A very full cart once again! I spent $95.66 on food. I combined coupons with sales, clearance, and discounts as much as I could. I even picked up a package of Lil Smokies for our tree-decorating party, the turkey bacon for Christmas day brunch and the ham for Christmas dinner. I think I did pretty well. We are now stocked on sugar and coffee, enough for about 6 months, and eggs enough to get through January. I'll make a stop at Cash and Carry later this week or next week and should be well-stocked for the month. I made one mistake. I thought the sale on peanut butter was good for natural as well as regular peanut butter. It wasn't. I don't want to return this for the regular stuff as one of my kids really prefers the natural style. I had a $9 off coupon for my total sale, so in my mind I'm just figuring that $9 covered the non-sale price on the peanut butter, bringing my cost per jar down to 44 cents.
Once again, the shopping exhausted me. Does anyone else feel on edge when they buy so much? As I was loading everything onto the conveyer belt to check out I felt uneasy about spending that much money in one go, and bringing home that much food. Now that it's home I'm glad to have it all, but the uneasiness of spending a lot at once is hard to take.
I have changed my way of shopping in the last couple of years. First, the family is smaller so we don't need too much normally except when kids come home. Second, we live much closer to grocery stores that I get what I need or what's on sale and then I can wait until the next week to search out the new sales. I rarely get a cart full these days.
ReplyDeleteWe even walked to the pharmacy on Sunday to pick up a prescription--4.4 miles round trip. We could easily walk to a different grocery store for small items knowing we also have to carry it back home or ride a bike.
But I notice that in my shopping I get very little for a bigger price tag and that bums me out. I have also noticed the prices are a lot lower at Aldi. I can get a decent amount for $60 whereas the same stuff at Meijer might be $75+.
Alice
Hi Alice,
DeleteIs your Aldi close enough that you can use it as your stop when you just need a couple of items? That's nice that you can make a stop to pick up sales, often, and perhaps you have opportunities to make quick stops just for sales (coming/going with work). How nice you can walk to the pharmacy.
I do appreciate getting the large amount home, then not thinking about buying many items again for a month. However, shopping "big" is somehow stressful for me.
There is an Aldi about 1/2 mile from work and another one about 3 miles from home. There is a Walmart on the same parking lot as the Aldi 3 miles away. Then Save-A-Lot is probably 3/4 mile from home. Meijer is about 2.2 miles away. In the same area of Meijer is Panera, Qdoba, Logan's steak house, Target, Staples, Sally Beauty, Maurice's clothing, and all the fast food restaurants you could ever want. There is a Home Depot and Menard's within about 5 miles or so.
DeleteWe moved to the "city" 4 years ago and live in an older developed neighborhood in a 50+ year old house. We have an extended back yard with a big garage, a medium barn and a small barn. It feels pretty big but manageable as we are aging. Our other house was in much better shape than this one and I liked it a lot better but there wasn't much to choose from here in the outskirts of the city. We thought we would move again but we didn't want to be in a neighborhood association and we wanted an outbuilding which we couldn't find. So we did some renovations to this house and will stay here. A house is only a place to sleep, keep warm or cool and I won't be bound to a house over other things.
I put up three clotheslines and hang my laundry out whenever I can. I just can't find a place for a garden since it is very shady. Directly behind our house is sunny and it had lava rock and viney creepy green stuff growing but we hated the lava rock so we had a stone patio put in instead. I will continue doing potted herbs there. As long as Dad is able, he wants to share his garden with us. When he can't do that anymore, I will just buy what I need in the grocery store.
Maybe we shouldn't have sold our house in the country but driving 30-40 miles one direction times 5 of us (when kids were in school) was destroying our cars. Buy new cars or just relocate--we chose to relocate. We're now closer to our parents and they have needed us so many times already. Being there for them is/was worth it!
Alice
It does sound like there are more pluses to where you live now, than what you had in your old home. The commute you used to have sounded draining. It is like what we have here. We live an hour, by car, north of the city (where the jobs, specialized medical services, and universities are). There is very little parking downtown, so the bus is a better option, in that regard, but takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way. It's beautiful here, but I intensely dislike how far everything is. A medical appointment today will take me a little over an hour to get there and find parking.
DeleteThe renovations that you've made sound reasonable. I've found this past summer, without much of a garden that my groceries have not been that much more expensive. So, your pot-garden is probably doing a pretty good job for the investment.
Buying lots of groceries doesn't put me on edge, but Christmas gift shopping kinda does. I'm not working today so I'm trying to finish up on my shopping. A lot of what I get for the kids is more on the practical end--slippers, bathrobes, etc., with a few fun things thrown in--but I'm just not one to buy frivolous things so I do get a little nervous about how much I am spending. We are way below the average American family in terms of spending for Christmas, so I think it's just my inner tightwad coming out. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to hear the downsides of Alice's and your home locations. Our home is definitely very modest, but I love love love our location. Five minutes to a major shopping area including Meijer, the mall, Target, etc., and about 10 minutes to my mom's apartment, which is close to the library, Walmart, and Aldi. I don't love my work commute in the winter--it's 35 miles and fairly enjoyable when the weather is nice (highway driving) but it can be a l-o-n-g 35 miles when the weather gets bad. I suppose we all have our pluses and minuses. Hearing what others like and dislike about their homes and locations is a good reminder that no arrangement is perfect.
Lili, I’m in your camp. Any spending, bills or otherwise, gives me a twinge. It doesn’t stop me from spending but I seem to always over-think it even if it’s a planned/saved expense. Our income has dropped dramatically in the past eight years, even as we think about retirement. So, that’s always on my mind these days.
ReplyDeleteWe’re an hour in any direction from major stores. The locals think nothing of driving that distance, sometimes more than once a day. We think that’s crazy and try to limit our trips to no more than once a week. I’m (quietly) pushing for a move to a less secluded area.
Debbie
I like to buy sales and clearances, so it is not so much the total that bothers me, but what I spend on each item. I do tend to buy too much and sometimes have to scramble to put everything to good use, but I see having to use things up as a creative challenge, so I don't mind that too. I think I don't have many wants and shoulds so that helps.
ReplyDeleteHave a beautiful day,
YHF
Your big shopping trip is a "normal" trip for me, Lili:) I do like to have good stores of food at home. When we had our fifty year winter last year, I didn't have to worry about running out of food. I think I got used to buying ahead when I worked on my aunt & uncle's farm during my younger years. You couldn't just run into town if you didn't have something, so my aunt always shopped & stocked ahead. Even though I only live a few miles away from a couple of grocery stores, if life gets busy or the weather is bad, I don't HAVE to go to the store. Melissa
ReplyDeleteI get a lot more than twinges when we buy anything big--TV's to houses. And that happens even though we never buy anything unless we have money for it. I just think it's my natural anxious nature coming through.
ReplyDelete