So one of the things Sam and I have been doing lately, and there's not one reason for it, but many, is to try to be very conscious of what we eat vs. what we throw away, and buy less or use things until they're gone. This isn't that radical-sounding, it's true. But Sam has always had a bad case of the impulse buys (look! new cookies!), and I often buy cheeses or snacks I don't need. And we've been bad in the past about using something that we buy for one meal in other meals, meaning it goes to waste. So we've been planning better--doing recon on what we have before we leave (do we need another pack of fajita seasoning? do we still have enough cheddar cheese for our lunches? what's the ketchup situation?), and thinking ahead of time of which meals we might want to make during the week. We start very strongly, cooking at least Sunday and Monday (real cooking, too), and sometimes Tuesday, and then things peter out starting Wednesday. That doesn't mean we eat out, it just means we cobble together meals from stuff we have. Less planned than picked at. (Oh, we have three slices of mozzarella cheese. And two of American. And half a sleeve of Ritz. Guess I'll eat cheese and crackers. Is that ham? I'll eat ham and cheese and crackers.) It works for us.
Part of this is due to money. We're trying to a) make sure we get our money's worth and b) try to save money by eating what we have. It's hard when the food you buy is expensive--fresh meat for one night of the week, a gallon of milk a week (we really do eat a LOT of cereal), Sam's always-eaten Fage Greek yogurt, the lunch meat for our sandwich night--and when coupons don't help. Ever. I've tried two weeks in a row, and buying a paper ain't worth it, because we aren't making back our money in coupons. We've been buying "off" brands a bit too. We don't have favorite brands for everything, but we almost always have a preference, and we've been trying to fight that impulse when we can and when we can save by buying something similar on sale. (Jewel pickles are actually quite delicious.) I've been trying to curb us from buying too many indulgences--no expensive ice cream (Sam) or frozen product (me). We've just been tightening things up a bit.
Frankly, it's working. Our bills are down a bit, we're eating better home-cooked food (raising the bill back up a bit, but that's a-ok), and we're keeping things interesting. I'm pretty excited by the fact that we're working hard at this, and that we're keeping at it. We've been lazy about this in the past, and it's just something I'm really being very insistent on, and which he has been wonderful about keeping up with me.
Speaking of which, I don't know if I've ever talked about this before, and it's a slight tangent, but I'm always shocked by how many men don't go to the store with their girlfriends or wives. I have friends who do all the shopping for their household, and to me, it seems grossly unfair. Both people in the house eat the food, and I think that means both people should shop for it. Since we've been living together (going on our fifth year here), we've been doing the shopping together--cutting out however long we need on a weeknight or weekend (mostly weekend here), and getting it done. We do it once a week, and it's a shared exercise, both in terms of what we buy, and who pays for it. I understand that if one person in a relationship doesn't work, it makes sense for that person to do the shopping during the week, alone. But when both people work? Why shouldn't both make time for the chore?
I've been asked before how I "get" Sam to go with me, and the answer is: He doesn't have a choice. If he wants to eat, he comes and shops for food. I'm very clear on the fact that everything domestic that happens in this house happens because we're a partnership; he's not my houseboy, and I'm not his maid. We do the laundry together, we clean together, and we cook together most of the time. This is a partnership, and that means we're partners in everything, good and bad. Shopping, no matter how you feel about it, has to get done, and that means it has to get done by both of us. He will never have to go without me, and vice versa. I just don't get why it's women's work; it seems perfectly neutral to me, as men are as good as women at picking out food to eat. And frankly, going together means both people get exactly what they want and can thus take responsibility for their lunches and breakfasts. (Once, and I don't remember why, one of my co-workers said that it was nice that I made our lunches--implying I would be making Sam's. Because food prep is of course also women's work. I quickly disabused her of that notion. He's a big boy, and he can make his own lunch. That way, he gets exactly what he wants. He's a responsible human being. We both work. It just makes sense.) I don't know, I don't get it. I don't get why both partners in a relationship shouldn't carve our an hour or two for shopping. Unless one person prefers to do it, but that seems rather foreign to me, as I think most people should take an interest in the food they'll be eating in the coming days. Maybe it's just me.
Anyway. Grocery shopping. Such a riveting post, I know.
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