want to get started on target. I refuse to go into target because every time I go in there, I overspend.

 

Everyone overspends in Target. They have great stuff you didn't even know you wanted.

And yes, of course, a grocery store has better prices on groceries than a ‘discount’ department store. They can offer specials and loss leaders that non-groceries can't.

 

Walmart is hard to beat for everyday prices and one-stop shopping, but when I use coupons and sales Kroger is way better. I also find that Dollar General is good for cleaning supplies and toiletries.

Our only local stores are Dollar General and Save a Lot. I driver 20 miles to Kroger and Walmart. It's 50 miles to Target.

 

I love Kroger and their manager specials.

 

I absolutely know different areas have different pricing. In my area Walmart groceries are much cheaper unless you by the store brands. Produce is significantly cheaper at Walmart and name brands are too. Meats are more expensive at Walmart and rarely have good sales on meats. So, depending on what I need, Walmart could be the cheaper option but not always.

I tend to shop sales which helps the grocery budget.

 

,

 

I shop at the Nugget and Target for all my grocery needs. I set aside $250-$300 a month for food because I am not willing to sacrifice taste for price. I buy the more expensive meats and name-brand foods because it is my way of treating myself. In fact, I just went out to eat sushi with friends yesterday and it was positively delicious!

 

That is pretty much true with any chain, not just Walmart. The chain grocery stores wiped out the small mom and pop corner stores back in the 60s and 70s. The department store chains wiped out the small shops.

Amazon is wiping out stores in general.

The box chains wiped out the local hardware stores and lumber yards.

And so on.....

 

Amazon is the future! They were smart by getting into/absorbing so many high demand industries.

 

I'm sorry that online shopping is wiping out so many wonderful brick and mortar stores.

 

I’m not. I’m sick of going into stores, them not having what I came to shop for — which they advertise is in stock on their website — and having to deal with rude/slow employees and long lines. Plus, the stores are sometimes in complete disarray. No thanks.

 

A sick part of my has debated working this summer at an Amazon Warehouse, instead of teaching summer school like I usually do. I know the work is suppsoedly super-hard and the coditions are not good, but I sometimes miss having a physically exhausting job (like the one I held in my college years). It would be nice knowing I could really quit at any time, and that it would only be temporary, but I feel it would make me appreciate teaching so much more, and would give me that physically demand I've been missing from my teaching job.

 

While I agree and convenience is nice, i worry about the future of our country with only monopolies and smilies unable to open/sustain businesses.

 

I agree. Plus amazon would be perfectly ok with taking jobs away from so many people who worked in these stores. Also, when these stores close down, it leaves the town or shopping centers looking so sad and run down. It's happening in my small town right now.

 

Totally off topic, Publix.
Amazing store. Great service. Where shopping is a pleasure.
Discuss.
Seriously, even though it is a corporation, it is my local store that employs people in my neighborhood.
I guess you have to decide what works for your budget, but for me, sometimes time is money. I love popping into Publix, finding what I need and leaving happy. I cannot abide parking at our Wal-Mart, nor the whole scene in there, only to find that they don't have a good selection of what I'm trying to find when it comes to food.

 

Amazon Prime is both the best and the worst thing that has ever happened to me. You can spend A LOT of money without even realizing it...

 

This is happening EVERYWHERE.

 

Which is why I only spend $300/month on there. I set aside a strict budget so once I’ve spent that much for a single category I don’t spend a penny more. By the way, the Fudget app (buy the one without ads) is your friend!!!

 

My town is so small that Walmart doesn't even want to come here. One local grocery is basically a drug-dealer's hangout. The other one is crazy expensive, and many times less common items are outdated. We have a Dollar General on every corner, an some of those are terrible. Fortunately there is a decent one a couple of miles from us.

 

Your town sounds like a horrible place to live in — no offense, of course!

 

If you can't buy quality groceries, one wonders what else is your town lacking. Do you have access to movie theaters, libraries, good/fine dining, clothing stores? I couldn't cope with nothing but a Dollar General.

 

No movie theater. No clothing stores besides one relatively new boutique with overpriced , low/mediocre quality clothes. Our only fast food is McDonald's, Hardee's, and Wendy's. We do have some good restaurants, but nothing I'd call fine dining. We have a good library. Our district has five schools total. (Preschool, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) There is one sewing factory, but nothing else industry-wise. The railroad and coal business were big when I was a child. They're both gone.

 

Horrible? Not at all.

We have beautiful scenery. There are the foothills of the Appalachians. We are on the river. Cost of living is reasonable. I bought my own house when I was 28. I don't have overly close neighbors. I can be in the next town in 15-20 minutes, and I can be in a major city within an hour.

My idea of horrible is being in a big city full time. That doesn't appeal to me at all.

 

Your town sounds so minimalist. It’s like a ghost time, but with drug dealers...

 

Ghost town? Small towns aren't ghost towns. You say "minimalist" like that's a bad thing. Some of us prefer a less hectic environment. It is certainly not for everyone, but there are plenty who choose to live here. My city has around 1800 people. (I live outside the city limits. There are probably about 15,000 in the county.)

Yes, there is a drug problem in our community, but we are certainly not alone in that problem. It is a widespread issue. It is not a problem caused by being in a small town.

 

I used to not stand Walmart, but I've since liked them better. I like their DVD movie section. I still like Target better though!

 

I just need a good coffee shop and a good pizza shop to make me happy. The rest is all noise.

 

I say minimalist in that you don’t have a movie theatre and have to basically drive out of your town to buy clothes and groceries. Those should be basic things that ANY town should have.

My city has a population of roughly 70,000 people and it’s pretty small. A town of 1,800 people sounds like it just has a residential neighborhood, a hospital, a few schools, a post office, a town hall and court house, and one or two grocery stores. What do you do besides admire the view? I’m serious and I’m not denigrating you in any way.

 

What we do is exactly the same thing that other people do. We go out for supper. We go grocery shopping. We go to the movies. We go to concerts. We go to shopping centers. For comparison, one of my friends lives in a city of around 300,000 people. A couple of weeks ago we met up to eat supper and do some shopping. She was coming from across her town. I was coming from my town. It took us about the same amount of time to get there. I drove more miles, but she had to deal with more traffic.

I spend the majority of my time on weekdays during the school year either at home or at work. If we go out to eat during the week, it is usually at one of our local places. There are outdoor activities like fishing, boating, bike riding, hiking, an gardening. I've taken classes like writing, painting, basket-weaving, and yoga. If we need to go shopping, we save that for the weekends or days off. If we happen to need something during the week, it gets picked up by me at the local Save a Lot or Dollar General, or my DH picks it up on his way home. He works in the next county. He can easily pass Walmart (2), Meijer, and Kroger if he goes through the city instead of through the back roads.

It's not like we are living off the grid.

 

Publix is too expensive too

 

Where I live, there are two of everything. I usually avoid publix and walmart on my side of town. There are also small mom and pop stores sprawled throughout the area

 

You seem more active than me and I live in the suburbs. I do enjoy going to the beach in the summer and the range of cultural diverse restaurants, and I would miss that. But in the burbs or a busy town there’s less oudoorsy things to do (unless you drive a bit) and more ways to spend your money...

 

Aldi has good deals on food.

If you can get into couponing, that is the way to go, too.
Good sites to help you save money...
http://www.southernsavers.com/
https://thekrazycouponlady.com/

 

I second Aldi for cheap groceries!

 

My city has about 80,000 people. I like it. We've got WalMart, Target, many grocery stores, a mall, good restaurants, and everything else I need.

I could never live in San Francisco (two hours away) or Los Angeles (five hours away). I love CA, but I don't like big cities (unless I'm just visiting).

 

The town I live near has about 1,400 people with about 4,000 in the entire county. The town has a locally owned grocery store, a Dollar General, 2 locally owned hardware stores, a McDonald's and a Subway (both connected to gas stations), 3 gas stations, a movie theater, and 2 coffee shop/floral shops. The nearest Wal-Mart and Target are 100 miles away. We are a major tourist area and have many restaurants at the resorts, as well as 3 sit down restaurants in town. I wouldn't mind a slightly larger area (with less of a focus on tourism), but would not want to live in a large city.

 

You have to know how to play the system with Publix... B1G1 deals and coupons! Only buy when it is on sale.

 

Speaking of other stores, I have gone into a Smart & Final once that I remember about several mos ago...I'm sure once before that yrs ago too & that's it. Publix, I'm pretty sure I've never been it.

I DO regularly go to: Target, Big Lots, Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Stater Bros.
Sometimes: Aldi, Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, Albertson's, Ralphs (these are grocery stores), 99¢ Store, & Kmart.
Once/rarely: Gelson's (grocery store).

 

Walmart doesn't force anyone out of business...if local shops close, it's because people stopped shopping there and started shopping big-box, instead. I live in a large town with a Target, but lots of mom-and-pop shops, including a corner market down the street in my residential neighborhood. They're still there because people still shop there.

 

I'm curious, what part of the country are you in?