Sunday, August 8, 2010

Rollin' Back.....Waaaaaaaaaaaaay Back

We are a little more than a week into my Wal*Mart free month and things are going great! I knew it wouldn’t be too big of a struggle, but I am surprised at what I have been able to find at other stores.

I mentioned in a previous post that I have recently started a new lifestyle. Specifically this is a new eating, health, and wellness lifestyle. I was able to find all of my favorite products in other stores. Some are different brands. Some are not quite the same. But one product has yet to be found in another store. Hummus. Sure the grocery store has some, but it really isn’t too tasty are far from the healthier Wal*Mart carried brand. So, in order to feed my vice I decided to make my own. After I located some Tahini at the local health food store I was ready to create some delicious hummus.

Produce was something else I was worried about. The local grocer has a nice variety of produce, but it sometimes lacks the quality that can be found elsewhere. However, the local farmer’s market, roadside stands, and my own garden has wonderfully filled the Wal*Mart produce void. I’ve grown some nice melons. Just saying.

Now, with this next part I hope to not offend any of you. I have only been in our Dollar General store once. Once in nearly fifteen years of living in Olney, and that was only to find a prop for a play. I never had a reason to shop there. It…just wasn’t for me. After actually walking through the door with intent to shop I can tell you that I am surprised at the quality, price, and variety of products available. While I was not able to find everything I was looking for (business sized envelopes), I was able to find most of the products that I had been purchasing at Wal*Mart.

The official cost analysis of this little project is not yet complete, but I feel comfortable saying that I am spending less money. Not just less money on the same products, but less money in general. Wal*Mart used to be a place to go to pass time. I would walk around the store and put things in my cart that I really didn’t need. A quick trip for some apples and soy milk would end up costing $50 just because I saw something that I thought I needed. One product that I have had my eye on for a while was an HDMI cable. This would allow me to watch my Netflix and Hulu programs on my TV rather than my laptop. After figuring out the length of cable that I would need I discovered that it would cost me close to $70 at Wal8Mart. I’m happy to say that I just bought the exact same product and length on Ebay for….are you ready for this…$3.50. I’m pleased.

2 comments:

C. said...

you're making this little cheap girl proud :)

Unknown said...

I spent less than $100 in five years at Wal-Mart, after my stalker/groping incident my sophomore year in college, and that was only in absolute desperation on two occasions. (Target, however, is another story, but luckily it was about 45 minutes away.) I only in the last year started shopping at Wal-Mart again, mostly due to my husband's love of the store. In Muskogee, I was disappointed to find that Walmart is the best place to get groceries--no Kroger or other decent grocery store. Gah!