Karma

Okay, so I mentioned last month about trying to shop at Walmart less and some of the smaller chains more. I went to Walmart only once in Feb, and it was to return something I had previously purchased.

Well, I thought we would end up spending a lot more money, but I am happy to report that we only spent a little more on groceries and in some areas, esp produce and meat, we found better quality food for less!

My favorite grocery store right now is Buy Low, esp. for produce and meat. I love this store! It is locally owned, the produce is really cheap, especially on Wednesdays.  It's not always the best quality, sometime you have to pick through it, but it's better than Walmart produce. I found some great deals here, it's a pretty big store and it seems to be clean and well-stocked.

I have also explored this month some of the smaller specialty shops (for my thai\asian cooking needs) such as Many Lands, Chao's and the Asian Market.

Many Lands definitely has the most selection of specialty items from the most areas of the word, although it is more expensive and some of the stuff doesn't seem very fresh.

Chao's has fresh produce, the best thing I found was about 2 oz of fresh basil for under 2 dollars! That is so much cheaper than the grocery store! They also have a good selections of sauces\condiments, and asian cookies\candies. This one is probably the best priced of the 3.

Asian Market also had some great, hard to find stuff, like really fresh lemongrass and dehydrated galangal root. They have pretty good prices and the staff was the most friendly/helpful of the 3 stores.

Most importantly though, I feel really good about supporting the local businesses in my area and knowing that the tiny amount of money I spend every month isn't further empowering the already huge and powerful corporations.

There are still some things that I will buy at Walmart, but my goal is to not let it exceed %15 of our monthly spending.

To learn more about the importance of supporting locally-owned businesses click here.