I’m writing a small series of posts to share what groceries I purchase from each of my favorite stores – either online, co-op, or from brick and mortar grocery stores. I recently shared about the groceries I buy from Aldi and groceries I order from Amazon. Today I’ll tell you about the real food groceries I often buy at Walmart!
I know many people strongly dislike shopping at Walmart. But for me, it is one of two options in my small town. I have the choice of shopping at our one local grocery store (which is quite a bit more expensive and does not always have great quality produce) or Walmart. The produce selection at our Walmart is usually pretty good, plus I can price-match great deals from stores an hour away like Aldi and Fresh Thyme Market.
So Walmart it is, almost every week. Typically I’ve found the quality of their produce to be very good! And they even carry several organic options.
What do I buy at Wal-Mart?
A cart full, you can bet on it. :)
~ Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
I look at Pricematcherz.com each week and take advantage of all the deals from stores in Lincoln. I get amazing deals on fresh produce this way, and I am so thankful for this!
~ Frozen Veggies as Needed
Typically I buy frozen veggies from Azure Standard. But since that order only comes once each month, I buy (non-organic) from Walmart in the meantime to fill in gaps.
~ Chicken
Our Wal-mart carries a “natural” brand of chicken at a very reasonable price. I often find it marked down and buy every bit of it when it’s available at the discount. But even if it isn’t discounted, the price is still good. I can get whole chickens as well as boneless thighs and breasts. Boneless thighs are my absolute favorite!
~ Cream and Half-and-Half
No it’s not organic. Yes we go through a lot of it.
~ Colby Jack Cheese
Our Walmart has Joseph Farms brand that is a great price and made from cows that are not given hormones. I usually buy 2-3 of these four-pound hunks of cheese each month. We shred it all in our food processor and keep it in these bowls with lids to pull out and use as needed.
~ Day-Old Bread on the Mark-Down Cart
I always check this cart to see if their French or Italian bread is available for $0.53. If so, I grab a few loaves so my boys can make Pizza Boats for a quick lunch or so we’ll have it on hand to serve guests. No it’s not very nutritious. But it makes a nice side for an otherwise nutritious meal, and our guests enjoy it slathered in butter!
~ Hormel Naturals Lunch Meat
If we need sandwiches to take on the road for soccer or basketball games, I grab a couple family packs of these.
~ Nitrite Free Hot Dogs
They recently came out with a Walmart brand of hotdogs that I would consider “better for you” and their price is better too. I like to have these on hand for Beanie Weanies once in a while. :)
~ Organic Mixed Greens and Fresh Spinach
The prices on these are great, and actually cheaper than the conventional options! I love how simple these make my life!
Are you a Walmart shopper? Does your Walmart still offer Price Matching? What do you frequently buy at Walmart?
Our Walmart here in Bellevue Ne stopped price matching last week.
My walmart does not price match anymore
Have you ever bought meat from a company called Zaycon? They sell in bulk and have awesome prices (and food – boneless and skinless chicken breasts and thighs to pork products and steak and shrimp/fish). Their website is https://www.zayconfresh.com/
I’ve wanted to buy from them but I don’t have a local option and would have to drive quite a distance so it’s not worth it for me. Bummer, because I’ve heard such good about them!
We live in a small town (4,000′ ish people with no Walmart) in WY and I drive about 65 miles to pick up our Zaycon order. I coordinate other errands to pick up in Cheyenne at the same time to make it worth the drive. I am not certain the last time you checked drop off locations as the company has been expanding their territory the last year or so. When I searched the Zaycon website the locations came up close to York, NE were: Grand Island, Lincoln, Elkhorn, Kearney, Omaha, and Bellevue. It may be worth it to check again as now Zaycon has started having sale prices (they are offering 22% off on almost all their items when you order them on sale) on top of their low prices. Hope this helps…….have a blessed day.
I need to see about price matching. I never see anyone else doing it but I honestly don’t know. We’re big yogurt eaters and Walmart’s prices on several of our favorite brands (Noosa for example) are cheaper, as is their kefir, which we drink by the bucketful. We love to cook and I can often find “gourmet-ish” ingredients a lot cheaper. Pancetta, slab bacon, & goat cheese come to mind.
Produce at mine is just so-so. Love the organic options. Hate that certain things (mushrooms especially) seem to go bad almost overnight. I also find great deals on meats, but you do have to be a careful label reader in that regard.
I am with you on the non-organic dairy, all brands, including organic valley and organic horizon, seem to contain additives like carrageenan, guar gum, etc. There are two addative free brands of whipping cream available to me, Sassy Cow, a local nearly organic product and Deans Dairy Pure. Both are also BGH free. Then the other day I was given some eggplant, and made a quick run to the store nearest my house for some ricotta cheese to make lasagna. Of course, that store didn’t carry the addative free Blegiosio brand I usually buy (when not otherwise going to Trader Joe’s). I was even willing to settle with cottage cheese, but no Daisy brand was available either, and all brands had additives too. So, I left the store and headed to the west side to the large grocery store I usually buy Beligioso from. A big reason I began cooking everything from scratch in the first place was to avoid unwanted additivives from processed foods. Now it seems like additives are in the ingredients as well.
I stopped shopping at Wal Mart about 5 years ago. The produce was horrible and went bad quickly. The other selections were just as terrible. Also found out that they changed some of the prices at the register than what was posted. When you questioned it they would not fix it correctly.
Our Wal-Mart does not price match any more. Generally I shop Aldi (40 minutes away, but on our way to weekly Bible college class), then the sales at our local grocery stores, then Wal-Mart for things I can’t get anywhere else. Its a small town, so its all close. Walmart is often not cheaper and I often only buy their clearance/markdowns items.
No price matching anymore here. I haven’t shopped Walmart grocery in years. The one time I did happen to wander over to that side of the store was maybe a few years ago. I just needed fresh carrots. The produce department smelled of rot and there were leaks every where. AND this was a recently built section of the store too. I am very lucky that I do have several options to do my shopping.
I mega-shop WalMart about every month or 6 weeks. We have Kroger & Sam’s for weekly trips. But making bulk trips to WalMart seems to make sense for us. Kind Bars, baking goods, organic canned goods, butter, etc…the price on all that makes it worth it. I also do our normal grocery shopping while I’m there for that week. I’m sure not going to inflict 2 shopping trips on myself if at all possible!! (: (:
How do you make those boxes of mixed salad greens stay fresh? People say they’re such a good deal, but it’s always a waste of money for me. It gets slimy and icky within a day or two and I have to throw most of it away. A bunch of kale or romaine will stay good for over a week. But those boxes seem to go bad well before the use by date. : (
I have found that tucking a paper towel under the bottom of the lettuce, then folding the top half of the paper towel through the middle of the lettuce (leaves on top and under at the halfway point) really helps absorb moisture and keeps the slime away for quite a while. I also fold a second paper towel, and place it on top of the lettuce(under the lid) to prevent condensation from dripping from the lid. Every time I use it, I quickly pick through to remove any leaves that are starting to get yucky. These 2 paper towels really help extend the life of the lettuce. I also make sure to check the “use by” date at the store, and pick the container with the date furthest away.
Sadly, our Walmart quit ad matching this summer, but I had enjoyed it for years. I miss it and feel I hardly know how to shop any more, as I usually bought mainly what I had ads for. But God always provides. We certainly are not doing without.
I live in a small in the Black Belt of Alabama and Wal-Mart is a lifesaver in our rural area. The size of the store facilitates produces that turns over and is ‘fresh’. The store provides a lot of options we dont get at the smaller grocery store in town – organic, gluten free, etc.
The Savings Catcher app that replaced the price match does 1,000 times better job than I ever could and matches stores that are an hour or more away that I would never even see the ad for.