Last week of the first full month of the new budget. Very excited to see how things pan out, money wise.
But before we talk about how under budget I (hopefully?) was, let’s address my last post. While recounting a stressful experience of not being able to find parking in the middle of a storm, I made a few jokes about a gentleman who was just hanging out in his very good spot when the parking lot was packed.
Y’all, I like a good joke. I like to take the tension out of situations by finding the humor in it. If you read these posts on the regular, you probably know that. I’m a wee bit sensitive, so in situations where I don’t want to get emotional, I’ll try and find something humorous to grab hold of. If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry. (Flashback to the pregnancy posts where I often did both!)
I know this gentleman probably had a very good reason to be in his car. I know many people have a variety of excellent reasons to sit in their cars. My post was not intended to be anti sitting in your car or anti this particular gentleman. Further clearing the air, nothing unkind was said to this gentleman in real time by me or anyone else. I made a few gentle jokes about wishing I could have his spot on this blog. That’s all. And truthfully, I sincerely doubt that gentleman reads this blog. (But if you do, hello sir! Hope you are well!) So he was not treated unkindly or unfairly, on the internet, or in real life. I could not even tell you what he looks like at this point. (Sir, if you are reading this, I am sorry. It’s not that you have a forgettable face, it is simply that you were wearing a hat and there was a lot of rain.)
I say all this because I wanted to assure some readers that I wish this gentleman no ill will. And also to let you know I will continue to make the occasional joke about stressful/awkward situations. So if I say things like, “ I feel personally victimized by this woman buying the last Monterey Jack Cheese”, you’ll know it’s all in good fun. I’m not going to follow her to the parking lot and attack her over the cheese.
Now buckle up because we’re going to talk about etiquette again.
One of the nice things about picking a regular shopping day (thanks, grocery resolutions!) is that I’ve been getting to know the people who routinely work the shift when I shop. I’ve developed very nice relationships with one of the deli workers and in particular one of the cashiers. She and the Teacup have some real mutual admiration thing going on, so we always try to get in her line.
On this trip it was a little busy and there were only three registers open. I was in the longest line, specifically to see this one cashier, let’s call her Wendy. So here the Teacup and I are, waiting patiently with our cart of food when a woman comes up behind us a with one or two items but a whole lotta sass. She’s being very vocal about having to wait, about there only being three registers, and a manager overhears her.
Next thing you know, we see another cashier, a very nice lady who, admittedly, can be a tiny bit on the slower side, working her way over to a fourth register. Her light isn’t on, she’s not taking guests yet. The woman behind me is like, “Oh, finally! Another line!” She starts to move toward the register, then turns and says to me, “Why don’t you go first? You have way more stuff than me.” But I want to wait for Wendy, so I say, “Oh, no thank you, we’re not in a rush, you go ahead.” But she will not take no for an answer, “I insist! You’ve got a little one.” And I’m like, “Really, no, it’s fine.” Then, another person in line chimes in with, “just go ahead!”
So feeling very peer pressured and very rude because this register still isn’t fully open, I bumble over to the register and start unloading my groceries with my head hanging low. The woman from behind me leans over and whispers so loudly it doesn’t even count as a whisper, “not that it will matter, since she’ll never be done setting up.” I don’t say anything but just kind of shake my head. At this point, I just want to crawl into a hole and live there forever with my cheese.
I don’t think the cashier heard her. She didn’t even seem to mind we were there even though I wanted to cry out, “It wasn’t me! I respect you and the fact that your light wasn’t on! I wanted to wait in the other line!” But once she was ready, she looked up from the register, gave me a big smile, said good morning to the Teacup, and defused an awkward moment by being polite and friendly. I could never have done that. I would have cried or made weird jokes. Those of you who work in retail have to put up with a LOT and you do so with super powered calm and grace. From someone who has a hard time handling tense moments, a sincere thank you for all that you do.
- Asiago Cheese-$3.19. Manager’s Special.
- Avocados (2)-$1.98.
- Blueberries, pint (2)-$5.
- Boar’s Head Sandwich Pepperoni, .5 lb-$5.12.
- Grapes, .90 lb-$1.15.
- Haagen Dass Ice Cream, pint (2)-$4.98. $2.49 each with Buy 5, Save $5.
- Heritage Farm Chicken Breasts, 4.86 lb-$9.69.
- Kroger Milk, .5 gal (2)-$1.98. Cheaper to get two half gallons than one full gallon.
- Mangoes (3)-$2.97.
- Monterey Jack Cheese-$4.12.
- Private Selection Wildflower Turkey, 1 lb-$7.59.
- Private Selection Wheat Bread-$1.99.
- Salmon Filets, 2.12 lb-$14.82.
- Simple Truth Ketchup-$1.69.
- Simple Truth Baby Food Packets (9)-$9.
- Silk Almond Milk (3)-$5.37. Down to $1.79 each with Buy 5, Save $5.
- Strawberries, 2 lb-$5.
- Tomatoes, 1.37 lb-$2.73.
- Apps I’ll submit to: Fetch Rewards, Ibotta ($.10 Off Any Item), CoinOut
Total Budget: $88.33
Total Spent: $88.37
Total Saved: $20.38
Deducted from Next Week: $.04
FOUR CENTS? FOUR CENTS? I was over budget by four cents??? That’s actually pretty hilarious.
Have you ever worked a retail job? How do you handle tense moments? Did you predict I would go over budget by four cents? Tell me all about it in the comments!
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!
Lana says
I worked in a grocery store until November. I always made it a point to never let my customers know if I was having a rotten day. As soon as a customer came up, smile went on and a warm greeting was made. I especially loved joking and talking to the kids.
If a tough customer came up, I tried not to take it personally and to treat them with kindness. It didn’t always work but I found after a while that customer would hunt me down to check out because I made them feel special.