The Economic Truth

The economy sucks. We know. Pretty much every American knows. Pretty much everyone in the world knows. What we don't know is how to make it better.
In our house, the budget has gotten tighter. I can't insist on natural/healthy dog treats that cost thrice the price, because the dogs would rather have cheap something than expensive nothing. And my love for shoes/clothes/purses/makeup has been conducted at an adoring distance. A $20 purse is equal to a tank of gas. The gas is much more of a necessity than the purse.
And at the grocery store, I make sure to not buy what we won't eat. I stock up when stuff is on sale (see: million boxes of spaghetti in pantry). I buy NO name brands. And this juice I love, which is about $3/40 oz. is something I save for a special occasion. The costs of living, it seems, is too high.
And so we try to find lower costs. We try to find low low prices, even. Yes, our family is considering shopping at WalMart. And it's a decision that actually haunts my thoughts. For us, not shopping at WalMart has been personal. It would be like forgiving the guy who killed your puppy.
Because, in some ways, WalMart has destroyed a part of our lives. Growing up, Craig saw the WalMarts raise along Texas highways. But off the exits, he saw towns crumble around the flourescent lights. The MO was this: WalMart comes into a town, beats the prices and wages of competition. Competition flounders, goes out of business. WalMart hikes prices and lowers wages. Just because they can.
Too often, as a result of this snazzy trick, WalMart becomes the only option. It certainly is in Williston, where my aunt lives and just 30-some miles from my hometown. It's the only place to buy a CD or tv. Has the largest selection of clothing. And no where else in that part of the world can you find ANYTHING open 24/7.
That was not always the case. There was a KMart, and hardware store. A Payless and other shops downtown that thrived. The grocery store suffered, the eye glasses clinic suffered, the local jeweler suffered. Now that there was a cheap place to buy jewelry, why go to the guy who grampa bought grama's wedding ring from? WalMart wipes away tradition, but my sister in law got a wedding band for 100 bucks.
I've not shopped at WalMart for several years, before Craig and I joined forces. Mostly, I have thought it's a dirty, crowded place and I didn't care to mingle among the shrieking throngs. But when I was in "Nickel and Dimed" at Venture, and read the book by Barbara Ehrenreich (I am sure I butchered that name), and watched "The High Cost of Low Prices," WalMart became a place I couldn't get behind ethcially, not just germaphobe-ly. Most of their full time workers get health care coverage - but full time is 32 hours there. So it's not actually as much money as people need to cover the costs not paid for by insurance. Most of their paychecks are spent right at the store. Workes are required to clock out when their shift is over, yet expected to stay until their tasks are completed. They create a monopoly on prices, lowballing companies and threatening them with refusal to deal. As a result, big companies have to give them 100 widgets for $1, but because this cuts into their own profit margin, end up charging everyone-but-WalMart $2 for the same amount of widgets. Their customer service is atrocious, and their once proud declarations of "Made in the USA" is now written in Thai. Execs forbid unionization, and as we learn more about this store people once loved, it's become one we love to hate.
The thing is ... they really are cheaper. A bag of tangelos at the grocery is $7. At WalMart, it's less than half that price. When I bought breakfast makings on Saturday at the grocery store, I shelled out $40. Hubbie bought pretty much the same thing a few days later when he took his dad to WalMart for his groceries ... and again, half the price. Meat is alot cheaper, as is produce. Since that makes up most of what we eat, we would save some serious cash. Is that worth our principles, something we've not been willing to compromise on in just about any circumstance for the last 3 years?
It's all about bottom line, and ours would certainly look better if we were saving money at WalMart. So this should be a clearcut answer, right? Go to WalMart, have more money for purses. Hell, buy purses at WalMart! They're cheaper there!
But as we hear more about the economy, become more desperate for a solution and try to make our salaries add up in any way possible to meet our bills, I can't get beyond the biggest concept that stops me from walking through the sliding doors: As the economy crashes and tumbles, I'd hate for WalMart to be the only one that comes ahead in all this.