{how i saved $25 without using a single coupon}

I’ll be honest with you.  I really can’t stand shopping at Walmart and I try to avoid it at all costs.  There are certain things that really are less expensive there if you just have to purchase something immediately and can’t wait for a sale elsewhere.  But one way to save money at Walmart is by taking advantage of their price matching policy.  Now anyone who has EVER tried to price match at Walmart has almost certainly walked away screaming mad slightly frustrated at one point or another.  Because although Walmart has a well-advertised simple price match guarantee, it would seem to most of us that there is almost nothing on earth more complicated.  At the Walmart closest to my home, you MUST have the ad in hand if you expect them to honor a competitor’s price on meat.  This is something that irritated me to no end when I first started trying to save money by price matching…..but I eventually gave in and decided that it wasn’t worth the fight.

I know people who will collect all of the ads from the stores in their area and then make one “quick” stop at Walmart to get all of their groceries.  Nevermind the fact that, unless you are REALLY well prepared, checkout is going to be brutal.  These frugal shoppers swear that it is worth their time and energy to shop this way.

I personally would rather run deliberately and quickly into a brick wall.

But, nonetheless, tonight I made the 10 minute drive up to Wally World to take advantage of a great deal on T-Bone steaks that Kroger had advertised in their ad this week.  It was quite silly of me, really, to wait until the LAST day of the sale and then drag myself out of the house into the pouring rain.  But this was a REALLY good deal on my Husby’s absolute favorite cut of meat.  So, out I went.

And I have to say that it was quite worth the trip.

I ended up saving just over $25 on my grocery bill just by price matching my bread, milk, chicken breast, and T-bone steaks.  The largest chunk of savings was, of course, the steak.  At my local Walmart the price is $10.98/lb!!!!  I was able to show my favorite cashier (SO thankful that she was working) my Kroger ad and she matched the price at $3.99/lb for me!!  That’s a huge savings people!  I ended up getting two $15 steaks for $5 a piece.  Husby was pretty happy!  😉

So, although I would MUCH rather take the time to clip and organize my coupons, drive the 35 miles to the nearest Kroger, and then use 100+ coupons in one transaction (which btw, I don’t think I’ve ever actually done)……sometimes it just isn’t feasible for this super busy momma to make that drive.  And I couldn’t disappoint the Hubster.

A final thought……if you’ve never tried price matching at Walmart I would recommend that you give it a shot.  Choose one or two (not 30) items that you would like to price match, take your ad with you (just in case), and look for a cashier who looks really friendly.  You might be surprised at some of the deals that you could end up with.

Happy Saving!

Melony : )

PS: If you would like to read more specifics on Walmart’s policy click here and if you’d like to get some amazing tips on how to work the policy click here.