It’s no secret that Walmart tends to get a bad rap in the blogosphere. Rants get plenty of attention, right? (Even I am guilty of this trend, ahem).
Now that I am part of the eleven moms project, I am really trying to see Walmart through fresh eyes. Many good things have come to my attention through this opportunity.
For example: did you know that Walmart is the nation’s largest buyer of locally grown fruits and vegetables? Neither did I.
They also only offer concentrated liquid laundry detergent in all of their stores. From their website:
“In three years, Wal-Mart expects to sell more than 800 million bottles of concentrated detergent. As a result, we anticipate saving 400 million gallons of water, 95 million pounds of plastic resin and 125 million pounds of cardboard.”
Another recent observation: Walmart offers plastic bag recycling in all of their stores. I am a big fan of this program. Guess who does not? Target.
Walmart even has their own blog with an entire section devoted to sustainability.
No one asked me to write this post. I truly feel that Walmart is making very positive strides. How often do you read about the good stuff?
I shopped there tonight, in fact. My favorite cashier was working, so I waited a few extra minutes just to be in her line. She always remembers me and gladly accepts my truckload pile of coupons.
After she totaled my coupons and completed the transaction, she cheerfully exclaimed, “you should work here for the employee discount, you know”. I smiled and thanked her, and chuckled inwardly. If she only knew, I thought.
So, here is how I did. By combining high value coupons with low prices, I saved quite a bit!
Tyson frozen chicken: $1.00 coupon from 7/20 SS insert
Cool Whip can: $1.00 coupon from recent insert
Jif To Go peanut butter: $0.75 coupon from 7/27 RP insert
Dan-o-nino yogurt: $1.00 coupon from 6/22 SS insert
Dole Fruit parfaits: $0.75 coupon from insert
Glad Plug-In scented oil: $4.00 coupon from 8/3 SS insert
2 bottles of Vitamin Water, 1 Powerade: B2G1 free coupon from insert
2 packages Kotex pads: $1.00 coupon from 7/20 SS insert or $1.00 printable here
Malt-O-Meal bagged cereal: $1.00 printable here
South Beach drink mix: $2.00 printable here makes it free
Bertolli Pasta sauce pouch: $1.00 printable here
15 packets of Kool Aid: $3.00 (going to try this)
1 box Wheat Thins: Free
Oscar Meyer turkey franks: Free
Kraft Singles cheese: Free
Kraft dressing: Free
Crystal Light drink mix: Free
*For details on the Kool Aid deal, go here.
Total Before Coupons: $45.56
Total After: $17.63!
By the way, eleven moms launched today. I am thrilled to part of this adventure!
Thats Great! did you have coupons for the free stuff? I am new to all this and I think your site has been a wonderful inspiration!
TY and Congrats on the walmart 11 MOMS..
I bought 6 of those All You mags. I will be making grape and strawberry jelly out of my kool-aid for gift baskets. It’s so easy! The recipe is on my blog under recipes. You can also make strawberry syrup for pancakes and kool-aid pies.
I just wanted to say thanks for supporting Walmart! I’m a chemist, and I know that Walmart has made a huge effort to employ green chemistry practices. They have so much buying power that they can actually affect large industries. They’ve also had a recent campaign for compact fluorescent light bulbs that was very successful. So, not all of Walmart’s bad rap is deserved 🙂
I think they are trying but I still won’t shop there until their get better coupon policies. I don’t want to leave there feeling like a criminal or all stressed out because I had to fight for every single coupon I have. It isn’t worth my time! They will have to WIN me back by letting me know that their are more coupon friendly. Maybe it is a store by store issue…then my closest store needs some re-training!!!
I do enjoy the coupons out of the All You Magazine and glad they market it!
You’re right, there is a lot of negative press about Wal-Mart. I still shop there… I didn’t know about those positive things they’re doing although I did notice the plastic bag recycle thingy.
You did a wonderful job saving money. I’m going to have to get better organized with my coupons and sales papers. BTW: What does SS mean? I sometimes get confused when you expert money saving moms write in the coupon code. 😀
Thanks for all your wonderful and informative posts.
Great savings!! And congrats on your launch.
I do shop at Walmart – can’t beat the good deals, though my WinCo still beats them on food prices.
I appreciate what you are doing trying to boost the image of Wal Mart due to your positive experience. However your intentions don’t come across as purely fueled by your good experience when you make comments like this, “Another recent observation: Walmart offers plastic bag recycling in all of their stores. I am a big fan of this program. Guess who does not? Target.”
@Tucky Yes, I had coupons from All You magazine for the free stuff. It is available at Walmart!
@Lisa Thanks for the KoolAid tips! I had no idea it was so versatile.
@Jill It’s nice to hear from a chemist on my blog! I think that is a first. You are right about the lightbulbs, I just bought one myself.
@Briana I agree with the coupon issues. I believe this will get better with time. I have personally spoken with a Walmart senior director for customer service and she is committed to making a change!
I am so glad you are one of the 11 moms! I can't wait to see what you all come up with & see some more of the vlogs!
I agree with Briana, it is SO not worth the hassle to shop there. Every time I go in there, I end up leaving feeling like a criminal…but I am glad YOUR walmart accepts coupons.
target is a lot better with customer service and their coupon policy.Dont forget that target also offers their own coupons, which you can use along with manufacture coupons.Guess who dosent?Walmart!
I have never had coupon issues at Wal-Mart…surprisingly enough. I have had some issues at Target a few times, but not a big enough one to pass on a good deal. (The Pop-Tart deal this week.) My only issues with Wal-Mart is there produce!!!
I don’t have a nearby target but I have had some good experiences with shopping at walmart. I hadn’t noticed any recycling program though.
I would love to know how to avoid coupon issues at Walmart. I had coupon issues at Walmart just yesterday. I bought 2 Pert Plus items, 2 different sizes and had two different coupons… they said I had reached my coupon limit with the one coupon. It was huge mess just trying to find someone who could over ride and fix the problem, received extremely poor customer service and no one seemed to want to fix… it took me 10-15 minutes to get the issue resolved. I never seem to save at Wal-Mart due to mispriced items and coupon issues, so I agree with Briana… not worth the hassle, I stick with Target, CVS and Kroger. I think the 11 Moms is a great idea and a wonderful opportunity for the 12 bloggers particiapting, but it doesn’t change how I feel about Wal-Mart.
I love posts like this! Since I’ve started working, I have less time to hunt down good deals. I love that you listed what all you bought. Sharing your hard work with others is so great of you!
I shop at Wal-Mart at least once a week and many times I’m there twice. I have found that the cashier makes all the difference wrt coupons. I had one cashier refuse to price match makeup items from Walgreens because the price wasn’t stated on the Walgreen’s flier. I said okay, he could keep the item and pleasantly continued checking out the other items. After I paid, I put my purchases in the car, went back into Wal-Mart, got the make-up again and went to a different cashier. I was given the price match with no problem. As far as the recycling goes, I think it may be a moot point. I talked to a cashier at my local Wal-Mart about the recycling and she said that while the store had a plastic bag recycling bin in the front of their store, it was just a courtesy. That when the box was full, they simply emptied into the store dumpster out back. So even if you do take your plastic bags to Wal-Mart or even any other store, they may only be throwing them away in their own dumpsters.
Funny that you say that Rose… I drove by Walmart just yesterday to see walmart employees dumping their ” recycle box for plastic bags” into the dumpster on the side of the building. If you really want to know what goes on with Walmart, and their ethical beliefs you can check out walmartwatch.com. There is a reason they keep their prices low…. I would not give this company a penny of my money or a minute of my time!
You know, that’s a sad thing if it’s happening. But if it is? What a great opportunity to get involved to make things better! Don’t just go to the internet and complain or to Walmartwatch.com to read other people complaining – take action in your community now. Go to the store manager – ask him/her why you saw them dumping recycling into the trash bin – or why a cashier would say something like that if it’s not true. Tell him/her you hope that it’s a misunderstanding but that you’re sure they’ll see to fixing it right away – because it would be easier than having one of those “local TV spycam crews” show up and point it out to the greater community. It’s one thing to spot an issue – but if we’re going to make things better, sometimes WE have to be the ones to step up and say “do something to fix this now!”
As for the coupons? Same thing. If you’re having an issue with one cashier? Don’t just go to another one – b/c that first one won’t learn the right procedure and will keep doing the same thing to the next person and the next. Contact the store manager. It’s his/her job to make sure that their individual store is keeping up to the Walmart standards. Tell them that you’re having issues with getting different coupon policies from different cashiers and can they please address that in their store, because it makes Walmart as a whole look bad.
Not getting satisfaction when you do that? Well, yeah, that would really frustrate me too. So I’ll tell you what – try both of those things first. If that doesn’t fix the issue? Come back here and let me know – I’ll see if I can find a contact to someone higher up in the company that might be able to help you if the Store manager won’t.
Not because I have any obligation to do so – but because the only way we’re going to get things to change is if we – the informed consumers – stand up and say “no, I don’t think so… this is wrong, let’s fix it.”
Alyssa, do you have tips on how to make using coupons at WalMart smoother? I am always open to new ideas. I have contacted the right people in the past with problems, all the way up to corporate and sometimes it’s just not worth it over $5 in coupons and no results. I think it has to have something to do with management on a local level and that’s sad how it reflects on my perception of the whole and that I let it do so. That’s why I have taken the easy way out in the past and gone elsewhere. You seem to have great success there with your deals at Walmart and I would like to learn from you, especially as you work with Walmart and they make changes to get better. If you have some tips, would you be willing to share them?
Alyssa – When I have my issues at Walmart, I asked for the manager and the manager didn’t “get” it either. That is one of my main problems. It wasn’t just the cashier, it was the whole operation. It’s ironic, though, that Walmart comes up with this magazine (All You) with AWESOME coupons and then you can’t even get Walmart to accept those! LOL! Oh, the irony.
A couple bad experiences is enough to not make me want to go back as I have another option that is coupon friendly. So I’m not sure I even want to try it again, KWIM.
I’m glad some people have a easy time but I think the experience with most of us, is we haven’t.