3 Tips for Spending Less at Walmart This Year

There’s a reason Walmart has long been a popular choice for consumers. Walmart is known for its vast inventory and everyday low prices. If you’re on a tight budget, Walmart could help you stretch it. 

Still, there are steps you can take to save money during your Walmart shopping. Here are three ways to spend less this year.

1. Shop online

When you have a store with inventory that’s as extensive as Walmart’s, it can be easy to fall victim to unplanned purchases. That’s why it could pay to do more of your Walmart shopping online. 

When you run into the store to buy a few household items, you can’t help but pass by aisles that are loaded with merchandise you may find appealing. But if you go online, enter a few specific items into a search bar, and then check out right away without browsing the site, you might manage to avoid impulse buys that cause you to rack up a larger credit card tab.

Although shopping at Walmart.com can be a great way to avoid impulse purchases, it can also result in shipping charges if you don’t meet a $35 order minimum. But a good way to avoid having to pay for shipping is to plan out your online purchases strategically and bundle them.

Let’s say you normally buy paper towels and a few specific toiletry items from Walmart every month. If the total cost of those items is only $30, you’re going to get stuck paying for shipping, which negates a lot of your savings. But if you buy two months’ worth of those products at a time, you’ll be spending $60, which gets you over that threshold.

Now, you may need to make some changes to your budget to make it possible to cover two months’ worth of Walmart products instead of a single month at a time. But it’s worth making that effort if it’s doable to reap the savings. 

3. Join Walmart+

Signing up for Walmart+ could result in savings on your Walmart purchases throughout the year.  The annual cost of a membership is $98. But you might easily make your money back if you shop at Walmart frequently. 

Walmart says on its site that a Walmart+ membership can save customers $1,300 a year. The amount of savings you’ll get will hinge on how often you use the service and what your specific purchases entail. 

But as an example, with Walmart+, you’re eligible for free grocery delivery with a $35 order minimum. If buying groceries in person every week usually leads to at least one $5 impulse buy, you’ll spend roughly an extra $250 per year. Spending $98 to keep yourself out of the store could make sense, as you’re still about $150 ahead. 

You also get free shipping on Walmart.com orders with no minimum when you join Walmart+. That could prevent you from feeling compelled to buy extra items to meet the $35 minimum for free shipping without a Walmart+ membership. 

Also, Walmart+ members get early access to special product releases and online Black Friday deals. And we all know how quickly those Black Friday specials tend to sell out. So that alone could result in big savings.

Even though Walmart typically offers competitive prices, it still pays to do what you can to save beyond those everyday deals. Use these tips to lower your Walmart spending — and bank more cash.

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