One of the things that became apparent to me in the budget talk that Hubby and I had yesterday was that I am a HORRIBLE grocery shopper. Not that this was any secret to either of us. I HATE grocery shopping. I love to eat, but I hate to grocery shop. This goes way back to when I was a kid and my mom would drag me to the grocery store. I specifically remember really hot summer afternoons stuck in the freezer aisle dressed in a tank top and flip flops, whining as my mother would spend hours (OK, at the time it seemed like hours but now I realize it was only minutes) perusing item after item, reading each label (for what, I'm not sure...it's not like we were avoiding high fructose corn syrup back then or anything), placing it back and choosing a different item, starting the label reading all over. I hated it. All I could focus on were the goosebumps on my arms and the fact that the whole neighborhood was out playing except for me. At this point, my younger brother would usually do something to annoy me, making me even crabbier. The worst, though, was when we got home and we would have to help bring in all the bags and unload them. Our pantry was usually very unorganized and I hated trying to fit all the new food in. I had so many more important things to do and time was ticking off the clock.
You would think that my attitude would have matured in the 20 or so years that have passed. Umm, not really. I still hate everything about the grocery store...the florescent lights, the muzak, the faint humming of the refrigerated cases, the bright signs boasting of a new low price...everything. My belief is get in and get out.
Rarely do I go in the store with a list. Well, sometimes I have a list of what we are out of, but I don't make a list of what we need for the week. I don't plan meals, so I would just run up and down the aisles and grab what looks good. This would usually result in me getting home and realizing that we already had 2 pork loins from the last "buy one, get one free" special, our cheese supply was pretty good without the two new bricks I bought, we still hadn't eaten the deli turkey from the last run, and I had forgotten to get milk.
Sure, I would curse myself each time, but I never changed anything because I would rather stick a pencil in my eye and twist it than think about an organized grocery store run. That is, until our infamous budget talk of this weekend.
When I realized how much I was overspending on food, I was sick. Not only was I wasting money, but I was wasting food. How could I teach my girls how to not to be wasteful when I myself was? So, we got to work.
Problem: overspending on food, thus wasting both money AND food
Solution: set a grocery budget and create a weekly meal plan
Set a meal plan? Ugh. Totally against my grain, but I did it. It took me a while, but Sunday afternoon I actually sat down and planned out the week. I thought I would hate it, but it actually was kind of fun. The meal plan allowed me to create an organized grocery list for which I could actually pull out coupons (GASP).
Result: this morning I went shopping with my list and spent $76 for the week, with only needing a few more things that I will buy closer to the weekend. SUCCESS! I realize that most Americans already live this way, but for me, an adult ADD grocery shopper, this is a big accomplishment. Now, if only I can keep it up.
