Shopping Buddy

Today, my husband and I sat down, drafted our grocery list, and sallied forth into the world of supermarkets to restock our pantry (and refrigerator, freezer, and seriously depleted goody stash).

As my husband is a minion of the State, he is paid once a month. We've lived with this pay schedule for almost six years now, but it still kicks my puh-tootie on a regular basis. I guess I should have thought more carefully all those years ago when I prayed for the Good Lord to help me learn patience and better self-control. Feeding a family of nine with minimal trips to the grocery store has certainly pushed me in that direction! I've heard people talking about how they are trying a new-fangled financial challenge, where they only go to the store once a month, and all the money they are saving, but how hard it is when they run out of stuff after only two-and-a-half weeks, and I think, "Yeah, tell me about it!"

I digress.

We made our list, and went shopping. I realize how lucky I am that my husband goes grocery shopping with me. He even wants to come. He built me an Excel spreadsheet for our grocery shopping that tracks what we purchased last month, and automatically totals our grocery bill before we ever set foot in a store.

We carefully go over our needs and wants and the upcoming events, to be sure we aren't stranded on Week Three with an obligation (like a birthday, or a Church potluck) and no recourse whatsoever. This means we have to be organized: we check our calendar, we inventory our current pantry stock, we project our needs for the coming month. I used to do this as a restaurant manager. Little did I know then how much I would need those skills now.

We left the house by mid-afternoon, and were home only three hours later (trust me, that's a land-speed record). I would never be so efficient or speedy without my husband. He has made this a game for us (which we are quite good at!), but for him, it is an art form.  I am grateful for my shopping buddy.

(And the next day, that huge winter storm system full of snow and blizzardish weather hit, and pounded us for three days, and boy-oh-boy was I glad our shopping was done and my pantry was stocked, and we could just stay home and stay cozy!)

What are you blessed with today?