Stay at Home Moms

Groceries? Grocery Store vs Walmart

I buy everything at Walmart. I used to go to the grocery store but my hubby swears that it's cheaper to shop at wal-mart.  We get paid bi-weekly so I make a meal plan for 2 weeks and buy what we need during that time. I spend usually around $200-$250 including meats for all the meals, cleaning supplies, paper goods, and toiletries. My DD and I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at home. We may eat dinner out once a week (that is not included in the $200-$250 that is spent) My husband freaks out every time he sees the grocery bill. I use coupons and buy mostly generic items. I don't know how to spend less than that but I know some of you do. How do you do it?

Are grocery stores cheaper than shopping at walmart?

What is your average grocery budget? And how many meals does that include at home?

How do you spend less when you shop? 

TIA 

Re: Groceries? Grocery Store vs Walmart

  • In general, I've found it's cheaper to shop at Walmart.  I too, buy mostly generic or else I use coupons that makes the name brand cheaper than the generic.  My husband still used to freak at the grocery bill as well!  I started saving all my receipts.  Really, he just had no idea how much stuff costs!  I always round up when guesstimating and he always rounds down and forgets about taxes on stuff - which makes a huge difference!  Once I started doing that, he finally laid off.  I seriously don't know how to spend less than I already do.  I always see tv reports on crazy coupon shoppers that pay hardly anything, but I haven't found that secret yet.  I never find coupons for milk, eggs, meat, ect. 
    Adrian 7.6.07 - ADHD, Disruptive Behavior Disorder, Learning Disability-NOS
    Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
  • For groceries that just include food I spend 600 a month for 7 people. (4 eat breakfast and lunch at home daily) To tell the truth I use Wal-mart and my local grocery store but look at the adds before going shopping.

    I spend an extra 175 monthly on diapers, wipes, household cleaning products, laundry/dish detergent, and personal care supplies.

     

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  • I budget $400/mo including cleaning supplies and toiletries. We eat almost every meal at home and DH packs a lunch for work 80% of the time.  I find the grocery stores to be cheaper than Walmart.  The thing that makes me mad about Walmart is how often they change their prices.  One week milk will be $1.98 and the next $3.98 and they don't even advertise.

    The grocery stores often double coupons up to a certain amount.  I also save coupons and every so often Krogers has a weekend where they triple coupons up to 50 cents.  I get a lot of free stuff that way, but you have to go early in the day or they sell out.

    I usually end up shopping at a few different stores, but they are all next to each other so I don't end up using a lot of gas.

    The biggest money saver for me is ground turkey.  I stock up when it's $1/lb at Meijer and use it in place of ground beef.  If I could only go to one grocery store, I would choose Meijer.  Giant Eagle is way too high for produce and Kroger is way too high on meat and some of their generic items.  I go to either Aldi's or Save-a-Lot once a month or so to stock up on some staples.  The selection is too small to make it my main grocery store and they only carry generic items for the most part.

    I have been meaning to get into the whole CVS thing that the Money Saving Mom does, but I still haven't done it.  She gets free stuff every week.  She blogs about deals for a few different stores, so might want to look into that too.

    DD: 04/09 TTC#2 since 10/09 Dx: PCOS w/IR M/c #1: 07/10 M/c #2: 09/10 M/c #3: 03/11
  • As insane I thought it was, I took a coupon class. My sister asked me to go with her and I am glad I did. I use to shop at walmart but I havent for a while. (there is a rebate for a $5 walmart gift card I will put the link on the bottom for yous) but I shop mostly at Target, Food Lion, and Harris Teeter. Harris Teeter doubles your coupons and sometimes they triple them. I love Target because you can use a manufacture coupon along with a target store coupon. I never buy formula or never pay more than $3 for a pack of diapers. I never have to buy toothpaste, toilet paper, shampoo or conditoner. I know it sound too good but that class showed me alot. If anyone would like to know more I would be happy to share what I found out. And it is actually cheaper to buy brands than generics. Also keep an eye out for drug store deals. I bought 3 huge bounty paper towels and 2 big size contenell t.p. for $5. Here is the rebate I was talking about:

  • Wow.....Molly 963!!! Where did you take a coupon class?  I would love to know your secrets.  $3 for a pack of diapers......love it:)  Do you sign up for free samples online?  Do you just cut coupons out of the newspaper ads?  Please share.
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  • I prefer our grocery store: They're prices are good, they have better check-out facilities, longer conveyor belts vs tiny little bag carousels, gas reward points, larger variety etc.
  • Hmmm, see this is why I say Walmart is IN GENERAL cheaper than grocery stores....all the stores PPs mentioned we do not have here.  There are a couple that I do know to have decent sales on certain things, but none of them are anywhere close to eachother and I really don't want to go driving all over town.  While they are cheap on 3-5 things, everything else is more expensive.  It just doesn't seem worth it to me. 

    I can totally see how you can end up with super cheap diapers, free toothpaste, conditioner, ect.   With the right combination of sales, manufacturer coupons, and store coupons it could work out. I've gotten stuff like that nearly free and if I spent more time, I probably could. 

    I still don't know how to go cheaper on meat, produce, milk, ect. besides store sales. 

    FWIW, I haven't seen $1.98 milk at Walmart in ......a very long time.  Years?  But I know prices are different depending upon where you live.  It's been around $3 something here lately.  

    Adrian 7.6.07 - ADHD, Disruptive Behavior Disorder, Learning Disability-NOS
    Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
  • I used to swear by Walmart until I started shopping at Publix. They have a TON of Buy one Get One deals.....I usually shop this way now...that and coupons....I usually spend about 90-100 a week on food plus about 50 for cleaning supplies/diapers and such....
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  • I never shop at walmart.  I love Meijer and Target.  Meijer's produce is soooo much better than walmarts.  I usually stock up on the stuff I use when it is on sale and when I get a coupon for it.  If it's not on sale I usually don't buy it unless I really need it.  I have heard of coupon classes you can take to teach you how to save money, I wouldn't mind taking one of those.
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  • Some of these stores need to move to my area NOW! lol

    Target is worth it for formula.  I can get a huge thing of generic for less than WalMart's, plus yesterday I got a good store coupon too.  So many other things are way more expensive though.  Like, the koolaid for example is $2 more. $2!!  And Super Target is far away :-(

    Adrian 7.6.07 - ADHD, Disruptive Behavior Disorder, Learning Disability-NOS
    Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
  • Walmart is definitely the cheapest, I think.  I buy everything there except meat.  I also buy a lot of generic there.  The only other place that I can think that might be cheaper is Aldi but I only buy a couple things there and in my area mostly lower class people shop there.  (not sure how else to say that and not be offensive!)  Also there is little to no name brands at Aldis.
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  • I dont really sign up for free samples. I really look at sale ads. I always buy our diapers from target. Using two coupons helps alot. Target always has pretty good ones. I look for rebates and rewards. CVS & Rite Aid also take store coupons and manufacture coupons. I normally get the big box of diapers that are normally $20 for $8. They normally give store credit when you purchase items. If your going in there for something anyways look at their ad before you go. I know cvs puts toothpaste on sale all the time. One thing I learned at the class is MM. (Money makers) I know how idiotic I sound because I thought it too when I first herd it. But there are alot of things you can get as MM. When cvs does items for free (you pay full price but get the same amount back in extra care bucks) use a coupon on top of it. You just did a MM. You can find deals like that all around. Buy the papers and print coupons online. You will be suprised what happens.
  • I shop at Walmart and Harris Teeter.  I refuse to buy meat or produce from Walmart (just doesn't seem very fresh to me).  I shop the sales at Teeter, and everything else comes from Walmart.  I also shop at a local produce stand for produce.

  • it depends on the item...tomorrow when DH gets paid I'm heading to Sams to get some bulk stuff because I'm tired of running to the store every week for the same thing

    aka pull-ups, toliet paper, noodles, etc

    i need to stock up on coupons tho

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  • Wal-Mart is the cheapest for baby food, toiletries, paper goods, etc.  But... for groceries, our local "Winco" is the cheapest.  But... it's gross there.  Like, Wal-Mart is classy compared to Winco.

     

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  • Every week I go to Aldi and Walmart.  I buy whatever we can tolerate at Aldi like milk ($2 a gallon), eggs, cheese, toilet paper, paper towels,canned goods, frozen stuff, etc.  There are some things that we don't like the taste of, but most of it is pretty good.  Then I get the name brand stuff like pop, pizzas, mac and cheese, etc. that we like from Walmart.  I use coupons when I can.  I'm not amazing at finding deals, but I feel like that plan saves us some money.

    When I was little I remember my mom going to  3 or 4 grocery stores.  If they are close together that is ok, but in my area I would lose money by driving to all of them. 

  • Here is my problem with Walmart. I believe they start off cheaper on everything and then slowly inch up. We just got the first store that also carries groceries in my city about a year ago. I worry they will put the competition out of business, then continue to hike their prices. In my store (I am in Canada btw) the meat is priced at $5, $7 etc instead of by weight. Sometimes it's cheaper, sometimes not. When they opened the bran bars I buy were 1.99, now they are always like 3.33 or something. My safeway has way better sales plus I collect airmiles. I can always get a 100 miles for $100, which works out to be a night out at the movies for DH and I (worth about $40). Now I am a SAHM I have time to compare prices and go to a few stores. I budget about $125.00 a week for all meals, personal care stuff and diapers. I cannot do it on less, I have tried lol! We don't eat out often at all so it may seem high. I am jealous of some posts I see where people budget like 50/week. Are you in the USA? I know Canada is alot higher for groceries.
  • I spend about 300 a month for everything, not including eating out which we haven't done since the baby. :(  My DH takes lunch every day and I usually eat all meals at home too.

    I noticed a couple of years ago that the prices were creeping up at Walmart.  Now we live in an area with many large supermarkets and it is MUCH cheaper to shop the sales there than at Walmart.  I buy few generic items, just about everything is name brand.  The exception is Oatmeal.  And maybe cookies sometimes.  I use coupons when I have them and the supermarkets here double them.  I shop weekly and rarely buy any item that isn't on sale.  I have a large shelf in the basement and stock up on sale items.  If you have a variety of stores, check their circulars and see their prices. We have 6 supermarkets with 15 minutes of the house.  I regularly shop at 3 of them - whichever one has the sale items I need that week.

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  • The only store we have that others have mentioned is Aldi and the couple times I went it really wasn't cheaper.  I remember being upset because I was told it was less expensive and here, it totally isn't. 

    I think it's funny that someone said, "lower class" people shop at Aldi - lol!  lower class people don't shop at wal-mart???  honestly, I see all sorts of *classes* of people shopping all over the place. 

    Adrian 7.6.07 - ADHD, Disruptive Behavior Disorder, Learning Disability-NOS
    Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
  • imageMrsBalletStar05:

    The only store we have that others have mentioned is Aldi and the couple times I went it really wasn't cheaper.  I remember being upset because I was told it was less expensive and here, it totally isn't. 

    I think it's funny that someone said, "lower class" people shop at Aldi - lol!  lower class people don't shop at wal-mart???  honestly, I see all sorts of *classes* of people shopping all over the place. 

    Yes"low class" people shop at Walmart but in my area all sorts of people shop at Walmart and I would say most people I know get their groceries there.  Aldis is pretty dirty in my area but I have heard it's not that way in other areas.  But with that said, I go to both!   I think it just depends on where you live.

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