Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Power shopping trip

Today is my bi-monthly power shopping trip. I was telling a co-worker about this (she is young and does not have kids). I told her that I am exhausted after the power trip and she seemed surprised. I thought it would be good define the "power shopping trip".
I go through cookbooks and and plan a loose menu for the next two weeks (I go shopping on payday which is on the 1st & 15th of the month). I draw a shopping list from the menu and then figure out what else we need and finish the list.
I then go to the gas station (the cheapest in town, long line) Winco and Costco, I often stop at Target, Walmart and Michaels as well, if I need things from those stores. These are all in the same part of town, to save gas by doing this all at one time. I also have to hit Starbucks to re-charge during this. I go to all these stores and do all the shopping in about two hours. I can publish a list and I challenge anyone to buy all the items on the list while trying to keep price, and nutrional value in mind and see if they are not a bit tired.
When I buy food for my family I also try to maintain a diet that is low in trans-fat and corn sweetners. We make most of the food from scratch. I do go lazy and keep a stash of Gogurt and juice boxes and kettle chips in the garage for outings.
Today, I need to price out tents (we have decided it's time to buy one, but don't need it until next month) and pick up some art supplies for Liam. The good news is that David took the day off, so I can take my time.
I do not go window shopping at the mall and I rarely make any purchases outside this power shopping trip, so it really is squeezing a lot in during a short time. I am thankful that David watches the boys and lets me go alone. I am much faster and less likely to things since I do not have frequent questions and interuptions.
On a different note, they had a slip and slide at the park yesturday and the boys loved it. The city of Portland uses the kind of poor man's slip and slide that I used as a child (we were not poor, but my parents were not into buying the latest toy for me either). You take the giant tarp and spray it down with a hose. The house I grew up in had a big back yard and a slight incline, so slip and sliding was to much fun.
Here is a picture of Liam and his craft project from a park day last week.

Credits: Everything except the flower are from Rachel Young's grab bag - The Big Deal Summer Edition. This is a great grab bag and it's only $3.00! The flower is from Sweet Escape - A collab kit by Rachel Young and Amanda Rockwell.
A quick note on my bug bite situation. I had comments that the big bite is probably a spider bite. I think that is what it is. When I want to scratch, I just put cortizone cream on it. It is slowly getting smaller and shows no sign of infection. The funny thing is that the spiders that live in Oregon are not supposed to bite. Perhaps I heard wrong or there was a spider that is a non-native species. I am also taking Benydrl and Zyrtec to help with the itching.

6 comments:

Mrs. Burns said...

I do the same thing! I try to buy our groceries for the 2 weeks as well. Good for you!

Char said...

I'm tired after hearing about your power shopping... but I probably should try to do it too!

Zin from the Alps said...

I totally sympathize, I live on top of the mountain and do that but without a car. On the bus, with the nearest shop 20 minutes down the hill, I am forced to do it weekly though, as there is a 20 minute walk from the bus home...

lorig said...

Power shopping is tiring. When I was in high school, we lived an hour and a half from the nearest grocery store and mall. (we lived in a cabin at the lake year round). We would shop for a month at a time in the same way you describe, except the whole family of 6 went because if we needed any clothes or anything that is when we shopped. Now I am spoiled and the store is 7 minutes from my place and I have got lazy. I think it is time to start planning in advance again.

Cyndy said...

Isn't gas ridiculous? I live close to a Wal-Mart, but if I have to go across town, I try to combine trips too.

RefreshMom said...

I shop pretty much the same way, but instead of starting with recipes, I start with the sales ads from the local stores and decide what I'll buy from what's cheap. (I used to color-code my shopping list in my Franklin Planner and hit Safeway, Albertson's and Fred Meyer all in a day).

I found that Fred Meyer's sale prices were often only a penny or two off WinCo's and since I could also get kids' clothes, presents, household items (and they were open until 11 pm so I could shop at 10 when everyone was in bed), that's where I spent most of my shopping money. It surprised me that Freddie's was one of the things I missed the most when we moved here!

Happy shopping!