Nina emailed and asked, “I do alot of my shopping at Publix, Bi-Lo, and Harris Teeter ( mainly when they have Super Doubles/Triples ) and occasionally at Walmart. I noticed on my Walmart trip over the weekend that they were a lot cheaper on certain items ( specific example is the Finish Quantum Dishwasher packets are $2.97 at Walmart, but double the price for the same size at Teeter ), and I still have the manufacturer q for the $2.15 off 1 to use, which makes it a great deal or as another example, Mots 4 Tots juice is $2.48 at Walmart vs $2.99 at Publix/Teeter. So my question is, how do you know where to shop for the best prices ? It’s a pain to price compare between Walmart and other stores, with the constant back-and-forth. Is there an easier way to do this ?
Do a lot of your followers prefer shopping at Walmart for all of their shopping needs or just specific items ( i.e household needs vs food, etc. ). I just want to make sure I am saving the most money where ever possible.”
I posted the question on our Face Book page and got a ton of great responses:
Amanda G said, “I avoid walmart if I can. I shop the sales and stock up I items when cheapest. If I do run out of something or need something not on sale I have money left in my weekly grocery budget to pay the few cents more at ht or food lion. They are in my path each day so to go walmart would cost extra time and gas money.“4
Andrada H said, “No way – Harris Teeter is beating Walmart prices. It is all about stocking up when they have the B1G1 or B2G3. If you compare them at full price, than yes Walmart has lower price points, however, HT has their super doubles and triples sales every couple of weeks. Those sales combined with coupon promotions gives you penny items or really low $ items. Plus outstanding customer service … walmart is not even close to HT. Walmart is at the bottom of my list – I will not shop there, unless is the only store around me on a 20 mile radius. This is just my opinion.”
Norma G said, “I do walmart in one trip because they price match any other store”
Lou Ann M said, “I don’t care for Walmart BUT they are cheaper. Most of what we eat is never on a coupon and I don’t buy laundry detergent anymore since I make my own or cleaning supplies since I use dawn and vinegar so most of the coupons don’t help me. I do go to cvs and get toothpaste and stuff when on sale. Typically I get my personal hygiene stuff at Walmart with coupons cheaper.”
Here are my thoughts:
If you just want to go and buy something and need it right now- most likely Walmart will have the price lower everyday. But if you are a strategic shopper, you will almost always find you can get a better price for those items if you shop the sales. For example, the Finish. My store has them fro $5.95. They were on sale B1G1 Free making them 82¢ after the $2.15 coupon. True everyday at Walmart you could get them for 84¢. But I have never ever seen Walmart run a Buy 2 Get 3 free sale on Barilla Pasta sauce with a $2 catalina back for every 3 you buy- making them free plus a money maker! Harris Teeter did.
I have never seen Walmart even run a true Sale (even though we know that is a dirty word). In fact, at my local store anyway, a “roll back” might get you a few pennies off. The biggest way to save money is to buy items on sale. Grocery and drug stores run Buy 1 Get 1 Free, Buy 2 Get 3 Free and every once in a while even Buy 1 Get 2 Free sales! They double coupons, stack coupons and offer digital coupons (SavingStar and store digital)
They don’t offer Fuel Rewards like Lowe’s Foods or Bi-Lo. They don’t offer catalina offers like the grocery stores or store loyalty rewards like the drug stores.
While Walmart’s “everyday” price may be lower such as the Mots 4 Tots juice being $2.48 at Walmart versus $2.99 at Publix/Teeter, it will never go on sale B1G1 free or be on sale with a super double coupon.
So to answer the question, “How do you know where to shop for the best prices ? It’s a pain to price compare between Walmart and other stores, with the constant back-and-forth. Is there an easier way to do this ? ”
Have a stock up price. I offer a list of my stock up prices HERE. When an item hits that price, or lower, I buy it. I buy as many of it as I can. I don’t care about regular prices. I don’t even care about “sale prices” I care about my cost. What I am going to pay.
After years of strategic couponing I have a decent sized stockpile. It’s not an entire bedroom, it doesn’t take me hours to dust it and I don’t have to store things in the shower or under my kids’ beds but it is large enough that if that item isn’t at my stock up price- I don’t need to buy it. That allows me to wait until the grocery stores have a sale on that item and I have a coupon to make it a good deal.
So how to know where to shop for the best prices? Well my personal answer is to stick with the grocery stores and avoid Walmart. Buy items at their stock up prices. Until you get a stockpile going that affords you to completely avoid Walmart you may want to shop there. Buy the stock up items at the grocery stores and everything else at Walmart. Slowly you will find you need to buy less & less at Walmart and are only buying the great deals.
Now, if you want to spend no time and are happy reducing your bill just a little, then I’d suggest shopping at Walmart and using coupons and ignoring the grocery stores. You will see some reduction in your spending but no where near the 75% or more saved at the grocery stores by strategic shopping!
Finally, politics of “big box” stores aside- I don’t like Walmart. I shop there for non-coupon/food items such as underwear or air filters but I’d prefer to shop at other stores that have a dedication to customer service (i.e. making me feel welcome not a burden) and smaller stores. I really don’t enjoy having to trek 2 miles INTO the store and then another mile just to find the milk. I can literally run in and out of my local Lowe’s Foods or Harris Teeter in five minutes. I cannot get in and out of Walmart under 30 minutes, and that’s not even buying anything! But that’s just me.
What do you think?
I absolutely agree with you Jessie. Ever since I had the coupon issue at Walmart, I have decided that I am not going to shop there anymore.. I used to be a major Walmart shopper (it was great to be able to get everything in one place) but since I have been couponing I stay far away from Walmart. They are not customer friendly and I love going to Target now (which I always thought was over priced but have come to realize that with coupons and their deals, it is not). I also never used to shop at Harris Teeter (there was not one close to my house so I would just go to Walmart and Food Lion) but now since I moved, I drive 45 min to HT because their sales and customer service. Also, since I moved, I have been shopping at Lowes Foods. Again, I drive 45 min to go there but in the long run when I just make that trip once a week I go to HT and Lowes Foods and it is actually cheaper and worth the drive.
Love it! I’m going to use your term ‘strategic shopping!’ Clever. That’s a wonderful way to look at how we shop (I’m learning!). 🙂
I know this post is older but I totally I agree. I only shop at wal-mart for the non-coupon things or if I happen to need something and it’s not on sale. The walk just to get into walmart is not even worth my time and TIME is the most important thing to me, because I always want more time to spend with my family. Money comes second. I do like to save and luckily for me all the other stores are in route to work or other things that I do normally. Walmart is 2 minutes up the street, but not on my route so it actually wastes more gas and time to go there.