Let's Go Shopping

.....Ready, Set, Go!

Part One: Are you ready?

Okay, I assume you have chosen a day to shop, read the ads for your favorite supermarket, gathered coupons, checked what you already have at home, made up your menus, made a shopping list, checked it twice, and chosen the best route to take. (Jan.11, "Stre-e-etch That Food Budget"). Now,let's make sure we're ready and set to go!

WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU: After I view the ads, I decide which one of two days I will shop. Our local store, south of us, has frequent Thursday sales, occasional Saturday sales and their ad starts on Wednesday. So, I schedule going there on Thursday or Saturday. There are times, if nothing much is on sale that we need, I don't go at all. This store is primarily my go-to sale place.


I prefer to go to town, north of here, on Wednesdays. This doesn't always work out. There are days my husband has to run to town and I will, if we both have time, go with him to shop. This saves fuel, obviously, but adds a bit more time to our day. One of us has to wait to either pick up the other, or wait to be picked up as we each try to do what we need at the same time but separately. Sometimes I shop with my daughter if our schedules line up and I enjoy that very much too.

I schedule other things to do on the days I shop to save time and fuel. For example, there is a not-for-profit store south of here open on Saturdays. It supplies free clothing and some other items to the community. I plan to donate things there when I go to Saturday sales at our local grocery store. When I go to town I take in recycling.

If I hear of bad weather coming, I shop early so I don't have to go from store to store in severe heat or cold, in rain, snow or on ice.

BALANCING ACT: I always, always balance my checkbook before I make a purchase or payment of any kind. This keeps my records up-to-date and assures I will never be overdrawn. I mark my checking account register when it has balanced so that if a mistake comes up later, I know how far back it was made.

PREPARE YOUR KITCHEN: Tonight as I was waiting to get on the computer to finish this post I ended up cleaning my refrigerator. I always give it a quick wipe-down before grocery shopping. This helps me see what I have left, what I need. I organize my refrigerator by categories which at this point probably does not surprise you! Since most refrigerators freeze things from time to time I put things in those areas that won't be harmed by freezing like bread and cold-weather-crop produce like cabbages. Nasty surprises may be discovered and disposed of before I add fresh food to the refrigerator. Tonight I discovered three huge cucumbers that had frozen and oozed all over one compartment as they thawed. Oh, well. At least there was no waste. Our hens will magically turn these slimy cukes into delicious eggs for us!

If this seems like a lot of preparation just to go shopping let me assure you that after doing this for a little while it becomes second nature. It frees up your time and saves you money which makes your life easier. And, how good is that?

Goodnight~