Why Saving a Buck is Not Always Worth It

I'm typically a loyal Hannaford shopper. Close to home and with reasonable prices, it's a no-brainer.

However, in an effort to save a buck, I made the executive decision that I would travel to the new Super Wal*Mart in Scarborough to get groceries this week. I was stocking up, not wanting to have to go to the grocery store for at least two weeks and thought the home of cheap would be a good idea. Especially on a Monday morning at 9am on the first day back to school and work for many people.

Clearly, I forgot about all the unemployed people also looking for a deal.

3 hours later, I pushed $250 worth of groceries out of the store. I'm happy to report that I did get a lot of groceries and will likely not have to go to the store (except maybe for milk) for the next two weeks. However, it was what I witnessed while I was there that has me so shaken (not stirred).

Upon entering the store, I saw a man (and a large man at that) perusing the aisles wearing a full-length black and white striped fur coat with a furry black fedora and reflective aviator sunglasses. Just pushing his cart along like it was not unusual in the least.....and again, when I say he was a BIG man, I mean BIG. And not like, fat big, but big, big - like hitting the gym on a very regular basis big. I chased him all over the store trying to get a picture of him to post but at the last second I chickened out. Even pregnant, I worried he'd snatch my phone and crush it like a bug.

Then, as I get to the check-out lane, I had yet another Wal*Mart-exclusive experience. The line was short and the woman ahead of me had two carts. Not full by any means and I just assumed that she was likely shopping for herself and an elderly parent or neighbor. After I was boxed in and had part of my cart up on the check-out belt, I realized this was not the case.

She had compartmentalized her items on the belt, complete with the little divider thingy, by what she really wanted - all the way down to what she could live without. On top of that, she had multiples of everything (window cleaner, sandwich baggies, avacados.....) After the first few sections, she asked the cashier to subtotal her order.

I'm still thinking that she's shopping for herself and someone else.

Then a few more sections go by and she asks for a subtotal again. Then we get down to subtotaling after each section.

She gets to the final section and all is good. She gives the cashier (who is trying really hard not to lose his patience) the go-ahead to ring through the last 15 or so items (including the window cleaner and avacados) and when the final tally is rung, she says, "oh, I must have mis-calculated. I can't afford to pay for all of this."

She then proceeds to have the cashier void the items, one at a time, until she's at a balance that she can afford to pay. She then pays with all small bills and change. And we're talking about close to $100 worth of stuff.

Now, I'm all about being on a budget. I am that person that walks through the grocery store with a calculator to make sure that I'm sticking to our alloted grocery amount. But I'm also person that buys the store brand whenever I can (or whenever it doesn't conflict with my favorite brands that I won't compromise on). This woman had no generic items in her cart, had all reusable bags from Whole Foods and was clearly not your typical bargain shopper.

Which is what made me so damn annoyed.

So, the moral of the story? Saving a buck is not always worth it.