To the wholesaler the other afternoon, I brought my "reinforcement team" (my two daughters). They come with me for their brute strength (those 25 and 50 pound sacks get heavy), and to remind me of what I've been saying about needing to get our out-of-whack grocery budget back in line.
My usual, when I find a great deal, is to buy a lot of that item. This week, it's sharp cheddar, at about $2.20 per pound, in a 5-lb loaf. Each loaf was $10.98. When I picked up a block of cheese, it just didn't seem like I would be stocking up by buying only one. I was imagining this 5-lb block of cheese getting gobbled up in a matter of weeks, and how we *needed* much more.
But I was also keeping in mind my goal of getting the budget back on track. I went back and forth on this one. A few blocks of cheese, or just one. It was tough, but I exercised some discipline, and only bought that one 5-lb block of cheddar. And I used some reasoning to come to that decision.
Cheese is not a necessity. We can get the same nutrients from milk, which I find on markdown often enough, to rarely have to pay full price for milk. So, while I would have loved to have bought several large blocks of cheese, my budget goal was more important this time.
I'm keeping a close watch on my spending. I tally up the receipts as I bring them home. For the month of March, I've now spent about $89.
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