Grocery Woes

My level-headed husband, Yasar, is having a hissy fit. Why, you ask? Let's start at the beginning of the story...

Late in February, I got one of my favorite ezines, Counting the Cost (www.countingthecost.com). They were polling their readers about how much they spent on groceries. Now, in my head, I'm thinking "$200, maybe $300 in a bad month". My husband is from the Middle East, and doesn't really enjoy eating out, we tend to eat a more Mediterranean diet here, Andrew still enjoys pizza, and I rarely buy name-brand food, so I'm thinking we tend to be more on the frugal side. But I didn't have that proof-positive in my hands to answer the poll, and it bugged me.

So I set up a spreadsheet, outlining date, place, description, and a few catagories (food, HBA, paper, restaurant, misc, and bonuses - pizza from the shop, and using the butcher gift certificate my mom got us for Christmas). What an eye-opener! The good news is we only ate a total of $35.66 in restaurants, which was 4.2% of our total dollars spent. Now, don't break out the calculator, I'll give you the totals.

Drum roll please.....

We spent $536.40 in edible food

$20.80 in paper products
$249.20 in HBA (including $206 on prescriptions)
$17.78 in miscellaneous catagory (Easter basket for Andrew, ramekins to freeze mac & cheese)
$116.22 in bonuses (pizza, butcher gift certificate)

For a total of $859.84

That means we're paying an average of $286.61 per person ($214.96 if we include the cat, LOL!)

So, Yasar has a legitimate reason to be hollering, doesn't he?

I'd recommend this exercise to everyone. It's hard to see the final numbers in black & white, but knowledge is power. I've promised Yasar we will halve that next month.

So, my question to you is, how much do YOU drop at the grocery store every month? Are you making the payments for Sam Walton's Ferrari? Is Giant saying "Fee, Fi, Foe, Fum, I smell a wallet that's not quite done!"? Does Aldi's see you pull in the parking lot, and start breaking out the $0.10 bags in anticipation?

The Best Laid Plans....

Well, so much for getting some gym-time this morning. Andrew was up at 3:30am, complaining of a tummyache. And do you think I have any medicine in the house for that? Noo-ooooo. Poor little guy, he didn't get much rest last night. Someone's due for a long, Long, LONG nap today.

Funny thing, this 24-hour Noggin network. Wonder why they bumped Oobi to 2am? Maybe too much attention from The Soup on E? (Damn you, Joel McHale! You're lucky you're so funny!) It's sad, how they manage to pervert a very cute show. But, I've got to say, they're on the mark with Hip Hop Harry. Stupid Scott makes me cringe!

Hmm, what's for breakfast? 6 egg whites and a piece of dry toast? Hold me back!

Why am I doing this?

Isn't this an exercise in Narcissism? To think that anyone...no, make that EVERYONE on the planet (with a computer and an ISP) has this great opportunity to peek into your life? Like they care!?! LOL!

Well, let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start....

This blog is about my life, middle-class America, rapidly sinking in debt, stress, weight loss, and infertility. Can I get a witness?

I'm a thirty-something, 200+ (but barely +) lbs, happily married woman who is stuck in circumstance. My husband is a franchisee with a nationally-known pizza establishment. My life consists of being his helpmate, and mommy to my punkin-munkin, 4-year-old Andrew. I also dabble at the local old-folks home as a nurse's aide, in between cleaning up behind my men and making pizzas by the dozens. Sounds like fun, huh? You should try it.....

Tomorrow we'll explore the abject frustration of working out with a personal trainer-till you puke, eating chicken breast and baked potatoes for every meal, and getting fatter by the minute. My God has a sense of humor!