Shopping at the Discount Stores In the Struggle to Remain Frugal, But Could It be Wrong?

[discocrisco01]

Do intentionally avoid shopping at stores like Walmart and Target because they do not pay their sufficient wages and only shop at unionized stores as much as possible?

Or do not shop at fast food places because they do not let their workers organize?

Would you willing be pay 10%-20% more for that Big Mac just so that worker has the ability to get a living wage? Or pay $1.50 for that microwave meal that costs a $1.00 at Walmart

There are honest questions that I have struggled with when I intentionally shop at Walmart and Target for my food. I intentionally shopped their because I was unemployed and I try to save as much money as possible. I eat off that dang dollar menu at McDonalds in order to save money.

I am very cheap and has saved me money that I can use spend towards other things. As a progressive, I am committing an act that is "an immoral act considered to be a transgression". It is not a transgression in a religious sense, but rather a transgression against my own political viewpoints even though I am trying to frugal myself to save money for the future.

By the way, I now have a job, but I still struggle with this because I also forcing myself to be stingy because I have to self-fund my own retirement on the income that I make.

[femmocrat]

1. Don't beat yourself up, discocrisco.

You have to manage your resources the best you can and you don't owe anyone an explanation. Stay away from that dollar menu though! Your health with thank you later.

[Demo_Chris]

2. It's popular to hammer on Walmart...

But that "mom and pop" store down the street isn't treating their workers any better, and quite possibly worse. Nor are they buying and selling American any more than Walmart. Even if they wanted to, and they don't, they can't, because we don't make it here anymore. Many of the people coming down the hardest on Walmart are doing so, not to advance some liberal cause, but to demonstrate how elite they are that they would never stoop to shop there.

Walmart food? They eat only locally produced 100% organic pesticide free hand-masturbated food, cultivated ethically by local farmers who nurture each plant and animal by whispering to them and playing light classical jazz. Anything less would be barbaric and icky. If Walmart or wherever has what you need at a price you can afford, buy it. Life is too short and grim to feel bad over irrelevant nonsense like where you buy your Hamburger when you can afford it.

[Blanket Statements]

3. Good post!

[A Little Weird]

4. Oh please

I would like to see some evidence that "mom and pop" stores treat their employees as bad or worse than Walmart. Being concerned about workers rights is a very democratic position to take. It has nothing to do with "elitism".

To the OP - I think you should make whatever purchasing decisions work best for you. When you're struggling to make ends meet you have to do whatever you must to get by. I usually go to other stores, but I stop by Walmart from time to time. One reason is that I dislike their corporate practices and I want to support local and/or union businesses. But honestly, I have also found that Walmart is not always the cheapest place for food items (it is for some but not for all).

[JNelson6563]

12. I worked for one for a year.

They were the greediest, stingiest people I met. They'd make the Walton's blush.

I worked at Sam's Club some years ago so I know enough first hand to say that yes, indeed, there are mom-and-pop businesses that treat their help worse.

Just throwing that out there. For the record I avoid Walmart as much as possible and am not being an apologist for them. They suck. I now work for a union company and shop there too though it is a bit more expensive.

Julie

[A Little Weird]

16. The largest retailer in the country vs. 1 mom and pop?

Perhaps I could have stated it more clearly in my first post, but I was talking about mom-and-pop stores as a group. I don't doubt that there are bad mom-and-pop stores out there. But on the whole, I don't think it's fair to say that mom-and-pop retailers as a group are anywhere near as bad as Walmart when it comes to employee treatment. I think you would have to look at them as a group just because of the scale of Walmart. It's hardly fair to compare a single mom-and-pop against the largest employer in the country.

I don't judge anyone who chooses to shop at Walmart; people should make whatever shopping choices work for their situation. I was just rubbed the wrong way by the insinuation that only "elitists" would choose to avoid Walmart. Sounded exactly like the crap I heard from my rightwing relatives over the holidays and I was kind of upset to see it on DU. Anyway, I'm over it. Sorry you had a bad experience, it always sucks to be in that situation. I hope things are better now.

[JNelson6563]

17. Thank you! Yes, much improved!

I'm in a local grocery store owned by a family and it's unionized! I'd wager the family was completely fine when the union came in. So I have had both, local shit-heads and local heroes.

I know the bad ones aren't as rare as we'd like to think. Got plenty of 'em here. Of course the big guys treating everyone badly makes it all the easier for the little guys to do the same.

We have a vibrant down-town with many successful local businesses. I do my best to support those I know are good to their employees.

I'm only a baker with a modest income and I avoid Walmart like the plague. If that makes me an elitist I think the word has changed meanings.

Julie

[El_Johns]

14. That would be true but for one thing: Walmart is bigger than all those "mom & pop" stores, plus

Target, Sears, KMart, Macy's, Safeway, Costco, & half a dozen other stores PUT TOGETHER. It's a market maker. It creates the market conditions that all those other stores are forced to compete with.

[JNelson6563]

18. Yes, you are exactly right.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. Never be stingy, but always be frugal.

There is a difference.

I am frugal. I am in the same position in regard to self-funding my retirement. I have had ups and downs with finances. I agree that there are times when you need to shop at the cheapest store, but don't always assume that Walmart is the cheapest. Instead of buying my food at Walmart, I use Aldi. But you may not have that option where you live. I also shop sales at grocery stores. And I plan menus based on the sales. You may find that sale items are cheaper than what you are getting elsewhere. Just refuse to buy other items when you go into the store to get sale items.

For items besides food, think second-hand....whether it is thrift stores or garage sales. And Freecycle.

[spinbaby]

6. Also the Amish/Mennonite bulk stores

We frequent our local Mennonite bulk store, which sells inexpensive spices, grains, beans, pasta, etc. and also great local honey. In the summer months, we get a lot of food at the farmers market. You can often shop frugally without Walmart if you look around, although I realize not everyone has access to these other frugal food sources.

One thing I noticed at our local Walmart in the years I took my in-laws there to shop was that it frequently has foods that are packaged smaller than in competing stores in order to appear to be a better value. For instance, a brand of bacon I regularly bought in one-pound packages at the Giant Eagle appeared at Walmart in 12-ounce packages at a slightly lower price--the price per pound was actually a little higher at Walmart.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. Interesting about the size of packaging.

As I do not set foot in Walmart, I would not know. It really does matter to shop smart, and learn all the gimmicks.

I also shop at farmers' markets and Amish markets, but I will never say that it is cheaper than grocery stores. In our area, it never is. If I had to watch my food budget carefully, I would not be shopping there except for a special treat. But I will agree that it is another option to check pricing. I just know that it is not cheaper here. The Amish all shop at Aldi, so I feel that it is probably the best price.

[spinbaby]

9. In our area, they're often the cheapest

For some foods we use regularly--mainly oatmeal, flax seed, and spices--the Mennonite bulk store is a lot cheaper than any other local alternatives. Aldi's is good for basic vegetables and some packaged goods such as graham crackers. We get all our eggs at a local feed store where people with laying hens buy feed and drop off their spare eggs to sell--the price isn't actually better than eggs on sale at the grocery store, but they're local from happy chickens and sometimes we get green eggs.

[Jamaal510]

8. I struggled with this question myself,

but eventually I came to the conclusion that it would be pointless to be one of a few people paying extra at a small store just to spite a big chain, while everyone else shops at the big chain and saves money. I don't blame people for shopping at big chain stores in order to be frugal; the economy is still fairly weak, and job growth is still slow.
If small businesses want more customers, then they're going to have to lower their prices. That is why so many people frequent places like Wal-Mart--not because they want to, but because it is convenient and CHEAP. Many of us don't have the luxury of being able to always pay extra for something just because some other businesses are being cheapskates and underpaying their employees.
Congress is who can raise the minimum wage to get businesses to start paying their workers a livable wage. All they have to do is make the law for a minimum wage increase, then put it on Obama's desk for him to sign.

[Barack_America]

10. It's not about perfection, it's about improvement.

If you want my ass-vice, cut out the dollar menu, by more fruits and veggies at the big box store (not as bad to shop there, if you're using the savings towards a healthier diet). Scout out the sales on staples at the local stores and buy those there.

[ThomThom]

11. to shop or not

I don't eat at fast food because their food is sooo bad and unhealthy.
I don't shop at big box stores because they sell junk mostly.
Getting a good deal on something that breaks the third time you use it is not a good deal.
But not paying their workers a fair wage is just a bad business practice.
If walmart paid more, most of that money would end up spent at walmart. The economy spins, now days, on spending if people have more to spend then business will have more business. It is simple.

[SomethingFishy]

13. It's a tough one...

And don't let people get you down. I try not to buy at Wal Mart mostly because I know whatever it is I get will be cheaply made and not last long. However sometimes cheap is all I can afford. I continue to buy my wife Insulin at Wal Mart where it's $75 a month cheaper than our regular pharmacy. You do what you have to to get by.

Funny thing about rising prices, when the CEO of McDonalds doubled his salary from 7 million a year to 14 million a year the prices at McD's didn't go up a cent

[El_Johns]

15. Think how many raises that extra $7 million would have given. But of course, giving it to workers

WOULD have raised prices....