I had an interesting experience at the grocery store today. I was in the produce section and noticed they had strawberries on sale. Josh and I are trying to eat healthier, so I thought I’d grab some. There’s another woman looking at strawberries too. I then realize these are some acquaintances of ours. Not wanting to get into a big long conversation with them, (They are the type that, without meaning to I’m sure, make you feel inferior. Their life is SO wonderful, blah blah) I devise a plan. I looked intently at the strawberries until she went on to lettuce. Then I nonchalantly turned the other way and worked my way backwards in the store.
I NEVER go backwards in the store. You always get frozen stuff last that way it stays cold longer. (that’s okay though, I organized my cart and put all the frozens together so they would help each other stay cold)Not today. Today all I cared about was making sure I didn’t run into our dear little friends. Several things happened as I was doing this. For one, it got me out of my normal routine. ( So I will probably have to go back at some point because I forgot things) But it made me think more as to what I need. I did no browsing whatsoever. Got what I needed and get the heck out of Dodge. It also made it into a little game. I felt like I was 5 again and I was playing hide and seek.
This exercise tonight made me think. You can turn grocery shopping into a game. You could set a certain amount and no matter what you buy you can’t go over it. (not so much for a budget, but that’s a nice little added bonus) You could pick out a random person you don’t know and do as I did and avoid them at all cost. See if you can save more than you spend (use coupons, sales etc to actually SAVE more than you pay them) Categorize your buggy as you put items in your cart so its easier to unload when you get home (you can even pester the bagger to make sure they keep your organization. )
I challenge you to use your imagination next time you go to the store. If you have any fun ideas, please share.