🤠 How a Grocery List Keeps You From Starving Later

Day 43:   You Need Food, Not a Feud

by Edward Smith

17 Aug 2020

Shop In a Way That Doesn't Get You Dropped

Groceries are by far, one of the most expensive line items on my household's budget.  Not gas.  Not electricity.   Groceries.

In my house we constantly buy and eat food.   Probably too much, but that's a conversation for another day.   That doesn't mean I just accept it though.  I want to keep my house running correctly so I have to protect myself.   

I do that in a couple of ways.  I shop at different places, and I carry a grocery list.   Here is how I shop for groceries.

A Tale of Two Grocery Stores   

I go grocery shopping at least once per week, and when I go, I hit two different grocery stores.  

One is a value store, that specializes in the basic stuff like sugar, flour, butter, bread, things like that.  It's not fancy.  I'm not emotionally attached to it.   The prices are right.   I usually get what I need.  Sometimes the quality can suck.   It's not perfect, but it's a great place to start.   I keep my expectations low, but I still go.          

After I hit the value store, I then shop at a higher end grocery store.   I'm picky about certain things like vegetables.  That's why I shop there.   At this store, I find higher quality options.   Those options come with a higher price tag though, so you have to be careful when you shop there.       

 

That's why I carry a grocery list.   It works like impulse insurance.   It keeps you from buying extraneous nonsense.   Bring one, and keep yourself safe.  If you don't, your emotions will take over, and you'll break your bank.   Your emotions can't handle that kind of pressure.  Leave your emotions at home.  Bring a list instead.

Become an Emotionless, Lethal, Grocery Assassin

Grocery lists work like a dossier.   Like a dossier, grocery lists contain vital information about a potential target.  There is no guessing.  The instructions are clear.  You focus, and ignore the other distractions.   

The job comes first.  

First you look at your list. You pick your target.   You watch, and wait.   When the target makes an appearance, you rush in and take it out.   Clean.  No mistakes.    

After your initial target is taken out, you mark off the target and move onto the next target in line.  Every target is systematically eliminated one after another.  Ruthless efficiency.   

That's how my grocery list works.  I have my list, I get what is on the list, and I leave.   Nothing else happens.  There are rules in place, that I follow.  When I follow them, things work like I expect them to, and that's what I want.   My grocery list makes me reliable, and my budget benefits from that reliability.

Intelligence Meeting

All good field agents receive Intel from a highly skilled group of people working behind the scenes.  These people look into everything before a job ever begins.  They get a lay of the land.  They figure out all of the details, before anything ever happens.  They provide a tactical advantage. 

In my house, my intelligence comes from a spreadsheet.   

This is how it works.   Every week, I pull up a free online spreadsheet.   I use google docs, but you can use whatever works for you.  On this spreadsheet I've recorded the names and prices for every item ahead of time that I've ever purchased at the store.   These are things that I feel deserve a second chance.   I browse for what I want, see the prices and start creating my list.  

At the beginning, I look at my spreadsheet, pick an item, and then I walk around the house to see if I have it or need it.  If I want it, I write it down.   If I can get by without it, I skip it.   I then tally everything up.  Since I can see the prices, I can figure out how much everything will cost.   I do this before I ever put the keys into my car.   

If I come in high, I adjust the list and scrub some things off.  If I come in low, I know I'm either safe, or that I have some wiggle room.  If there is enough wiggle room I might add a small treat for the kids.  The idea here, is if the list doesn't show it, I don't buy it.   This helps me to put blinders on while I'm walking at the store, and keeps me honest.

 

Conclusion

You know you have to eat.  You know you're going to need to get some more food.   Why not have a support team in place to ensure it goes like you want it to?   Grocery lists keep you on track.  

Grocery stores want to take all of your money.  They spend a ton of money on research to ensure you buy things.   Do you want to try to defend yourself with your will power alone?   Your will power is weak.   It's flabby, and it doesn't want to behave.   

Give that flab a back bone.    Put some structure into your life.  Grocery lists help you to stand tall.  You go in, you focus in on what you came for, you walk out and nobody gets hurt.  

That's how you want it to go.   Make it happen.  Bring a grocery list.