15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15 (NIV)
Quick story! Today, I spent a good portion of the day at a friend's house, with my children burning off energy outside. When it was time to leave, we left my youngest son's shoes and I thought, "well, I can just pick him up some new slip-ons at Walmart. They shouldn't be more than $5 or $6. The first goal was to park closest to the door that would lead straight to the shoe section. No dice. All of the spaces were taken. So I parked closer to the Lawn and Garden. The last thing I need is more food, so I didn't dare go to the Food side. We unload and go inside, where I immediately remember things I didn't plan to buy. I have two basil plants that could use a pot and some soil. Okay, I can spend $5 on soil, $3 on a pot (because, surprise, surprise, there were no $2 pots left) plus the $6 shoes. Keeping track? That's $14. So, once I'm in the section with the soil, I think, "I have a little money to spend, I could get a bigger pot and plant tomatoes with the basil. $3 for each started plant. I decided on a Jalapeno($3) plant and two tomato plants($6). $9+$3+$5+$6=$23 Now I'm thinking, that cuts into my offering money and my strawberry picking money. Maybe I could partial pay a bill to work this out. Are you following? I still have the stuff in the basket. I haven't gotten the bigger pot yet. I was set on putting back the small pot and getting a bigger pot that would hold all plants. The pot would have no doubt topped $10. So, let's replace that $3 with a $10. $30. I went to look at the shoes. At this point, I have one slow moving kid and one who has started saying no because I wanted him to sit in the front part of the basket. My aggravation levels are rising and the shoe section is horribly disorganized. The less expensive shoes are scattered all over the place, there is a mix of seasons on the rack and even though there are employees, they are just chatting away. They don't even have sneakers with sneakers, sandals with sandals...there is no rhyme or reason. So, then I've had it and I've had it with the whole store and everything they sell. I tell my children that they are entirely too tired for me to put up with the aggravation of Walmart. We leave and purchase nothing and I feel very satisfied by the time they are all loaded back in the van. I feel like I've been rescued.
Please understand this is partly me and partly Walmart, but Walmart is a money trap. Where you park determines the door you enter and they have studied many like you. The soil was not with the beautiful flowers. It was with the started plants. You grab one, you'll want the other. The Health, Beauty and Accessories section is by the pharmacy and the list goes on. I could have gone in for $6 and left spending $30. What I suggest is this:
1) If you must buy a single item from Walmart, leave your children (distractions) home. Then it doesn't matter how close or far you park, so you can park near the entrance you need. This alone should work if you bee-line to that item and right back out.
2) When you start adding "other" stuff to you basket, carefully consider how much it will cost but keep walking to the item you really need. The odd are that you have added these items along the way and not after the important item. That is why those kinds of things are in the back of the store.
3) Once you have what you need, go to a poorly organized section and look for something for someone else. It is important to think of others over yourself, so find some nice cheap toys for the kids.
4) When you can't find the price of what you want to bring home because they never mark the cheaper toys on the shelves and the price scanner is broken and no one works in toy (is it just my Walmart) get really frustrated and leave all unnecessary stuff there. That store doesn't deserve all of your hard-earned money! Or leave it all and go shop a good deal on the item elsewhere in a store that specializes in just that item. For me, that would be Payless or Shoe Dept.
Don't let Big Box stores rope you into a life of stuff and covetousness. "Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."
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