Grocery Shopping!
Is it just me or is grocery shopping sometimes a daunting task? I tell myself every time I go, "you need to eat something before you go because you know you should never go grocery shopping hungry!" And yet most of the time I find myself half way to town and I can feel my stomach growling and I think to my self, "well, silly, you did it again!" Why is it that when you get to the grocery store, hungry, that everything looks so good and so by the time you get to the checkout you have ten times more than what you expected to get and certainly more than what was on your short grocery list.
I have worked in retail before and so I know some of the gimmicks stores use in order to get you to buy more! And, unfortunately, it works! The displays in the produce sections are always so pretty and they make the vegetables look so inviting. It always make me think "Oh, I could make such and such with that." And then I get home and I forget about what ever it was I was going to make and it ends up sitting in the refrigerator until it goes bad and I end up having to throw away! Why oh why do that they do that to me? Sometimes I go to the grocery store with just a few items in mind for something special to make for my husband or family and then I see something on a shelf or in an isle that I think would go great with whatever I am making and again I end up with more in basket than was needed.
Then there are the coupons and the specials! Oh joy! I spend every Saturday afternoon perusing through all of the sale ads looking for coupons for things I think I might need or want the next time I go to the store. Half the time there aren't any coupons that I could honestly use. Like coupons for baby items or coupons for lavish items I would never even think to buy anyway. But the coupons keep coming every Saturday and then on Wednesday they have the weekly sales for our local grocery store and so I sit and look through it just to see if there might be something I just have to have. Mostly they have sales on bulk items that I would never use in a million years or they have sales on all the alcohol you could ever need. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with these sales, just that they never seem to pertain to anything I need or want. It just leaves me frustrated.
Then we have the new TV shows about all the extreme couponers. I have watched a few and have thought "Wow, wouldn't that be great to use all of the coupons you could ever find to get all of that stuff free" and then they show the peoples stock piles of stuff they have gotten for free and I realize there is no way I could ever do that. For one thing I know I don't have the room to stock pile anything and for another I know that I am not willing to spend 20 hours a week just looking for coupons and deals. I spend enough time at the grocery store! I have too much other stuff I feel is more important but then I wonder if I am doing myself a disservice by not being more thrifty. But I know that I always look for the best bargains when I shop so I reconcile myself that I am doing the best I can.
So I continue on my journey to the grocery store once or twice or sometimes three times a week and I remind myself that this is something that everyone must do and so I am not alone in my journey to the grocery. I remember when I was growing up, my grandmother would go the grocery store everyday just to pick something up that was fresh and she knew by the color of the bread ties how old the bread on the shelf was and what day it had been delivered. With prices they way they are these days it is really inconceivable to drive the 10 miles everyday to the grocery store just to check the ties on the bread. It always helps to remind me, though, that even fifty years ago people were trying to find the best deals on their groceries and that they were conscious of their spending because times have always been a little tough for everyone.
My words of fabulous wisdom for grocery shopping are these: remember to always eat before going to the grocery store, stick to what is on your list, do not be swayed by the gimmicks that the grocery store has marketed on every isle, and always look for the best deals in your local ads before you go. I will certainly try to remember these next week when I venture back to the store and I hope you will as well!
I have worked in retail before and so I know some of the gimmicks stores use in order to get you to buy more! And, unfortunately, it works! The displays in the produce sections are always so pretty and they make the vegetables look so inviting. It always make me think "Oh, I could make such and such with that." And then I get home and I forget about what ever it was I was going to make and it ends up sitting in the refrigerator until it goes bad and I end up having to throw away! Why oh why do that they do that to me? Sometimes I go to the grocery store with just a few items in mind for something special to make for my husband or family and then I see something on a shelf or in an isle that I think would go great with whatever I am making and again I end up with more in basket than was needed.
Then there are the coupons and the specials! Oh joy! I spend every Saturday afternoon perusing through all of the sale ads looking for coupons for things I think I might need or want the next time I go to the store. Half the time there aren't any coupons that I could honestly use. Like coupons for baby items or coupons for lavish items I would never even think to buy anyway. But the coupons keep coming every Saturday and then on Wednesday they have the weekly sales for our local grocery store and so I sit and look through it just to see if there might be something I just have to have. Mostly they have sales on bulk items that I would never use in a million years or they have sales on all the alcohol you could ever need. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with these sales, just that they never seem to pertain to anything I need or want. It just leaves me frustrated.
Then we have the new TV shows about all the extreme couponers. I have watched a few and have thought "Wow, wouldn't that be great to use all of the coupons you could ever find to get all of that stuff free" and then they show the peoples stock piles of stuff they have gotten for free and I realize there is no way I could ever do that. For one thing I know I don't have the room to stock pile anything and for another I know that I am not willing to spend 20 hours a week just looking for coupons and deals. I spend enough time at the grocery store! I have too much other stuff I feel is more important but then I wonder if I am doing myself a disservice by not being more thrifty. But I know that I always look for the best bargains when I shop so I reconcile myself that I am doing the best I can.
So I continue on my journey to the grocery store once or twice or sometimes three times a week and I remind myself that this is something that everyone must do and so I am not alone in my journey to the grocery. I remember when I was growing up, my grandmother would go the grocery store everyday just to pick something up that was fresh and she knew by the color of the bread ties how old the bread on the shelf was and what day it had been delivered. With prices they way they are these days it is really inconceivable to drive the 10 miles everyday to the grocery store just to check the ties on the bread. It always helps to remind me, though, that even fifty years ago people were trying to find the best deals on their groceries and that they were conscious of their spending because times have always been a little tough for everyone.
My words of fabulous wisdom for grocery shopping are these: remember to always eat before going to the grocery store, stick to what is on your list, do not be swayed by the gimmicks that the grocery store has marketed on every isle, and always look for the best deals in your local ads before you go. I will certainly try to remember these next week when I venture back to the store and I hope you will as well!