Day 3: delaying purchases

I keep a shopping list. Without it, I could never remember what I need from the store. It's budgeting device 101.

Normally, I write something on the list when I am running low--like, soap. But if I'm tightening up budget-wise, I try to delay purchases as long as possible. Today I rounded up all the little travel soaps and decorative soaps scattered in places around the house: this is our new soap supply. The fat years supplying the lean years!

One perk of tightening the budget is cleaning up clutter. One benefit of clutter is supplying a tight spot.

Some staples I would restock immediately when I run out, but in this season, I don't want to. Delaying purchases saves me from spending. These days, I buy what I have to at the store, then copy the purchases I'm "saving" onto the new list. My memory and budget are both satisfied.

Today I made my husband's sandwich on the last two pieces of odd leftover bread. He won't go back to work for four days, so I will delay buying bread until Sunday. Oh, wait, I do have one hot dog bun leftover from last week's cooking out. We're having sliders for the 4th, so I'll probably have my husband eat a leftover slider on the hot dog bun come Saturday lunch. I didn't put tapenade on his sandwich; the bread was a little stale, and I wanted to spare him too much weirdness.

I also began whittling down our jelly supply. There is a tiny bit of homemade strawberry jam left; I had some on my biscuit for breakfast. Back in the days of higher metabolism, I would have had a second biscuit just to finish up the preserves. However, in the interest of my waistline, I stuck the near-empty jar back in the refrigerator. It might last two more mornings. In fact, there are about four jars of mostly-eaten jams on the top shelf of the fridge. They might last me two weeks, and delay me purchasing honey, my favorite morning topping and a very expensive one as well.