Teenager on a Budget: Stocking Up

Over the weekend I had “the talk” with my son … not that talk.  I talked to him about inflation and grocery prices and our food budget experiment, and how I intend to give him $5 extra per week if he agrees to stock up on items he eats constantly that are on sale.

He’s already seen inflation in action at the grocery store for himself.  Remember the episode with the apples?  The first week we did the budget experiment, the apples were $1.29 per pound.  The 2nd week they were on sale for $1.19 per pound.  The next week, back up to $1.29 per pound.  Then, last week they jumped up to $1.49 per pound, and were that price again this week.

He didn’t buy apples last week or this week, but didn’t get the bagged apples either.

He also stuck with me for most of the shopping trip, seeking my input on what would be good to stock up on.  Hmmm, all it takes to get a teenage boy to ask his mother for grocery shopping advice is notice-able food price inflation!  LOL

I wouldn’t say he really stocked up on this trip, but then again I hadn’t given him *that* much more to stock up with.  Since his big bags of cereal were on sale, he grabbed an extra one at my urging.  He actually spent his entire $40 this week, and even went a little bit over for donuts and stuff to make banana pudding (I bought the bananas so I get some of it LOL).

The good news is he has more than a week’s worth of food now.  The better news is I am getting him to think a bit more about what is actually a good sale price and what isn’t.  The best news is he is learning that just because they post the price on bright stickers or cardboard does NOT mean it is actually on sale … sometimes they just want to push a product and try to make a regular price look like a sale!

As for myself, I was in full “lead by example” mode, scouting for killer deals on meat in particular for hubby and myself.  My efforts paid off :) as I snagged some beef sirloin tip for $1.79 per pound!  I have five impressive size steaks and one roast out of it after it was cut. (She shoots … she SCORES!)  I also snagged my hamburger patties and hot dogs BOGO (Buy One Get One … Free in this case) because it’s that time of year again, and hubby has been indicating all winter he wants a grill.

So, today’s shopping expedition was a marked success for me in the stocking up department, and a primer for the Teenager on just how to do it.  Now, if I can just teach him the “safe following distance” concept with shopping carts!