Economics at the grocery store

Food pickup today! I love unpacking the bags. Particularly this week. I know I've mentioned before how much I LOVE this pickup. Chicken pesto sandwich, grilled cheese and BROWNIE, mac & cheese. Yummmmmm.

So here's a happenstance that's saving me money. I still go to the grocery store for milk, food for Nicky, fruits and vegetables. With the three kids, it's a bit of a trial. I have to bring in our stroller which is 5 feet long (that is not an exaggeration) and then have to manage a cart as well. So I've started going first thing in the morning on Saturday when John can stay home with the kids. Now, we happen to be military so I take advantage of going to the commissary. I don't know how many of you have been to a commissary before but they basically have one line for all the checkouts, like Toys R Us does now. Anyway, I went at about 2:00 one Saturday afternoon. The line was four aisles long. Really. Down and up, down and up, and heading down again. I should have been worries when there were no carts outside. So I decided to pare down my list to the bare bones, figuring express has got to be shorter. After getting what I considered to be my 20 essential items, I hurried to the express line. Where I was third in line! Wow. Talk about positive reinforcement.

So now, every Saturday when I go to the grocery store, I limit myself to 20 items. It's amazing how quick the trip is and how much money I save by not buying the non-essentials. I'm not filling my cabinets and freezers with food that Nicky might like. When I have extra "room" on my list I get one or two new things. I recommend giving express line buying a try for a few weeks. DTG makes it very easy to do!