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Why do some SAHM's insist they have to shop at Walmart?

18K views 312 replies 129 participants last post by  counterGOPI 
#1 ·
I am not trying to be critical. I am just really trying to understand why I keep seeing posts that say in order to continue to be a SAHM they have to shop at Walmart. I have several SAHM friends and I have fairly low incomes with alot of kids and we manage to stay away from WM.

Why do you have to shop somewhere that really does so much damage to children, women and families? I really want to know.

Can't you buy second hand? if money is the issue?

Thanks, Michelle
 
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#52 ·
I'm the one who talked about sweatshop labor. I'm educated about it and you misunderstood me. I was commenting about a statement that US workers are not "forced" to work for low wages, which I disagree with. I do believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that the majority of sweatshop laborers are not *literally* forced to work either but they are coerced and manipulated nonetheless. I'm on "your side", mama.

I think we can *all* do better and I believe the other posters when they say they try. I also agree that lowering consumption and buying from locals is probably one of the best solutions (and they have *SO* many additional benefits!). It's baby steps for me. Personally, I worry that Target, Ikea and H&M are going to take over the world and I'm now making the next step to avoid those.

Also, an awareness campaign about Wal-Mart is a great idea but it seems a touch like an ambush to ask people why they must shop at Wal-Mart first. Like I said, there are two issues - one is understanding the circumstances as to why someone shops there and I think that is genuinely a nice thing to try to understand. Perhaps we're due for another thread about Wal-Mart practices.

You know the cloth toilet paper thing got me to thinking of where I'm "scattered" with some consumption issues. Last night, I was realizing that our TP consumption is really low and I could probably make the leap to no-TP. The thing is, is that we have much greater consumption problems thn TP, which I feel I should be working on first.
 
#53 ·
I do not shop at Walmart.

That said, I live in a large city and have lots of better options. Costco is actually closer to me than walmart and there is a LOVELY farmers market not 5 mins from my house. (YUM) I really have a lot of options that are just as cheap as Walmart so I really don't have much room to talk. And if it is 3 am and I am in dire need of something (er..I dunno what) yeah, I will bite the bullet and go there (if there isn't a 24 hour grocery store that is open and I don't have to drive very much further to get there.)

I don't like Walmart because I don't like how they do buisness. Walmart is one of the ONLY companies that has so many ex employees that refuse to shop there, it is actually affecting their sales.

Frankly anyone that says people have a choice about whether or not to work there knows very very little about working class America. Perhaps you should read Nickle and Dimed on (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich.
 
#54 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by abimommy
Frankly anyone that says people have a choice about whether or not to work there knows very very little about working class America. Perhaps you should read Nickle and Dimed on (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich.
this is a great book.

Thanks for reminding us to read or re-read it,
Michelle
 
#55 ·
One thing I've noticed reading other posts is if you live in a wealthier suburban or wealthy urban area there are a lot of alternatives to shopping at Walmart.

If you live in an impoverished rural area there seems to be no viable alternative to shopping at Walmart.

I live in a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia. We have quite a few upscale resale shops and a couple of decent bottomfeeder thrift shops. You can find good-quality gently used designer clothing there for less $$ than at Walmart.

Also if you shop the sales rack of the GAP you can find clothing much lower priced than Walmart (and all the other lesser evil alternatives to Walmart)

But if you don't live near a mall or close to a wealthy suburb (the source for the good secondhand clothing) you don't have the *option* of buying good quality gently used clothing (and as far as I'm concerned the clothing at ebay becomes expensive when you factor in the shipping costs.)

If you're into natural living you can cut the diaper costs, the paper towel costs and the paper plates-cups costs you can even get rid of pads and tampons but you really can't work your way around toilet paper!!!!

But, relative to the rest of the costs tp is a minor issue.

If I were faced with an extremely tight budget I might shop walmart once in a blue moon for tp and cleaning supplies but I can't imagine buying clothing or electronics there (poor quality)

I think another factor (not judging anyone personally) is how much stuff do we *really* need? I think a lot of cheap poorly made crap sold at walmart is impulse buying rather than meeting a true need.

Debra Baker
 
#56 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by DebraBaker
I think another factor (not judging anyone personally) is how much stuff do we *really* need? I think a lot of cheap poorly made crap sold at walmart is impulse buying rather than meeting a true need.

Debra Baker

Oh that's SOOO true! How many keychain flashights does one person NEED?
They really set up for impulse buying. That's alot of the reason I rarely shop there. With the crowds in our walmart plus the screaming children (not even my own) then the 4 year old in the basket begging for fruit snacks while I drag the stroller behind me... It's all to much to make rational decisions. I get home, unpack the groceries and then wonder what the heck I just spent 300 bucks on!
 
#57 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by abimommy
Frankly anyone that says people have a choice about whether or not to work there knows very very little about working class America. Perhaps you should read Nickle and Dimed on (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Great point abimommy AND great book recommendation! I'm reading "The Working Poor" by David Shipler right now. While not as well written as Ehrenreich's book, it's similar in it's outlook and basically makes the same point about "choice" that several posters are making here.

Allison
 
#58 ·
Quote:
the prices of food and detergent, tp and other staples are OUTRAGEOUS at our hfs
Same here. We recently got a Whole foods market, and although i love it, i just cant spend there on any kind of regular basis ( i do go for fruits and veggies sometimes, or a particular item). We have a Wild Oats, and they are wildly expensive too. I have shopped at Safeway, and Cub foods, but its literally 30-40% higher at those stores.

I know that walmart is evil, my husband hates them. But, part of my job is to make the most of mine and my husbands incomes, and although we make a good living, i just cant go into those stores and spend 30-40% more for the same or similar stuff. I cant and wont spend 8 bucks on a small container of raspberries.

Even at walmart prices are creeping up.
 
#59 ·
I do shop at Wal-Mart (we have 2 in our town with one being remodeled into a Super Wal-Mart). We actually really like it along with Shop-Ko, Costco, Fred Meyer, etc. I can get really cheap laundry detergent, sandals, socks, film developing, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. Of course, I know what they're EVIL deep down, but I just feel exhausted trying to battle with everything Nestle, Wal-Mart, Johnson and Johnson, McDonald's (almost put our local A&W out of business), Hollywood Video (put 3 GREAT movie rental places out of business in my town), Disney, etc. Everything is EVIL somewhere. I do enjoy supporting smaller businesses when I can, but dang, everything is a big chain now.

Quote:
Walmart is a crappy company. But Safeway isn't much better- they treat their employees pretty bad as well (at least the one here). I don't see why spending more at Safeway is better somehow.
Just a few years ago in the small town that I live in our Safeway remodeled into a HUGE store and Roth's (originally a small town grocery store that did well and expanded more in the area) moved into town and put our 2 other smaller and much nicer markets totally out of business. I see Roth's spreading out all over the place now and smaller grocery stores getting put out of business. I feel like if given the opportunity, any business would turn into a Wal-Mart if it could. It's sad.
 
#60 ·
First, truth in advertising: (1) I am not a SAHM...as I'm pretty sure all of you know; (2) I am a fanatical recycler and consumption-reducer...as some of you may know--I am the one who even reuses AND then recycles the wires that close the bread bags
; and (3) I am fortunate enough to live in New York City where, although we are getting a HUGE amount of chains, there still are mom-and-pop places. And, (4) I have a partner who really picks up his share of the parenting and working-to-keep-the-household-running tasks. Like, we really split domestic chores and try to organize so no one gets totally run into the ground. (This does fall apart occasionally. On both sides.
Life happens)

All that said, I do spend a lot of time in other places. I am not one of these "urban provincials", OK?

There ARE places with nothing more than a Mall Wart. Really. I've been there. There are places that even have nothing more than one really, really expensive "general store" -- like some towns in South Dakota with high aboriginal populations. Or even some places in upstate NY. And, even if they don't have a Wall-Mart, they've probably already gotten rid of the local mom-and-pop withthe help of OTHER chain stores.

Yeah, in some of these places, if the shopper is willing to drive an extra half hour, maybe there is another store available. Wanna do that in February with probably-should-be-replaced 4-season tires? Nope, me neither. And there is no guarantee that the other place will (a) have what you want or (b) be cheaper ... and now a whole lot of fuel has been used up...not to mention that you better have brought a picnic lunch for yourself and the little one(s).

And, if it were me, well, I am really well-organized. And I lived "out-back" when I was young and the idea of only going shopping once a month or less frequently and doing that with a pickup or a small trailer attached to the ball hitch on the car is not totally foreign. And, I've inherited my father's ability to be totally anal about keeping the car in working order and being prepared for emergencies. [
T Talk to me about what to always keep in your trunk...seasonally adjusted!!
]

BUT, not everyone is as well-organized. It is a skill, not a moral failing.

SO,what to do?

Well, I agree with fourgrtkiddos about the sweatshop problem. I try not to buy products made in countries with lousy worker-protection laws and no enforcement. BUT, there are sweatshops here, too. Lots of those illegal immigrants are brought in to indentured servitude here. It is hard to keep track of this.

I do my best. (Which is all anyone can do.) For example, I buy t-shirts from http://www.americanapparel.net/ ... which, at their store in NY, the prices ARE the same (and on the less-expensive side) as stuff made in Bangladesh and Nicaragua. Makes me wonder who is getting the profits.
. $10 - 12 for a snap-crotch undershirt, for example. Of course, I haven't visited the factory myself, so I guess I don't know.

And I think that no one here really LIKES going to the Wall-Mart. I mean, it's not like it has red plush "fainting couches" in the Women's Room and soft music piped in while you shop. :LOL

Once a Wall-Mart (And, yes, they are worse than other on this, Costco and so forth are not so universally pushy about how they compete. Really. Even though they are pretty bad.) has moved in, frequently everyone else gets pushed out because of the loss-leaders and their quantity buying. Wall-Mart OWNS factories abroad. In some cases, there is no "direct" competition for price comparison. They've put a lot of energy and resources into getting rid of the competition, not just competing against them. Then, Wall-Mart effectively owns the town, and can set the rules...INCLUDING LOCAL ZONING & PLANNING RULES AND TAX CODES. This affects your local democracy.

Keeping small business alive in your locality means you keep more local control. They are removing the profits made off of you. With the exception of the low wages they pay, those profits go OUTSIDE OF YOUR AREA. They are not spending their money at your local shoe-repair place, your local garage, your 5 & 10, your diner, restaurant, gas station, flooring store, well-driller, builder, hardware store, lawyer, accountant, etc.

You may think "Well, the employees are still local"....but, think about it, the BOSS isn't. The PROFITS are going elsewhere.

Just food for thought.
 
#61 ·
I am trying to cut down my WalMart shopping, but dh loves WalMart because it is so convenient. That being said, for the most part he lets me decide where we shop, although sometimes we end up at WalMart anyway.

We live in an urban area, and there are a lot of huge corporate alternatives to WalMart (Target, Albertson's, Winn-Dixie, etc). In the last 15 years, I've watched a lot of small, local businesses go under because they couldn't compete with the lower prices that WalMart can provide. I think that that's a shame. And I know, that the American way, right? Competition uber alles. But I also know that those local retailers provided for their employees in ways that huge mega-corporations have trouble doing.

I can understand why people shop at different places. We all do the best we can in the situations that we find ourselves in. But I think that the very least we can do is try to educate ourselves about the practices of those companies that we do business with, so that if/when our situations change we can make informed decisions.
 
#62 ·
Thank you DB, that is something I think is not taken into account as well..what area a person lives in can and does affect what selection they may have as far as retail outlets.

Here is what I buy at wal-mart, and why:

Toilet paper( I am not washing my or my husbands poo off of ANYTHING, sorry.)
Dishwasher soap.
Vinegar. (I can get the huge gallon things of white vinegar there for less than anywhere else, and I go through a lot of vinegar.)
Laundry detergant.
Borax.
Dryer sheets( we like them here..)

Cat food, because it is the least exspensive place to get so large a bag, and I have a few cats.

Filters for our fish tank. Wal-mart is the ONLY place I have found the type of filters we need to have for our fish tank.

Canned Beans for meals.98 cents a can...I can make chili and have enough left over to freeze for less than $5.00 worth of canned beans and a can of chopped tomatoes.

Canned spaghetti sauce.99 cents a can at WM, $1.59 at safeway! Think about that! Either 99 cents or a $1.59 for ONE CAN of sauce. I can do a lot with one can of sauce.

Bananas.Steadily 48 cents a pound there. We go through them pretty quickly lately.

Diapers and (GASP) diaper wipes.

Pull-ups.

Soap, Shampoo, Toothpaste.

Razors for me. I refuse to have hairy legs..the sensation of this can keep me awake at night. Not gonna do it!

I also have bought clothes at wal-mart, because they have Lay Away.I do try to buy stuff used if and when I can. What I cannot find used I then go to the next least expensive place ..which means that I go to wal-mart and put it on lay-away so I can put 5.00 or 10.00 dollars at a time...which is important for me.

I do have access to an outlet mall, so I have gone there and bought things when/if I can find it on clearance. It has a Gap, an Osh Kosh, a Stride right, and a Carters and a Motherhood maternity. I can find things there occasionally that I can afford..but not on a steady basis.

My kids need clothes. I have to provide them with clothes. I utilize all options before going to wal-mart...but when it comes down to it, I have to dress my kids.

I could quit using shampoo, and ob tampons,and toilet paper.. but I am not going to.

I could let my kids walk around in the same five articles of clothing to make a statement, but I am not going to do that either.

I guess I should not respond to this thread, because it really does cause me to be angry. I am doing the best that I can right now.

I am glad that others can and have done better. Good job.


In the meanwhile, please accept that I am, once again, doing the best that I can do with what I have.
 
#63 ·
Avonlea

You know what bothers me the most about this whole thing? It's the fact that you have to defend your choices. None of us here are any better than the next mama, and to make people feel like they have to explain their choices......I just don't see the point.
Like I said before, to educate people is awesome, and I thank the OP for her willingness to do this
(I didn't know about the sweatshops), but what people do with this information is up to the individual. Personally, I have other choices where I live,(Zellers, Superstore, etc. ) but reading this thread, it sounds like not everyone does, and I wonder how those mamas will feel now that they know about the practices, but can't get around shopping there. For all I know, maybe the other stores I mentioned have the same practices


To the OP, you have definately given us some things to think about in regards to our consumption, and some great ideas on how to reduce what we use. Thanks!!
 
#64 ·
Quote:
If you live in an impoverished rural area there seems to be no viable alternative to shopping at Walmart.
It's not a matter of agreeing to disagree or not MHD. It's not a matter of "seems" either. In parts of WV there is NOTHING. You get the occasional news story like the one a few years back about the father and son living in an unheated bus in the winter, with no food and frostbite starting, but for some of these people, they'd sooner starve than get assistance. I don't know whether it's from pride or not knowing that welfare of some sort is available (that's rather difficult to imagine actually), but that's how it is in some areas. That family wasn't going to move to another town, they didn't have money for flour, let along gas (if the bus was even roadworthy). If they had 2 dimes to rub together, WM would have been their only shot at getting something they might afford.

THAT's the kind of thing I'm talking about when I mention people not having choices.
 
#65 ·
WOW, I really wish people would stop assumeing that anyone is being judgemental and thinks that they are better than anyone else. People are posting here that they have either found a way to avoid WM or alternatively have to shop at Walmart. IMHO, I think that the people who are feeling like they have to defend themselves are dealing with some internal guilt or insecurity, becasue I have not seen even one post that says that if you shop at WM you are "bad".

I didn't start this tread so that I could say "I am better than you because I don't shop at Walmart". I have shopped there 2 different times this year when I could not afford a specific item I needed, and Walmart was the cheapest (my son's baseball shorts were 5$ there and 20$ apiece everywhere else.) BUT, THIS IS the ACTIVISM FORUM! I want to point out why the shorts were only 5$ at WM...... there overhead is lower for more reasons than "it is a big chain." They cut costs everywhere, including where it hurts it's human workers..... whether it be in our country in a store or another country in a sweatshop.

Michelle
 
#67 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Meiri
Not every necessity is available second hand.

Why don't you take those posters' word that this is the best they can do and don't have the options that you have?

And occasionally there's something decent at WM that is Not available elsewhere for more....


I can't afford (with gas prices these days) to travel to shop. The grocery stores here are very expensive compared to WM...I try to shop around, but that gets to be a pain having to travel from store to store when WM has what I need all at one place. I think it's important that each person is given the respect to make the right decisions for her family. I used to work for WM years ago and I know the crap they pull with women...I know how small businesses leave because they can't compete...I can't support small businesses when I can get something cheaper at WM. I have to think about my family first. We don't have many choices here...and it's not like there were many choices before WM came either. The same stores are here...just more expensive for some reason! The two other grocery stores are major chains here in the midwest and their prices still are higher for some things than WM. My job as a consumer is not to help keep higher priced places in business...it's to pay the lowest price I can for items (if I choose too that is).
 
#68 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by fourgrtkidos
WOW, I really wish people would stop assumeing that anyone is being judgemental and thinks that they are better than anyone else. People are posting here that they have either found a way to avoid WM or alternatively have to shop at Walmart. IMHO, I think that the people who are feeling like they have to defend themselves are dealing with some internal guilt or insecurity, becasue I have not seen even one post that says that if you shop at WM you are "bad".

I don't think those are the feelings anyone has had until they read comments that SUGGEST that maybe they SHOULD feel bad or guilty! I think that's why people get all up in arms...all of a sudden there are comments suggesting that one is wrong or bad or whatever for choosing to shop at a certain place, not use cloth, not use natural products, whatever the case may be...then one starts to wonder and possibly get defensive.

You have to put everything into perspective...what came first really. In many of these cases no one feels guilty until there is a suggestion or implication of guilt.
 
#69 ·
...or unless the reason to feel guilty rings true to them.

I feel guilty b/c I don't always follow what I know is right. I'll buy organic food, but can't always buy organic cotton. I once went and bought a sports bra at walmart. I suck. I bought some of those camping chairs there for 5 bucks. I way suck.

The reason I feel guilty is I know that when ANYTHING gets too big, it gets OUT OF CONTROL. I don't want to support that. I want to support a simple & sustainable life. No stretch of my imagination can create WM to be a carrier of simple & sustainable life.

I get sick when I see people buying all those ridiculous plastic unnecessary items from WM...a cart full of disposable toilet brushes & barbie dolls. I feel strongly that we have a commitment to the next generation of children to NOT completely ruin the earth...that's why I feel my guilt.
 
#70 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Meiri
Not every necessity is available second hand.

Why don't you take those posters' word that this is the best they can do and don't have the options that you have?

And occasionally there's something decent at WM that is Not available elsewhere for more....
That.
I must say i do not appreciate such hostility directed towards those of us who choose to shop there for whatever reason. Surely you must have better things to do with your emotional and mental energy than harsh on those of us who really do not have much choice? I don't think it's very productive at all. Until there truly are options for me, and if there were i whould certainly use them, i will continue to shop there without guilt.
 
#71 ·
I have been to many towns in the US and Canada where the only store is a walmart (or kmart, etc.). They really do exist, and I don't see how its any "better" to use a full tank of gas to drive to a "good" store where alot of the things are made in sweatshops anyway!

That being said, I live in a city, in a "crappy" part of town, where I don't need to drive to buy all of those staples for relatively cheap. I figure I save the difference between walmart goods and local goods buy not driving my car to the store. This was a conscious choice I made, specifically because I didn't want to be limited to walmart or the mall, but I know it's not a choice everyone could/would make!

I think we should all think about the impact our ENTIRE lives have on the earth and its population, and try to reduce that negative impact OURSELVES before "outlawing" specific things. I read an article about celebrities who buy hybrid cars and mock those who drive SUVs, but live in huge 5000 feet air-conditioned houses themselves. I'm an atheist, but believe in the concept of "letting he who is without sin" cast the first stone.

We can all do better, right? Isn't the point to live in such a way that we set the best example we can, for our children, and for others? Far better to educate people gently about their choices, and let them decide, than judge them too harshly.
 
#74 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by cancat
I read an article about celebrities who buy hybrid cars and mock those who drive SUVs, but live in huge 5000 feet air-conditioned houses themselves..

Quote:

Originally Posted by my~hearts~light
What's bad about that (other than mocking other people)? Yes, Im serious.
The hypocricy of it. "Look at me! Look at me! I'm energy concious! I'm saving energy! (Except for back home where I'm throwing it away by the truckload...) Shame on your resource hogging SUV drivers! Boooo Shwartzenegar!"

BTW, I finally realised that it is GREAT that Ah-nold owns 15 Hummers. That means that on any given day at least 14 of them are sitting idle. If they were owned by 15 different people they would probably all be driven almost every day. Hurrah for conspicuous consuption!
 
#75 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by kama'aina mama
The hypocricy of it. "Look at me! Look at me! I'm energy concious! I'm saving energy! (Except for back home where I'm throwing it away by the truckload...) Shame on your resource hogging SUV drivers! Boooo Shwartzenegar!"

BTW, I finally realised that it is GREAT that Ah-nold owns 15 Hummers. That means that on any given day at least 14 of them are sitting idle. If they were owned by 15 different people they would probably all be driven almost every day. Hurrah for conspicuous consuption!
:LOL


I'll resume my lurking now
:
 
#76 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by my~hearts~light
What's bad about that (other than mocking other people)? Yes, Im serious.

The hypocrisy! It's trendy to put down SUVs (not that I'm a fan of them, either), but not yet trendy to put down people who waste the same amount of energy (more!) to cool their house (or three houses), or who take private jets across the country.

Edited to add: I should have read kamaaina's post above before posting...
 
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