As people go out to do their holiday shopping, they're noticing something.

Times are tough and, you know, prices are rising.

Eggs is one thing that I've noticed has gone up a lot.

Fruit, especially fruit.

And they're changing how they shop.

I've cut way back on a lot of stuff that were not really needs but want.

Because we have a big family, instead of getting by bulk, how we used to get, we can't

really do that anymore.

So we just cut down on the number of items we purchase.

It'll be a little thinner for Christmas, but I probably won't cut back on the grandkids,

but I'll cut back on everybody else.

To save money, it's not just what shoppers are buying.

It's also where they're buying it.

Those shoppers you just heard, they were all at Walmart, drawn in part by the low prices.

Our colleagues Sarah Nassauer covers the company.

You know, their core customer is lower in middle income, but most people shop at Walmart,

at least sometimes in some situations.

And so because of that and just their massive scale, you can get a good sense of what's going

on with American shoppers if you look at Walmart.

And right now, Walmart says consumers are stretched and will be well into next year.

Welcome to the journal, our show about money, business and power.

I'm Kate Limbaugh.

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