How to Spend $289 at Walmart

Unfortunately, no major electronics or winter coats were involved. Instead it was primarily food. But food for four kids, including three teenaged boys.

It was the new Walmart in Apex, North Carolina, and although I loathe the Walmart closest to my house, I decided to give this new one a try.

Why do I despise my local Walmart? Could it be the dingy floors, greasy smell, disgusting restrooms or uninterested employees? Yes, yes it could.

But I'm a sucker for shopping and I don't mind if my favorite discount store, Target, has a little competition. Especially if it benefits me.

So I went to Walmart and I stocked up. I bougbt enough frozen pizzas to keep my kids happy for at least a week. I found my fav hot dogs for at least $1 less than my regular grocery store. Soups, snacks, fruits, vegetables, meats and drinks--oh my.I stocked up, taking full advantage of the store's grand opening prices.
Even the Walmart employees were visible, plentiful and pretty friendly.

Has my mind changed completely about the Walmart shopping experience? Nope. But I'm willing to go back for the prices-- at least until the newness wears off, and this store develops the typical Walmart persona. We'll have to see.

Which camp do you fall in? Do you love or hate Walmart?

grocery Store Dilemma

After months of waiting, the new Harris Teeter opened up near us. It's new. It's shiny. The produce section beams. The employees stop and ask how you are doing and if you need help. Of course, it is only the first day.

Only problem standing between a new favorite store and me? Prices.

Sure, there were some good specials but some prices were jacked up from even the usual Harris Teeter high.

So the question is, will new, shiny and convenient mean more on a frantic weekday than saving a few bucks?

Things that Make Me Go: Hmm

Hebrew National hot dogs. Even the reduced fat version is delish.

But one question: why do they come in packages of 7? Hot dog buns universally come in packages of 8, so there's always one little wiener left out. In order to make them even out, I'd have to buy eight packages of hot dogs and seven packages of buns.

That will give us 56 hot dogs, so with my family of six, each one can chow down on 9 (not in one meal!), but two greedy kidlings would get 10. Still not even.

Better yet, I'll let the kids split the hot dogs so they can have 14 each, and my hubby and I can order Chinese takeout.

Help! Held Hostage by Verizon

I'm in lust with the iPhone. I love the functionality and ease of use of my Mac and my iPod, and I just know an iPhone would be just as useful.

Alas, I have Verizon Wireless, which for reasons it is now probably kicking itself, did not pick up the option to sell the iPhone. So instead, I have a Blackberry. Which I like a lot, but I'm sure you understand. I cannot be an iPhone Mom with a Blackberry.

Yes, I could switch to AT&T. Except we have a family of three teenagers who also have cell phones on Verizon. So as the renewal time for each cell phone comes up, we're digging one more shovelful of dirt into the Verizon pit.

It's not even as if I'm unhappy with Verizon. Service has been reliable. Customer service has been good. They just don't have a product that I really, really, really want. My family could put a halt on all new phones and wait until all of our contracts are due for renewal (that would be including the one I just renewed for my son yesterday...). But in reality, I know we're stuck on this albeit comfortable vise for the foreseeable future.

The Verizon family plan has been terrific--- unless, of course, you want an iPhone.

Rumor has it that Verizon may end up working out a deal with Apple in a few years. Maybe, just maybe, then....

The $270 Grocery Bill

I knew it would be bad, but this-- this was quite bad.

It was that last grocery trip before the start of the school year, and I was at one of my favorite stores, Super Target. Contrary to other (frequent) trips to Target, I wasn't buying clothes, books or accessories. I was buying food for the hungry mass that is my family.

What was different about this trip is that I had to really buy breakfast foods.

In the summer, my kids don't usually get up until it's really possible to have brunch. With early mornings for school, we needed foods that would tempt sleepy tummies into eating at least a little something before that 10:15 lunch time. I got Bagelfuls, Nutrigrain Waffles and Jimmy Dean's D-Lite breakfast sandwiches. Hopefully one of them will be a winner.

Then I had to get foods for lunches. Lots of turkey (thanks for the sale, Target), ham, cheese, chips, Juicy Juice for the younger ones, Coca Cola for the older ones.

Of course, we needed something to put the lunches in. Baggies, and lunch boxes were on the acquire list.

Fall sports season is also starting, which means that in the next 10 evenings, there are 2 where I don't (currently) have somewhere to take some kid or another, typically right at dinner time. Enter Stouffer's frozen entrees and anyone else's quick and easy cooking meals.

Okay, I did buy deodorant, but really, didn't you want me to?

I went to Target, even though it's less convenient than my plethora of nearby grocery stores because the prices are generally lower. Nestle's chocolate milk? $3.59. In my fav grocery store? $4.29. Really?

What I'd love is price matching. Harris Teeter-- I love you because your fruits and vegetables are always so fresh and plentiful. but that much more for milk? If you matched Target's prices, I wouldn't have to cheat.

I should cut coupons, but frankly, half the time I'm running to the grocery store from someplace that's not home, so even if I had searched, clipped and stored coupons, I wouldn't have brought them.

Can you email me relevant coupons instead, and just let me scan them from my phone? Maybe then, my grocery bill would have been only $265.

This Makes Mama Happy #1: Borders Online Reservations

You know the phrase, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"? Here's something that will keep everybody happy.

I love to read, and sometimes I hear about a book and want to take a look at it or buy it. In a busy day, I might not have time to search book stores for the book.

Borders.com has a great tool on its site. It lets you check a particular store's inventory to see if the book is in stock. If it is, you can get it put on hold for you and buy it when you get to the store.

(Not that anybody does this, but one could even double park outside the store, keep the car running but lock the door, run in, buy the book and run out-- all without waking the baby sleeping in the back seat.)

A few weeks ago, I was looking for a book and went to Borders.com. I clicked on the book and on the right side, the screen gives you options to add the book to the cart, add it to the wish list, or check store inventory. Punch in your zip code and the system will tell you if the book is in stock. You can enter some simple information to reserve it.

When I requested the book, it was about 7 a.m., two hours before the store was due to open. When a book is requested and a store is closed, you get a computer generated message saying we'll get back to you when the store is open.

Surprisingly at 8 a.m., an hour before the store opened, I got a message saying the book was waiting for me. At 9 a.m., I picked it up. And I was happy.

Tradeoffs

So often when shopping, you sacrifice one thing for another. Cost vs. quality. Cost vs. convenience. Necessity vs. preference.

Today I had a choice-- convenience or comfort. I had time to kill and an ever-hungry teenager to feed. We decided to go to McDonald's for our second breakfast of the day. It would have been simpler to go to the nearest McDonald's. It was five minutes away from us, it was new and shiny. Or, we could go to a McDonald's that further away-- not too much, maybe 10 minutes away. Parking was a little trickier in that McDonald's crowded lot. I was waiting for another son to finish his orientation, so whenever he called, I could be either 5 or 10 minutes away?

Makes sense to choose the closer one, right? Except that each time I'd gone to the closer one, they'd gotten my order wrong. Plus, they weren't very nice. (On one occasion, even downright rude-- I wrote to McDonald's, but alas, no response.)

Seems to me that when a customer goes into a restaurant or store, the employees should make them feel glad they made that decision.

Some McDonald's are independently owned, so in essence, they do compete with each other. But when they serve the same food for the same price (at least in that small geographic area), what can they compete on? Service.

Moms spend so much of their time taking care of others, it seems only fair that when they pay their money, someone takes care of them. With a smile.

Shopping for Twin XL Sheets-Easy vs. Cheap?

With two of my sons taller than their mattresses, we decided to get them extra long twin beds. It was easy to find them at all three of the stores I went to, and after bargain hunting, we decided on the ones we liked.

But next, I needed extra long sheets, mattress pad and comforter. Too bad it wasn't a few weeks earlier, because stores may have been better stocked for back to college.

Like a lot of moms, I did my research online first. But I really wanted to touch the sheets, feel the softness, and see if the stores had any better prices and availability.

Nyet. Went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and Sears. Went online at Bed, Bath and Beyond, Sears, JC Penney and Amazon. I ended up buying them from JC Penney-- similar prices as the rest, but free shipping.

Of the websites I used, Amazon was the easiest to navigate. When I typed in twin xl, that's just what I got. The list of available twin xl products.

With the others, I got the list of ALL the products, SOME of which may be in twin xl, so I had to delve into each product description to see if it indeed had twin xl, or just twin.

Fortunately, I had a little time last night to surf. But, if I were in a hurry (and it delivered for free), Amazon would have been my preference.

Yes, I Buy

As a mom of four kids, somebody ALWAYS needs something. My 14-year-old son always needs food, preferably pizza or hamburgers. My 13-year-old son always needs something for a school project due tomorrow, that I'm just hearing about today. My oldest son always needs shoes, after conveniently having a growth spurt two weeks after the last pair were purchased.

And my youngest, my only daughter-- needs--well, okay, maybe she doesn't really NEED something, but there are so many cool things to buy for girls, sometimes I can't help myself.

Medicines, toiletries, clothes, books, entertainment, sports equipment, food. You name it. My handbag almost automatically opens anytime they're nearby anticipating the sucking sensation as their vacuum-like hands hover over it, requesting money.

To be fair, many times their requests are legitimate. Sometimes, it's a legitimate want, but not an absolute need, and sometimes it's completely frivolous (although there's a place for that sometimes too.)

I'm sure I'm not alone in bankrolling my kids. Maria Bailey, author of "Trillion Dollar Moms" reports that U.S. women spend $3.7 trillion per year in consumer goods and services.

But even as the largest consumer group, moms needs are often unmet by product design, marketing and service.

As a mom, a business writer and a blogger, I'd like to help bridge this gap.

Mom Request # 1: Please Respect My Time

I should have known the moment I walked into the salon. One of the three televisions was blaring ESPN. One TV in the back shouted "The View." I came in with my daughter to get her hair "did" before the school year started. We had an appointment, but we were early.

We sat. Two stylists were with customers. Neither looked up. No one said "Hello, be with you in a few minutes."

This was my first visit, so we tried not to jump to conclusions.

One stylists was straining her neck to hold her cell phone to her ear while she hot curled a customer's hair. She chatted--to the cell phone caller. Eventually she finished. Then she started talking on another call.

After we'd waiting ten minutes past our appointment time with no acknowledgment, I called another salon, secured an appointment and we walked out.

Sadly, in some businesses there seems to be a smugness that suggests that customers will accept any kind of treatment. A simple greeting would have bought them at least ten more minutes. A short explanation that they were running behind and would be with me shortly would have bought them 20 minutes.

Instead, they didn't care. Maybe business is so good for them that one lost customer isn't a big deal. But chances are, I'm not the only lost one.

A new survey by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) says that women all over the world feel stressed and overextended. With limited time to balance our responsibilities, we want to feel like it is well used. Sitting in a salon, being ignored --that wasn't the way.