When I was little, I thought my grandma lived in a grocery store.
She lived a few states down from us, and every Christmas and summer break my family would make the 12 hour car ride for a visit. We always entered through the garage, which amazed me, since we didn’t have one and a house for your cars seemed like the height of luxury to my five year old brain. Even more amazing was that only one car lived in the car house, because against three out of four walls were floor to ceiling shelves FILLED with food. The fourth wall held a refrigerator AND a deep freezer. The only place I knew with more than one fridge was the grocery store, so two plus two had to equal Grandma living in a grocery store.
I used to scan the rows and rows of canned soup she had and marvel over the exotic flavors. Clam Chowder! Broccoli and Cheese! Chicken and STARS! All these high end soups couldn’t possibly be for one person. She had every single variety of pickle imaginable: dill, sweet, deli, bread and butter, Polish, spears, whole, chips. There were potato chips and tortilla chips, chips in cans and chips in bags. There was popcorn and there were pretzels and there were cookies and there was beef jerky. The freezers were full of meat I had never even heard of. What was venison? And the best part was, because my Grandma lived there, we never had to pay for anything.
I found out later that my Grandma, like a lot of folks who lived through the Great Depression, stocked up on food in case of a “rainy day.” The older I got, my Grandma and I had a lot of conversations about food. I asked her once why she had so much of it for just herself. “So that I can take care of people when they come over.” She loved to entertain, loved serving people, and took it as a point of pride that no matter what you ate, she would have something for you.
We buried my Grandma on November 2nd. I flew out to the coast for the funeral and returned home to a house empty of food. Which made sense. The funeral was on my grocery shopping day.
I thought about my Grandma this whole grocery trip. And so many of those memories involved food. Like when I was little and she used to serve me soup with multiple spoons so I could pretend I was royalty. She never said so, but as mom who does a fair amount of dishes now, I have to marvel at the patience of woman who cleaned multiple utensils just to let a child daydream. I thought about how when I was three months pregnant with the Glass Slipper, Mr. B and I went for a visit and she called him in advance to find out my pregnancy cravings so she would know what to have on hand. The cheese tasting she did with me because she loved cheese and I didn’t know much beyond cheddar. We have her to thank for my Gouda addiction.
It seems to me that no matter the culture, no matter the structure, one thing most people have in common is the bonding over food. Grocery shopping can sometimes be a chore, but this trip I saw it as something else. A means to an end of making memories over a good meal with the people I love. A way to make sure my house has enough for everyone who visits. Thank you for the reminder, Grandma.
- Bananas, 1.27 lb-$.70.
- Blueberries, 12 oz, (2)-$5. In-store sale.
- Boards Head Pepperoni, .5 lb-$4.50.
- Black Grapes, 1.51 lb-$1.46. In-store sale, $.97 a pound.
- Creamette Pasta (4)-$.96. Only $.49 a piece with Buy 10, Save $5, but stacked with a paper coupon for $1 off of 3 brought them 24 cents each!
- Green Leaf Lettuce, 1.08 lb-$1.83.
- Happy Family Organic Baby Food Pouches (10)-$7.90. They were on sale for $.99 each with Buy 10, Save $5. Then I had 2 *Digital Coupons*, each for $1 off paper coupon, I was able to use both these because I got different varieties of packets. It ended up being $.79 a packet!
- Heritage Farm Chicken Breast, 5.33 lb-$10.61.
- Heritage Farm Chicken Thighs, 5.65 lb -$4.47. In store sale, $.79 a pound.
- Honey Bunches of Oats (2)-$4.58. %2.29 each with Buy 10, Save $5.
- Kroger Ground Turkey, 3 lb-$7.99. $1 Off *Digital Coupon.*
- Mozzarella Ball-$2.99. Manager’s Special.
- Private Selection Angus Steak, 2.58 lb-$12.90. In-store sale, $4.99 a pound.
- Private Selection Honey Turkey, .75 lb-$5.99.
- Private Selections Chipotle Salsa-$2.19.
- Private Selection Wheat Bread-$1.99.
- Red Gold Canned Tomato-$.49. Buy 10, Save $5 filler item.
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins (4) -$1.20. Halloween clearance, only $.30 a piece.
- Red Grapes, 2.27 lb-$2.20. In-store sale, $.97 a pound.
- Roma Tomatoes, 1.46 lb-$1.30.
- Silk Almond Milk, .5 gal (2)-$5. Buy 10, Save $5!
- Stovetop Stuffing-$1.49. Get ready for Thanksgiving with B10 S$5!
- Catalina Coupon for $1.25 entire purchase from last week’s Gerber Baby Packets.
- Apps I’ll submit to: Fetch Rewards, Ibotta ($.20 Off Any Item, $.25 off Honey Bunches of Oats, up to 5x), CoinOut
Total Budget: $78.53
Total Spent: $86.05
Total Saved: $54.62
Deducted From Next Week: $7.52
Do you have a memory with a loved one that involves food? I’d love to hear it!
Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey five years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!
Myeshia says
So sorry for your loss. It sounds like she was an amazing woman. The part about her calling your husband to find out your cravings has me in tears.
Kristen says
Myeshia, thank you so much! She was a wonderful lady and I was so blessed to call her my Grandma. <3