The Glade 4.0

Someone complaining about Wal-Mart...whats new, eh?

I've done all my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart for pretty much my whole life because I've always thought it was cheaper, and I buy everything else I need while I'm there (and I do mean EVERYTHING except for clothing which I buy at thrift stores usually) so its convenient, and cheaper...or so I've thought!
I remember the few times I went to Kroger, I wound up spending almost twice as much on groceries because many brand name items that I usually bought were often .50-1.00 more expensive at Kroger than Wal-Mart.
I used to take my son to the Dollar tree for those crappy little $1 toys, until I discovered the .88 toy aisle at Wal-Mart.

Well, guess what?

1. The .88 toy aisle no longer exists. The cheapest toys they have are $1 and there are approximately only 6 of them to choose from. The rest of the "cheap" toy aisle is filled with bins of crap for $3, and bins of crap for $5.

2. I have switched to Kroger to do my grocery shopping instead of Wal-mart...I discovered that once you know what *not* to buy, stick to whats on sale and store brands, that you can almost cut your grocery bill in half! Holy moley!

3. It's worth it to check for sales and buy non-food items (petfood, shampoo, laundry detergent, etc) from places like Freds or the Dollar Store or Dollar General or Family Dollar, etc.

4. Now that I have tried to stop shopping at Wal-Mart, I have noticed a decrease in the amount of money that I spend altogether....not just by saving money by buying cheaper items, but by drastically (and I mean drastically) eliminating the amount of impulse buying that goes on when I shop at Wal-Mart. (I KNOW you know what I'm talking about!!)...it's amazing, really. They set that store up specifically so that you will make many impulse buys and it really works.

5. Surprise, surprise, Wal-Mart is NOT the cheapest! For everything they "roll back" and advertise on, they are subtly raising prices on other things and rearranging store displays for optimal in-your-face impulse-buy traps. (I can't back this up with factual data, its just my own speculation based on personal experience).

I guess what I'm saying is, (and kudos to all you wise people who knew this LONG before I did and tried to tell me and I didn't listen), Wal-Mart is the devil!!!!

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I thought everyone had known about loss leaders for decades.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

What the heck is a loss leader? (This is going to make me look really stupid, isn't it...)

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

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Ah, ok. Thanks, Mookhow. Yeah, that's pretty much what it is.

*Edit* It's easier to spot those things at Kroger...its very obvious when ziploc bags cost 75 cents more there or their spices cost $1.25 more, but I never spotted these types of things at Wal-mart because I just wasn't looking for them. I just assumed that Wal-mart had the lowest prices.

Yeah, I'm a dummy. At least I'm figuring it out now, some people never do, right?

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I barely go to Walmart, but other people do the same kinda stuff, so I don't understand the hate.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I go into WalMart once in a while. But only after scouring the papers for better deals AND only after i have had a meal... No shopping while hungry

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Because Wal-Mart makes things more expensive for you whether you shop there or not, Rorinthas.

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A $3 toy nowadays probably might have been $30 10 years ago.

Not likely. I was around 10 years ago. $5 maybe. Not 30.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Ok, I was wrong, I agree that the cheapest toys don't scale like that.

But look at this one:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.js ... Id=3979070



That is INSANE for $20. This would have been super expensive when I was younger.

True, but that is an overall advancement in the cheaper technology available in toys in general...its not like Wal-Mart charges $20 for that toy and every other store charges $80.
I'm speaking more of how annoying it is to go from having a whole aisle dedicated to .88 toys to having NO .88 toys and only $3-$5 toys in the "cheap toy aisle." And no, those $3-$5 are not some great advancement in toy technology....they've just gotten rid of the cheaper option to make more money.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I read once that Wal-mart has the impulse thing down to a science. Like, someplace on a wall is the formula: "Each extra 30 minutes = $X amount additional spent"

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

I thought this tied in nicely:
How Stores Lead You To Spend

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Kroger > Wal-Mart for food by a country mile.

The Kroger card is one of the greatest things ever invented, and you can get off-brands at prices competitive with Wal-Mart.

I refuse to patronize Wal-Mart, because:

1.) Their stores are usually in shambles.

2.) The staff goes out if its way to ignore you (save for the greeter).

3.) The price of their products unfortunately reflects their quality/handling.

4.) I despise their tyrannical business practices.

I save a TON of money by shopping online all the time. Literally, the only things I buy in actual stores are edibles. Everything else come from Amazon.

I have yet to find someone that can argue against getting things:

1) Cheaper than B&M prices
2) Without sales tax (CA 8.75-9.5%)
3) Shipped free 2-day to my door (Amazon prime)
4) Any time I want, 24 hours, whether I'm home or not

Yes, Amazon Prime costs $79/yr. However, one Prime account can have multiple addresses and I split the cost with my friend, so it's really $40/yr for me. The cost is easily offset by both the convenience it affords me, as well as the savings I make throughout the year.

I got nine shipments in November.

I shop at multiple stores, and am always amused when I find that the cheapest price is at Whole Foods (steel cut oatmeal, coconut milk, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Brown Cow yogurt). Target has the best deal on some things (milk, eggs, bread, toiletries) and Kroger is better on others (bakers sugar, ice cream). Some things I can only get at Safeway (Guittard chocolate chips) and produce is ALWAYS cheapest at Sprout. And then there's Costco... tillamook cheddar, philly cream cheese, daisy sour cream, and pecans are cheapest there.

I don't even know what wal-mart prices look like anymore, but I remember the same strange feeling of spending less because I wasn't being driven to mindless consumerism after I stopped.

I itemize my budget to the penny, and I buy the things at Wallmart that are cheapest at Wallmart. Nuff said.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

ooh... and NEVER, EVER, EVER buy meat at Wal Mart. Hell I barely like going to my Local Grocer for that.

I just found out that there is a butcher right in the middle between my office and my home. This makes me very happy.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

This.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

I shop at walmart for ammo - when they have it in stock I'll buy a case.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

I get my Magic fix at Wal Mart and I'd rather get my games from them rather than the Gamestop. I do like the meat at Kroger better though. Wal Marts meat seems really watered down. Kroger also has the best vanilla ice cream I've ever had. Have to go to Wal Mart for certain things tough. No one else close by carries the Stouffers bread pizzas.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

Not true. I got a freezer full of them a couple of months ago on sale at Kroger, remember? We stocked up. Of course, they're all gone now....I'll buy more if they go on sale again.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

You're legally responsible for filing that sales tax yourself.

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I could have sworn we got those at Wal-Mart because I've seen those big boxes in the friges. Kroger has their frozen pizzas in those reach down freezers in the aisle.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."