Monday, January 9, 2012

Ingles vs. Walmart


We have (3) grocery stores in my town: Walmart, Ingles, and an IGA.  Occasionally I can get a good deal at the IGA if they're having a special sale, but on everyday stuff, not so much.
I usually don't like Ingles because their coupon policy is stupid, and (I thought) they were more expensive than Walmart.  But, I recalled that I once was able to buy bread about the same price as at Walmart, and anyway, even if I paid a few cents more it might be worth just to not give my business to my local Walmart.

So this evening I headed out for some milk and bread and I thought, I think I'll do one of those comparison shops. I'll buy what I need from Ingles, then go buy the same stuff from Walmart and see exactly how much the difference is.
Since Ingles is close to me (by maybe 1/4 mile), I went there first.

The bananas at Ingles were .54lb.  A little more than Walmart I was thinking, but then again, maybe not.
They also had bags of a little bit overripe bananas for $1.49, I'm talking like 2 large bunches of Organic bananas I wish I had bought now, but I couldn't remember about freezing them. I know they are good for buying for making banana bread, but we don't eat much bread with our low gluten diet, and the sugar to make them costs too much to make the bread to give away.
I came home and read on the i-net that you can freeze them and use them later for smoothies, baking, and even as a substitute for ice cream.

Then I found bread marked .78¢ It seemed to be on sale for .98¢, regular priced $1.18. I'm sure it's not the freshest bread but as long as it's not crunchy hard we're okay with it.  At that price I went ahead and got 3 loaves (I put two in the freezer).

Milk was the same price as at Walmart.

The cornchips were marked $1.28 as sale and regular price, which about .20¢ cheaper than Walmart, but they rang up $1.48 which is the same as Walmart, so generally the same price.
What I didn't know was that apparently Ingles has the rings-up-marked-price-or-it's-free policy. I felt kinda bitchy disputing over .20¢ but then when she came back and took off $1.48 instead of price adjusting to $1.28, I was pretty glad I'd spoken up!

J's snuff was .21¢ more per can than at Walmart, but I was figuring I saved that much on the bread (which I usually pay $1.00 at Walmart for), so that equalled out.

Having stocked up on bread and getting the corn chips free, I didn't even bother to go to Walmart afterwards.

Total spent $10.73 + .52 tax = $11.25

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