I went supermarket shopping after my hair appointment this evening. Lobster mini-season opens next week in the Keys. Vacation rentals are booked up and the hordes begin arriving tomorrow. That means that on Saturday, the supermarket is going to be mobbed. No sane local resident shops on one of these Saturdays if we can possibly avoid it. Tonight as I pushed my cart through the produce area and then up and down the aisles, I started to think about how much food every every week just to feed myself. This led me to do some arithmetic in my head. I estimated what I used to spend each week at the store, then added an additional $25 for the frequent lunches I bought at work several days. A rough guess at miscellaneous food purchases when I wanted that fast food breakfast sandwich or some rich pastry from the overprized coffee shop, a hit of candy here, pint of premium ice cream there, hold the three, carry the one and . . . My weekly food bills were definitely high.
I honestly think that I’m saving a minimum of $50 a week. Holy wow. That’s a lot of money! $200 a month times six months equals $1200. If I keep going at this rate, then figure savings of $2400 in a year.
Now I’m musing on all of the fun, rewarding things I can do with that money. Take a great trip. Put it toward payments on a new car. Buy a new wardrobe. Endless possibilities, people. Endless!
The flip side of all of the happy thoughts is the tough realization of how much food I used to buy with that $50 a week. Stuff I didn’t need. Junk loaded with sugar or fat or carbs or sugar and carbs, fat and sugar — or all three. Considering that I was making myself sick with that food in terms of high cholesterol, Type II diabetes, hypertension and so on, I was paying a price literally and figuratively.
In more ways than one, I’m glad to be done with the high cost of overeating.
Weighty Matters 
There is a delivery service of organic produce and other products that comes through the Keys a couple of times a week. (We don’t have any land for produce farms in the islands.) We have enough people at work who joined the buying club to become a weekly stop. The problem is that most of the share size options are still too much for me to consume. I’m trying a “mini” next week to see if it’s too much produce or just enough. If it’s still too much, I can always go to once every other week.
We’ve cut our food bill down by quite a bit this summer by joining a CSA farm share. I wonder if that would be an option for you next year?