Reason #365 why adulting sucks...grocery shopping

Everyone loves grocery shopping, right? There is nothing like spending an hour or more playing shopping cart chicken with aisles crowded with the meandering, clueless, and self-absorbed. I mean, I really enjoy waiting on people who park their cart on one side of the aisle and then stand in the middle of the other half of the aisle while staring with glazed eyes at the choices for canned corn totally oblivious to the traffic jam of other shoppers that is piling up as we all wait for them to make a decision. I can totally understand their dilemma...so many corn choices. Or, I also love shopping behind the go-cart grandmas who will not hesitate to back up on a dime and mow right over your toes. And then give YOU the stink eye. It's great. There are also parents who let the kids push the carts (just stop) and people who do not understand the concept of personal space (Hi..maybe we should at least exchange names before you get all up in my business). Who doesn't love dealing with all of THAT, and then getting a cranky checkout person, and THEN getting home only to realize you forgot something.

Grocery shopping can be a beating.

Over the years, I have honed our shopping trips into a streamlined process to try and cut down the time in the store and to ensure we buy the things we need. It all starts with the menu. Jeremy and I do a large shopping trip every two weeks. So, I make a dinner menu for two weeks out. Here are a few things I like to keep in mind while putting the menu together.

1. What is happening in the next two weeks? We have been trying to get to the gym on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. So I know we will have less time for dinner on those evenings and try to plan for something that's a little quicker to throw together. And on every Friday I go to my Grandmas and Jeremy fends for himself for dinner. For your family, it might be weekly sports practice or Wednesday night bible studies.

2. Trade off who is responsible for cooking dinner. If you and your partner share the cooking responsibilities, be sure to mix up meals that you make vs. meals they make. It's always nice to have a "night off" from cooking dinner.

3. Do you have any meals leftover from the last two weeks? Sometimes things pop up and you end up eating out or ordering in. That night's dinner might still be waiting for you to make. You can always rollover that dinner idea over onto the next menu.

Once the dinner menu has been put together, I start making the shopping list.

1. First I go over what is needed to make each of the dinners on the menu. What do I need to make that meal vs. what I already have. During the big shopping trip, I'll only purchase vegetables needed for the menu items in the first week. We do make a small grocery run the following weekend, and I'll pick up whatever vegetables we need for the week after that. It's hard to keep your produce fresh for two whole weeks, so we do it this way to avoid waste and re-purchasing.

2. After the dinner menu has been covered, I list items we need for breakfast and lunch. Do we need cereal, oatmeal, lunch meat, bread?

3. Then we go over misc. food items. Do we need orange juice, coffee, creamer, snack foods, sour cream, ketchup, butter, etc.?

4. Next up is cleaning and storage items. Do we need dish soap, laundry soup, trash bags, paper towels, ziplock bags, air fresheners, all purpose cleaner, etc.?

5. From there we go over bathroom items. Do we need toilet paper, toothpaste, shaving cream, razors, shampoo or conditioner? Do I need to buy more bobby pins or purchase a new blow dryer? Those items would be listed here.

6. Last, are misc. household items. Do we need pet food, greeting cards, kitchen gadgets, dish towels, candles, lightbulbs, air filters, etc?

Now, we only do our shopping at one store. I know people like to go to different stores because of better deals, or better selection. But we ain't got time for that. Since we shop at only one store, we know the layout very, very well. So, for the last step of getting my shopping list together, I use a legal sized envelope and I organize my shopping list based on how we make our way through the store. This helps avoid back tracking, no one wants to be zig zagging all over the dang store because you forgot this or that. This also helps us avoid picking up things we do not need. There are aisles we never even go down because there is nothing on our list down that aisle.

The envelope is also handy for holding any coupons I might need  to bring with me or coupons I pick up in the store. I do use coupons, but only to a certain extent. If what I'm already buying comes with a free item, I will only grab the free item if its something on my list or something I know we will use. I have limited space to store my groceries, so I can't bring home anything we don't want or use or need....even for free. Since we are only shopping for two people, if a coupon is only valid if we buy two (or three) of an item to get the discount, I won't buy more than we need or can store just to save a $1. It is OK to walk away from a coupon deal. Stick with your list as best you can.

During the next two weeks, in the morning while I'm getting my lunch together for the work day, I'll check the menu to see if I need to take something out of the freezer for dinner that night. If it's beef or pork, I usually take that out in the morning. If it's chicken, I'll wait to take that out when I get home from work (I get home by 3:30, so it gives me plenty of time before dinner to let it thaw...this might not work for you so you might have to take it out in the morning).  If something comes up that day....we are running later or just ran out of energy to be messing with cooking a protein, we will put the thawed item in the fridge to use the next day. Some people are very particular on how they handle their raw/thawed out protein. If the idea of having something out in a sink of water to thaw during the work day oogs you out, you might have to be a day ahead of your menu to allow things to thaw in the fridge. If the idea of putting something that has been out to thaw all day in the fridge to use later oogs you out, you could always cook that protein really quick (brown your beef or broil your chicken while you wait on the pizza delivery guy) and then store it in the fridge to be used in the next few days.

Shew! That's a lot of information. We have been doing our shopping this way for so long that it's more habit now. A lot of the stuff above I can do without having to really even think about it. And this exact thought process might not work for your family. But maybe it will be a good starting point to finding what does work for you and your family.

Dear Target...we need to talk

Target...I love you, I do. And sometimes we have to be tough on those we love. Please remember....this all comes from a place of love.

There use to be a day when any time anyone paid me a compliment on my shoes I could proudly tell them I found the shoes at Target. Never mind that the Target we have here in little ol' nowhere Texas is THE SMALLEST TARGET to grace this green earth. And the shoe department is laughably miniscule.  How it always seems to remain in a state of utter disarray is a mystery to me. Even with those black marks against my local Target, I knew that if I hit it just right or dug around long enough, I could walk away with a pair of cute, on trend shoes that would stay in style of many seasons.  It would appear those days might be coming to an end.

Because I'm seeing an alarming trend. The fashion of the shoes available at Target are...well...they are...um...how do I say this....

They are just ugly. Ok. Like, really ugly.

I mean...what is even happening here. It's like someone took some ugly plastic flowers and super glued them on to some old soccer slip ons. Don't know what I'm talking about? Go google 'soccer slip on sandals'. I'll wait.

Uh huh. Exactly.

Is this fashion? Or an after school craft project?

Someone saved the carpet from Grandma's bathroom and decided to tie it on some slip on shoes. No. Just no.

I've already lived (survived?) the 80's once. I am NOT doing it again.

Do NOT go to Target and buy these shoes. I promise you, on the life of my pug, that you can go to ANY Goodwill or Salvation Army and find these exact shoes for a $1 ($.50 on Tuesdays).  

In the words of the infinitely wise and hilarious Kalen Allen...absolutely not.

Capsule Wardrobe

I blogged about our tiny closets before. Our bedroom closet is about the size of a postage stamp and shared between the two of us. It is the only true clothing closet in the house. All other closets have been converted to shelving storage. Anyway, about a month ago, I got the idea of re-booting my wardrobe. So, I started doing research on how to build a capsule wardrobe. Like anything else in the house, I wanted to know if I could do more with less.

I knew I was tired of having my half of the closet crammed with clothes when I know I didn't wear most of it. I knew I didn't want to spend a fortune on new clothes. I knew that I wanted to feel good in all the pieces I did have in my closet.

So, I began with the great cull. I removed everything from my closet and drawers and tossed it on the bed. And then I tried everything on. Some things I had only worn once, which made it hard for me to let it go. But, if I hadn't worn it in over a year, if I didn't feel totally comfortable in it (no 'it will fit if I just lose x amount of weight), if it had any holes or stains on it.....it had to go.

I ended up with two full trash bags and several hangers worth of clothes to donate. I would say I probably got rid of 90% of the clothes in my closet. All that space that was being wasted for all those years. The next step was to purchase new pieces that were versatile, classic, and not overly expensive. I'd say I spent just under $500 and purchased six tops, one dress, two pair of pants, a cargo vest, and five pair of shoes. These were added back to the few items I decided to keep.

Here are all the outfits I have put together in the last month using my much smaller wardrobe:

You can see all my #ootd on my instragram acct: justjinny

I haven't missed anything I decided to get rid of. Once I pulled everything out of my closet, I found that there were very few pieces that I truly loved or felt good wearing. Now that my clothes and shoes have been overhauled, the next thing I'll probably do is sort through my jewelry. A few more statement pieces in that area would open even more options for my new, yet smaller, wardrobe.

Shopping sources:

Maurice's
Target
Payless
Flaunt Boutique

Life with a small closet

Does anyone else have trouble finding knee-high boots that fit their calves? It can't be just me right? I'm a curvy girl. I have curves all over...even my calves. Usually the knee-high boots I try on never zip all the way up. Doesn't matter if I'm wearing jeans or leggings or tights. That zipper won't budge. So, when I find a pair that fits I wear them until they look ratchet.

This was the case with my brown knee-high boots. Love them. But I've had them for many, many years now and they had started to crack. And so the search was on for a new pair of knee-high boots that would zip all the way up. On a random trip into the mall (very random as I rarely go there) I stopped into Payless and found the perfect pair of knee-high boots.  They zipped right up with room left to spare. The downside was the price. Regular price was $59.99. It's not really a bad price but it's Christmas time and my money is going everywhere else but to me (Yes, I know I JUST told y'all that dollar bills are not the reason for the season! But do as I say, not as I do!!!). Needless to say, I left without the boots.

But I'm subscribed to the Payless email and eventually they were running a really great 50% off sale. It was too good to pass up. So not only did I buy a new brown pair, but I went ahead and got a black pair too.

Forget thigh gaps. Look at that gap between the boot and my knee! I can put my whole hand in there!! Unless you have thicker calves you probably have no idea why I am so giddy. That's ok, I love you anyway. So, I am totally thrilled with my purchase. I love them already...obvs. But here is my ever-present, on-going, problem. My closet. It's small. Like postage stamp sized small. And only half of it is mine.



I am touching both sides of the closet.

When something goes in the closet, usually something has to come out of the closet. This is life in the love cottage. You have to love your items enough to bring them in, for one, and then until they can't be loved anymore before letting them go. So, I did a fast and furious thinning of the shoe herd. I love my shoes but if I have only worn them a couple of times or not at all over the last year (or longer), I have to let them go.

You see those platform pumps?! I love those shoes. I look great in those shoes. But, I hardly ever wear them because they just aren't comfortable. And if I'm honest with myself, they aren't really my style (no matter how much I want them to be). I'm more of a wedge girl. A big box of shoes will go to donation and hopefully someone else will find them and love them until they can't be loved anymore.