Day Six

A few years ago, when I decided I wanted to move to the beach and set out to save as much money as possible to achieve that goal, one of the first things I did was put myself on a strict spending diet.

One of the things I realized about myself was that although I knew a debit card is not a credit card, I sometimes treated it that way. I'd go to the local grocery store (and when I lived in Columbus, I had three big box stores that sold everything from applesauce to zippers under one roof within 5 minutes of my apartment) with a list in hand and budget in mind and come up with a full cart and more money out of my checking account than I intended. I'd put the food in the freezer, fridge, and cupboards proud that I "stocked" up. Then, out of sight became out of mind. I'd forget about the 10 cans of soup I bought or the 5 bags of frozen veggies. The pre-cut fruits and veggies would go bad before I could use it. The bagged salad would turn into a slimy science class experiment because I forgot to buy salad dressing to go with it.

So, when I put myself on my spending diet, the first thing I did was clean out all of my cupboards, the freezer and the fridge and toss out anything bad, freezer-burnt (burned?), aged, etc and spread everything out so that I could clearly see what was there. Then I made a promise to myself that I would not buy any more of those items until they were gone and then further promised myself that the only additional items I could add were things that would turn the existing items into a recipe or meal.

To prevent impulse shopping, each pay day, I would go to a grocery store (not a big box store -- but an actual "grocery only" type store) and buy a $50 gift card. That was my weekly food allowance. When it came time to get groceries, I *only* took the gift card (and a calculator) to the grocery store with me. There's nothing more embarrassing than being at the checkout with more food than you have money and having to ask the clerk to back off items until you reach your goal. You end up weighing the worth of a bag of chips versus a container of strawberries and feeling guilty when you choose one over the other.

Today, I cleaned out my fridge, freezer and cupboards. There was a lot of crap in there that I bought during "triple coupon" frenzies thinking I'd use the items but they got buried beneath other purchases and forgotten.

Friday is pay day. I'm going to start the gift card method again for groceries. Back in Columbus, we had this store called ALDI which sold the basics you needed for a fairly inexpensive price. I really miss that store. We have something "similar" here called Bottom Dollar, but it belongs to a larger food chain and the discounts aren't as great.

However, in an attempt to free up more cash for savings and "future planning", I need to curtail my spending habits. The deli section of the local Harris Teeter knows me well because despite my fridge and freezer full of food, at the end of the day, I don't feel like cooking and it's easier to just stop there and buy something already cooked and ready for my fork and mouth. I just looked through my checkbook and realized that in the course of one week last month, I spend close to $85 on "quick trips" to the grocery store for deli meals and quick fixes. That was IN ADDITION to the $50 I had already spent on Sunday(s) getting my fruit, microwave meals and snacks for work lunches.

I did not win the powerball last night. I did, however, buy a $1 scratcher and win $5.