Monday, March 20th, 2006

"The Grocery Debacle"

ATM Fee $1.75
Coffee .75
Cafe 28 (2 eggs) $1.44
Sunac Food Market (groceries) $25.96

I have often forgotten to mention the stupid amounts of money I have wasted on ATM fees, I'll start tracking them from now on, I get mad at myself for being careless about my searches for ATM's that won't charge me...
I also get so mad at myself for doing my grocery shopping at the Sunac Food Market, it's purley out of conveinence, my default pit stop. It's right off my train stop, and when it's cold I don't want to walk the extra mile to the local Key Foods or Associated where the mark up on these products is far less. I spent nearly $30.00 and when I got home all I had was milk, butter, a sponge, a salad, a box of mac n'cheese, oh, and some cookies. I walked past the new Trader Joe's, thinking I would make my grocery stop off there, and there was a line up 14th street to get in, insanity! The Grand Opening was Friday the 17th, I think it'll be about a month until the coast is clear to even attempt to go in there. It's all the talk right now, especially opening so close to the Whole Foods in Union Square. Conveinence costs, that's what it comes down to. I was eavedropping on a conversation between 2 girls on the L train last night, they were talking about the cost of laundry detergent, and the one girl said she bought hers at the dollar store and it was so much cheaper there, and the other girl said she never even thinks to go to her local dollar store (well, she's totally missing out). They both discussed their live-in boyfriends, both obviously in freshly domestic situations, and compared the spending habits of their men. One girl said her boyfriend was cheap, she said he's the type that will go out of the way, walk the extra mile to get a good deal, whether it be on toilet paper or detergent... She said that time is more precious to her than a dollar or two, and it kills her that he goes out of the way to save that extra buck. It really made me think, especially in a city like New York, we get so used to having everything we need right at our finger tips, instant gratification always, but what's the big deal? Why are we always in such a hurry? In this scenario her boyfriend seems to be the smart one, a person I would possibly even seek finacial advice from.