Let’s Go Shopping…

Let’s Go Shopping…

Seeing this prompt made me all giddy. You ask me these questions? Well, I can give you my whole Excel sheet! I used to track every little expense back then, but these days, I'm not quite as disciplined. Still, if this challenge is going to pay for my groceries, I'm more than willing to bring out the old spreadsheet!

But before I start filling my trolley, I have one very important question of my own: do I have to power up some of the STEEM, or can I spend it all? Asking for a friend ;)

Anyhoo, LET'S GO SHOPPING! I'm all set. I mean, who isn't? Grocery shopping is another kind of high. I think I get more excited finding cheese in 1 kg packaging (the sliced ones, obviously) than finding a pair of shoes or a suit (we call all our clothes suits here) in this little vicinity of ours!

_{Mainly snacks in the trolley... We had just started. You know who I was accompanied by. Well you have an idea}

Where do I go for this? You think I'm going to tell you that here? Na na! But yes, it's a utility-store sort of arrangement where we get a little rebate on the total amount. The limit in rebate is 50K, which, in STEEM terms, is approximately 3,333.33 STEEM.

Well, this is a far more interesting challenge than the last one, where I had to spend an entire month with one song and one book. It made me feel claustrophobic. No, wait. More than claustrophobic, it made me question my life choices.

I couldn't come up with ONE FCUKING favourite song. So much for my love of music!

So I couldn't participate...

Apologies for the detour. Now, where were we? Ah yes, shopping!

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Do I make one big grocery trip or several smaller ones?

I make one big trip, followed by several smaller ones. And then there is the daily shopping for vegetables, fruits, and sometimes bread. I like to buy these things fresh.

As I told you earlier, I love grocery shopping. But my children love it even more because they don't have to watch the prices. Well, I don't watch the prices anymore either because I know the prices of my regular purchases by heart. But jo, there's a catch. Every month, and I mean EVERY month, there is a price hike! Thanks to you know who!!!

Anyways Choosing the best things to eat sets a good precedent for an otherwise mundane task, eating. I love cooking, too. Grocery shopping gives you the chance to grab those chocolate chips for melting, or that sauce for the sandwiches you will have for dinner. I'm not about novelty, either. It's about quality, and price.

By now, I think I have answered most of the questions you asked. Who do I go with? Of course, I go alone, and sometimes with my children. No, not with the better half. He wants to get all those shiny things… the virgin olive oil and whatnot.

Anyways, are you still waiting for that chart? The STEEM-to-rupees conversion? I think I've already told you that, but for the fun of it, I'll put everything in a chart.

What does the total look like?

Minimum estimated spend: PKR 42,000 ≈ 2,682.38 STEEM

Maximum estimated spend: PKR 50,000 ≈ 3,193.61 STEEM

Stated monthly grocery budget: PKR 60,000–70,000 ≈ 383.14 - 446.99 STEEM excluding takeaways.

• Vegetables and Fruits are not accounted for
• Extra groceries in case of guests (Long stay in-laws) not accounted for
• wheat (flour) & Rice not accounted for; We get these from my husband's parents as they buy in bulk

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You know what? It was actually fun getting everything down in writing! I mean, after all those Excel sheets long long ago, it was nice to have everything laid out again for an overview.

And I'm so happy that the amount I mentioned at the beginning, which was just an estimate, turned out to be pretty close to the actual total. So yeah, I guess I'm a pretty good judge of my monthly expenditure and prices after all!

And there you have it!

I think I missed one question:

Is that about the same each week?

Of course not! I just told you I make one big trip each month and then perhaps several smaller trips throughout the month for items that I run out of. But the chart is an approximation of all the trips combined, plus or minus 10K. (Darn it, I almost forgot to mention: the chart is an approximation of all the trips combined ±638.3250351078769309 STEEM!)