Saturday, May 25, 2019

Experimenting With The "Big Shop"

This morning I had a nice, really relaxing breakfast with my gals group at a local Cajun/New Orleans style brunch restaurant. I am ashamed to say that I had both beignet and eggs Benedict. To my credit though, I did not have grits, potatoes or the other things that come with said eggs. I also had no alcohol. Since at least half of the gals group is single, we've decided to start doing things on the weekend, at lest during the day. In June we also have a breakfast/brunch, and plans to go and have lunch and attend a summer market at a local brewery that has a farm house.

We're also having quiche tonight since I don't want to cook, so between the eggs and the lack of walking today, I'll need to double up tomorrow. I did manage to do fifteen minutes of serious aerobics yesterday through my hacking weakness, and walked around the house to finally get to five thousand steps.  I have some work to do to get back on track.

As for the rest of today? I've been lolling on the swing and making lists. And more lists. Those of you who follow along fairly regularly know that I am not the queen of shopping or doing errands. I like clothes and fabric and jewelry, I just don't like the process required to get it. And I hate hate hate hate hate going grocery shopping. I bow to those of you who enjoy smelling melons and touching avocados and comparing ten different packages of the same type of meat. So I've been thinking for awhile about doing a once a month shop for all my needs (with obvious fill ins for fresh produce, milk, and the like). And I do mean all, not just food.

Recently a few of my bills changed due dates and I am now in the position of having one check (Social Security) cover all of the regular bills with some extra and having the pension check which comes on the first of the month be completely "mine". This fact has me going back to my "big shop" idea as fellow blogger Laura over at the Occasional Nomads would call it. Her big shops, as I understand it, were mainly about geography. Mine is more to free up time. And because I seriously hate doing errands and shopping in general-although I like the stuff I end up with as a result.

And so I've been making lists-of things we regularly use and how long they last and so on. It's required some out of the box thinking. I mean, I have plenty of body wash, but will it last to the end of June or should I add that to the list. How much butter do we go through a month?

It's also making me rethink how I cook-and shop. If I shop once a month, I wont be doing my normal only buy meat when it's on sale thing, but then I'll be out of the stores. So today I planned for around twelve cooked meals (allowing for other cooks, eating out and leftovers) and made a list of everything I needed.

Obviously the big shop will mainly be food and personal products and health stuff. But I also made a list of the stuff I will probably need for ongoing creativity, stuff for the house like candles that I want to buy and yes, even the clothes (so happy I only shop at two stores and they have online ordering and ship to store).

This is gonna be a new thing for me my friends. An experiment in the truest sense. But if it frees up time and keeps me out of the stores (except for the weekly salad/fruit/milk run) then I am a happy camper.

Wish me well in my first month's planning and look for a specific post next week!

Meanwhile, I leave you with this thought: The best way to honor veterans, living or dead, is to care for the ones around you. Since almost forty percent of the homeless are veterans, please think about that the next time you look askance at the guy on the corner, call the police on a gal sleeping in the park or otherwise marginalize what are probably people who need help, and who have served their country honorably, time after time, campaign after campaign.

Just saying.  Happy Weekend all.

17 comments:

  1. I like those words of yours "lolling on the swing", it sounds peaceful. I am considering getting a swing for the yard. Yes, let's take better care of our veterans in need, I contribute to Samaritan's Purse which has a program where they send veterans and spouses to Alaska for a restorative time.

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    1. We have one of those sliding swing pieces of lawn furniture and I absolutely love it!

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  2. I love grocery shopping. Sad to say, it's often the highlight of my week. But the place I shop has EVERYTHING under the sun except live animals. I easily get my 5,000 steps in shopping there.

    You continue to amaze me! Thanks for posting.

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    1. I know so many people who love it..I did not get that gene.

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  3. Sounds like a lot of extra work to me ... but then, I LIKE going to the grocery store. Anyway ... wish you well and look forward to seeing how it goes!

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  4. My Rare One grocery shops like that -- one big shop on the first Tuesday of each month, when the grocery store gives a 10% discount on everything. It's a huge job to lug it all into the house and put away. I hate shopping like that. I go once a week instead.

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    1. I use click list. They use plastic bags and put all the freezer stuff together,produce together, dairy stuff and so on. It does take me a bit lo ger to put it away, but then I'm done for a month except for replacing fruit and salad stuff and milk. I'm willing to wxpwnd the effort one time to not have to do it the other times...

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  5. When I was in university (I delayed my education until I was in my 30's) I did just that, a big shop once a month because my student loan funding was deposited once a month. Meal planning was done 6 weeks in advance and took into account leftovers. I recall running very low by the end of each month but we managed.
    More recently I've been tracking what we purchase and how often as well as the price paid (so I can compare prices). It's an interesting exercise and hopefully I'll find a way to tie the timing to sales in store.

    Looking forward to learning your findings.

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    1. I do plan to allow for extra money for sales to a very small level and for the weeky run for fresh produce and milk. I plan my meals from what I have on hand, so this will not be as difficult in the planning stages.

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  6. I don't mind grocery shopping but I hate to cook! Ha!

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    1. Eh, I hate both. On the other hand, I love to eat, almost anything!!

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  7. Good luck on your once a month shopping trip.

    While I don't do that for groceries, I do it for hobby items like fabric and yarn. Mine is more a every three months shop though, mainly because we only get to the big city where there are fabric and yarn shops about that often.

    God bless.

    God bless.

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    1. Im going to try it with the craft supplies and everything else as well. Its gonna be a work in progress.

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  8. Buying groceries is a very inefficient process at best. Think how many times a product is handled after it arrives at the store. Product is put on the shelf. The consumer takes it off the shelf & puts it in a cart; then takes it out of the cart to go through check-out where the clerk handles it. Then the product is put back in the cart/bag & it's removed from the store, often into a personal vehicle. Then it's removed from that vehicle and the consumer packs it into the house where it's placed on shelves or in drawers. Obtaining groceries certainly doesn't begin or end at point of purchase. I like to shop sales so often shop weekly. My favorite thing is to shop at home when I concentrate on using up what has been stockpiled. I've reached that point with my cold room storage; it's time to stock up on canned tomatoes, beans, soup stock, etc.

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    1. My menu planning is generally done from my pantry rather than making a meal list. After this first month I am sure I will need to rethink keeping some money for those front page loss leaders. At this time of year we dont eat that much in terms of soups or stews, it's mainly summer meats with a variety of sides which will allow me to work with what I have.........as I told Jackie, it's gonna be a work in progress.

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  9. That's a great goal and work in progress! Not for me as we have no storage! Plus I LOVE grocery shopping. But not other kinds of shopping!! Weird, huh? I've even gone to stores on the other side of Portland because I've heard of unique things (best produce, best salad bar, biggest meat dept with buffalo, emu, etc).

    Luckily Whole Foods opened it's second 365 store just 3 blocks from here. They are now getting rid of that concept and turning it into a Whole Foods. LOVE that there is always a salad bar .. We can have a fancy salad and not worry about the rest of the radishes, cucumbers, etc getting moldy in the fridge!

    Now I'm hungry ...

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  10. I admire your creative potential seems limitless. There’s a lot of writings, articles and blogs that are not catchy in the eye but it seems like you master it. However have you tried dry cleaning service singapore? I just want to know if you have good experienced on it.

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Thanks for stopping by! I love to hear from others, and I also love to hear all points of view.. Just leave the profanity and insults at home, OK? Thanks!!