Spending all day for everyday low prices

Free Money Finance has had it with Wal-Mart.

On the Saturday before Memorial Day, there was one manned checkout lane open, and that cashier was told only to accept customers with ten or fewer items. Everyone else had to wait in line for one of only four self-service checkout stations, all four of which were managed by one other employee.

So, everyone who had a lot of stuff to buy had to check everything out themselves — and had to wait quite a while to do so. I don't blame him for giving Wal-Mart the raspberry.

Fortunately for FMF he's well-heeled enough in his finances that he can go elsewhere for his shopping needs. He's not as sensitive to price as many others are. But for everyone in his financial situation there are more that need the everyday low prices that Wal-Mart provides, and will have to just suck it up and stand in line even longer than they have been (assuming this experience repeats itself). FMF's high bid wins him a place in a much speedier checkout lane.

Low-cost providers like Wal-Mart won't value your time. They just don't have to. People can either pay with money or with time. Since Wal-Mart offers product for less money than its competitors, it can demand that its customers bear a time cost (waiting in line) that directly offsets its own labor costs (cashiers). “Can't pay Target's prices across the street? Well, we're here. Take a number.”

Now, FMF's experience was far, far worse than anything I've seen at our Wal-Marts, but I've seen businesses, especially grocery stores, really cut back on the number of cashiers available for checkout at times.

Life in the United States has been all about options and choice for most of my lifetime. We're losing our options and choice now. Retirement saving consumes more of our discretionary income as we move away from defined-benefit retirement plans and toward defined-contribution plans. Energy costs are consuming more of our discretionary income. Debt servicing, both consumer and mortgage, consumes more of our discretionary income. We're left with less with which to buy what we need, and so our choices are more limited.

I'm afraid that spending an hour buying groceries at discount stores like Wal-Mart will turn into two hours, then three. After all, it won't cost Wal-Mart anything to have you stand in line. Plus, if it's winter, you'll be heating their store for free!

Consider investing in yourself or starting an eBay store or some other side venture to get in a position to be able to bid for better service.