Mar 5, 2012

Shopping & Cash Experiment Update

I had a rough shopping day today, as stores were out of the items I wanted, and prices were higher than I expected (for example, Soft Lips were $3.99 instead of $1.99 at Rite Aid). The kicker was at Pavilions, where I was told they no longer accept printable coupons with a face value of more than $1. I came home and checked the coupon policy, which of course didn't say anything about this, so I emailed them and we'll see what they say.

Thanks to these problems, I ended up buying very little while I was out, but that's because I did the bulk of my weekly grocery shopping yesterday at Trader Joe's. With one weekend of shopping under my belt this month, my cash spending for groceries and at the drugstores totals $132.16 - just over $70 of that was at Trader Joe's, $20 online at Abe's Market, and $20 at Whole Foods on meat. That total also includes a fair amount of stockpiling, especially of cereal and toothpaste. I normally would have bought a few more things at Trader Joe's just to "have on hand," but I think it's about what I usually spend in a week.

One thing that I see coming from my efforts to spend less and save more is that I am trying to cook more "homey" Japanese food, rather than just buy expensive sashimi or eat out because I'm craving it. It's still on the pricey side because I buy a lot of organic and high-quality ingredients, but it's still cheaper overall. ^_^

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