Why We’re Saying Goodbye to Walmart in 2025

For 2025, I have a goal in mind. One that I am not sure will work in the long run, but one I want to attempt for reasons that are personal to me and my household. That is, for 2025, I plan on not shopping at Walmart for the year and instead focusing on shopping at stores like Safeway. It’s a goal I’ve pondered over the years and half-attempted before, often due to old habits dying hard. But with the current state of things, I feel this is the best time to dive in with both feet

Why Now?

There are two reasons right now that make sense for this goal to be put at the forefront alongside my other goals.

1. Walmart isn’t as inexpensive as it used to be. Other stores have caught up with their own discount and reward programs.
2. The company’s shifting priorities bother me: When a corporation backtracks on efforts that serve the greater good due to political changes, it feels disheartening.

As most of you know, I am as frugal as I can be, and Walmart, for a long time, was part of the game plan I had laid out for my household. It was the store we frequented when we set a budget of $200 a month for groceries back in 2019 before the pandemic began. It’s the store where most low-income and middle-class shoppers go to get everything they need for their families.

The Hidden Costs of Walmart

This is why it has been so hard to attempt this goal—because it’s ingrained that if you want to save money, you pack up your reusable bags and head to Walmart, even if it means going out of the way like my family does.

For us, Walmart isn’t even the closest store to us—it’s actually quite out of the way. By the time we walk 5 minutes to the bus, wait another 5-10 minutes, ride for 15-20 minutes, shop for an hour, then repeat the whole process to get back home, before we know it, we’ve spent 2 hours trying to save money at a store that no longer fits into our game plan.

It just doesn’t seem worth it anymore.

How We’re Adjusting to a New Game Plan with Safeway

The closest store to us is Safeway, and we’ve found we spend less when we shop there on a budget and use their digital app for coupons, not to mention the point rewards customers accumulate with each dollar spent.

Even though our goal for 2025 as a household is to stop shopping at Walmart. It won’t be easy at first because there is something nice about heading to a one-stop shop for whatever you need, especially if you want it the same day. But again, I also don’t think that’s a great thing anymore, as Walmart isn’t as inexpensive as it used to be. Prices aren’t going back to pre-COVID levels—they’re here to stay. Inflation has the potential to slow down, but prices will continue to rise.

For my household, I think we haven’t adjusted to the times in how we view Walmart as a great saver. When you factor in inflation, our changing diets, the time commitment, and the company’s political turmoil, none of it is working on our behalf.

I rarely get fresh fruit or vegetables from Walmart. I eat a lot of chicken, which I like to get at our local Safeway. We drink a lot of almond milk, which is often on sale at Safeway. I can’t remember the last time I needed something that only Walmart carried. Once more, the time commitment it takes to go out of our way is more than what it’s worth, especially when I have homework waiting for me back at home after the gym.

I’ve also noticed that I am more careful—not perfect, but careful—when I shop at other stores because I know items will be more expensive. I’m not throwing $2 or $3 items into my cart here and there, which is where things also added up at Walmart. It used to be a treat where, even if you added a couple of non-listed items to your cart, you’d still be within budget. Now, doing that almost guarantees you’ll go over budget.

Plus, now that we’ve cut back on junk food, there isn’t much we want to get at Walmart. We often shop the outer aisles—poultry, produce, dairy—and for those needs, we like that our local Safeway has a variety of seasoned chicken every Monday that we enjoy. You never know what you’re going to get until you get there because they’re always changing the flavors—from jerk chicken to savory garlic, rosemary and lemon, BBQ seasoning, and others I can’t recall. With my Safeway card, I normally get 4 large chicken thighs for $8, which gives us 2-3 meals for the week.

As I write this, I’m realizing how we’re finding benefits in shopping at a new store that fits into our game plan moving forward. Plus, Safeway is right up the hill from us—a 5-minute walk to the bus, a 5-minute wait, a 12-minute ride, 30-45 minutes shopping, and another 12-minute ride back home.

Overcoming Emotional Hurdles

Growing up, Safeway was the store you went to when you had money. It was the store my parents always shopped at. We never went to Walmart, but when we struggled, Safeway was still the store we shopped at—if we weren’t going to the food bank—because it was 5 minutes away.

Perhaps it has taken me so long to give myself permission to shop at Safeway as our main store because I’m reminded of the struggles my parents faced when we fell on hard times. I remember watching my mother cry over not having enough money to cover groceries at checkout, and we’d often do the song and dance of putting things back.

But I have to remind myself that I am not my parents, and I am in a better financial position to shop at what was once, and still is, deemed a middle- and higher-class grocery store. Almost everyone I know who is low-income shops at Walmart or other stores like Dollar Tree and WinCo. WinCo is fine for us, but it’s also so far out of our way—farther than Walmart—that it’s hard to justify the trip. We also find ourselves falling into the trap of picking up more than we need because the prices are so decent that we think, “We should get these items just in case.”

Safeway, however, allows us to adjust. If we go over budget for one week, we immediately correct our behavior on the next shopping trip.

With that said, I didn’t think I’d write this much about our decision to stop shopping at Walmart, but it’s nice to connect why it feels foolish to shop at Safeway when we’re still low-income. As we move forward, it’s clear that Safeway aligns more with our values and lifestyle. Letting go of old habits like Walmart shopping isn’t easy, but it’s a step toward living intentionally and staying true to what works for us now while contributing to our financial goals.