The Man at His Second Rodeo Still Has a Lot to Learn

The second day was always going to be the hardest. On the first day it is possible to write about it being the first day. It’s day one. That in and of itself is a blog post. Day two isn’t interesting. It isn’t fresh or new or exciting. It’s why Tuesday is for tacos. Otherwise Tuesday would be nothing. The forgotten and unwanted day of the week. Everyone dreads Monday and no one cares about Tuesday, except for the tacos. People care about tacos.

There should be more lessons from the day. I did stuff today. I went grocery shopping. I got irrationally excited when my grocery bill was under $200. That is the state of my world. The state of my life. I get excited when I spend an absurd amount of money at the grocery store that is less than the absurd amount of money I normally spend.

I was surprised. I thought I’d bought too much. I was standing in line feeling guilty about having bought rye bread, pastrami, corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut to make sandwiches for lunch. That is almost $20 worth of ingredients just to make sandwiches, and an entire different type of bread. Sure I can have a mustard, ham, and Swiss on rye as well as the Ruebens but it is still a different and extra loaf of bread. That ain’t free.

I am obsessed with my grocery bill. I have to be messing up somewhere for it to normally be close to $250 and sometimes pushing $300. There has to be an answer. Something that can be cut, but every week I am back at the grocery buying the same things. I can’t cut the fresh fruit or the snacks for my kids. I can’t cut out dinner or lunch and I can’t cut out the household essentials. There are no cuts to be made.

This is where I am with grocery shopping. I go in and do it. I get sad. Then the next week I do it all again. I saw a single man at the grocery store today. He was buying frozen fruit, protein powder, and bottled water. I remember when I was that man. Now I am married with three children and I am buying way too much food and snacks. Five people is a lot to feed. It gets expensive. It adds up, and it is either get rid of the family or keep on spending too much on groceries. I think I’m keeping the family, but there was to be something that can be cut.