Once a Month Shopping
Posted on March 11, 2010 - Filed Under Mom Stuff, Simple Life | 7 Comments
When Irving left the band, we went from having money coming in all month long to just getting it once a month, sometime between the end of the month and the 15th, depending on whether or not my clients feel like paying on time. And that presented a problem.
We’re not good at budgeting. Or, I should probably say . . . one of us is not. 
As a result, it’s pretty common to run out of things near the end of the month, which causes a lot of stress and anxiety that, in my mind, is simply not necessary. So, I started doing what my mom did when I was a kid, once a month shopping.
Irving and I headed into Antigua and we SCOURED the area. We took a notebook and we wrote down prices for everything from various places, which someday I may be organized enough to share if anyone is interested. We discovered that the cheapest place to buy bulk food in general is not behind the market in the dark shadowy bodegas, as previously thought, but on the other side of the street where the buses bound for Guate come out. There is a huge store there with two giant doors and a very long glass counter. You order at the counter, pay at the hidden booth (I guess you can’t rob someone you can’t see, though it’s just blacked out plexiglass and they walk out a few feet away without protection) and then go back to get your stuff.
The other place to buy bulk is behind the market, the second booth piled high with soap and toilet paper, etc. We’ve bought diapers there for a very long time, so the guy was happy to give us a deal on everything . . . though I’m sure the fact we spent Q800 there had something to do with it, too.
Anyway. My point is that I wasn’t sure how much we’d use of everything. I just guessed. And it came out just perfectly! We did have to buy another package of diapers, but that is a virtually non-existent cost this month because the boys are not using diapers except at night now. And even then, they get up to pee half the time, saving even more diapers!
Several things ended up being more than enough to last for another while. Oil, for example. I bought a gallon and we haven’t even used half, thanks to the fact that I decided to try one of those cooking sprays, which was the best investment EVER. Q14 at the Bodegona (just under $2) and it’s lasted all month! So, no oil this month. The hard laundry soap that I bought a full box of is going to last another 3-5 months depending on how dirty my kids are, the toilet paper still has a couple of rolls left and there’s toothpaste galore. Flour, rice, beans and sugar are all still plentiful, too, so I don’t need to add those to the list either!
We even still have some chicken in the freezer and a couple packets of hamburger meat. All in all, it was a big success and this month we’ll definitely be doing this again.
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7 Responses to “Once a Month Shopping”
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Genesis,
I love this idea! We are getting ready to move to a small town that’s a 3 hour drive to the nearest city- and all major shopping- so we’re being forced into once a month shopping as well. (maybe once every 2 months, since its so far!)
My question to you is- how and where do you store it all?
Good for you!
You have to get creative with the storage space, Lora! I’m lucky in that I had a lot of empty space under my counters still. I got 5 lb. milk tins and emptied bags of beans, rice, etc. into those, which saves space. Everything for the bathroom got stuffed under the sink in the cabinet or under the cubby at the back of our tub. We put some stuff in the television cabinet, as well.
I’ve heard of people removing their boxspring and using ten gallon buckets of stuff under it! That would be more long term, of course. You might have extra space in your closets, too, a couple levels of boxes full of dry goods works well and uses up that extra space in the lower closet and you can put shoes and stuff on top of it. Hope that helps!
How organized!! This is another thing that frequent moves disrupts. Finding the best stores, figuring out the best storage in your house, etc. About the time I get to where you are at, it’s time to start packing. Of course, I’ve only got 2 years now as a stay at home mom, so perhaps I’ll be much quicker this go around since I’ll actually have time to work on it?! This is a new possibility! Anyway, awesome job!
Yeah, finding the best stores is definitely tough when you first move to a new place! I couldn’t even find the supermarket for my first month in Antigua.
Hopefully you will get the hang of it though.
That’s a great idea. I am awful at budgeting. Love those cooking sprays too, they also come in “flavors” such as butter, olive oil, etc. Thought this might be of interest, by the way: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/fashion/14moms.html?th&emc=th
I got used to buying some things once a month: mostly beans, sugar, rice, detergent, hard soap for washing clothes, tortilla mix, toilet paper; fruit, vegetables and meat I buy every 2 weeks. There were 10 people living in our house while I was growing up, so my mom bought everything in bulk, so I just inherited the custom, I guess. Great storage ideas, Genesis!