There is one thing that I dread more than anything in this world. No, it’s not going to the dentist or public speaking. I’m talking about Grocery shopping. You would think as much as I love to eat I wouldn’t loathe grocery shopping so much, but I do. Since I dread grocery shopping I have come up with a plan that makes grocery shopping simple and so efficient that I don’t go over budget and I only have to do a big grocery shop once a month.
Before I grocery shop I spend a day or so looking at all of the sales papers for the grocery store in my area, going through my coupon stash and finding coupons online. I’m not an “Extreme Couponer”, but I’m always looking for ways to save. I plan meals and make a grocery list. Then comes the challenge of picking a time to go shopping. I prefer being at the grocery store right when the doors open especially on days when the store gets a shipment of meat or fresh vegetables. With two small children it’s easier to shop when the stores aren’t so quiet and the children are well rested (less tantrums). I’m usually at the grocery store stop by 6:00am and then around 8am I head to another grocery store. I’m usually home by 10am in time for my children’s morning snack and nap.
Today I deviated from my usually plan and did not leave my house until after 8am. The store was crowded because it’s $5 Friday. As soon as I walked into the produce section I heard complaints about there only being one cashier working and coupons not working. For a second I contemplating going to another store, but decided against it because of the other store’s lack of double seat shopping carts.
As I checked off the items on my list I wrote down the prices beside the item and the weight of my produce. With all of the incidents of cashiers adding in extra charges and pocketing them it’s important for me to know how much I’m spending before I walk up to the checkout line. Usually when I get to the checkout I separate my groceries into how ever many orders I need to according to the coupons I have and it goes smoothly. However, since I left my house late today by the time I got the checkout it was almost 11am and Bunny was having a fit because she was past her nap time. Thankfully the store I went to this morning had shopping carts for people with multiple children and Awesome A was having a ball in the little car attached to the cart. I grabbed Bunny up, threw on my nursing cover, and with one hand I unloaded the items onto the conveyor belt into three orders. The store manager rung up my items and scanned my savings and coupons and the total was off by almost $12. I looked at the receipt and compared the prices and found that the weight on my produce was incorrect. I was told that the scales in the produce section were all broken and he went ahead and took the $12 off of my order. I paid my bill and headed to car. Before I could finish loading the groceries into the car both Awesome A and Bunny were asleep. I got into the car and drove home smiling for two good reasons. I got a whole month’s worth of food for less than $200 and I was done with grocery shopping until next month.
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