Sunday, October 18, 2009

Confession Time


I realize I haven't blogged in awhile, but I've been avoiding what I preach against.

Here I know and understand why buying @ Wal*Mart isn't the way to go and I have found myself shopping there in the past month or so. The first time I went back was to get some groceries and I just felt like I betrayed by precious Top Foods, Fred Meyer and local veggie market. It wasn't a good feeling.
But you see, hubby hasn't had work since end of June and well , its catching up with us. We are very lucky to have unemployment, but going with months and months of a few extra hundred dollars a week is rapidly depleting my bank account.
And sadly because Wal*Mart is so huge they can offer cheaper prices on some items. I do find that because I have changed our diet so much there is less I can buy now. I used to purchase a LOT of single serve type stuff and prepackaged items, but not much if at all anymore.
I'm finding this to be a vicious cycle that I can't seem to get out of.
With Wal*Mart I found myself giving into buying MORE just because it was cheaper and leaning back into some of my poor eating habits. Just shopping there made me start to imagine buying things like another Game System for Noah or a better TV....I haven't entertained ideas like that in a VERY long time and it disgusted me.
Please know, If you shop there, I'm not judging you-- please don't think I am -- I'm just trying to explain some of the struggles I'm dealing with when it comes to shopping there.
So while I haven't bought much aside from groceries for myself I did buy a pant & shirt outfit for Noah for only $2 one time and since it doesn't fit it'll be going to the Giving Tree this December along with about 6 toys I found for less then $3.
So what do you think about that? Do you think its ok to shop at places like Wal*Mart or the like so you can bless people?
Since places like the giving tree, Salvation Army, Toys for Tots or Food banks even don't allow used gifts to be donated we are stuck in wanting to give but struggle with shopping at places that offer affordable items.
That's where I'm at right now. Its not a good struggle. What do you think?
personally I love to give and want to bless regardless of where it comes from, but in the back of my mind I think about that girl on Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices and I feel pretty small....What do you recommend oh Blog readers?
Pic from HERE

9 comments:

MKD said...

Here are some comments from my FB page where I posted this entry!

K: you struggle with the same things I do on spending, funny that. as in...should i get the best deal or not...should i bless others from there or not...etc. generally i don't go since in spite of lower prices, i usually buy something to eat a hole in my wallet anyways! so, i skip it.

i am definitely trying to do more homemade, all the time. it's so much more cost-effective and healthier!

J: See, I'm single and have little bills at the moment, but I'm living off savings. With that being said, I will never shop at Wal-Mart.

I do not agree with how they treat their workers. I do not agree with how they run folks out of business, then leave by a wave of trash/empty buildings. I just do not believe in their "work ethic", if you can call it that.

So, what it boils down to is I personally would rather go w/out on some things to help save money then shop at Wal-Mart simply because of lower prices.... Read More

And no judgement coming from me, we're all adults, we make choices and it's not my job to judge...I'm just sayin', I does not like me the Mart of Wals!

MKD said...

I love the fact that there's not a Walmart within five miles of my house.

MKD said...

K: I have heard similar things, but never seen it...I have heard it from the media, who I don't trust completely either. So...I , must judge for myself.

I don't know what their 'work ethic' is that is wrong (someone please enlighten me!). For me, unless I were their employee...I couldn't say. It would be hearsay unless I experienced it firsthand... Read More. I would hope it is show up on time, work hard, get your job done. Do they expect more? Hah, so does my boss now.

I have never seen them run folks out of business, either...but I think it is silly when people gripe about it, being that is how business works...product purchased for lowest amount possible, re-sold for highest amount possible. Basic economics. Yes, they can do it more since they buy large quantities and are such a large entity. No, I don't agree that is right; there are many reasons it is not. And I will support smaller businesses when I can, if simply because those small peeps are the salt of life! But unfortunately it is how the world works. Walmart caters to a genre of people who often don't think outside the box. (Yes, me too sometimes, when I am in a hurry...and having kids does make you a lot busier and less able to think well some days! LOL)

MKD said...

K: And that sounds silly (what I just wrote) since Walmart doesn't necessarily sell for highest amount possible. But when I've gone there, I've rarely saved money. The prices aren't THAT much cheaper (of course I don't have a grocery Walmart, so I don't go often). If I want to quibble over 5 or 15 cents a can of food, I go to the cheaper grocery near me, and buy generic.

MKD said...

J: http://wakeupwalmart.com

- Studies in Iowa showed that some small towns lost up to 47% of their retail trade after 10 years of a Wal-Mart store moving in nearby in the mid 1990's. [Kenneth E. Stone, "Impact of the Wal-Mart Phenomenon on Rural Communities," 1997]

Check out the website and read the facts about Wal-Mart. Most of them are why I won't shop there.

MKD said...

S: I did a report on this in college and a lot of the facts there are a bit misconstrued to make Wal-Mart look worse than they are. IE, for the most part they lost 47% of their retail trade when you take Wal-Marts sales out of the equation. There's a huge missing leap of faith there that the average consumer just doesn't corrolate.

Where Walmart ... Read Morehurts small towns is the secondary discretionary spending that happens in WalMart which no longer happens in the downtown district. IE, if you went to Safeway and Rite-Aid in Milton to pick up the things you need, you might stop at one of the other stores in the complex and pick something up while shopping. But if you go to Walmart, you just go to a different section of the same store. Those small independent retail stores depend on the impulse discretionary purchases.

MKD said...

K: KovacevichThanks, John - I will read it! I do find it interesting, need to be educated. I for one completely understand this...having grown up in a flower shop at the point when large grocery chains were going into floral work (and later working for a chain store floral dept). The big stores don't need to cover overhead in quite the same way as the ... Read Moresmaller stores (stick a flower stand in a corner...any corner), and there's no way for the little guy to compete. There are other businesses going under due to this type of "progress". Sad, but how do you stop it? There's no easy answer.

One of my favorite things is an old-fashioned pharmacy or hardware store...not so many of those any more.

However, I also wondered if the facts on Walmart were stretched a bit to make them look even more evil than necessary. No one wants to paint them as the good guy!

MKD said...

S: Well, where my dislike of Walmarts strategies come in is they completely practice corporate cannibalism and do so blatantly. This is something that you can see specifically on South Hill. They had the one store, which you know was a gangbusters winner for them. However, they did a study and found that if they built a store on the other end of ... Read Morethe hill the current store would take about a 15-25% hit, but thier total revenue between the two stores would increase enough so that the increased overhead costs were more than paid off and total profitability would increase.

There's not many businesses who would take that kind of hit on one store sales and most companies have a policy which limits market saturation. Walmart isn't one of them.

Like I said, I did a report in college..lol

MKD said...

Wow. so yeah I figured the whole Wal*Mart debate is pretty heated and hot -- I don't disagree with what anyone is saying. I agree that Wal*Mart has a lot of short comings and even their so called "Green initiatives" are not so green. They are only considered the largest recycler because HELLO they are the largest retailer.
Anyway I just wanted... Read More to get you all's opinion and I appreciate it.

Keep em' coming though because I'm loving reading your thoughts.
Trust me I still feel dirty when I shop there. Its a good thing its not that often and I regret going nearly 9 months w/out shopping there and then blow it.