Today is budgeting and market day. Alone! I'm taking a gamble and withdrawing an entire month's worth of grocery money today. Cash is harder to part with than swiping a debit card. $350 is the budgeted amount ... a bit tight ... especially with Easter dinner. Shopping at
Sprawlmart was horrible. A sea of people. Stacks upon stacks ... row upon row of needless junk and packaged goods calling out from every isle and corner. People milling around throwing junk in their carts without a second thought. I took a peek down the candy isle and was shocked to see the crowds of people AND the nearly
1,000 items of Easter 'goodies' to choose from. This place truly is one big fat FAKE food warehouse! And people wonder why there is an obesity problem in the USA. Today's purchase was small ... for the size of the store; all whole food items .. and a bottle of hot sauce. A quick stop at Costco and a local specialty butcher shop ... then home.
If it wasn't for my tight budget ... I'd have skipped Sprawlmart altogether. How do you maneuver the 'shark infested waters' of the market?
copyright free image from
here
7 comments:
I managed to go to the grocery store for a pot roast for Sunday and that's all I bought! I can identify with the blinders on thing. It's frustrating to have to navigate through all the junk, isn't it?
I let the supermarket do the hard work occasionally and do my grocery shopping online. It is great as I can pop through to the kitchen and check exactly what I need, I can see a running total of what I am spending and I can choose my delivery at a time to suit me. I can also often get vouchers against the delivery charge, so that's not a problem as I often get my delivery from a supermarket with very good deals but which is actually about a 40 mile round trip if I were to go there myself. I can also change my order up to 10pm the night before delivery so that I can add or delete items.
Is this sort of service available where you live?
Cindy ... A Super Walmart is a prime example of the excess consumerism mentality that's gone awry in America. Just plain too much choice ... And to think our neighboring town is putting in a second one.
Morgan ... interesting idea about shopping on-line. Sometimes, for me, going shopping is the only time I get out of my home for the week.
Hi there, I just started reading your blog a couple weeks ago and am really enjoying it. I can't go into big supermarkets or Walmarts. It's just TOO MUCH. My husband and I call it the tyranny of choice. I don't want to waste my time looking at 50 brands of toilet paper and thousands of plastic toys. What we can't get food-wise from our CSA (which also has a winter share) or grow ourselves, we buy at our local Whole Foods, which is small and manageable. We make almost all our food from scratch, and we just don't buy much in the way of "consumer goods" - it helps that we don't have TV and our 10-yr-old is blissfully ignorant of all that is out there! I feel bad for kids who want more and more and more because that's what they see.
I rarely shop Walmart..I make most everything fresh and from scratch, and have eliminated refined sugar, processed foods, all dairy and meat; it has been the most incredible life-style change I have ever experienced. Beans, rice, seeds, nuts, vegetables, fruits, grains, fresh herbs and spices. I shop a local health food store for many items and when I do shop our local grocery store, I only cruise the perimeters; I do have to occasionally stroll into the aisles for something Ron needs and to a meat market for his meals. But for the most part..God has delivered me of the lures and modern day greed and destruction that was keeping me from healthy living.
I rarely go to Spawlmart (Love that term!) because it's almost always crowded and if I wait for the bargains I can usually get my food at another local warehouse-type grocery store, but I have to shop the perimeters for the most part. I also shop at Aldi, although I'm not sure you have those in your area. It's small but cheap and it makes it hard to watch people throw so much junk into their carts. I would love to take them home one-by-one and teach them how to make real food and tell them, "You don't have to eat junk! The real stuff tastes so much better." Have a great weekend!
I hate Walmart. I do shop there for diapers, wipes and formula for the foster babies though. NOt much else.
Post a Comment