It was the summer of 2009 & I had had it.  Every time I turned around, I was running to Walmart for something.  My husband had been laid off from his job.  We were turning off lights, taking shorter showers, limiting our cell phone usage, and basically only going to church & to & from work.  We cut way down on eating out.  Lots of things we learned quickly we thought we had to have, we didn’t.

One day, after coming out of Walmart, I was studying my receipt.  Now, I know Walmart is the place you have to watch out for falling prices.  They also price match anyone’s ad that’s a lower price than theirs.  So why, pray tell, could I not come out of there under $150?  Hmmm….I got to investigating more on this mystery. I went down the list & low & behold I found the answer.

Walmart was sucking my bank account dry.

I was going in & making my price slashed purchases.  However, I was coming out with stuff I could very easily do without.  I made up my mind right then & there, I was not going to take it anymore.  So, I did what any full-blooded Southern, penny pinching consumer would do.

I broke up with Walmart. 

There were others there to comfort me through this life changing decision.  K-mart stepped right in & gave me a card, that when you buy your wares, you start racking up points.  In return, you can cash those boogers in & get money off.  Right off your total purchase!  I thought they were just flirting with me, until I bought a nice birthday present for nearly nothing out of pocket.

Next, Dollar General became my new love.  Do you know you can get $5 off coupons that make $25 worth of necessary things only cost you $20?  I’ll take $5 free dollars.  The Dollar Tree got on my list of favorites, as well.  Do you know how many things you can get in Dollar Tree for $50?  (Yup, 50, that’s how many.) They even have food now.  As I happily started seeing my money being put to better use, I realized Walmart had too many distractions.  Yes, I can get soap cheaper at Walmart than Dollar General.  However, I am not bombarded with stuff, as soon as I walk in the door.  Stuff that I & lots of other well meaning, moneysaving shoppers think they have to have.  (But honestly do not.)

Sometimes my spiritual life seems to get spent the same way.  Temptations & enticements easily lead me away.  There are times I have so many things that try to get in the way of me reading my Bible.  Often enough, I don’t take the time to stop & encourage someone.  Or I let other things get in the way of me stopping to send a card to someone sick.  I don’t take the opportunity to acknowledge someone’s problems because I’m too busy doing things that really aren’t helping me at all.

Such as reading all the wonderful, uplifting posts on my Facebook news feed.

(Ha. Haha. Hahahaha.) 

Or perhaps I might find a wee bit of time to help someone if I weren’t on Pinterest pinning funny sayings to my board.  Or looking for new hair styles, or pinning lots of lovely things to my crafty project boards – that I will probably never get time to do anyway.

James 1: 22 says  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

That means I have got to be a doer.  A doer for good.  Then, maybe my temptations won’t seem so big.

John said in

I John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (NKJV)

This means all the stuff I was seeing that I just HAD to have, was not only not necessary, it’s not of the Father.  SO, I had no business with it anyway.

The apostle Paul cautioned Timothy in

I Timothy 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.(NKJV)

Buying more things than I needed was foolish & harmful.  It just wasn’t doing anything but leaving me with less money.  At the time, I just didn’t need to be doing that.  While things are more on track now, I still don’t need to throw our money away.

Now that we are in 2014 & we have been back to a 2 job home for a while, I still do not go in Walmart very often.  My break up with Walmart taught me a few things.

1. I have to hold myself to my shopping list. If I go in to buy notebooks for $.10, but still wind up with $103.17 worth of stuff in my buggy, those $.10 notebooks weren’t really that cheap, were they?
2. I can survive without Walmart.
3. Change may not be as bad as you think.
4. I am not willingly subjecting myself to a store’s ploy to take my money. Because, hey I admit it. I am a sucker for a bargain & Walmart is FULL of them, plus lots of other stuff I don’t need.
5. I can do without a lot of things I thought I could not.
6. Even if I have money to purchase things, I need to ask myself if it’s a need or a want.

Just so the elephant in the room can move on out, this is not a paid endorsement from Kmart, Dollar General, nor The Dollar Tree.  These are my own personal opinions, in which have been perfectly approved by the president & CEO of I should be washing clothes (Which is me.)  I’m not bitter with Walmart.  I think they taught me some valuable lessons.  Some that I would have never experienced, if not for them & their stuff.

Thank you for coming by to visit with me today.  I have enjoyed our time together.  I hope you are able to provide for your family’s needs and wants.  Just remember, too, God will provide.  He provided for us while we were a one job household & He will provide for you, too.  I hope you enjoy this beautiful holiday weekend.  As for me, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: sodahead, tattoodonkey, & howtobreakup.net