Life (and shopping!) is all about choices – Live Below the Line

In preparing the menus for our Live Below the Line challenge, I have learnt a lot about myself and my shopping psyche.  Having 3 small children I visit the supermarket probably 2 or 3 times a week to buy bread & milk, although I can often spend a minimum of £15-20 a visit.

“What on earth am I spending our money on?”  I’ve been asking myself!

Life (and shopping!) is all about choices

I must point out at this stage that not included in the £1 per day per head of Live Below the Line are any toiletries, washing powder, toilet rolls, etc., etc.  I presume living in the real world on £1 per day one prioritises food over shampoo and conditioner….

However, even these things don’t in and of themselves account for the additional spend I make every time I visit the shops.

What I have come to recognise in my buying rituals is the power of disposable income.

Because I visit the supermarket regularly, I see offers come in, BOGOFs, ½ price, buy 2 for £-reduced, and so on, and I can choose to purchase now because I have the spare cash to do so.  I am also an avid voucher user.

And THAT I think is what disposable income gives you – CHOICES.

I can choose whether to stock-up now taking advantage of offers on things I know I’ll use in the future.

I can choose to put my Voucher Sort voucher towards something because I can afford to pay the balance.

I can choose whether to buy Weetabix or Basics Wheat Biscuits, Heinz Baked Beans or Basics Baked Beans.  The difference in price is almost 2-fold.  There is definitely a difference in taste, but is it 2-fold as “un-tasty”?

I can choose whether to buy-up the cabinet of on-date meat and put it in my freezer for later consumption, likewise fruit and vegetables.

I can choose to buy the bigger pack where the price per gram is sometimes almost ½ the price per gram of the smaller pack.

On Live Below the Line I can’t do any of the above.  We have to start from an empty store cupboard and buy everything we will eat for the 5 days from our £20 total.   I know for some readers this is how you always shop.  It has NEVER been the case for me, who has the cash to grab a bargain and can always think of a use-up recipe for the on-date food.

The interesting revelation in preparing for the challenge is that the more money you have, the more economically you can shop, and therefore the further your £ goes.

On another note, I’ve drafted out menus for the 5 days, but they will have to be refined before the challenge as this week the price of one of the items rose from £0.30 to £0.33 and another item from £0.37 to £0.39; that may only be 2 or 3 pence per item but we don’t need many items to increase by a few pence each to not be able to afford to buy them. It’ll be interesting to see how many other items on the menu need to be altered before 29^th April …..