Welcome 2019!

Happy New Year, friends!

I love new beginnings. I feel optimistic about life, about my place in this world, and about my prospects for the next season. North American weather may indicate that it is winter. However, in my heart it is spring. Local grocery stores must agree, as two stores that I visited yesterday were selling tulips.

On the topic of grocery stores -- on my list of accomplishments for yesterday, the fourth item was sticking to a budget while grocery shopping. The 1st was Senior Discount day at Fred Meyer, so I turned the morning into my major grocery shopping day for the month. One daughter and I stopped into three stores to pick up deals. I was prepared. I had a list and coupons, and I had read the ads. In the grocery department, January is notorious for a lack of great deals on food items. I have found that  in the lean months of winter, the best way to combat this situation is to shop multiple stores and focus on loss leaders, clearance items, seasonal produce, and price-booking the staples. This is exactly how I tackled the stores yesterday. It's difficult to say what was my biggest score, as I did well on several items. On the list of my great deals: blocks of cheese for $2.24/lb, milk at 89 cents/half-gallon, eggs at 99 cents/dozen, flour tortillas at 89 cents/package, and hot dogs at 75 cents/package. I also bought some produce, bread, ground beef, coating chocolate, tofu, yogurt, peanut butter, and sparkling cider, spending just over $90.

While picking up groceries, I found some clearance items to use as gifts for the 2019 holiday season.
Yes, the holiday 2019 shopping season has begun. I shop year round for birthdays and holidays, keeping my stash of gift-ables in a closet. It would be easy for the gift stockpile to get out of hand, and it has in past years. In anticipation of such a situation, I have a couple of pages in my journal dedicated to how I intend to disperse this amass of gifts. As I pick up items, I enter them both in a general list, as well as in an index with the names of the intended recipients. With these two lists, I can readily see types of gifts that I have in abundance as well as types that I am lacking. I mention all of this as it is a system that works well for me, and could possibly be of assistance for you, too.

If this week's shopping is any indication, 2019 appears to be a promising year for my budget. Here's to new beginnings, budgets that will balance, and a year to be well-lived! Have a great day, friends!