Why I Cannot Afford to Shop at Wal Mart

Sometimes people will ask me why I do not shop at Wal-mart. While I tend not to even think about it anymore as I hardly even consider the store as an option, here is what started it all.

First, there is the practical reason that Wal-Mart is 30 minutes away!! Why would I drive 30 minutes to get groceries or anything for that matter that I can just as easily get 15 minutes away?

Then, here is the common reason that people avoid the place. Wal Mart tends to cause disorder and confusion of a town as well as wipe out most small business'. I can think of a few local shops that have at least had to stop selling items because there is no way they can compete. I have seen many towns in which the main street is abandoned as other shops try to move closer to the Wal-Mart.

But even though these are perfectly logical reasons for avoiding Wal-Mart my main objection is more idealistic. Wal-Mart encourages the collection of worthless items....in other words, consumerism. The store is seen as a money saver for the poor. But really! All it does is encourage those with little money to spend more. In reality it robs from the poor and gives to the rich. (By the way, I have nothing against the rich getting richer when it is just). There was a time when I would buy clothes from Wal-Mart. What I soon found out was I was paying multiple times over for clothes what I would have been had I bought them from a quality store. Take for instant a shirt. A shirt may cost me $10 from Wal-mart while I could buy a better made shirt from a real store for $30. At a glance you would think this a great deal until you find out that the $10 shirt would last one season while the $30 shirt would last indefinitely, likely 5-10 years. (An argument could be made that children don't need these clothes as they grow out out them so quick. This I would readily agree although I would argue that clothing makes for great charity.) Often times my Wal-Mart clothes wouldn't even last through one season. This can be applied to most anything from Wal-Mart that isn't to be consumed immediately. I have even found that when you think that you are getting a good deal on something from Wal-Mart because it is name brand something, when you get it home you find out it has somehow a cheaper model specifically for Wal-Mart to sell (kinda like what you would find at a dollar store).

What it all comes down to is..I CANNOT AFFORD TO SHOP AT WAL-MART. Let's face it...most things we need can wait to be purchased. We do not need them now..we can wait to save and buy them later. I would much rather save my $10 now and save another $20 over time to buy a shirt that will last me 5 to 10 times as long.

Of course, if you are in the city, their are endless opportunities to save(and spend too, which is why I am glad I do not live in a city). Cities have Trader Joes (rated the same food prices as Wal-Mart) according to Consumer Reports. Cities have Goodwill stores where you can buy well made clothing for a fraction of the price. Housing is another story altogether which Wal-Mart, as far as I know, isn't in the market of anyways. Housing is ridiculously expensive for anyone but this will be addressed later. I have my opinion on why this is...at least for Southwest Virginia.

One other quick consideration is the cost in time. Wal-MArt takes much of a persons time. Swimming through that mess of stuff is hard and tiring. The store purposely draws your attention to other items which meana your are side tracked from your original purpose. There is lost time. I just don't have this in my back pocket. Time means alot more to me than money ever will. Even for someone that had more time than money wouldnt time be better spent working productively than spending greedily.

Farmers markets are a hopeful sign. People tend to shop at the market because they know they can get better quality produce than at a supermarket...often times even willing to pay a higher price for this quality. I just hope this is a sign of people moving toward an interest in quality rather than quantity.

So while I would never consider Jeff and I poor....often wondering how we do as well as we do, we are below median income for this area and still do not shop at Wal-Mart. It is possible! In fact, it is the only way....I can't afford to shop at Wal-Mart.

(by the way, I have linked the title to an interesting article to read more about how Wal-MArt destroys).