The “race-car” Shopping Cart – Necessary Evil

The Necessary Evil

I’m not very up on current events so when I went to the grocery store today I thought I missed the news the world was coming to an end and we had been ordered to our bunkers with supplies to last for 6 years.  Mad House.  Then, I overheard someone talking about the “big storm”.   Ok, fine, whatever, that’s how it goes when people hear “snow”.

Everyone was super stressed.  Blindly throwing any food they could get their hands on in their overflowing carts.   There were concerned whisperings the store was running low on bread and rumors of “no milk left”  which caused a mild stampede but thankfully no injuries.   I too succumbed  to the Group Think.   And thus want to apologize to all the parents with one child I gave the stink-eye and a heavy sigh of disdain to as you pushed passed me with your one kid happily driving the “race car” cart.  (full disclosure – I also called you a jerk under my breath.)

See the store only has three of these carts and when I am forced to go shopping with a 1 year old, 3 year old and 4 year old this particular cart is the only way to keep three rascals contained and still have a place to put food.  I got a little irrational and blamed you for the fact I had to shop and round-up cats at the same time.  “I’m sorry”.

And you chicken-little’s who gave me dirty looks while I tried to shop with 3 little kids dragging me down, blame the cart hogs with one kid.  Believe me, I don’t want to be here anymore than you want to hear me say to my kids for the millionth time “Guys move over you are blocking the way”.

The financial moral of this story:  I was all flustered by not having “my” cart (yes I consider it mine) and went way over budget on the food expenses this week.  If you want to save money while grocery shopping DO NOT bring your children with you to shop before snowstorms.

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Gardening Rookie

Everybody is starting to get antsy for spring.  I can see the tips of the hyacinths peeking out the ground and I’m getting excited for my second year of gardening.

Coming from the city, I was a complete newbie to gardening so I decided to start small.  I read “Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew.  If your not familiar  – you basically just build a wood frame out of 2×4′s, put weed mat down and fill it with a mixture of different soils.

This is what the finished product looks like:

Small enough to fit anywhere

To my shock and amazement stuff grew!  The kids LOVED “working” in the garden and eating stuff they grew.  And I now had something I never had, a hobby.

I couldn’t believe how freaking enjoyable it was.  This year I’m planning on expanding and hoping it will save some money on food costs.

What was easy to grow and edible?

Sugar Snap Peas - I’m doing way more of these this year.  In two of those little squares above I pushed 5 seeds in the ground.  All of them grew.  The kids picked and ate them as they ripened and none made it inside.

Spinach – The kids also picked and ate it raw.  They said they” loved it”, I think they just liked I was letting them eat leaves.  Whatever, it’s healthy.

Corn – My crazy children also ate this raw.  At first I told them, “no we have to cook it” but one of them snuck a bite and told me it was “yummy”.   I tried it and they were right, it was good raw.  Who knew?

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The Four Types of Grocery Shoppers.

When I go grocery shopping at the Supermarket in the next town over* I’ve noticed four distinct types of shoppers.   I never really noticed the differences before  a couple years ago because I was a “GROCERY TYPE #1″ and these shoppers usually don’t notice the other types…

GROCERY TYPE #1

These guys go in there picking whatever they want off the shelves, for them grocery shopping is like the old game-show “Supermarket Sweep.”   Sales, food goes on sale?  Name brand everything.  They probably don’t even know they make store brand Cheerios – store brand anything for that matter.  They only look at the shelves at eye-level, never knowing of the food world existing on the depths of the bottom shelf.  If it is sale, bonus, if it’s not they’re buying it anyway.   Think coupons are for weirdos.

GROCERY TYPE #2

Grab the circular on the way into the store and give it quick glance.  They have a general idea of what they need and what they want to spend.  May use a coupon or two but are not too concerned if don’t. They have a nagging feeling they are spending a lot more than they have to.  They look at people with an armful of coupons and think, “Is this what it’s coming to?  Am I going to turn into one of THOSE?”

GROCERY TYPE #3

Go in with a fixed budget.  A list.  A plan.  Have studied the circular and know what is a good deal and what is fluff.  Try generic brand stuff.  Cut coupons regularly.  Have a nerdy “coupon wallet”.  Only use coupons when it is actually a deal to use a coupon.  Know the way upper shelves and way lower shelf often have better values than what’s at eye-level.  Compare not only prices but price per lbs, price per volume…They are on to that scam….

GROCERY TYPE #4

These people

Pre-kid era I was such a type #1.  I’d roll my eyes at coupon people when they were in front of me in line.  Now, I think I’m a Type #2 trying to transition to Type #3.

What type are you?

*I waste time and gas driving to a supermarket 10 minutes from my house when there is a perfectly good one 3 minutes away.  I do this because I go food shopping without the kids – this is my “big night out”.   I really relish that 20 minutes in the car by myself.

 

Breaking Down the Debt – Good debt, bad debt, worser debt?

So all our debt adds up to $226,000, but how does it break down?

HOUSE – $177, 778

CAR (really an ultra-dorky minivan) – $8,555

STUDENT LOANS – $23,551

PERSONAL LOAN – $4,900

CREDIT CARDS – $11,216

I’ve heard people slice up their debt as Good Debt vs Bad Debt , but really when your paying out more in interest a month than you spend on your food budget for three months, it’s badder than bad debt……worser debt?  ha.

 

Confession is Good for the Soul but Where do I go From Here?

So I added up all my debt now what do I do?  The truth is I’ve come up with all kinds of plans before on how to knock out this debt.  It has got me nowhere, except perhaps deeper in debt.  It needs to be realistic.  That’s that hard part.  I want it all paid off NOW!  On paper, I can lower our food budget to $100 a month and gas to $20 a month and POOF!, we have an extra $400 towards bills.  This is just not realistic.  I need to not only face how much we owe but also how much we spend…

What is a REALISTIC food budget for a family of 5?

Will we survive if we cut out the HD TV package?

Would it be cost effective to own our own milking cow?  (we spend  about $60-$70 a month on just milk!)