I Stopped Shopping at Walmart Cold Turkey — Here's How Much Money I Saved
Cody Deluisio is a voice network engineer at ITG Networks who completely gave up shopping at Walmart because he wanted to help keep small businesses afloat in his Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, community.
"I quit Walmart about 10 years ago," Deluisio said. "It was a realization that the only way to keep small businesses around town is to shop at them." So that's exactly what he did!
Did he save money as a result of this decision? He sure did — but not for the reason you may think. Find out how much he saved and the reason why.
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How Much Money Did He Save?
While shopping locally is more expensive for Deluisio on a purely item-per-item basis, he explained that, from a big picture perspective, he actually saved money. This is because he was only buying what he came into each local store intending to buy instead of getting distracted by endless items he didn't need.
"When I walk into a local butcher, I leave with steaks. However, when I go to Walmart for steaks, I leave with steaks, pillow cases, dog food and a cart full of [additional] things," he added.
"Item for item, I spend about 20% more not shopping at Walmart which works out to about $50 [extra] a week," he explained. "[But] it was hard to leave Walmart spending less than $200. At a butcher, I'd walk out with my $85 in steaks and go home with that extra $115 in my pocket."
Spending $50 per week more on an item-per-item basis, but saving $115 per week on extraneous items worked out to a net savings of $65 per week — or $3,380 per year.
Plus, by intentionally injecting money into his community, he and his neighbors helped local businesses expand instead of fold.
For instance, "Feilings Farm Market in Avonmore was able to grow to the point where they now offer delivery and online ordering," Deluisio said.
Mission accomplished.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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