It's the last day of March, and my 2019 no-buy has been rather uneventful. I haven't had the urge to shop, but I still have a few things I'm trying to work on. For the past 3 months, I've pretty much only purchased groceries, and I've noticed a few things about myself that I'd like to change. Going forward, I'd like to work on the following:
1) Become more aware of the "regular" prices of products and the least expensive place to buy these items. I've noticed that I have gotten really out of touch with the "regular" prices of products. After many years of working full-time, having no debt, and having access to a lot of disposable income, I lost my price sensitivity to day-to-day necessities like groceries. For example, I had no idea that the "regular" price of 750g of only peanuts peanut butter in downtown Toronto is upwards of $7.99 now (I bought one recently for $2.99 on sale, but I hope I hadn't paid full price in the past). I've somehow become completely unaware of reasonable prices for products, which is extremely uncharacteristic for me as I was always very budget conscious growing up. Fortunately, now that I'm aware of this issue, I'm sure it will be very easy to change.
2) Buy only what I truly need and refrain from repurchasing items as soon as they run out (unless they are absolute staples with no substitutes). This was one of my 2019 goals, but I needed a reminder. When groceries are on sale, I often buy multiples, so I still tend to stock up a bit too much. While this is not as detrimental to my stash--or budget--as stocking up on shoes, clothing, handbags, or makeup, I don't want to continue accumulating stores of products as I find jam-packed cupboards overwhelming. I recently found a few expired canned goods, and food waste has always made me feel horrible. I want to develop more of a just-in-time inventory system of groceries and home goods.
3) Spend less time online shopping for groceries and household products. I've been shopping for groceries online a lot--I don't always go through with the purchase, but I feel like I waste a lot of time looking for things to put in my virtual shopping cart. I'd like to nip this in the bud. The other thing I tend to do is try to meet the minimum threshold for free shipping, which causes me to buy things I don't need. I placed an order on Well.ca this week that is the perfect example of this; however, I haven't received the order yet, so I'll explain more in next week's post.
