Grocery Shopping when you’re hungry… BAD IDEA

When two people get married, tasks need to be separated to make sure that both people pull their weight, especially if both people are working. That is what Dania and I did, especially once the kids came around. We needed to have our chores well defined to make sure that we wouldn’t fall behind and so that we wouldn’t always be waiting for the other person to do certain things. Me, I’m not very organized so I needed this in my life, and Dania was more than happy to oblige. Well, when doling out the chores somehow I wound up with the responsibility of doing the grocery shopping. We take turns sometimes, but for the most part this is Wency’s job. Do the groceries.

In recent months grocery shopping has gotten a little trickier for us. First, food prices started going up. Then, my 22 month old, Andres, started eating more. Then so did Lucas, my nine year old… a lot more in fact. Then with the economy the way it’s been going, money just hasn’t been going as far. So we have decided to make a food budget. We plan all our meals and do our best not to buy more than what we need. We plan the kids’ lunches, our own lunches, afternoon snacks, and dinner for every night. We have in doing so stopped buying a lot of the unnecessary foods that we would buy because it just looked good, or because “Man, this really tastes good”.

We, especially me, have learned to also buy what’s on sale. We’re no longer buying our favorite brand, but whatever brand is offering the better deal. We’ll buy Kraft cheese one week, then switch to Sargento the next. Which cereal is buy one get one free? That’s the one we’re buying. And generic brands have suddenly become tastier too! When we go to Publix, we get a lot of Publix brand foods. One example is the cola. We’re almost exclusively buying Publix Cola instead of Coca Cola (unless people are coming over, because you know, nothing says times are tough more than generic colas!!! We don’t want to give people the wrong impression, now do we, Mr. and Mrs. Jones). Just today I saved $30 on groceries!! All that’s left for us to do is to start clipping coupons, and trust me we’ll be doing it as soon as we can dedicate some time to it!

But seriously, we have learned that saving money begins at the grocery store. If we don’t buy unnecessary items, we can save close to $100 a month that we can use on other things like doing fun stuff with the kids. Last month we spent about $200 less than the previous month. Going to places like BJ’s has helped us to buy in bulk and save money in the process, as long as we only get the essentials. But there is one catch to being successful in buying groceries.

GO SHOPPING RIGHT AFTER A BIG MEAL!

I have come to realize that when you go shopping when you are not hungry , you will only get what you need. Nothing more. It’s important to take a list because with no food on your mind you may skip some necessities, but it’s definitely more effective. Going to buy groceries on an empty stomach, though. Wency Ortega has a real rough time. How tough. Let me tell you a story.

One day, I was asked by my wife to grab a few things at Publix. I told Dania I’d go after a quick snack. She replied that there was no time. She had already started cooking and needed some ingredients. Go now!! I don’t like getting her angry when cooking. She may throw a sizzling hot frying pan at me, so I went. My intention was to buy just what was necessary, but i ran into food in the aisles along the way… and it all looked so good. And for some reason or another, when I’m hungry I’ll get things I would otherwise never think of getting. Well, as it turns out I was gone for more than 40 minutes. Dania was as hot as the skillet she had been heating up for whatever it was she was preparing. I probably would have been quicker if I would have nuked a hot dog and eaten it on the way there, but instead I let my eyes and nose wander at the store. And I showed up with a lot more stuff than she needed at the time. And some stuff that we didn’t need at all. Ever.

Like quail eggs.

Yes, I bought quail eggs. You see, she needed eggs, and I went to get them, and right next to the regular eggs were these cute colorful little quail eggs, which must be pretty good if they are there and are as expensive as they are. In fact for the price, they must be delicious, I figured. How can I pass the up? I didn’t. I got quail eggs. So you’re probably wondering how they were. Well, let me tell you… they tasted like eggs. All twelve of them together made the equivalent of a 1 egg omelet… one that tasted just like, you guessed it, a one egg omelet. I guess I learned my lesson, right? Nope.

Other hungry purchases I have made: Farmer’s cheese, canned salmon (I don’t even like salmon), stuffed eggplant, mango key lime pie (I hate mangos), and tiramisu ice cream. Not all of these were bad purchases. The Mango Key Lime Pie was actually delicious. Either that or I was REALLY hungry when I got it (I did eat a piece the second I got back). But none of these were necessary. And none were anything that anybody in my house would eat. I ate every one of these things on my own, and some got thrown away before I could finish them (salmon and farmer’s cheese… and I loooove cheese)

I must say that I have improved some. I don’t make these strange buys very much now, especially when I go with only a certain amount of cash in hand (it’s amazing how many things you walk by when you realize that you can only use the cash in hand), but buy one get one free cookies always seem to wind up in my basket when I go hungry, as they did today. And BOGOF pop tarts, and BOGOF ice cream, and BOGOF waffles…

So, I implore to all those reading, don’t make the same mistakes I’ve made. Eat before you go to the grocery store. You may have enough to go skiing at the end of the year if you do so. Thanks to today, I had to downgrade from Aspen to Beech Mountain. Maybe I can make it up next week. I’m gonna go now, though. Those BOGOF Chips Ahoy are calling my name.