I do my grocery shopping most Fridays. I'd tell you it's less stressful to have a routine; Little Sister would tell you it's because I'm a control freak who can't handle change. The truth is probably somewhere in between ... or Little Sister is right. Shh! Don't tell her I told you that.
Last Friday I made a list and headed out to the supermarket. I had two 1kg tubs of yogurt on the list. I usually buy one for the week but we were having a curry over the weekend so needed extra. (We certainly did need extra - that was one hot curry!) Once I got to the supermarket, however, I decided to only buy one. I decided to see how full it was after the weekend and maybe buy one early this week when I had to run errands. That way, it would be fresher. It seemed like a good plan ...
For those of you who don't live in the same city as me, our supermarkets close at 5pm on Sundays. At 6pm Husband came in and told me the yogurt was pretty much empty. (He's the cook in the family.) I jumped in the car, drove to our local IGA and bought yogurt. However, in the process I made an unplanned car trip which added emissions to the environment. I could have walked but dinner was ready - this was a mercy dash. Once at the IGA I could only buy a 500g tub and an unethical brand. That meant I'd eventually have to buy another 500g tub this week. (I did that this morning when I was already out and about in the car doing the school run.)
My "good plan" resulted in unnecessary carbon emissions, buying from an unethical company and adding more packaging to waste/recycling. Life was easier when I could just jump in the car and buy whatever yogurt I wanted when I wanted whatever size I wanted! Am I disheartened and discouraged? No way! I'm just going to really think about last minute list changes.
Cheers.
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Love this post!
ReplyDeleteI plan too. For me, it's not so much about the routine, or being a control freak - it's about surviving a timetable that, if I had to keep doing bits of shopping everyday, would be an absolute nightmare.
In recent weeks, due to DB's work hours, ALL the domestic management has fallen on me. Asking what Sixteen wants for dinner as a guide to the day's shopping (DB's usual method - entailing a car run to the shops for that meal and next day's lunch supplies) would require me to break my trip home from work on public transport to stop at the local Westfield - our closest supermarkets - and then lug bags home on the bus... That's NOT gong to happen on a daily basis on my watch. Plus, it's a way more expensive way to shop.
The menfolk are having some stuggles with this - it does mean that Sixteen having a free-for-all of consumption through the fridge for 'snacks' isn't on, in case he eats something that's sitting there to be made into a meal. He doesn't like that much. However, if I'm going to manage all my own committments, plus the shopping, cooking, most of the clearing up, washing and cleaning, he's going to have to lump it. Or do some shopping himself!