Monday, May 19, 2008

Being Prepared

I hear tell of this thing called "stock piling". You know, where you keep like three gallons of peanut butter on hand, or 60 rolls of toilet paper. It may not even be quantities as large as that. It may be just keeping a tube of extra toothpaste on hand.



I don't do this. For one, it never really occured to me. Secondly, why buy two of something when I only need one? This my friends, is the kind of thinking that 1.) Leaves you in a position to run out of something you HAVE to have, and 2.) Leaves you in a position to have to run out to the grocery store at 9 pm on a Sunday night.



By the end of the week at my house, the pickings are getting a little slim. We are low on milk and just about everything else. I usually grocery shop on Sunday 'cuz I like to clip coupons before I go shopping. Digressing, digressing...sorry. So I get up Sunday morning and stomp into the kitchen when the most horrible catastrophy occured. Devastation was imminent. Lives were about to be in danger. I was out of coffee. Completely out. Not one little ground of coffee to be had. After I regained consicousness, I tried to decide what to do. Keri and Melissa were both still asleep and I hadn't had a shower yet. Leaving the house in that condition was not optional.



I used my newly acquired college education to formulate a plan. So I made hot tea instead. Is has caffeine in it, right? Maybe so, but it definitely does not give the same results as my coffee does. (Nor does it taste as good in my opinion) Of course a caffeine headache soon reared it's ugly head to plague me throughout the day.



Example number two of my refusal to keep extras on hand: Friday we were almost out of jelly. Everyone got a really skimpy serving of jelly on their PB & J.



My sister's birthday was yesterday. She got some money for her B-day and wanted to know if I wanted to go shopping with her. Like I am going to turn down a shopping trip. By the time we got home it was about 7pm. After I made dinner and we ate, it was getting even later. I realized that I STILL had not been to Wal-Mart and we had no bread, milk, jelly, muffins, almost out of sugar, no snacks for lunches, coffee or anything really.



I didn't want to go ALL the way to Wal-Mart so I opted to run into the local grocery store for a few things just to get us through. It was all I could do to bring myself to shop in that store. I almost ran out of there screaming in terror. The prices were OUTRAGEOUS! I don't support Wal-Mart coming into small towns and running all the small businesses out. Truly I don't. BUT....What's a girl supposed to do? I NEED to shop at Wal-Mart. I can't bring myself to pay 4 bucks for a box of cereal that I can get at Wal-Mart for 2.50. I can't bring myself to pay 80 cents for a can of soup that I can get for 60 cents at Wal-Mart. I only bought what I HAD to have to get through the day.

Having said all that, if I had a few extras on hand of some of the basic items, I would not have been forced to spend my hard earned money at that money sucking establishment disguised as a grocery store. Who is to blame here? Me. Me, me, me. I think I have decided that I am going to buy at LEAST one extra of anything won't go bad. A woman with no coffee on Sunday morning is a dangerous thing. It should never be attempted. Really.

9 comments:

HW said...

Thank goodness you are going to become a stocker upper!!
I had no idea you were not one of us...

Just buy a little at a time on each grocery trip and you will never run out of coffee again, or peanut butter, or jelly, or, most importantly, chocolate chips.

Your life is about to take on a whole new meaning.

Welcome to my neurosis.

Oh, and next time you're out of coffee, can you drive through at McDonald's just to get by until you make it to the store? seriously, they don't care what you look like at the drive up window.

I shop at Wal-Mart too - begrudgingly. But you're right; the other stores have outrageous prices. Dog food at our Kroger is ELEVEN DOLLARS!!!

Susiewearsthepants said...

This coffee saga has opened my eyes. I have seen the light! I will never run out of coffee again! Never! Never! Never!
I hate Kroger. I think they are the most expensive grocery store.(I switched pretty quick there huh)

Susiewearsthepants said...

PS-I didnt think of the Mickey D's thing. I'm sure if I wore my shades I wouldn't be recognized.

HW said...

You didn't think of McD's because your mind was muddled due to lack of caffeine and of course PANIC.
Totally understandable....

Susiewearsthepants said...

Well you know, I did lose consicousness for awhile....

E said...

Don't spend too much time worrying about this. Stocklpiling just leads to future catastrophes. For those of us not naturally inclined it becomes a one off, and it takes longer, but the emergencies still kinda pile up. Tuesday you will run ouit of coffee, but not have time to shop. Then Wednesday it will be toilet paper. You haven't lived til you have been reduced to wiping with the roll.
There are stockpilers and there are the rest of us. Live near a store....and let go of worrying about your hair.

Leanne said...

I was never a stoker upper, then I got a Costco membership. Bad bad idea if you don't want a lot of stuff around.

I've never price compared at WalMart....I'm gonna go do that tomorrow. Is it really that much less? Might be worth the drive...

Susiewearsthepants said...

Leanne-I can't say for your area, but around here the savings between Wal-Mart and the grocery store are significant.

Karen Deborah said...

And that's a big AMEN. May I suggest from one caffiene junkie to another that you keep a couple of those little single pot bags of coffee around? There like a little sample, you know what I'm talking about? They are emergency only. I have been known to drive through Starbucks in my pajamas. They don't
know me, and I do have tinted windows. Kroger has good sale items but their regular prices are definitely up there. I think stock piles in excess are a bit much. I've finally come to the place where I keep a bit of stuff but since I don't have a pantry and space is a premium, not to mention money is a premium; I don't buy extra the way I used too. If I see a fantabolous deal, like a box of tea for $1 or shampoo that I know is good for 99cents I'll grab 6 of such killer deal. Otherwise no. I don't stockpile for change it has to be a serious good buy. The down side to stock piling is taking inventory to know what you have so you can use it up!