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Mar 2007 Issue
By Gail Jackson
I think my mother was fairly typical of the mothers of her day - she wasn’t employed outside the home, she did all the housework wearing a printed cotton “house dress,” sensible shoes and white cotton ankle socks. We were a one car family and she didn’t even know how to drive.
The highlight of her daily routine was an excursion to our local neighborhood grocery store.
My mother, like most of the regular customers, kept a running charge. Each day’s purchases were tallied on dog-eared blue ledger cards filed alphabetically in a worn cardboard box. Customers paid when their individual circumstances allowed. There was no service charge, interest or penalty for late payment. There was no need for returned check policies.
It was a simpler, gentler, time.
My mother didn’t shop for clothes or home decor. Her idea of the perfect outing was, as unbelievable as it seems, a visit to a different market–usually just to look. I’m not much like my mother, but maybe I am typical of my day. I have worked outside the home and am involved in many time-consuming activities. I do my chores in pants and a baggy sweatshirt and only wear shoes when absolutely necessary, and then rarely with socks. I drive a car and grocery shop as infrequently as possible.
No matter who you are, or what your shopping preferences are, you probably buy groceries. Whether you do it at the peak of rush hour, in the wee hours of the morning, or only once a month, there are some simple things which may help save some time and/or money. A couple of the ideas will take a little extra effort to implement but they will pay off shortly.
Try different stores and different brands. Discover that “name brand” is not always necessary nor even superior.
Create a master grocery list and make copies. Then, just mark the items you need and you’re set to go. I do my list by store layout, but you may prefer by category. I include a few blank lines for additional items. If you regularly shop more than one store, set up your master list accordingly.
Make tentative menus. I found it overwhelming to make up a month’s worth of meals until it dawned on me that we eat basically the same things over and over, or at least variations of the same thing. That realization certainly eased the menu-thinking chore.
Consult the grocery ads when planning meals and shopping lists, but be flexible when you arrive at the store and discover good, un-advertised specials.
Avoid impulse buying, which is different than buying things you can use when they are suddenly available at a special price. Even then don’t over buy just because it is a good deal, even if it’s a really, really good deal!
Go to the store as infrequently as possible unless you are one of those rare individuals who can enter a store and emerge with only what you went in for. (You might want to try that sometime, to see if you can do it. I can’t!)
Plan your route, if you have several stops, so you don’t backtrack. When the weather is hot, carry a portable cooler in the car to maintain the cold and frozen items.
Use grocery shopping as a chance to get in a little exercise. By looking high and low on the shelves you can see beyond the more expensive items and the products that stores “push” by placing them readily reachable at eye level. I understand that there is great competition by different providers for good product placement. Nothing is happenstance anymore.
Pay careful attention to the high price of “convenience” when buying prepared foods.
Sometimes they are well worth it; often they are not. Even with our busy lives, unless money is just not an issue.
Bigger doesn’t always mean cheaper. Most stores list a “per ounce” price on their shelf stickers. If not, a pocket calculator or even a pencil and scrap of paper can tell you quickly. When quantity does offer savings, buy in volume if it is practical for your situation.
Nothing presented here is earth-shattering but hopefully there are a couple of ideas or reminders to help you save a few minutes or a few pennies. It all adds up. Here are a couple of simple household “staples” for your consideration.
Ranch Dressing Mix (less than 10 cents per package)
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
1 T. dried parsley flakes, crushed
Few shakes salt, plus white or black pepper.
Stir above into 1 cup mayonnaise and 3/4 cup buttermilk. Chill.
Note: I package 3/4 cup buttermilk in snack-size zipper-style
storage bags and freeze it, until ready to make more salad
dressing.
Barbecue Sauce
2 cups catsup
½ cup brown sugar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. liquid smoke
Combine and mix well. Ready to use immediately. Store in
refrigerator.
Finally, the two biggest money savers are probably 1) do not shop when you are hungry and 2) leave the kids (and maybe even the spouse) at home. You won’t be spending money succumbing to your hunger pains or their requests.
