“Will buy if” Pricing
Is this broccoli a good deal? Could I get the chicken breast cheaper somewhere else? Should I skip the pot roast?
When you’re shopping on a budget, these are the questions that haunt you. The big, colorful sale signs work hard to convince you it’s a good deal and, unfortunately often, they work. You’ll cave — especially if it’s something enticing — because you save a measly buck.
This is the reason I have a mental “will buy if” price list. This list contains common, everyday foods such as meats, produce and dairy. It also encompasses the lowest market price of foods that are never or rarely on sale.
Our grocery list is elastic. We’re open to a wide variety of foods, so if one “staple” isn’t cheap enough on a certain week, I just skip it. Broccoli was expensive — $1.79 per pound — during my last shopping trip. We aren’t eating broccoli this week.
The benefit (and drawback) of a will buy if list is it forces you to examine common conceptions about you and your family’s diet. My husband never believed we could live without bread, but I haven’t purchased a loaf in over 4 weeks. If we need it, I bake it. Otherwise, we eat something else.
There’s always something cheap enough to fit into your budget. A narrow shopping list isn’t necessarily repetitive since you can prepare the same food in hundreds of different ways. The Way of Frugality demands you hone your culinary skills and keep your spice cabinet well stocked.