Cooperative Grocery Shopping With My Spouse

Easter came and went without much pomp or circumstance in this house. We tried to make it to Mass but the road was closed due to a brush fire - the joys of living on an island!

Mr A and I have been discussing our grocery budget lately and we decided start a competition to determine who has the ultimate right to shop for food. The problem is that it seems like the last week of the month we are always staring at our empty cupboards (and checkbook) and wondering what happened! Last month I was the sole shopper of all things edible and, between coupons and sales, I came in well under budget. Mr A is in charge this month so we will have to wait and see how he does.

It's almost not fair because I shopped so well that we not only had food all month, we had enough food to last us through the first week of this month, too! So, he hasn't actually done any grocery shopping yet and it's already the 5th! I want credit for this!

On top of that, the only things I didn't get (that Mr A wanted) last month were bananas and papayas because they were at their most expensive ($1.29/lb - outrageous! this is hawaii!)

I am extremely nervous about this contest because I am essentially giving up control over my domain. Although Mr A does cook frequently it's not too hard to figure out what he needs to provide a meal (frozen chicken, brown rice, can of mushrooms, garlic, and ginger will usually suffice). My meal preparation, on the other hand, is a bit more intuitive.

I'm worried that he won't shop in a way that allows me to cook anything besides furikake salmon or tofu patties. I need more creative liberty than that! I doubt he even knows what yeast to use in the bread maker! I'm dreading the day later this month where I am whining, "but honey, I NEED wheat germ!" and he shakes his head slowly and goes "oh no no no, that's not in the budget."

...must...have...faith...

Maybe I'm just nervous because of what happened during the tsunami scare...