Readjusting the Way We Shop

Moving affects the way you do things in ways that you didn’t anticipate. Grocery shopping, for instance, involves a different strategy, one that we have not yet adapted to.

When we lived on Lake Martin, there were grocery stores near enough at hand to gather in the everyday necessities. But if  we wanted to try out a recipe that called for something a little more esoteric — say ginger preserves to make ginger-glazed shrimp or kalamata olives to make tapenade — we needed to plan ahead and make a trek of 30 or 40 miles to collect the necessary ingredients.

AS A CONSEQUENCE, we tended to stock up on those items that weren’t always available closer to home. And, because we had plenty of pantry space to store things, we’d swing by Sam’s and pick up bulk quantities of paper towels and toilet paper.

I can’t blame the grocery stores we had at the lake for the selections they offered. Their shelf space is more limited, and they have to use what they have to stock the items that most people buy. Although we could find most things we regularly needed, it was frustrating to find an item one time and find only a bare shelf the next time we looked. Sometimes we could find 2% cheese or Quaker oat meal squares, but often we couldn’t. (Of course, the large supermarkets are not totally exempt from this complaint, either).

NOW, HERE WE are living in that wonderland of having Kroger, Publix and Earth Fare only minutes away. There’s a multiscreen movie theater nearby, too, but for now the grocery store is more fun. We’re like sailors on shore leave after a long voyage. Instead of looking at girls, we’re gazing at fresh herbs and grass fed beef.

When we were early married, our budget consisted of a series of envelopes: Rent, utilities, gasoline, groceries. Each week, the budgeted amount was deposited into the envelope. If the grocery envelope were empty, we simply got by until it was replenished. A shopping list was essential.

We still have a budget, and we still have a grocery list. Neither is adhered to quite so rigorously.

WE WILL STOP by the grocery store for bread and milk and walk out with three full bags. Grocers have a way of making everything look so appealing, and we will eventually use all those things we buy, though from a diet standpoint we should pass some of them up.

Sometimes, though, we walk out of the grocery store with things we already have in ample supply. We somehow wind up with two containers of mayonnaise or ketchup in the refrigerator, both open, and perhaps there’s another one in the pantry. Because pantry space is limited, not everything is readily visible. Sometimes we’ll buy a couple of cans of beans and then find that there already were cans hidden way at the back of the shelf.

Eventually, we will adapt to the fact that the grocery store is close enough so that we don’t have to fill a shopping cart every trip. We’ll make a shopping list and do a better job of sticking to it.

Right now, though, we’re just counting trips to the grocery store as part of the entertainment budget, too.