In stores you have to shop at them often to watch the flow of prices. An example is Barilla pasta, a good brand overall. At the grocery store a 1 lb box retails for $1.50 to 2.50 here in Washington. At times it goes on sale for $1 a box. But! At Walmart it is nearly always at around $1 a box. Often the prices at the big boxes don't change dramatically - they stay lower. The grocery store though has timed dips and raises one must know the pattern of. If you don't, you will pay badly for pasta, grains, cereal, canned goods, frozen, etc.

Lets say that a can of green beans is 5 cents cheaper at Walmart. And a person buys 20 cans. That means they saved a dollar. That dollar adds up as they buy more items. That means they can buy more food.

WinCo is probably a better example. They only take cash, debit and food stamps. You bag your items. Employee run, non-union. Efficiency chain like no other. They for example carry organic foods that are HALF of normal retail. How do they do it? Low overhead, no frills and no fancy shelves.

Do I like shopping at my local Safeway better? Oh sure. They treat me like family. Everyone knows me. But I also pay out the nose for that privilege!

If one wants gourmet foods on the cheap you shop at Trader Joe's (which I do, but again, I can afford that luxury!). By cheap that means you get gourmet for normal food prices, which is still pricey but not horrid.

On the whole book thing brought up. Amazon has been offering books on the cheap for years. Often 32% off! And no one complained then. Why? Simple math here: the publishers print in China at massive runs. The cost of each book is barely anything. They sell SO many books on Amazon, at Wal-Mart, Costco, etc that yes, they still make a hefty profit even selling a $25 retail book for $9. Trust me on this, they are not losing money by any means. Authors are still getting the same lousy royalty payment as before. Book sales like this are the same as food sales in large box stores: buy enough at cheap enough wholesale and turn it over fast and you will make a handsome profit.

America is cheap. No matter what some think, middle America is not obsessed with health food, green living or worrying about little things. They are worrying about how they will survive, whether or not they will retire, if they will keep their house and car. Those with time and money worry about the little things!