I woke up one morning last week scratching the bejeezus out of my ankles. I had this terrible sinking feeling that I could possibly have bed bugs. Great. So I stripped my bed, which I am really lazy about anyway, I mean, its just me… and vacuumed everything thoroughly. I then decided to take a peek at my cats. That’s where the problem is. Ugh. Poor babies. Two of the three have some fleas. UGH. How is this possible? They are strictly indoor cats????? Then it dawned on me…my raccoon problem. Somehow the constant scurrying across my roof and the chewing on the shingles was not enough inconvenience for me. They somehow brought fleas with them, and they have entered my house through my bedroom, and taken up residence on my cats and in my bed.
I decided I needed to give the two cats baths. Why oh why oh why does it have to be the two of my cats that have all of their claws?? I reluctantly started with the grumpiest of the two first. I figured I would get the most difficult one out of the way first. Sabian is my 8 ½ year grouchy old man. He will swipe you just for walking past him too slow or too fast, or breathe wrong, or just exist. If any animal could give you the evil eye, this one could.
I took everything in to the bathroom to get ready. I used my hall bath, as it is the only one with a tub. I hit the drain stopper and think I have it closed, but the water level is not rising. So I tug a little harder on the lever. It comes off in my hand. Ugh. Great. No more bubble baths at my house until I get a new tub. So I have to resort to bathing Satan’s lap-cat in the bathroom sink. I ready the towels, the soap, and prepare to have my eyes gouged out, or to have my wrists torn apart, fully prepared to bleed out on the bathroom floor. He resisted, crying and moaning, but once I was able to get all four feet in the water, he relaxed and let me get to work. Once he was rinsed, I held him in warm bath towels and he seemed relaxed and relieved, and not as evil as he normally is. Maybe I found his Kryptonite. I escaped without a single scratch.
Now it is Tinkerbell’s turn. As far as cats go, she is my sweetest. She flirts with all the boys, and follows me around like a puppy most days. It is rather annoying. She is also addicted to lunch meat. Needless to say, she is fat. She was not going to fit in the bathroom sink. I had to make a decision to do this in the kitchen sink. This is not ideal. I envisioned a wet crazed cat flying through the air, knocking various glassware off of otherwise unreachable shelves on the way out. I needed help on this one. So, I enlisted my son to fight side by side with me in this unpopular war. I had a brief vision of him wounded in a wheelchair like Lieutenant Dan or Ron Kovic, but resolved myself to the fact that it was ultimately his choice whether he stayed through the whole battle or not. He could still live a full and happy life, right?
I cleared away all breakable items in the kitchen and started to fill the sink. She knew something was up. I picked her up and she started to struggle. After some horrific cries that sounded like an ambulance or fire truck coming to a stop right in my driveway, she calmed for brief moments here and there, clawing at the shelf above and the counter top surrounding the sink. Surprisingly enough, my son and I escaped this skirmish without much more than wet shirts.
So, after lots of online research, and itching and scratching to the point of insanity, I found a couple of ways I wish to tackle this problem before going toxic. My brother, as an apartment maintenance tech, suggested Borax. He said I could find it at the Dollar Tree. So my son and I made a special trip in search of it there. Alas, to no avail. Knowing that I would not be able to find Borax at Aldi, my normal grocery store of choice, and where I had planned to make a sizeable grocery purchase on Sunday afternoon, I decided it was time to plan an adventure. This blog has been severely lacking in the post department as of late. I could also use the entertainment.
Once we returned home from church, lunch with my parents and the trip to the Dollar Tree, we lazily and reluctantly got ready for this trip to what might as well have been a dentist appointment for a root canal. I absolutely refuse to step foot in the Southport Wal-Mart, so we decided to go to the store at County Line and Emerson. I had my son make note of the items we needed so there would be no return trip. List in hand, we climbed in to the Jeep, and selected suitable music. I needed something that made me feel confident, tough, and ready to tackle what I was sure to be an ultimate fiasco, and a comedy of manners. We selected Alice in Chains, Greatest Hits. Queue “Man in the Box.”
Upon pulling in to this parking lot, which like all Wal-Mart parking lots is laid out like a corn maze, and feels like a live action Frogger, I felt myself gripping the steering wheel ever tighter, like I am about to crush it in my hands, or pull it off. I had already seen 9 out of 10 female shoppers and tag-a-longs wearing pajamas. It is 3pm on a Sunday afternoon. Those flannel pajama pants DO make your butt look big, and the teeny tiny t-shirt that looks like it was made for a toddler, and not a grown woman, is not hiding your muffin top very well, or as my son calls the really out of control ones, “muffin shops.”
So we find a space not too far out. Do I dare park here? It is next to a mid 80’s model Bronco, mustard yellow and rusted, with many side dents. I take a chance and park. I figure I run as much risk running over someone’s cart or Rascal, or wild kid if I drive around much more.
We walk in, select a cart, and get to work. First stop, pet food and flea powder. With the exception of people blocking the aisle while they debate over 9 Lives or Meow Mix, we mark this stuff off the list. On to groceries. Unsure with the layout of the store, I knew this was going to take some time. As this is the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, I fully expected the store to be a little crazier than usual.
We start in the back in dairy. We needed milk and cheese. Check. Butter. Sausage. Toilet Paper, Borax (yes! In the laundry aisle, duh!) Sugar, canned veggies, various meats, fresh veggies and fruit, bread and peanut butter. We met very little resistance in each aisle. Most of the traffic jams were due to the fact that every south side mother must have felt the need to drag her 4 kids, her husband, and her mother to Wal-Mart for quality family time before the Colts game. So while the kids complained and begged, the husbands leaned against the shelves with great discomfort in their whole being, rolling their eyes like a teenage girl whose mother just told them to clean their room. This was magnified, I am quite positive, by the outdated liquor laws in Indiana prohibiting the sale of alcohol on Sunday at retailers. I am sure the hubby would have been pacified by a 36 pack of PBR sitting in the cart, and would have helped complete the shopping list in record time.
Things were going fairly well, and we had escaped much difficulty in getting through the aisles and finding all of the items we needed. About half way through the store, I hear this woman yelling from at least two aisles away. Every expletive known to me, and a few others I had not heard before (WHAT????!!!???) came out of her mouth. I was wondering if I should occupy my son's ears with some idle conversation to distract him, or ask him if he knew what that word was that she just screamed. Trying to tune it out, I keep concentrating on my task at hand. But I was unable to do so. I imagined she was yelling at her husband for some reason, out of a sugar/carb crashing post-Thanksgiving withdrawal, or some deep seated family issue brought to the surface by the holidays. Upon turning the corner and seeing her in the next aisle I was shocked. She had 3 kids under the age of 6 in tow, and apparently, one of them opened a package and decided to eat whatever it was. I have heard drunken bar fights tamer than this woman’s rant. Her husband tried to quiet her. He was unsuccessful. So we had to endure this so-called mother calling her 4 year old every name in the book and chastising her for opening the cookies and sneaking one. And yes, she was wearing plaid flannel pajama pants. Though, they did not have any writing on the butt, like “Juicy” or “Sweet.” I was really hoping to spin around in a whirlwind and emerge as Wonder Woman and kick this woman’s butt. Knowing I had left my armbands in the car, I opted out.
We hurried through the next few aisles just to escape the uneasiness I was feeling. Could I possibly be Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk? Only Marvel comics fans will understand this reference I guess. But I was starting to feel the anger well up inside, that could very well have transformed me in to a green skinned super hero. I’m sure the kids would have found this to be wicked cool. I kept my emotions under control. I did not want to be on the 6 o’clock news.
So we rushed through the produce section, and subsequently forgot the veggies I needed to make stir fry. Ugh. Of course I did not realize this until we were home putting everything away. We made it through the checkout, as I cringed with every half filled plastic bag that I placed in my cart. “That’s going in a land fill.” I thought to myself. We came in just under budget, which at the time I thought was awesome. The forgotten veggies would have put us right on target, so I was pleased, I guess.
We emptied all 28 plastic bags in to the back of the Jeep. My son returned the cart to the corral. No door dings. Anger in check. Now to escape the parking space and hope not to run over anyone. Thankfully, I can report, we escaped unscathed. However, I will not be planning another trip like that for some time to come.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Some items of interest...
Thanks to one of our Facebook Page fans, Louise, here are a couple of items worth checking out:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/?utm_campaign=wal-mart&utm_medium=FFacebook&utm_source=FB
And:
http://naturalbias.com/dont-help-wal-mart-degrade-the-quality-of-organic-food/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/?utm_campaign=wal-mart&utm_medium=FFacebook&utm_source=FB
And:
http://naturalbias.com/dont-help-wal-mart-degrade-the-quality-of-organic-food/
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Price Matching Promise FAIL?
Something Wal-Mart touts well is their price matching promise. However, I am not sure they uphold this practice as faithfully as they advertise. I hadn’t shopped at Wal-Mart consistently until moving to a rural area in southwestern Indiana. The town boasted not just a Wal-Mart mind you, but a super Wal-Mart. Pretty big bragging rights when most neighboring towns could only support a handful of local businesses. The town we lived in also had a family owned grocery store similar to (for you Indy folks) a Mr. D’s or O’Malia’s. Translation: a very nice store, pricey enough to warrant driving the extra mile (for us) and waging battle with the blue crew. Besides, if the family owned store weekly ad touted an especially good deal, Wal-Mart would match their price. Right?
It was a holiday weekend BC (before children). So admittedly, this did happen several years ago. The hubby and I stopped at the land of the blue to pick up pop and chips on our way to a family gathering. Kroger, I believe, had at the time a spectacular price on the pop. Always excited to get a good deal and save a dollar, I was excited. Cart loaded down with enough junk food to feed the masses at the family picnic, I approached the checkout quite excited to score the awesome deal on the pop. We loaded the provisions onto the belt, waited our turn (is it just me or do the lines go slower there?) and I asked the cashier for the price match, boldly offering the competitor’s ad for the needed proof. The cashier proceeded to ask me for a “Preferred Shopping Card”. What? Wal-Mart to my knowledge (and sometimes dismay) did not participate in a “Preferred Shopping Card” program. The cashier stated I needed to provide the “Preferred Shopping Card” for the competitor that was advertising the great deal. WHAT? This made no sense to me. Wal-Mart would not be scanning the card. Why could they possibly need the card? Alas, while my logic was clearly sound, I was overruled. And annoyed. And angry. This was insane! Thus, we left the full shopping cart at the checkout, unpaid. Reasoning, we could easily swing by that competitor at some point during our travels.
I was not the only local citizen frustrated with the implementation of the price matching policy in our local store. Some people suspected they pulled certain items off their shelves once the ads came out, to avoid ‘losing” money. There were certainly times the items could mysteriously not be found. Also, it seemed certain cashiers were more stringent (insane), while others were more accommodating. One in particular, was happy to give you hints about any items you might have missed asking for the price match on. Overall though, I have to admit, they did wear me down. I can argue with the best of them. But I am no match for insane logic. I rarely asked for the price match. Who wants to beat their head against the wall repeatedly? And the definition of insanity is….
In the spirit of full disclosure, I will note that at (a different) Wal-Mart, the day after Thanksgiving 2009, I did request a price match on some toys. I fully expected a “no”, but couldn’t resist asking when the savings was $10+ and meant I wouldn’t have to travel across town for the item. I was pleasantly surprised when the cashier allowed it and completed the transaction.
In the spirit of truth and empowerment, the official price match policy, from the Wal-Mart website is below, with the corresponding link.
Shop fearlessly, friends.
http://walmartstores.com/7659.aspx
Price matching
Our goal is always to be the low price leader in every community where we operate. Our customers trust us to have every day low prices ... there's no need for "special sales."
Our unbeatable promise:
Store managers make the final decision in always taking care of our customers, but we do have guidelines for matching our competition.
We do honor "Preferred Shopping Card" advertised prices. Must be like items, be advertised and require a competitor's shopping card, for the discount to apply.
We do not honor advertisements that require a purchase in order to receive the advertised price or free product. We do not honor "Buy One / Get One Free" advertisements.
We do not honor double or triple coupons or percent off advertisements.
We do not honor other retailers' "Misprinted" advertised prices.
We do not honor Internet Pricing.
We do not honor competitor advertisements from outside of the store's or Club's local trade territory
It was a holiday weekend BC (before children). So admittedly, this did happen several years ago. The hubby and I stopped at the land of the blue to pick up pop and chips on our way to a family gathering. Kroger, I believe, had at the time a spectacular price on the pop. Always excited to get a good deal and save a dollar, I was excited. Cart loaded down with enough junk food to feed the masses at the family picnic, I approached the checkout quite excited to score the awesome deal on the pop. We loaded the provisions onto the belt, waited our turn (is it just me or do the lines go slower there?) and I asked the cashier for the price match, boldly offering the competitor’s ad for the needed proof. The cashier proceeded to ask me for a “Preferred Shopping Card”. What? Wal-Mart to my knowledge (and sometimes dismay) did not participate in a “Preferred Shopping Card” program. The cashier stated I needed to provide the “Preferred Shopping Card” for the competitor that was advertising the great deal. WHAT? This made no sense to me. Wal-Mart would not be scanning the card. Why could they possibly need the card? Alas, while my logic was clearly sound, I was overruled. And annoyed. And angry. This was insane! Thus, we left the full shopping cart at the checkout, unpaid. Reasoning, we could easily swing by that competitor at some point during our travels.
I was not the only local citizen frustrated with the implementation of the price matching policy in our local store. Some people suspected they pulled certain items off their shelves once the ads came out, to avoid ‘losing” money. There were certainly times the items could mysteriously not be found. Also, it seemed certain cashiers were more stringent (insane), while others were more accommodating. One in particular, was happy to give you hints about any items you might have missed asking for the price match on. Overall though, I have to admit, they did wear me down. I can argue with the best of them. But I am no match for insane logic. I rarely asked for the price match. Who wants to beat their head against the wall repeatedly? And the definition of insanity is….
In the spirit of full disclosure, I will note that at (a different) Wal-Mart, the day after Thanksgiving 2009, I did request a price match on some toys. I fully expected a “no”, but couldn’t resist asking when the savings was $10+ and meant I wouldn’t have to travel across town for the item. I was pleasantly surprised when the cashier allowed it and completed the transaction.
In the spirit of truth and empowerment, the official price match policy, from the Wal-Mart website is below, with the corresponding link.
Shop fearlessly, friends.
http://walmartstores.com/7659.aspx
Price matching
Our goal is always to be the low price leader in every community where we operate. Our customers trust us to have every day low prices ... there's no need for "special sales."
Our unbeatable promise:
Store managers make the final decision in always taking care of our customers, but we do have guidelines for matching our competition.
We do honor "Preferred Shopping Card" advertised prices. Must be like items, be advertised and require a competitor's shopping card, for the discount to apply.
We do not honor advertisements that require a purchase in order to receive the advertised price or free product. We do not honor "Buy One / Get One Free" advertisements.
We do not honor double or triple coupons or percent off advertisements.
We do not honor other retailers' "Misprinted" advertised prices.
We do not honor Internet Pricing.
We do not honor competitor advertisements from outside of the store's or Club's local trade territory
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
You CAN Live without Wal-Mart, I promise!
Michelle and I decided to start this blog because of our disdain for the evil entity we know as Wal-Mart. We have boycotted Wal-Mart, and will step foot into a Wal-Mart store for reasons only related to this blog.
As I started my draft of this first installment, I thought about my neighborhood Wal-Mart (4.58 miles from home), and what used to stand on that piece of property. There is a White Castle, which still stands, a liquor store, and an oil change place or something. But what used to stand on the spot that this particular Wal-Mart occupies was a Central Hardware. I happen to have a sign that came from their parking lot, courtesy of my ex-husband. He fancied himself some sort of skater and hell-raiser. He stole this sign after they went out of business. What a troublemaker. I think the slogan for Central Hardware was “from scoop to nuts…” I remember going there as a child when my dad had home improvement projects. It really was the only large hardware store in the area. I now have 2 Lowes, 2 Menards, and a Home Depot, all within a reasonable distance from my home, as well as a couple of smaller stores. But I will never forget that sawdust smell (reminds me of puke at an amusement park), the rusty shopping carts (as a parent this makes me cringe, tetanus just waiting to happen), the bins full of nails and bolts that you could buy by the pound, and hauling rolls of Owens-Corning pink insulation in the back of our station wagon.
This Wal-Mart of course was only a basic store in the beginning. The only super center in the area was in Franklin, Indiana. I did my grocery shopping there one time with a friend when I was first married to my ex, the skater, and before my son was born. This was circa 1994. When I walked in to this super center, I was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the store itself, and the faint odor of sour milk and pine sol. I followed behind my friend with my own shopping cart, and was content to not venture too far from our goal, which was to grocery shop, and nothing else. I managed to escape Sam Walton’s grip without much more than a half cart full of basics. Some of this was due to the fact that I was broke, I had just built a new house, and the travel time from the Franklin Wal-Mart to my home on the east side of Indianapolis was about 45 minutes. It seemed as though I had avoided being sucked in to the super store addiction. I did not make that trip ever again.
The Southport Wal-Mart has gained a reputation of being dirty, and it has, quite possibly, the most poorly planned out parking lot. Some may blame this on the fact that it converted to a super center later in life. I blame it on the location. This store should never have stayed on this piece of property. It is like putting Shaq’s foot in my size 7 1/2 shoe.
So, let’s get to the meat of this thing. I kept track of my purchases for the week, and compared prices with my local Wal-Mart. I started with Race Day, which, for those of you from Indianapolis, you know this is a big deal. You absolutely have to cook out on Race Day, if you aren’t going to the race.
I started out the day miserable from allergies from hanging out at my parents’ house the day before. Cut grass gets me every time. My son and I missed church. Apparently, he was wiped out from swimming on Saturday as well. So about 2pm when we finally came to life, we decided it was way too hot not to go back to my parents and hang at the pool for a little while. After listening to the rest of the Indianapolis 500 and playing some Waboba ( http://www.waboba.com/ ), we headed back home to grill out some burgers. Because my boyfriend did not want to wait for me to shower and get ready, he decided to make the trip to our local Kroger store alone (distance from home 1.2 miles). I usually don’t advise this, as he likes to make impulse purchases. He hates going to the store with me because I am very calculating. It takes time to be a smart shopper, to search through the coupons I have, compare prices, to stretch one dollar in to ten. I asked if he wanted me to make him a list, and of course he said no. I then reminded him that we needed pretty much everything from buns to tomatoes. He decided I should write some of this down, to which I replied, “If you wait 20 minutes, I can be ready to go with you.” He ran out the door like his pants were on fire.
He was back in what seemed an impossibly short amount of time, which worried me. I had a feeling that we were about to make a second trip. I headed to the kitchen to investigate. He had brought in about 7 bags. Impressive. Let’s see what we have here…
· Catfood, wet and dry in several varieties (our cats are very persnickety)
· Jumbo sesame seed buns, 8ct
· 3.17lbs ground beef
· 3 lbs mustard potato salad
· 2 lb bag of lemons (for lemon shake ups)
· 2 roma tomatoes (as our garden is not producing yet)
· 2 vidalia onions (not sure why he got two, but I will find a recipe for the second one)
Total purchase $26.51
For seven shopping bags, this seemed like a small amount of groceries to me, but I went to work seasoning and shaping some patties. I cracked open a Miller High Life, you know, the champagne of beers…
Fast forward to Monday, Memorial Day. The weather had taken a turn, it was not warm enough for swimming, and there was a possibility of some rain. My boyfriend would not be spending this day with us. He had some laundry and other various chores at his house. I think he was ready to spend some time away from me anyway. So, my son and I decided to see a movie. Funds are tight these days, so we checked out the local Cinemark theater that features $1.75 tickets. We were pretty disappointed in their choices. We also belong to the Five Buck Club through Kerasotes, which has been recently acquired by AMC. We were all set to see Iron Man 2. I was happy to possibly get a Robert Downey Jr. fix. We always sneak our own candy and drinks in to the movies, so we were formulating our list of goodies, and I was getting out the “big” purse. We thought it had been out long enough to be on the club list, but, it was not. We overcame our disappointment and decided to rent some movies from a Red Box. So we ventured, once again, to our local Kroger for some movie appropriate snacks and drinks. We made the following purchases:
· 4pk toilet paper (we always seem to be almost out. Is it a guy thing? I am reminded of the Charmin “less is more” commercial)
· 6ct donuts (for breakfast the next day)
· 2 cup o’noodles (my son’s lunch choice for the next day)
· 6pk ramen noodles (because we are secretly college students)
· Red vines
· Kroger brand mint sandwich cookies
· Chocolate covered raisins
· Sour fruit slices
· 6ct cinnamon raisin English muffins
· 2 liter of diet Dr. K ( for some reason we seem to be drinking a lot of soda, which I usually discourage, but I for one needed the caffeine if I was going to stay alert through three movies)
· 2 liter of Diet soda w/lime
· One gallon 1% Kroger milk
We proceeded to the Red Box in the front of the Kroger store where we selected Where the Wild Things Are, The Blind Side, and 2012.
Total Kroger purchase $14.08
Red Box $3.21
The rest of the week was pretty busy, and my son spent some of it with my parents. He came home Thursday evening. Poor kid gets pretty bored with me working from home, and Friday was especially busy for me. Once I returned home from an appointment at about 6pm, he was anxious to get out of the house. He had some money he was itching to spend.
Our first stop was our local Dollar Tree store (3 miles from home). I have discovered some great buys there, and we were in need of some cat litter. Cats are like newborns. All they do is eat, sleep, and poop. Our purchases were as follows:
· 4pk toilet paper (once again, we were running low, really?)
· Duncan Hines Sugar cookie mix
· 8ct Ruffies drawstring kitchen trash bags
· Cooking spray
· 2 cans Friskies cat food(eat, sleep, poop)
· Slim Jim beef stick
· 4ct 100 watt light bulbs (some of my light fixtures seem to eat light bulbs)
· Tongs for use at the grill (the boyfriend has been using my Pampered Chef tongs at the grill, which are plastic, and they have become a little warped)
· Small jar of orange marmalade
· Small box of Deli Cat dry cat food (once again, cats eat, sleep, and poop)
· Pair of new bath gloves (for my shower, my others were worn out and I need something to scrub the hatefulness off)
· 2 inflatable swim rings (we popped one at my parents on Race Day, and I felt like I needed to replace it)
· Two 7lb bags of Hartz cat litter (eat, sleep, poop)
· Package of frozen Tyson chicken thighs
· 4pk AA batteries
Total purchase $ 18.91
From there we ventured to Kmart, which is basically next door(even though it is technically closer to home than the Dollar Tree, the distance on Google maps says 3.2 miles). My son wanted to price some video games. I also wanted to price SD cards, as the one in my camera seems to not want to download any pictures, something I desperately need to do in order to post my own “People of Wal-Mart” photos. The game he wanted was $49.99, out of his price range. I saw a 2 GB SD card for $8.99, and I should have purchased it. I was distracted by the guy working the electronics department. He obviously had ear piercings, and Kmart must have some policy that states that they cannot be visible. They were covered by band-aids. Don’t get me started on this topic. That is something for a whole other blog. We both left this store empty handed.
From there, we went to Target (4.4 miles from home) Once again, my son priced video games. He was getting discouraged at this point and started to whine. A whiny 13 year old is about as pleasant as fingernails on a chalkboard. The photo department was strangely busy, so busy they had to get the uniformed security guard to open the locked video game cases for people. There were too many people gathered around the cameras that I was not able to get close enough to price an SD card. Further, do you ever get the feeling that you have a booger on your face, or that you are being mistaken for a celebrity? I was starting to feel rather too conspicuous for comfort. Once again, we left a store empty handed.
From there, we went to Play-N-Trade, a privately owned video game store located in the same area as the Target. My son proceeded to choose a new Pokémon game for his DS. It was $25.19, used, with our membership card discount. I bought it for him as a reward for getting all A’s and B’s on his final report card. The whining subsided.
We travelled across the street to Goodwill. I hadn’t been to this one in awhile, and wanted to take a peek to see if I could find anything I just couldn’t live without. They also have some video games from time to time. This particular Goodwill receives shipments from Target and Kohl’s, and I have purchased many new-with-tag items for cheap. Alas, I did not see anything that was a must have on this trip.
It was now after 8pm, and we were both getting hungry. We would have gone to the Aldi’s right next door to Goodwill, but they close at 8pm. I knew we didn’t have much at home, plus I was in the mood for a couple of beers. We stopped at our favorite Kroger on the way home. Our purchases:
· 2 Red Baron frozen pizzas, buffalo chicken and supreme (I seem to eat like a teenager these days)
· 1 liter Dad’s cream soda for my son (once again with the soda, really? am I getting lazy as a parent?)
· Kroger cheese Danish (for breakfast the next day, and these were the kind in the refrigerator roll like cinnamon rolls, YUM!)
· 6pk Miller Lite bottles (of which I only drank one that day...WHAT???!!!???)
Total purchase $16.43
So, yesterday, my son and I decided to go to Wal-Mart to see how we did on our purchases in comparison to Wal-Mart prices. Trying to find a parking space without running over someone in a motorized shopping cart, or being side swiped by an early 90’s Ford Taurus with mismatched doors and a missing bumper was a challenge. As we got out of the Jeep, I had a flashback of a visit he and I made to this very store looking for something specific to take on vacation several years ago. It was a last resort, and my poor little guy who was 5 at the time got knocked down twice by other people’s shopping carts, with no apology. I snatched him up, went to the front of the store, got our own cart, and barreled through the store demolition derby style, with my 5 year old inside the cart surrounded by pillows we picked up in house wares just for the occasion.
We then made our way to the entrance, where crossing that drive is much like a game of Frogger. There is no straight path across. You must weave your way around moving vehicles and pray they don't decide to step on the gas without looking up, or that Roy doesn't release the brake while Lenore loads up all 5 kids in to 3 car seats and 2 boosters, and two carts worth of groceries, all while parked in the fire lane.
We started in produce, where we found roma tomatoes @1.25/lb (Kroger price 2.49/lb), Vidalia onions 1.14/lb (Kroger .97/lb) and lemons .48 each (Kroger 2lbs, or 7 lemons 3.99). Incidentally, there were only 4 lemons in the bin. We headed to the back of the store to find cookies 1.77, but no mint flavor in the store brand, only real Oreos for 2.78 (Kroger price 1.99) We then priced cat products. The Friskies canned food was .44, 9 Lives .38 (Kroger price .40) Meow Mix Wholesome Goodness was 3.98 for a 6lb bag (Kroger 4.58) Cat litter was 3.94 for the Special Kitty 25lb bag (I paid 2.00 for 14 lbs) Hamburger buns were 1.97 but they did not have the jumbo sesame seed variety (Kroger 1.69) Milk was 2.08 ( Kroger 2.35) 2 liters of Sam’s Choice soda were .66 (Kroger brand was .68) They did not have any Dad’s cream soda, and the 6 pack of Miller Lite was 4.97 (Kroger 5.59) Toilet paper was .97 for a 6pk, and I paid 1.00, and .88 for 4 packs at Kroger and the Dollar Tree. I found a package of comparable drawstring kitchen bags in a 20 ct. for 3.17, my cost for 8 was 1.00. Chicken thighs were 1.78/lb, my cost 1.00/lb. Ground beef was 1.67/lb (Kroger was the same) We could not find any comparable cheese Danish product, and the potato salad was 2.98 for a 2lb container (Kroger 4.49 for a 3lb container) The candy we found was the same price as we had paid at Kroger. The cookie mix was 1.72 (our price 1.00) A can of store brand cooking spray was 1.74, our cost 1.00. Ramen noodles .18 each (Kroger price the same) the cup of noodles were .44 each, we paid .69 each. The marmalade was 1.68, our cost 1.00. Wal-Mart only had donuts similar to what we bought at Kroger for .89 for 6, for .58 each. The Red Baron pizzas were 2.88 and they didn’t have the buffalo chicken flavor. We paid 3.50 each at Kroger.
We then had to venture to the other side of the store, which of course feels like you need a golf cart for. No wonder there is a person in a motorized cart in every aisle. I wasn’t carrying anything or pushing a cart, and I was already worn out. We priced out batteries at .75 each (our price .25) Light bulbs were 1.50 for a pack of four 90 watt bulbs; we paid 1.00 for a comparable product, except that they were 100 watt bulbs. Wal-Mart did not have any 100 watt bulbs. Inflatable swim rings were 2.00 each. Our price was 1.00 each. A pair of bath gloves were 3.00, my price was 2.00. I also priced an SD card at 9.88; the one at Kmart was cheaper at 8.99.
So, all things being considered, if I had made these same purchases at Wal-Mart, I would have spent $81.75. My cost was $75.93. But now I will end this first post with the real reason it was worth it for me not to do my shopping at Wal-Mart. When my son and I were done with our research expedition without purchasing so much as a .25 can of Sam’s Choice cola, we were making our way back to the door, when I slid and nearly fell. Once I caught my breath, and started to feel that nauseous nag in my stomach that you get when nearly making an ass of yourself in public, I looked to see what I had slipped on. We were nowhere near the grocery aisles. I thought perhaps someone spilled a drink or it was some condensation or whatever. I looked down to see a puddle of liquid. I looked again. Again. Again. I tried from another angle. I asked my son to come back and look at it. I started to feel even more nauseous than before. I took the flip flop off of my foot and slowly raised it to my nose. Oh yeah. That’s what that is. Urine.
As I started my draft of this first installment, I thought about my neighborhood Wal-Mart (4.58 miles from home), and what used to stand on that piece of property. There is a White Castle, which still stands, a liquor store, and an oil change place or something. But what used to stand on the spot that this particular Wal-Mart occupies was a Central Hardware. I happen to have a sign that came from their parking lot, courtesy of my ex-husband. He fancied himself some sort of skater and hell-raiser. He stole this sign after they went out of business. What a troublemaker. I think the slogan for Central Hardware was “from scoop to nuts…” I remember going there as a child when my dad had home improvement projects. It really was the only large hardware store in the area. I now have 2 Lowes, 2 Menards, and a Home Depot, all within a reasonable distance from my home, as well as a couple of smaller stores. But I will never forget that sawdust smell (reminds me of puke at an amusement park), the rusty shopping carts (as a parent this makes me cringe, tetanus just waiting to happen), the bins full of nails and bolts that you could buy by the pound, and hauling rolls of Owens-Corning pink insulation in the back of our station wagon.
This Wal-Mart of course was only a basic store in the beginning. The only super center in the area was in Franklin, Indiana. I did my grocery shopping there one time with a friend when I was first married to my ex, the skater, and before my son was born. This was circa 1994. When I walked in to this super center, I was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the store itself, and the faint odor of sour milk and pine sol. I followed behind my friend with my own shopping cart, and was content to not venture too far from our goal, which was to grocery shop, and nothing else. I managed to escape Sam Walton’s grip without much more than a half cart full of basics. Some of this was due to the fact that I was broke, I had just built a new house, and the travel time from the Franklin Wal-Mart to my home on the east side of Indianapolis was about 45 minutes. It seemed as though I had avoided being sucked in to the super store addiction. I did not make that trip ever again.
The Southport Wal-Mart has gained a reputation of being dirty, and it has, quite possibly, the most poorly planned out parking lot. Some may blame this on the fact that it converted to a super center later in life. I blame it on the location. This store should never have stayed on this piece of property. It is like putting Shaq’s foot in my size 7 1/2 shoe.
So, let’s get to the meat of this thing. I kept track of my purchases for the week, and compared prices with my local Wal-Mart. I started with Race Day, which, for those of you from Indianapolis, you know this is a big deal. You absolutely have to cook out on Race Day, if you aren’t going to the race.
I started out the day miserable from allergies from hanging out at my parents’ house the day before. Cut grass gets me every time. My son and I missed church. Apparently, he was wiped out from swimming on Saturday as well. So about 2pm when we finally came to life, we decided it was way too hot not to go back to my parents and hang at the pool for a little while. After listening to the rest of the Indianapolis 500 and playing some Waboba ( http://www.waboba.com/ ), we headed back home to grill out some burgers. Because my boyfriend did not want to wait for me to shower and get ready, he decided to make the trip to our local Kroger store alone (distance from home 1.2 miles). I usually don’t advise this, as he likes to make impulse purchases. He hates going to the store with me because I am very calculating. It takes time to be a smart shopper, to search through the coupons I have, compare prices, to stretch one dollar in to ten. I asked if he wanted me to make him a list, and of course he said no. I then reminded him that we needed pretty much everything from buns to tomatoes. He decided I should write some of this down, to which I replied, “If you wait 20 minutes, I can be ready to go with you.” He ran out the door like his pants were on fire.
He was back in what seemed an impossibly short amount of time, which worried me. I had a feeling that we were about to make a second trip. I headed to the kitchen to investigate. He had brought in about 7 bags. Impressive. Let’s see what we have here…
· Catfood, wet and dry in several varieties (our cats are very persnickety)
· Jumbo sesame seed buns, 8ct
· 3.17lbs ground beef
· 3 lbs mustard potato salad
· 2 lb bag of lemons (for lemon shake ups)
· 2 roma tomatoes (as our garden is not producing yet)
· 2 vidalia onions (not sure why he got two, but I will find a recipe for the second one)
Total purchase $26.51
For seven shopping bags, this seemed like a small amount of groceries to me, but I went to work seasoning and shaping some patties. I cracked open a Miller High Life, you know, the champagne of beers…
Fast forward to Monday, Memorial Day. The weather had taken a turn, it was not warm enough for swimming, and there was a possibility of some rain. My boyfriend would not be spending this day with us. He had some laundry and other various chores at his house. I think he was ready to spend some time away from me anyway. So, my son and I decided to see a movie. Funds are tight these days, so we checked out the local Cinemark theater that features $1.75 tickets. We were pretty disappointed in their choices. We also belong to the Five Buck Club through Kerasotes, which has been recently acquired by AMC. We were all set to see Iron Man 2. I was happy to possibly get a Robert Downey Jr. fix. We always sneak our own candy and drinks in to the movies, so we were formulating our list of goodies, and I was getting out the “big” purse. We thought it had been out long enough to be on the club list, but, it was not. We overcame our disappointment and decided to rent some movies from a Red Box. So we ventured, once again, to our local Kroger for some movie appropriate snacks and drinks. We made the following purchases:
· 4pk toilet paper (we always seem to be almost out. Is it a guy thing? I am reminded of the Charmin “less is more” commercial)
· 6ct donuts (for breakfast the next day)
· 2 cup o’noodles (my son’s lunch choice for the next day)
· 6pk ramen noodles (because we are secretly college students)
· Red vines
· Kroger brand mint sandwich cookies
· Chocolate covered raisins
· Sour fruit slices
· 6ct cinnamon raisin English muffins
· 2 liter of diet Dr. K ( for some reason we seem to be drinking a lot of soda, which I usually discourage, but I for one needed the caffeine if I was going to stay alert through three movies)
· 2 liter of Diet soda w/lime
· One gallon 1% Kroger milk
We proceeded to the Red Box in the front of the Kroger store where we selected Where the Wild Things Are, The Blind Side, and 2012.
Total Kroger purchase $14.08
Red Box $3.21
The rest of the week was pretty busy, and my son spent some of it with my parents. He came home Thursday evening. Poor kid gets pretty bored with me working from home, and Friday was especially busy for me. Once I returned home from an appointment at about 6pm, he was anxious to get out of the house. He had some money he was itching to spend.
Our first stop was our local Dollar Tree store (3 miles from home). I have discovered some great buys there, and we were in need of some cat litter. Cats are like newborns. All they do is eat, sleep, and poop. Our purchases were as follows:
· 4pk toilet paper (once again, we were running low, really?)
· Duncan Hines Sugar cookie mix
· 8ct Ruffies drawstring kitchen trash bags
· Cooking spray
· 2 cans Friskies cat food(eat, sleep, poop)
· Slim Jim beef stick
· 4ct 100 watt light bulbs (some of my light fixtures seem to eat light bulbs)
· Tongs for use at the grill (the boyfriend has been using my Pampered Chef tongs at the grill, which are plastic, and they have become a little warped)
· Small jar of orange marmalade
· Small box of Deli Cat dry cat food (once again, cats eat, sleep, and poop)
· Pair of new bath gloves (for my shower, my others were worn out and I need something to scrub the hatefulness off)
· 2 inflatable swim rings (we popped one at my parents on Race Day, and I felt like I needed to replace it)
· Two 7lb bags of Hartz cat litter (eat, sleep, poop)
· Package of frozen Tyson chicken thighs
· 4pk AA batteries
Total purchase $ 18.91
From there we ventured to Kmart, which is basically next door(even though it is technically closer to home than the Dollar Tree, the distance on Google maps says 3.2 miles). My son wanted to price some video games. I also wanted to price SD cards, as the one in my camera seems to not want to download any pictures, something I desperately need to do in order to post my own “People of Wal-Mart” photos. The game he wanted was $49.99, out of his price range. I saw a 2 GB SD card for $8.99, and I should have purchased it. I was distracted by the guy working the electronics department. He obviously had ear piercings, and Kmart must have some policy that states that they cannot be visible. They were covered by band-aids. Don’t get me started on this topic. That is something for a whole other blog. We both left this store empty handed.
From there, we went to Target (4.4 miles from home) Once again, my son priced video games. He was getting discouraged at this point and started to whine. A whiny 13 year old is about as pleasant as fingernails on a chalkboard. The photo department was strangely busy, so busy they had to get the uniformed security guard to open the locked video game cases for people. There were too many people gathered around the cameras that I was not able to get close enough to price an SD card. Further, do you ever get the feeling that you have a booger on your face, or that you are being mistaken for a celebrity? I was starting to feel rather too conspicuous for comfort. Once again, we left a store empty handed.
From there, we went to Play-N-Trade, a privately owned video game store located in the same area as the Target. My son proceeded to choose a new Pokémon game for his DS. It was $25.19, used, with our membership card discount. I bought it for him as a reward for getting all A’s and B’s on his final report card. The whining subsided.
We travelled across the street to Goodwill. I hadn’t been to this one in awhile, and wanted to take a peek to see if I could find anything I just couldn’t live without. They also have some video games from time to time. This particular Goodwill receives shipments from Target and Kohl’s, and I have purchased many new-with-tag items for cheap. Alas, I did not see anything that was a must have on this trip.
It was now after 8pm, and we were both getting hungry. We would have gone to the Aldi’s right next door to Goodwill, but they close at 8pm. I knew we didn’t have much at home, plus I was in the mood for a couple of beers. We stopped at our favorite Kroger on the way home. Our purchases:
· 2 Red Baron frozen pizzas, buffalo chicken and supreme (I seem to eat like a teenager these days)
· 1 liter Dad’s cream soda for my son (once again with the soda, really? am I getting lazy as a parent?)
· Kroger cheese Danish (for breakfast the next day, and these were the kind in the refrigerator roll like cinnamon rolls, YUM!)
· 6pk Miller Lite bottles (of which I only drank one that day...WHAT???!!!???)
Total purchase $16.43
So, yesterday, my son and I decided to go to Wal-Mart to see how we did on our purchases in comparison to Wal-Mart prices. Trying to find a parking space without running over someone in a motorized shopping cart, or being side swiped by an early 90’s Ford Taurus with mismatched doors and a missing bumper was a challenge. As we got out of the Jeep, I had a flashback of a visit he and I made to this very store looking for something specific to take on vacation several years ago. It was a last resort, and my poor little guy who was 5 at the time got knocked down twice by other people’s shopping carts, with no apology. I snatched him up, went to the front of the store, got our own cart, and barreled through the store demolition derby style, with my 5 year old inside the cart surrounded by pillows we picked up in house wares just for the occasion.
We then made our way to the entrance, where crossing that drive is much like a game of Frogger. There is no straight path across. You must weave your way around moving vehicles and pray they don't decide to step on the gas without looking up, or that Roy doesn't release the brake while Lenore loads up all 5 kids in to 3 car seats and 2 boosters, and two carts worth of groceries, all while parked in the fire lane.
We started in produce, where we found roma tomatoes @1.25/lb (Kroger price 2.49/lb), Vidalia onions 1.14/lb (Kroger .97/lb) and lemons .48 each (Kroger 2lbs, or 7 lemons 3.99). Incidentally, there were only 4 lemons in the bin. We headed to the back of the store to find cookies 1.77, but no mint flavor in the store brand, only real Oreos for 2.78 (Kroger price 1.99) We then priced cat products. The Friskies canned food was .44, 9 Lives .38 (Kroger price .40) Meow Mix Wholesome Goodness was 3.98 for a 6lb bag (Kroger 4.58) Cat litter was 3.94 for the Special Kitty 25lb bag (I paid 2.00 for 14 lbs) Hamburger buns were 1.97 but they did not have the jumbo sesame seed variety (Kroger 1.69) Milk was 2.08 ( Kroger 2.35) 2 liters of Sam’s Choice soda were .66 (Kroger brand was .68) They did not have any Dad’s cream soda, and the 6 pack of Miller Lite was 4.97 (Kroger 5.59) Toilet paper was .97 for a 6pk, and I paid 1.00, and .88 for 4 packs at Kroger and the Dollar Tree. I found a package of comparable drawstring kitchen bags in a 20 ct. for 3.17, my cost for 8 was 1.00. Chicken thighs were 1.78/lb, my cost 1.00/lb. Ground beef was 1.67/lb (Kroger was the same) We could not find any comparable cheese Danish product, and the potato salad was 2.98 for a 2lb container (Kroger 4.49 for a 3lb container) The candy we found was the same price as we had paid at Kroger. The cookie mix was 1.72 (our price 1.00) A can of store brand cooking spray was 1.74, our cost 1.00. Ramen noodles .18 each (Kroger price the same) the cup of noodles were .44 each, we paid .69 each. The marmalade was 1.68, our cost 1.00. Wal-Mart only had donuts similar to what we bought at Kroger for .89 for 6, for .58 each. The Red Baron pizzas were 2.88 and they didn’t have the buffalo chicken flavor. We paid 3.50 each at Kroger.
We then had to venture to the other side of the store, which of course feels like you need a golf cart for. No wonder there is a person in a motorized cart in every aisle. I wasn’t carrying anything or pushing a cart, and I was already worn out. We priced out batteries at .75 each (our price .25) Light bulbs were 1.50 for a pack of four 90 watt bulbs; we paid 1.00 for a comparable product, except that they were 100 watt bulbs. Wal-Mart did not have any 100 watt bulbs. Inflatable swim rings were 2.00 each. Our price was 1.00 each. A pair of bath gloves were 3.00, my price was 2.00. I also priced an SD card at 9.88; the one at Kmart was cheaper at 8.99.
So, all things being considered, if I had made these same purchases at Wal-Mart, I would have spent $81.75. My cost was $75.93. But now I will end this first post with the real reason it was worth it for me not to do my shopping at Wal-Mart. When my son and I were done with our research expedition without purchasing so much as a .25 can of Sam’s Choice cola, we were making our way back to the door, when I slid and nearly fell. Once I caught my breath, and started to feel that nauseous nag in my stomach that you get when nearly making an ass of yourself in public, I looked to see what I had slipped on. We were nowhere near the grocery aisles. I thought perhaps someone spilled a drink or it was some condensation or whatever. I looked down to see a puddle of liquid. I looked again. Again. Again. I tried from another angle. I asked my son to come back and look at it. I started to feel even more nauseous than before. I took the flip flop off of my foot and slowly raised it to my nose. Oh yeah. That’s what that is. Urine.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
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