Staying out of the dang store...

Something that I personally struggle with is staying out of the grocery store. I have always wanted to be that mom that did the whole 'Grocery Shopping Once a Month' thing and if we lived in the country that would probably be the case. Unfortunately for me, I have a Walmart about 5 minutes away so it makes it really convenient to stop in if I run out of something. The challenge that I am giving myself is to: Stay out of the dang store.  The key to accomplishing this task is: Find alternatives. Some things are easier to find alternatives for than others.

For about 9 months (a few years ago) I lived in a very small town with the nearest grocery store being about 30 miles away. Trips for any kind of shopping had to be very carefully planned because if you ran out of something it would be at least an hour round trip in driving alone! Not to mention the gas money...  this was good and bad for me. I learned how to make a list and I learned how to find alternatives if I ran out of something. Now I live in a town where shopping is easily accessible and I'm struggling with running to the store 2 or 3 times a week!

I don't care who you are... going into a store and picking up the one thing you went in there for and leaving with nothing else is hard or near impossible. For me personally, I like to make the trip worth it so subconsciously I'll tell myself "what else do I need" and I end up picking up a few things that I kind of needed but could have done without for a few weeks. What irritates me about this is that it eats up my grocery money and then when I go on my final shopping trip of the month I might have to readjust dramatically to compensate for that extra money that I spent week 2. If that makes sense...

So I am challenging myself and challenging you to stay out of the dang store... let's curb those impulse buys and keep our grocery budgets in check!