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!