^{My home shopping designed with Canva}

Times change, and so does shopping.

Many moons ago, I had an Elsie. She was our domestic worker. The one who knew my kitchen from A to Z. I was spoiled. Each week Elsie would draw up a shopping list of what was needed for the household, and at the end of the month she would do a full stock taking.

Many moons ago, I had a Spoon. He was our driver at our business. The one we could send from A to Z. I was spoiled. Each week, Spoon would collect the shopping list from Elsie and also the brochures with the weekly specials from the various supermarkets, mark what was needed, and bring it to me for my approval.

Between the two of them, they will do the shopping, the carrying of the shopping bags out of the car, and the unpacking.

My shopping

With the moon these days, I only have myself. I am the "house executive." The one who knows the kitchen from A to Z and the one who does the driving from A to Z. I am no longer spoiled.

✍🏻 I make the shopping list
📧 I look for those bargains
🛒I do the shopping
🛍️ carry the shopping bags out of the car
🏚️ I do the unpacking

Shopping for the house starts with that "what to buy" list.
You will always find a book and a pen in my kitchen. Oh yah, the men know that if I cannot find my pen, they will do the next round of shopping.
As I take the last of an item out of the pantry or use the last of what is in the fridge or freezer, I will add it to the shopping list.

I don’t like shopping, so I make sure that I don’t have to go shopping every day. I do three types of shopping;

1. Beginning of the week
2. End of the week
3. Bulk shopping

Beginning of the week

I like buying fresh milk and bread at the beginning of the week. I also like to plan our meals and lunch boxes for the week and check what I have in stock and what I need to buy. What is needed gets added to my shopping list.
This shopping normally happens on a Monday or Tuesday at my nearest supermarket, depending on whether I need something urgently.

End of the week

This is when I buy fresh milk and bread for the weekend, and those items are on my shopping list. Again, I plan ahead for what I will be cooking and how I will spoil my family over the weekend.

What is needed is added to my shopping list, and shopping normally happens on a Friday and again at my nearest supermarket.


Bulk shopping

Food and household items got so expensive that I liked to buy in bulk when there were special prices on bulk shopping. Bulk shopping normally happens once a month, and it will be either from the supermarket where I normally shop during the week or from a wholesaler called Makro, which is not in our town but is located near the town where we attend church on Sundays. These items are normally cleaning materials, toiletries, etc.

My favorite supermarket

What makes my weekly shopping nice is that not only do I shop at my favorite supermarket, Checkers, but it is also the nearest supermarket, and it is also on my way to my stepson’s school. There is no extra riding and no extra gasoline cost.

Name: Checkers Salt Rock
Google location

Checkers started an Extra Savings program not so long ago, with the result that shopping from them is not only convenient and a pleasant shopping experience, but it is also a saving.
Once a week, I will get an email from them with the weekly deals as well as the amount I have saved to date.

I will compare my shopping list to the specials and mark them so that I know what to buy. Next, I will rewrite my shopping list so that it is in the order of the isles. This makes shopping so much easier. I have also seen that by doing this, I miss those aisles that are "no go". Those forbidden items that not only look and taste so good but also cost so much. It's just a pity that those items are often repeated at the check-out points.

I got clever. I will allow myself just enough time to do the shopping before I have to pick up my stepson from school. This means that I don’t have time to "browse" around, plus I have someone who can take the packets out of the car. I also make sure that I don't shop with him after school, as there is always something not on that list that lands up in the shopping trolley.

"Must have" items

There are a few items that I call "must have" items, and if I don’t have them, I will either have them delivered or make that extra trip to get them.

• Coffee, tea, milk, and sugar, as we LOVE them
• Milo for those night cups
• Bread for the lunch boxes
• Mini packets of chips and chocolate bars for the men in my life, as every work and school day they get these items in their lunch boxes. I think they will fire me as an "executive housewife" if they must open their lunch boxes and it is not there.

How much do I spend?

The beginning of the week is normally when I buy the least amount of stuff, and therefore it also costs me the least. Whereby my end of the week is more expensive

Type of shopping	SA Rand	STEEM
Beginning of the week	+/- R 500	175,146
End of the week	+/- R 1,500	525,439
Bulk shopping	+/- R 2,000	700,586
Total shopping per week	+/-R 2,000	700,586
Total shopping per month	+/- R 10,000	3502,930

That brings me to a statement from the original contest post;

Shopping for the home is a great responsibility, many times we have to do the impossible to be able to buy the things we need.

Truer words there cannot be.

As a responsible shopper, you have to spend the money you have allocated for household shopping in the right manner.
As a magician, you have to do the impossible with the possible.

I have learned that you must be brave when you go shopping!

Happy shopping, everybody!

I invite: @bela90 @waqarahmadshah @sofian88
And those how invited me: @max-pro @sushanta83 @mrdani12 @solperez @bongk

Account summary:
Club100
Transfer to vesting: 1,833.823 STEEM
Normal transfer: 42 STEEM (Contest and charity)

• All photos are my own

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