I don’t like spending time at stores, or at least I think I don’t. So I thought I was immune to unnecessary expenditure that comes from compulsive buying.

So instead of spending two hours at a grocery store to buy all that I need twice a month, I started dropping into my neighborhood store every night to pick something for dinner.

I would walk in and out and I was done. No more walking through the aisles and spending one extra minute there.

What I didn’t realize was that I wasn’t just picking up dinner; I was also impulsively buying some things that I didn’t really need to accompany my dinner. I would pick up a magazine, or extra pieces of chocolate, or the latest display item the store had placed in a strategic place.

So after several weeks of receipts of more than $15 a night, I realized I wasn’t saving any money. In fact I was spending more than I would spend if I went out to dinner. And I was buying junk that I didn’t need.

So I am now making a list of all the things I need and go once a week to the store to buy necessities. I stick to my list and force myself to move through the aisles. Because my cart seems full, I don’t reach into the shelves and grab more.

Comparing my receipts from the daily foray and the weekly one, I realized that I did keep my weekly costs a little lower that what I was spending every day.

It works for me, it might work for you.

My objective for the next few months or till we get over these doom and gloom days: To reduce these weekly trips to twice a month.

I am not going to turn into this family anytime soon, but I will try to keep my debt down.