Is Wal Mart really cheaper?

[jkljkl]

They claim to be 17% less than the average grocery store.

Are they really cheaper, or not?

[foggierbard9]

If you are comparing regular price to regular price then yes they are cheaper, but if you are comparing their regular price to a sale price w/coupon at a grocery store, the grocery store will beat them most every time.

[Lucky1307]

Not here. Food prices run about .15 higher on most items, especially in the frozen and produce sections.

[CW&M Mom]

IMO it completely depends on where you live and what other stores you have access too.

For me in general it is cheaper to shop there (when I'm not looking at coupons or sale prices) then the few grocery stores in my area. BUT I live in a rural area.*

My parents shop there each week. They have extremely similar spending habits from one week to the next. They rarely get much of anything different and do not go to the other area's to shop when grocery shopping (as in they don't browse through clothing/electronics...ect) They do very little to no couponing. They buy a lot of generics. For them...with the habit they have (and it is not likely to ever change) it is cheaper for them.


for a couponer to effectively use walmart IMO you need to remember this.

Use walmart for overage coupons. In there coupon policy they are supposed to take a coupon regardless of overage (you need something to eat the overage though).

They always take IP coupons...and lately have had some great matches (the Hefty $2.00 coupon comes to mind).

Christmas and Seasonal Paper and smelly stuff clearance can often be a great deal.

If you live in LOND walmart might be a good place for you to check out often.

And for those that live in Doubles land...You might get a better deal of coupons that don't double due to wording or amount of coupon.


*what I generally do is purchase most of my day to day food at walmart. The good store that doubles for me is over 45 minutes away...so I save all coupons that I want to double...or have gone on sale for that store...and go there about once or twice a month.

[Merczilla]

In my area, there's not a thing there that I can't get cheaper elsewhere. Even regular shelf prices are cheaper at other stores. I have a Fred Meyer (Kroger) and Safeway for grocery, also Target (who has gotten expensive, so there's not much I get there either) and Walgreens. I also have two local independants that often beat the big boys on thier prices. No one here doubles and my prices are .50 to $1 higher per item than the lower 48.

Some items only one store carries that item, so I'm stuck paying their price for it...for instance Old El Paso Enchilada sauce HOT...only Safeway carries it. Everyone else only has mild.

I've walked through Wallyworld saying to myself "Fred's has that cheaper...I can get that cheaper at Three Bears...etc.". So I just don't bother to go there.

[momto8kiddos]

Yeah, that's going to totally depend on what stores you have available and how many stores you're willing to go to.

If you're only willing to go to one grocery store and have a local Aldi or Sav-a-lot, then Walmart probably is not going to be cheaper over all.

But if you're willing to go to more than one store and use coupons, Walmart definitely will not be cheaper.

[3timesoccermom]

I do think they are cheaper on many things but not all. But it's also of value to me to be able to pick up other things I need that groceries don't carry rather than make 4-5 stops although I will cherry pick store to store on super deals.

On produce most of the time they are not cheaper, but there is a wider variety and its better quality than at my closest grocery stores. Produce is also higher at Sam's Club but I feel the quality is very, very good and worth paying extra for.

It's important to save but now I figure my time is worth something too and I'm less willing to give up more of it unless we are talking about a substantial savings at another store and most of the time, on the things I buy now, that does not apply.

[GJohnson39]

It used to be that I could only match the Walmart price by doubling Q's on sale items at the grocery store - Walmart prices have gone up around here, so now the grocery store+doubleQ's/Aldi's will almost always win out.

I have bought items at Walmart exactly once in the last 6 months, whereas in the past (2 yrs ago) it was my main store.

Our Walmart is changing to a superstore, so I will be checking to see what the selection and prices look like when the changeover is complete - but I'm not expecting much difference.

[gctattoo]

If you are comparing regular price to regular price then yes they are cheaper, but if you are comparing their regular price to a sale price w/coupon at a grocery store, the grocery store will beat them most every time.

My opinion exactly.

Especially when it comes to BOGO's. Sure, you can get x product for $2 at WM where it might be $2.50 at a grocery store. But when my grocery store then offers that item for BOGO, I'm paying $2.50 for two when I'd be paying $4 for two at WM. No comparison to me.

[leqet]

I beleive they may be cheaper if you don't use coupons, don't shop the sales and mostly buy generic instead of name brand. But coupons paired with sales at my local grocery gets name brand items that are cheaper than even Walmart generic items 100% of the time for me. There are a few exceptions that I never see on sale and Walmart has the best regular price without a coupon, but for the most part even my store sales with no coupon can be cheaper than Walmart's regular price.