So I went grocery shopping yesterday, and something just came over me. As I’m gliding through the aisles filling my cart with soups and cheese and pretzels–it happens. I pick up a package of Oreos. $4.50. Who spends $4.50 on cookies, I wonder. Oh, look at this, I do! So a little later I throw a big fat dog bone in on top of the oreos. My dog already has a bone. As a matter of fact, I think it would be perfectly safe to say that my dog has a plethora of bones. No matter–she apparantly needs another one because there it is in my cart. I move on. The candy aisle deals me another blow. Normally, I don’t even go down the candy aisle–avoiding temptation and all that–but I needed marshmallows so I had no choice. So now I have one pound of the little buttons of joy that are reeses pieces tucked neatly beneath my rice cakes. I tell myself that if they spend enough time together, half of the fat content in the candy will magically vanish, kind of like reverse osmosis. In produce I feel safe. Rows and rows of distinctly bland looking lettuces lull me into a false sense of security. There will be no foolish purchases here, I tell myself. And then I see the strawberries. Big, shiny strawberries as red as a harlot’s smile. They aren’t on sale, and it’s still too early in the season for their price to be reasonable. I buy three pounds. Can’t forget the cool whip for berry dippin, so I head over to frozen foods. Big mistake. By the time I hit the checkout, I’ve added a pound of pizza rolls and two big boxes of ice cream sandwiches and creamsicles. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?
I ALWAYS buy a little 6-pack of oreos when I go shopping. I eat them w/milk as soon as I get home. Nothing wrong with oreos…and I’ve been spying that Oreos cereal but haven’t sunk that low yet…
I’ve bought strawberries 3 times in the last couple weeks, but only put sugar on them. They’re down to $1.49/lb now, not that bad.
In the summer, popsicles and a pint of Ben & Jerrys Phish Food. Also a KitKat and I consider a frozen pizza a splurge(I usually make my own from scratch). I think I’m better than most, try to eat healthy. Now if I could just put on the running shoes and get my ass out there…
Ah, the grocery store splurge. There is nothing quite as satisfying.
Mine is usually chips. And dip, of course. Salsa and tortilla chips, or sour cream with Doritos. When I get a craving, it generally isn’t for whatever type is on sale, naturally.
Also, I have a thing for a good chunk of brie. And of course, you can’t have brie without good crackers, maybe a loaf of chewy bread, a few grapes and maybe an apple or two. And then once I hit the fruit aisle, I start noticing the lovely asparagus…fresh spinach…all those goodies.
Luckily, I don’t end up with too many splurge items at once, usually. I have to shop on the cheap, so spending an extra $4 is a very big deal.
Today is yard-sale day, so I’m spending all my splurge money on (hopefully) kid’s stuff.
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Walking down the aisle. I see that toilet paper is on sale. I proceed to fill my cart with 72 rolls of toilet paper. That’s 6x12. I came back the next day and bought 72 more. I’m set for summer. And Autumn.
Then there wa the time I bought 40 cases of diet coke. I had an awesome wall down my hallway. It disappeared fast, sigh.
Everything else I buy in moderation. I’m so reponsible, sigh.
The magazine aisle. I’m rather good otherwise. I make a list and stick to it. But get me either in the magazine aisle or at the checkout and suddenly, I have a Real Simple, an InStyle and a House Beautiful in my cart. That’s $15!
I also buy far too many Swiffer cloths than I need. I always seem to think I’m out of them but when I get home and check the cupboard, there’s already a box or two crammed in there behind the Windex. But really, one cannot have too many swiffer cloths - especially when one has two dogs and a cat all losing their winter coats simultaneously and creating a carpet of pet hair on the hardwoods.
Without an accessible kitchen, I tend to splurge on already prepared foods when I go on my twice-monthly trip for groceries- one cannot live on nonperishable items and dining hall fare forever! My favorite are the little roasting chickens they sell at the rotisserie. One of those can last me for days… but $8?? Whoof.
Ben & Jerry’s and Dreamery I.C. Heh heh, I just got a Dreamery Coney Island Waffle (V.G., BTW) for a buck (on sale for $1.75, minus my .75 coupon). But I occasionally pay $2.50 for them.
Other major tempations: pepperjack cheese, semisweet chocolate chips, salsa, Pringles (esp. the Pizza-licious flavor), and tins of sardines, kippers, and anchovies (with or without the capers). And condiments: Caribbean marinades, hot sauces, etc.
Osiris, your bulk purchases are hilarious, although if nuclear war comes, you’ll be the last to laugh, with all that TP and Diet Coke. Do you eat Olestra[TM]-infused snack foods, by any chance?
but i was raised not to look at prices in a grocey store and buy anything i wanted too
Moms idea of shopping was give me 300 for the month and buy what i liked
She did give me a list of what we needed but this usually amounted to maybe 40 bucks
Now days i get odd looks for when i have no problem buying 10 dollar steaks or such
But I have the evilest thing they ever came up for grocery shopping
The cost-co member ship card :here one justufies buying a 5 gallon bottle of ketchup
But the plot is they give out samples of exotic yummies so you forget how much that box of shrimp in thai sauce costs cuase ya justify it by " well it tastes good "
Now they have good stuff for decent prices but ive never walked out of there wioth out spending at least 50 bucks for food I wouldnt normally eat or buy
(for people who dosent know whar costco/sams club price club ect there typically wholesale membership warehouses where you can buy bulk packages often espically made just for them there really snotty on who they give membershps to like you have to work in certain industries or unions ect or own a business )
I pretty much buy everything on sale. That’s the fun I get out of it. I wait until something is on sale, and then I buy, even if I don’t really need it. That is why my house is well stocked (“well” being an understatement).
It may sound weird, but I feel defeated if I have to buy a necessity before it’s gone on sale…that means I waited too long.
It’s hard to splurge when you grocery shop online. Since I do most of my grocery shopping online, I’ve started saving money. I buy what’s on the list, and only what’s on the list. And it all arrives on my doorstep, in a cute little refrigerated delivery van.
Mine is most deffinately Sobe, power flavor. Sometimes I’ll buy three or four at a time. I go in splurges of them, I won’t buy any for a week then I’ll have a few in a day.
Delimex Beef Taquitos—a 48 pack. drool A box is 9.50. Really, far too expensive to spend on Taquitos, but the bastards call out to me! I can’t resist their sweet, siren song.
IceCream-I try to buy the cheap kind, but sometimes I spent 4.50 on Bryers Reeses peanut Butter Cup Icecream…or, most recently, Bryers Mint Oreo (It’s a new flavor…)
Oreos-But only when their on sale.
Cosmo-Yes, I read that trasy magazine and I like it.
I am a sucker for anything with a picture of a race car on it. Just today bought a bag of more expensive Kingsford Charcoal (Stacy Compton’s BGN sponsor) over the cheaper store brand and a 3 pack of Sharpie pens (Kurt Busch’s WC sponsor) when I can get all I want free from work. The sad part is I won’t even open the package of pens, it is on a shelf with an assortment of other goodies I have purchased but did not need.
They’re these dusty things with swoosh stripes along the side. I’m holding out for shoes that run by themselves, and the inches just drop off. Hey, if we can put a man on the moon…
