10 Amazing Money-Saving Tips & Tricks For Shopping at Walmart

1. Use Ibotta

If you don’t have it already, either download the Ibotta app on your phone or use it as a Google Chrome extension. This app will not only give you coupons, but it will also give you a ton of freebies.

A few weeks ago I was able to get $20 in freebies and that included a free pizza and another meal. What could be better than free meals?

2. Know your local Walmart

Each Walmart store is a bit different. They are all owned by the same corporation, but in each store, the branch manager makes certain decisions about that individual store.

For example, the branch manager controls what goes, on clearance, what day it goes on clearance, and a number of other decisions.

If you see someone post about stuff they’re getting on clearance at their Walmart, be aware that you might not find the same deal at your local shop.

Get to know how your Walmart store works. Get to know the managers, where every department is, and the general pricing. The more you know, the more you will notice which days certain items go on sale.

3. Price matching

If you see something for one price at one store and you want them to match the price, sometimes they will do this. It depends on the manager. That is sometimes true for items at different stores as well, but they will always price match to the lowest price on Walmart.com.

I recommend you always use your app and compare the prices. They also price match to Amazon if it is being sold on Amazon, by Amazon and not an individual seller.

4. Go early in the morning

Get to the store as early as you can. When prices drop, they really drop and those items go really fast. They don’t put a limit on individual shoppers so often when there’s a really good deal, one or two shoppers will buy it all and by late morning, or early afternoon, all the best deal items are gone.

5. Great Value items

Walmart makes its own line of generic items. They make everything from milk to generic brand Oreos. The Great Value items are significantly cheaper than the name-brand items.

The secret is a lot of these products are made in the same factories, with the same formulas as the name-brand items. The only thing that’s different is the packaging. Their potato chips are made by UTZ and their ice cream is made by Breyers.

6. Free ask

The free ask is basically a vending machine where you can get the items for free. They don’t have them at every store but they are in thousands of stores all over the country. Check and see if your shop has one.

7. Use BrickSeek

If you want to be really thorough about getting the best prices, use BrickSeek. You can scan a desired item into the app and it will tell you the price of that item at all of your local Walmart stores.

I used this app a couple of years ago when I wanted to buy my kids a 4-wheel tractor that was $399. I was able to find it at another Walmart for $64.99. Sometimes those really great deals get kind of lost in the store and can be hard to find, but if you’re kind to the employees they will usually help you.

8. Hidden clearance

It’s not always so simple to find hidden clearance items. One way to do it is to go on Instagram and search hashtags like, Walmart hidden clearance, Walmart finds, or any other relevant hashtag you can think of. You can take the skews for the items you find and put them in BrickSeek to see if they’re on sale at your local store.

You can also check Facebook. There are Facebook groups dedicated specifically to Walmart’s hidden clearance. There are even YouTube videos dedicated to hidden clearance items. You can also check the tags in the clearance section at your local store.

You can’t always rely on the clearance tag having the correct price. Sometimes they still have the old prices on there.

9. Online pricing

If I’m shopping for an item that is $20 or more I always look online to see how it’s priced there. Sometimes online items will be offered at a bigger discount if you can pick them up in the store.

There are times that I’ll be in the store and shopping online, finding a lower price with an even bigger discount for in-store pick-up.

10. Discounted gift card

If you’re going to be making a big purchase either in-store or online, I recommend getting a discounted gift card. This is especially worthwhile if you’re spending over $100. You can find discounted gift cards on eBay or Rise.com.

Tips and tricks for shopping at Walmart

I hope you enjoyed learning some of my favorite tips and tricks for shopping smarter at Walmart. Even the smallest savings can really add up.

Do you know any hacks for saving at Walmart? Did you find my tips helpful? Leave me a comment so we can help each other find even more ways to save.