Target or Wal-Mart for your budget needs?

Easy Mac, toilet paper, laundry detergent, movies and music are just a few of the necessities that college students need. Items like toilet paper and laundry detergent are often taken for granted when students are at home. It’s surprising how many people who–when first on their own–don’t know how to act when they run out of toilet paper or what detergent they should use. Some students, especially freshman don’t have access to a kitchen or a car. So what do they do? Regattas or Commons? They are both great but sometimes you need a change, or are hungry when they are not available.

Obviously, college students live on a limited budget. It is important that they shop wisely, save money, and minimize trips to the store. The chances are you will spend more money if you make multiple trips. Places like Wal-Mart and Target seem to have a wide range of available products in their stores—everything from clothes to food to entertainment. But which is better?

As far as pricing, I went to the Target on Jefferson Avenue and the Wal-Mart located further down Jefferson Avenue. I picked a few select items to compare at the two stores. It was crucial to confirm it was the same product and sizes. The items included toilet paper, Easy Mac, movies, CDs and laundry detergent.

The first items to be compared there were movies and music. At Target, there was  a $5.00 sale on reasonably popular movies; they also had a $9.99 sale of music from all genres. At Wal-Mart they had a $13 movie sale as well as a $5.00 movie sale. However the titles looked a bit older in Wal-Mart’s bin. Certain CDs were on sale for $5.00, “Oldies but Goodies” as I call them.

The next item I evaluated was toilet paper. There were several brands of toilet paper available at Target and Wal-Mart. At Target there were several brands for $15.00. Wal-Mart had the Charmin brand on sale for $12.47 and Angel Soft was $5.97. Both Target and Wal-mart have cheaper generic brands that are created by their own store, therefore ‘Wal-mart’ brand is typically the better deal on many products.

There were several brands of laundry detergent at Target including Tide and Natural detergents good for the environment. The average was $17.99 and the load number ranges from the fifties to the nineties. The Wisk detergent is on sale for $9.87. Macaroni and Cheese four packs were on sale at Target from $3.00 to $5.00. At Wal-Mart the Macaroni and Cheese was .78 for an individual bowl. The Lean Cuisine meals were on sale for less than $2.00 and at Target they were on sale for about $2.50.

Junior Rae Duffy, who came along for my research, said, “Even though Target was a little more expensive, they had a better variety of items and the store was much better kept.”

Target is also closer to campus. However, it has its limitations. For example, Wal-Mart has a produce and grocery section, while Target does not. However, Target is expected to get a produce/grocery section around March of this year, as they are undergoing construction. No matter what product you are looking to buy, it is important to do the research, compare prices between stories, and save your limited amount of college money. Also, keep in mind that there are other stores near campus and that stores all seem to run specials, such as Food Lion or Harris Teeter.

Posted by Chelsea Brobst on Feb 9 2011. Filed under Daily Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.