Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Cold turkey

I'm quitting Wal-Mart. I'm done. I've been a Wal-Mart shopper for the better part of a decade; the prices are low and you can find everything you need right there. I've shopped there for those reasons but have always disliked it. Case in point: I went over the weekend to pick up a few things. I needed help and couldn't find a soul to help me. One employee finally said she'd help and then never came back. I found her stocking shelves a few minutes later. I went to check out and the cashier never one time looked at me or spoke to me (sadly, typical). Just to irritate her, I cheerfully carried on a one-sided conversation...she didn't even notice. When I walked out to the parking lot, it hit me...no more! I give them far too much of my money to receive such consistently terrible customer service.

Publix now has my business. Publix is a little pricier than Wal-Mart; therefore, I'm now a coupon cutter. I bought a paper on Sunday and got busy. It blew my mind how much money I could have been saving on the things I normally buy. I just got back from Publix and I'm pretty pleased with how it went. The employees are 1,000 times nicer than the ones I often encounter at Wal-Mart and the store often has great Buy 1, Get 1 Free deals. Here's what I got today:

Total out of pocket: $34.40
Total savings w/coupons and store deals: $33.13

I know there are people out there who do far better, but I didn't think this was too shabby for my first foray into couponing. It was exciting to know that this would have cost me $67.53, but it DIDN'T, all because I cut a few coupons and paid attention to the flyer. I'm sold!

I'm also trying CVS. I went there today to sign up for my Extra Care Bucks card. I bought some things (that I normally use anyway) to build up my ECB, and now I have $22 in ECB to use within the next month.

I still have a lot to figure out, but I'm excited about my new "game". Goodbye forever, Wal-Mart!

2 comments:

  1. You have inspired me to start coupon cutting!! Love you Julie Bug!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so glad! I'll get together some tips I've learned and email them to you. I'm sure your new hubs would be delighted to save some money :) Love you back, Katy Bugg Conradson!

    ReplyDelete

Comments delight me! Thanks for stopping by.