If you shop on a budget you know what I'm talking about. Trying to stay within your allotted money, while also getting everything you need is so unbelievably stressful. Add to that, shopping with a 16 month old and you might as well just pull yourself bald before you even walk in the store.
We are pretty loyal Kroger shoppers. And we get our money's worth without a doubt. Last time I fueled up we saved .60 cents a gallon. You really can't beat that. But I feel like I'm constantly having to go back for more stuff. Between the Man and the Child they are eating me out of house and home. I cannot keep food on the shelf. So I decided to try out a Sam's membership. I figured I'd save enough money just on dog food and diapers to make it worth it.
Now I'm a planner. I like to try to make my life as easy as possible, especially since I'm toting around a little tornado. So I got online and went ahead and signed up for my membership before I headed to the store. Apparently I should not have bothered. I get there and they take my drivers license and try to look me up. Nothing. She looks up my phone number. Still nothing. So she asks if I know my membership number. No, didn't think to write that down. Fail on my part, didn't think I'd need it. So here's how the conversation went,
Sam's lady: It doesn't update our system very quickly.
Me: I signed up two hours ago, do you have a phone number for your main office? I can call and get my membership number.
Sam's lady: it's sam's club .com.
Me: no mam, I need the phone number.
Sam's lady: Well we just always tell ppl to go to the website.
Me: Well since I'm one of the last five people on earth who doesn't have a smart phone, We're gonna need to do it old school and get a phone number.
Sam's lady: I can call a manager, but I don't know a phone number.
SERIOUSLY??? Are we so high tech these days that employee's don't even learn the phone numbers anymore??
So I look around at all of their pamphlets around the register, and find a phone number for their credit card machine people. Apparently Sam's supplies credit card machines. So I call them and dude gives me the number and then claims he will transfer me. But WAIT.. "First, mam are you a business owner?" Umm.. I sell independently, "well let me tell you about our credit card machines", umm.. no, sir, I'm really just trying to get in touch with membership.. "I know, but you can do so much more business with a credit card machine.." Really sir, I just need membership. "I understand mam, but..." and then I stopped being so nice and patient. CLICK! And then he called back!! Really?? are they so hard up to sell those things. Douche.
Finally, I get a hold of the membership office, get my id number, and the lady finds me in the computer. But not before she talks to me about her daughters name, which is Alicia, like my middle name, and how it really should be pronounced Aleesia but she's always pronounced it Alicia. Well hon, you're her mom, you can decide how you want to pronounce it the day she's born, no one can say otherwise. OMG, I just spent 45 minutes just trying to get my id so I can shop. And she lost my drivers liscence and had to hunt it down.
But you know what?? I never lost my temper, I never got angry, and this lady, who may or may not have been on drugs, I haven't decided, told me how patient I was for someone who had a baby, and she thanked me and said happy Thanksgiving. And that told me, wow, I'm really growing up. Back in the day I probably would have lost it. But then some guy that worked in the tire department walked by and tried to touch T. So I did lose it a little. Keep your filthy hands to yourself.
I go about my business and shop, and realize within the first five minutes of actual shopping that OMG, they really do have great deals. Two giant sizes or apple juice are the same price as one regular sized one at Kroger. And a 10lb bag of Tyson chicken breasts is only 22 dollars compared to a 3lb bag of Kroger brand for 8 dollars! SCORE!!! So it was a great shopping trip. I got a lot for my money and was pretty happy with my membership.
But then I check out, and start looking, and I start getting that nervous sinking feeling like, did I buy enough?? Did I just blow money on nothing and I'm going to have to go back and spend more money?? So all day I'm stressing and thinking sure, I got a lot for my money but did I really buy a lot? And I'm so nervous. But then, the Man, my sweet bottomless pit man, comes home and looks in the pantry, and says, "Now THAT is what a pantry is supposed to look like after you grocery shop!!"
Whew.. Crisis averted. The Man is happy. He just sees the thirty days worth of chips and thinks he's set. But as long as he's happy, I'm happy.
Also, I don't know if any of you know this, but at Sam's you can make a list of what you want and send it to them, and they will gather it all up and have it waiting for you the next day. FOR FREE!! This frazzled mommy is definitely taking advantage of that!!!!
Moral of this story. We put ourselves on a budget not because we necessarily have to, but because it's a good idea to try to keep the grocery bill tame. But the major stress it causes me to try to stay in that budget really got me thinking. Their are mom's out there who have little money, and they really have to make it spread thin at the grocery store. I cannot imagine that kind of pressure. And I get now why some mom's have to feed their kids processed foods, processed foods are cheaper. And when you have little money you go with what's cheaper. So it's not their fault.
Their are so many advocates for healthy eating in America, and getting childhood obesity down, but really if you want people to buy healthier stuff, make it more affordable. I spend WAY more when I'm shopping healthy than when I'm not really thinking about it. And that's the problem. If it was affordable I don't know a mom in the world who wouldn't get what's best for their child.
