Mwa ha hah! It’s working! It lives! The scheme to stockpile groceries and shop as though I dwelt in a remote small town where a trip to the corner store would entail a 120-mile round trip is going well. As we enter the third week of maneuvers, I’m $91.98 in the black—and that includes purchases of everything, not just groceries. Last weekend I avoided going to the grocery store altogether (!!!!!). Yesterday I bought a couple pounds of tomatoes at a farmer’s market.
Having cleaned the house, edited copy, and passed the time of day with one of my best friends, today all I really must do is continue working on the Festival of Frugality (don’t forget to send in your submissions, please!). So in theory I could make a grocery run. But…do I have to?
My cumulative shopping list says “no.” The only things I need urgently are smoke alarms and mascara; to get the smoke alarms installed, I’m gunna need to get a handyman in here, and that will entail finding someone and then persuading him to show up. Neither of those are grocery items, anyway. And though it would be good to get those smoke alarms in sooner rather than later, neither item needs to be bought right now.
If I were living in Yarnell, the desert rat’s answer to Shangri-La, would I drive 120 miles to buy these things? Probably not.
That is so cool! And such big savings! I like your concept of living as though the grocery store were 120 miles round trip from you. It is a great framework for shopping expeditions. Thanks for the inspiration.