Walmart is not cheap!

[SouthShoreGirl]

I don't really go there that much. Mainly because the one by me is connected to the local mall, which I try to stay away from in general due to my budget.

I go to Target because it's a little closer and more convenient, but like any "store" if I go in there I try really hard to just stick to my list. Otherwise I would walk out with a bunch of things I don't need that are a total waste of $$$$$.

[dreamsandshadows]

I mostly think it is not all that cheap because one always ends up walking out with far more than you go in to buy, that and also anything that has moving parts will break much sooner than it should and then buying a new one a lot sooner. I think is is important to stick with a list and avoid buying anything else.

[Socal104]

I happened to be right near one tonight and we stopped in to get some Halloween candy. The thing that surprised me is that the bags of candy they sell aren't that big so we had to buy a bunch. Much bigger bags at Target and the price overall was about the same.

Walmart on groceries isn't that cheap on many items. Your average grocery store with a decent sale will almost always beat out Walmart. What they do have that is cheap is household items. We rarely make the trek to Walmart as we have 3 Targets much closer and the price difference just isn't that great.

The checkout process in Walmart runs about 20 minutes. Target about 5. We stick with Target.

I agree with the other posters, much of the merchandise at Walmart wouldn't hold up to the wear and tear of our household. But hey, somebody loves Walmart or they wouldn't be the world's biggest retailer.

Socal

[trustno1]

Regardless of the store, if you are looking for the "best value for the price", you use the same strategy as the that used for avoiding surveillance cameras..."Always look down"...lol

The products with the best value for the price are always stocked on the lowest shelves. (The highest priced items are located at "eye level"). Just basic marketing.

[lucille]

This is so true and I wish more would be done to point it out. Walmart ran an ad before one Thanksgiving selling Betty Crocker packaged flavored potatoes for 88 cents. The grocery stores sells the same brand for $1.29 to 99 cents. When I got to Walmart I noticed the boxes had a different package design and looked slightly smaller. I bought a few anyway. Once I had them home I compared and the Walmart ones were a few ounces smaller. So it wasn't a sale at all.

Another example was looking for a pizza cutter. I saw a very nice Kitchenaid one at Macy's for $16.00. It was very well made, good metal, nice heavy construction. It looked like it could last decades. I checked the Kitchenaid ones at Walmart. They were lighter weight and the blade was a thinner lower quality metal. It might have lasted a year or two and it was $8.00. I waited until Macy's had a sale and bought the good one for $12.00. I have had it now for about five years.

I was looking for school clothes for the kids at Walmart. They had decorated tshirts for $12.00 and pants for about $19.00. There were some of the cheaper tshirts for $5. I found similar clothing but much better quality at Children's place on sale and tshirts at Target for $5 that were again, better quality.

These three things happened all in the same year. It caused me to look closer at prices and quality. It was also the end of my purchasing anything at Walmart. We are over all spending less.

Another budget buster with Walmart is buying things on impulse. We used to do all of our shopping on Friday night after work, both of us with kids in tow. We were spending a ton of money each time we did this and ended up with things we really didn't need.

Now I do shopping alone on a weekday I take off. I hit the grocery stores, Target and a couple of specialty stores with a list and I stick to it. This has saved us more money over the years than Walmart ever could have saved us.

[dreamsandshadows]

Lucille, you are very right--you may spend less on certain items--but the quality is very poor and you will find them breaking or falling apart much sooner. So ultimately, you spend more when you buy at Walmart, I have also found the trick they use of having a sale on food items--but the weight or amount is less tha the grocery store.

[hermione]

I haven't been to a Walmart in almost a year because I don't live near one, but my experience has been that you can save quite a bit on household things like cleaning supplies - mops, brooms, sponges, and cleaners like Green Works, laundry detergent, paper towels, etc.

Our grocery store - the only one for about 30 or so miles - sells everything for much higher so when I have the chance to go to Walmart, I always stock up on things like this. Granted, some things are of lesser quality, but you can save on name brands at Walmart.

I also used to buy DVDs off their $5.50 and $7.50 racks. There were always at least 2-3 slightly older but good titles to add to our DVD collection. I don't know if they still have these, though as it's been so long since I last went.

Also, if you sew, you can save on sewing and craft supplies as well as fabrics at some locations.

[trustno1]

Here is an interesting article that explains Wal-Mart's pricing strategy.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n11_v32/ai_13880088/?tag=content;col1

[lucille]

Originally Posted by hermione

I haven't been to a Walmart in almost a year because I don't live near one, but my experience has been that you can save quite a bit on household things like cleaning supplies - mops, brooms, sponges, and cleaners like Green Works, laundry detergent, paper towels, etc.

Our grocery store - the only one for about 30 or so miles - sells everything for much higher so when I have the chance to go to Walmart, I always stock up on things like this. Granted, some things are of lesser quality, but you can save on name brands at Walmart.

I also used to buy DVDs off their $5.50 and $7.50 racks. There were always at least 2-3 slightly older but good titles to add to our DVD collection. I don't know if they still have these, though as it's been so long since I last went.

Also, if you sew, you can save on sewing and craft supplies as well as fabrics at some locations.

Our grocery stores charge a premium for things like paper towels and cleaning products. We have found that Target, Kmart or even Menards (like home depot) have these things for far less than the grocery store. Even Walgreens has things like that cheaper than the grocery store. So we get a very limited list of things at the grocery store. Things like meat & veggies. We buy most of our flour, rice, beans etc. from the food coop. It is cheaper there and better quality.

If you do a price book and check all the options you might have available including ones you only get to a couple times a month you can figure out where to buy what to increase what your saving.

[jiggy211]

I really don't like Walmart. I find that I have to wait 20 minutes in line to check out every time I go there. Sure, some things are cheap, but I also find that Walmart doesn't cary big sizes on many things. No 10lb bags of rice. If you ask me, heading to Costco is much better. The lines can sometimes be long but the deals on big stuff are just amazing.