Honestly so sick of walking out of the Walmart on 82nd street feeling like I just got robbed. I swear my grocery bill has gone up like fifty percent in the last year and my weekly budget of 150 dollars for me and my husband is just not cutting it anymore. We are trying to prep for a super busy fall semester since we both work at the local college, but every single trip is just draining my bank account.

I always thought Walmart was the absolute cheapest option around here in Columbus, but lately I am just not seeing it. My logic was that if I just buy the Great Value store brand for everything, I would automatically save the most money. But even the store brand stuff is getting ridiculous. A simple block of cheese, some veggies and some chicken breasts and suddenly I am at eighty bucks.

So I was thinking there has got to be a better way to game their system. I tried using their app for the pickup service thinking maybe it would stop me from impulse buying, but then I feel like I miss out on the in-store clearance deals. And their Walmart Plus membership, is that actually worth it for savings or is it just a scam to get me to pay for delivery? I looked into it but got stuck trying to figure out if the gas discount and whatever else actually adds up to anything useful.

Does anyone have a solid strategy for this? Like, are there specific days they markdown meat, or is it better to use third party apps like Ibotta alongside their app? I am just so tired of staring at my receipts feeling defeated. How do you guys actually walk out of there with a full cart without spending a fortune...