Stop Shopping at WalMart and Save Your Money

It seems to go against common intuition: stop shopping at WalMart and save more money. Yet, that is what I have done. You can actually save more money by buying groceries somewhere else - and eat healthier, too. Here is why it works.

When I used to go to WalMart once a week, I would drop anywhere between $100 and $150 for my small family. My friends with larger families spend even more. Why? Because at WalMart you just naturally buy more. Everything looks like a great deal because it is so cheap. Studies show that 30 percent of our purchases are made on impulse. And when you walk the entire length of a sprawling WalMart, that is a lot of opportunity for impulse buying. Instead of sticking strictly to the list, I found myself buying things I did not need, but that were great deals. All of that changed when I stopped going to WalMart for my weekly shopping.

Now I go to a local grocery. I keep my eye on sales. Most things, on sale, are as cheap as they are at WalMart. I buy a lot of the sale items that I know I will use. On some items, I pay a little bit more, but a couple extra dollars for a jar of jelly hurts less than the extra eight dollars I spend on a DVD and the large box of chocolates for $3.99 on special after Valentine's Day. Even though I spent $1.50 more on the jelly, I saved $10.49 total by avoiding WalMart and the deals that I "just can't pass up."

Another benefit to shopping at the local grocery is the healthier eating choices I make. Not only is the produce better (and hence more delicious), I do not buy as much junk food. At WalMart, a large bag of Doritos only costs about two bucks. At the local grocery, that same bag costs between three and four dollars. While I can justify spending two dollars on chips at WalMart, it becomes impossible to buy a weekly snack of chips for $3.79. So the chips become a rare treat rather than a weekly part of my diet. Similar rules apply for ice cream, Fiddle Faddle, and other snack foods. I lost five pounds in the first month after I stopped shopping at WalMart, just from eating better because I could no longer justify spending money on junk.

Of course, I have been unable to completely cut WalMart out of my life. I am not going to pay more than four dollars for the same deodorant I get at "Wally World" for less than three dollars. So I keep a running list of what I need, and I have a "Walmart Day" once a month. And I keep strictly to the side of the store that has non-food items. So, instead of spending more than $100 each week, I only spend that much once a month. At the local grocery I average about $75-$80 per week. So the monthly savings add up. I can't wait to see what the yearly savings amount to.