It’s Thursday – July 4th in the U.S., but just another day here in Canada and around the world. But I’m old enough to remember when Thursday was ‘payday’ and grocery shopping day for most folks. Mom did the groceries on her own, and sent Dad to browse the hardware store…
Why I just don’t trust The Internet Of Things
– Even to make my shopping list…
Thursday was the biggest day of the week around our house. While Mom and Dad were busy doing what they did at the Plaza (no ‘malls’, as such, back then) I hit the book store and the record shop to spend my allowance.
But, while Dad and I went about our explorations in a haphazard, meandering manner, Mom had her trip to the supermarket planned out like a military exercise. She kept a note pad by the fridge all week long and added items to her list as soon as she became aware they would be needed. The Meat, Dairy, Produce, Grocery and Bakery items were all grouped under those headings and the headings were set down in the order she would visit the various departments. Nothing was left to chance. And not a cent was spent that wasn’t spent wisely. It was all about focus.
What I do
I don’t obsess over the grocery list the way Mom did. She had to; she didn’t drive and only got out to the plaza once a week. I can just hop in the car and run out anytime I need to to get a few items I want for my supper prep or to feed a craving. While Mom used to plan all our meals meticulously for at least a week in advance, I can follow my whims and leave myself loose enough to take advantage of any too-good-to-pass-up manager’s unadvertised in-store special I might encounter without upsetting a whole week’s planning and prep.
It’s not that I don’t use lists, you understand; I just list the core items I want to have on hand for the coming week or so, and any staples that I’m running low on to make sure I don’t forget them.
And Thursday is, usually, still the day I do the ‘big’ grocery shopping for the week. But that’s not just out of habit or feelings of nostalgia. The big supermarket chains always send out their new weekly sales flyers on Thursday. I use a brightly coloured Sharpie to circle items I’m interested in and add them to my master list along with the name of the store at which they are featured. It has to be a really good deal for me to list an item that’s not at my go-to supermarket or my fave frozen food specialty spot.
How do you list?
I still write out a paper list, on a pad beside the fridge, like Mom did. But I have experimented with a method a young friend mentioned, to make your list on your smart phone. You carry it around everywhere you go, right? That’s even better – in theory – than keeping a list on paper beside the fridge where you have to go when you want to add an item. Young friend opens up a draft e-mail message and adds items to it as the need or inspiration arises, and then sends it to himself just before he gets to the store – on Thursday.
There are many, many so-called shopping list apps available for download, but the ones I’ve seen all seem overly complicated or packed with ‘features’ I don’t want or need.
The Internet of Everything – except my shopping list
Have you ever seen one of those fancy new fridges with cameras inside that automatically keep track of what you stock and what you use? And create shopping lists for you automatically? I’m not sure exactly how they work, but I wonder if, after Christmas and New Years, they keep reminding you that you used a whole Turkey or Ham recently and really, really need to restock that item, in spite of the fact that no major Family Feast is on the calendar until Easter? And what about stuff that doesn’t go in the fridge?
I won’t be spending a cent on any ‘connected’ appliance anytime soon. From the fridge right down to the automatic pet food dispenser, such ‘features’ seem to me to be contrived selling points that are unnecessary to the point that some engineer decided include them ‘because he or she could’, or to be ‘the first’, or simply to raise their product’s and there brand’s awareness – albeit only momentarily – above the noise.
Discourages impulse purchases
There’s one more effect that keeping a shopping list bestows on the shopper. My primary focus on my list makes it harder for in-store or point of sale specials on non-essentials to catch me. I see something that really entices me – like that plastic tub of Chocolate-Covered Almonds or bag of Cookies – and ask, “If it’s not on my list, do I really need it?” The answer is almost always, “No.”
Note: I said ‘almost always’. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t indulge in something dietarily sinful now and then. But not every week!
~ Maggie J.