Don't buy stuff mindlessly.
Now, before you cry "DUH", bear with me for a bit.
We Americans are conditioned from an early age to buy, buy, buy. Buy our way out of depression, buy our way to a higher standard of living, buy because it's Christmas or Halloween or Martin Luther King Day. It becomes automatic and mindless.
Being frugal demands that you think before you plunk down that cash. Do I really need this? Can it wait? Will my world collapse if I don't purchase this or that?
The grocery store is as good a place as any to practice the zen of thriftiness. Follow me as I do my weekly shopping.
Caveat: Planning ahead means that my freezer and pantry are stocked. We probably could go without groceries for a month or two--meals would be interesting but we wouldn't starve. I hope you can say the same 'cause when the Zombie Apocolypse comes, I ain't sharing.
Anyway, on to the store!
On a typical trip, we ignore:
Then we move on to not even bothering going down these aisles:
Our ragtag little garden is starting to give us a bit of lettuce and tons of peas, so we skipped the produce section (except for some blueberries, on sale of course!). But at least 80% of the store is filled with items that we don't want or need. Lots of money saved right there!
Of course, even us misers are tempted:
But I am proud to say, I resisted these. If the desire is too strong, I can make my own.
Milk is one item we splurge on; NY dairy farmers need our support.
When we can't make it out to Comley's Country Creamery we stop at Byrne Dairy--New York milk in glass bottles.
On today's trip, we also hit Aldis for cereal, orange juice, and sugar. Except for probably needing more milk later in the week, this should carry us through. Now, how many ways can I prepare peas?
How do you save on groceries? Any hints, tricks, or miracles you perform to keep the family fed?
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