Son #1 Shop #1!

If you’ve ever had a child, there are a dozen or so ‘monumental’ moments that define your progress, and theirs. But some are milestones for YOU as the parent; things that stand out as a Definitive watermark of how you’ve done, up to that monumental day.  I’ve reached another one of those today, with Big Nicko’s first all-on-his-own, adult-style GROCERY-SHOPPING trip!

Nick is 19 now, and although everyone would love if by turning that date, you’d instantly have your act together, it does not work that way. One ritual that DOES display your wits is the grocery trip. And it was a deliriously thrilling occasion for me to not only witness it, but to give him some sage advice on how to stretch those dollars! I was nearly giddy with the helium of the moment, the sense of a shiny new airplane taking off on its maiden voyage!

So many tips I realized I had to offer up, so many sensible attack plans I had to share! Budgeting 101! What made something a good choice, a bad choice, a budgeting choice, or a splurging treat-of-the-month! So many subtle concepts have to be made clear, when you’re strrrrrrrrrrrrretching out that weekly budget; when you’ve got X-amount of dollars and you quickly learn that you really should not spend a dollar more, when there’s young-adult gallivanting to do! Choices that seem innocuous, yet really do have weighty consequences when you’ve yet to learn the agonizing despair of reaching into an empty wallet four days before payday!

I believe that there are certain lessons that a parent MUST guide a child to, and learning how to budget is such a fundamental one. If you can’t constantly restructure your budget according to your wishes and realities, then you experience a distressing growing stretch of years. Of course, the fun part comes when you see how your tastes and your ‘needs’ morph, and you can look back and laugh at your peccadilloes. But for now, Nick has his first set of preconceptions, and he gave me a good laugh when he headed to his first aisle, for his first priority:

He jumped right to the Powerbars, and carted 8 of them at $1 a pop. 1/5 of his allotted budget for sugary granola bars with marginal nutritional value, unless you’re about to run a few miles and you need the quick fix. Forget about the rest of your day, and your real nutritional needs; they offer the promise of aperformance rush! Such is the knee-jerk prioritization of a 19-year old..

So I delicately tried to frame out the picture of making $40-50 per week cover all your meals for the day, and at least pretending that you care about your nutrition, even though at 19 your body rebounds, recovers, and effectively ignores any nutritional insults you assault your system with.  I tried to sell the concept of fruits and vegetables, but I must have speaking Assyrian. Teenagers inherently sense that they can abuse their bodies, ruthlessly, for at least a decade, and reconsider adult concerns when 30 rolls around.

After all my pointless arguments and pleading and budgeting prowess, in the end I at least convinced Nick to look at things in regards to cost per ounce, and how to try to buy and stockpile things that are on sale, and to definitely acquire the PickN’Save Advantage card! It was an exasperating experience, but definitely a landmark occasion! My mind swam with advice, trying to remember all the sage intricacies of savvy shopping, while fighting the exasperation of conveying common sense to a 19 year old…  in the end, Nick got about 12 days worth of food, which he is going to try to stretch into 2 months, since his current priorities are nothing but: girls, and video games. Luckily for Nick, he has a shred of common sense itching at the back of his brain, convincing him that budgeting is a sensible concept.  In all, I give him a 7 out of 10 stars; pretty good for a first time shopper.

Just for posterity, and for the amusement of us all to the future, here is Nick’s first adult shopping list, Thursday Sept. 17th, 2009:

Roundy’s Grape Jam $2.09

Roundy’s Crunchy Peanut Butter $6.99

Roundy’s Root Beer 2-liter (2) $2.50

Roundy’s spaghetti 32oz. $1.85

Roundy’s crackers $2.75

Roundy’s Berry Treats cereal $3.49

Fruit cocktail, 2 big cans $3.18

Prego garlic herb sauce (2) $4.00

2 loaves cheap white bread $1.38

Lynden Farm H Bwn $2.70

Merkt’s Port Wine Cheese spread $3.69

Foot treatment $8.49

Roundy’s bagels (2) $2.10

Roundy’s cream cheese $1.49

Roundy’s Parmesan cheese (luxury item) $3.00

Y0plait vanilla huge tub $2.00

Yoplait strawberry banana huge tub $2.00

GRAND TOTAL, with tax: $54.32

Coupons saved with Advantage card: $2.27

Unfortunately, no fruits or veggies, but a modest try at sandwiches and spaghetti, and no ice cream!

I say my thanks for small miracles, one excursion at a time!

Welcome to adulthood, aisle 1!