Confessions of a Neurotic Grocery Shopper

Okay, Kelli. You did yours, so here's mine. I kept thinking about your post as I was shopping yesterday. I think it's so funny that I'm not the only one who is so over-the-top about groceries. Here's my confession...

I haven't always cared so much about grocery shopping. I didn't get all worked up about coupons and sales. But now it's bordering on obsession with me. It's hard for me to make an unplanned trip to the grocery, because I can't help thinking that I don't know what the sales are, the best deals, or what I might have coupons for. Before each trip, I cut the coupons, scour the Meijer add, compare the add to the coupons, then create a grocery spreadsheet that calculates the add price minus any coupons I have plus tax to get a total of what I'll spend before I go. I make my list based on a menu I've made, plus any coupons I have to get really good deals with, and I try to limit my list to $150. Print it off, and off to the grocery I go. This can be an all-day process if I'm not careful.

Once the list is done and it's actually time to shop, my OCD ways continue. I have a certain order and a certain way that I have to put things in the cart. And I will often choose a line not by the length of the line, but by the cashier. It drives me crazy when people bag my groceries funky. If I take the time to put all the boxes, cans, frozen food, produce, etc together on the conveyor, then they should make some effort to bag things in a logical order....shouldn't they? If ever anyone offers to 'help' me put things in my cart or in my van, I always thank them but decline the help. Again, my experience has been that they'll throw the smushables on the bottom and dump a bag full of cans on top...what's up with that! Nope, I'm pretty particular about how the groceries go into the cart and into the van.

Well, yesterday was my shopping day. I ended up spending a total of $194, but I had some things besides groceries to buy. Here's what I ended up getting for under $200.