Grocery Shopping Made Easy

Confession.

I love to grocery shop.

Yep. I do.

I hear all of my gal pals talk of how much they loathe it. And I'm all like "Whaaaaat? How can you NOT like to grocery shop?"  I began to wonder, is there something wrong with me...that I love something so many of my friends do not?

In thinking about it I broke it down a bit and realized that it is not the shopping that I love, it is the spending that I love. Seriously. I actually get a rush from doing it. From going into the store and looking around and coveting everything. Buying it is an even bigger rush. Is it a behavioral problem? Character defect? An issue that requires medicine and therapy? Could be. But I don't want to make it more than it is, or seek treatment, or anything big like that. For me, that would be a band aid. A cover for what the real problem is. I have to get to the center of it and figure out the "why" before I can figure out the "how".  For some people, some issues don't require all of that...some issues simply require discipline.  And that is my issue.  Discipline, sticking to a budget, calming the inner cray cray child who just wants to have it all...stuffed into an 1,100 square foot house.

Truth be told, I am very much aware of this little issue I have....because it isn't little. It's big. I would head to the super stores because I could get what I was supposed to buy, groceries, and also throw in a few other fun things and because I mixed it in with the groceries, I didn't feel like I was doing anything wrong.  Super stores are your go-to when you have a spending problem, it is an easy way to get a rush without getting in major trouble. At least right away.

Eventually your family will notice the bags, and packages, and the need for storage cubes because you need a place for the STUFF. The journals, the planners, the planner things, the extra Thirty-One, every essential oil in the doTERRA catalog...

Another Confession.

I had a credit card. My husband hates credit cards. I am supposed to hate them. And, I do, but not enough to not get one and not use it when my desire to accumulate STUFF is bigger.  He knew of the credit card and gave me fair warning. He warned me to be careful, to only use it for what I said it was for...business expenses.  I got it around the time that I was heading to a conference.  That was a year and a half ago. And it didn't take long to get a pretty fat bill. 

We finally sat down and went over our budget, and the credit card bill, and some tough decisions were made.  Tough, but very necessary. 

I am not spending, at all. We are discussing every purchase. Every field trip, every book and restaurant and everything. 

I found a way to grocery shop and stick to my list with out deviating one iota.

Grocery Pick Up. 

I visited Walmart's site, created an account and clicked on Grocery Pickup.  I entered my list by typing the first item on my list, spinach.  It brought up every form of spinach in the store from bagged to canned.  I had my list entered in about 10 minutes.  Then I chose a time frame to pick it up and double-checked the location to pick it up at.

I received an email confirming my list, pick up date and time as well as location.  It also had instructions for calling 15 minutes prior to arrival or downloading the app to check-in.   

The next morning, I checked in on my phone and headed to the store.  There were bright orange pickup signs that led me to an area behind the store with reserved parking. I pulled in, called the number on the parking sign and they were out in a flash. They loaded the groceries, discussed two substitutions and had me sign that I had received my grocery order. And, they were bearing gifts!  I received this little tote with some samples inside. 

 

My shopping was done and it was per my list. I stayed on budget and didn't even have to leave the car.  It was AWESOME SAUCE.  And really, who wants to go inside a super store during this time of year? Even a shopping addict such as myself gets a bit anxious from all of the craziness that goes on in there.  

Someday, soon, I will be able to walk into a store and avoid my triggers, but for now, this is so helpful!  

If you have not tried it, you might consider it. It was amazing. And, if you let me refer you, I get $10 off of my next order! 

{Purse}onally Yours,
Tina