Food for $1

[sonj]

Ugh at our local grocery store they have those 10 items for $10 sales....and darn it they get me everytime! I buy what is "needed" but then "Oh look ice cream bars box of 8 are "JUST" $1." So I buy 2.... The kids love em....I usually just buy Sugar Free pudding and jello for them with a bit of whipped cream, and that is there "treat" (all store brands ofcourse..)

I can walk through a $1 store on a normal day and not see a thing I can't live without, I see food for $1 each and I buy.....

I really need to overcome this...I tell myself all those $1's add up.

[34saving]

Just tell yourself "normally these things are UNDER a dollar". Lots of times you won't even be lying to yourself.

[jhd815]

Try a grocery list. Make a list of the items you need, and stick to that list. Tell yourself going in that you are allowed only to buy what you have on your list and NOTHING else.

Also, try shopping without the kids (if you do so now). Kids bring out the impulse buyer in all of us and will use the logic "but look it's only $1" etc.

Hope it helps.

[Lori63]

Originally Posted by 34saving

Just tell yourself "normally these things are UNDER a dollar". Lots of times you won't even be lying to yourself.

I think that's true alot. WalMart (I know some people hate WM, but I can get my groceries alot cheaper there) regularly has alot of things for under a dollar that the grocery stores have 'on sale' for a dollar.

[pennywise]

I would like to add: your emotions are in the decision making process. You think of the children and become happy, so you buy to please the children - so you think at the time. However, you also know they are very pleased with the pudding. The children really want time with you. They want to sit and play with you and hear you tell them stories, this is what makes them happy. You, on the other hand, cannot be happy while you play because you are "worried" about the money you spent. So, bypass it next time thinking it is time to read a story to your children, play a game (remember "mother may I"). I hope this will help. Emotions must come out of financial decisions. Think about a carnival - the wallet is nearly empty but dad will open it for a cotton candy because the family is currently happy. Saying no is not accepted in our society anymore. We do not teach our children frugality and that education must be paid for later. I say "keep them happy and they will open their wallets". We must be cognizant of our financial situation and learn to enjoy the simple things in life. Our children are our blessings and will love us not matter what, we cannot buy them.

[PrincessPerky]

So thats why my local store just started the 10 for 10 thing. It works!

I know I struggle with the 'stuff' thing with my mother, she wants to get stuff for my kids and I want her to spend time with them, or at the least not buy stuff for me to declutter! I think while I love the smiles of cool treat time, I hate the balancing of the checkbook at the end.

And while it is harder to remember for some reason, I LOVE the giggles of a tickle fest, or the satisfied, 'I figured this out' of a kid just learning something, or the smile of a kid on the way to a free entertainment, or the new satisfied look of 'I can use my money to go to The discovery place' (a science center). I don't know why it is harder to remember, after all to my pregnant self carrying the ice cream is harder than tickling! but it is.