Home Economics

My parents used a finely-honed system for household grocery shopping when I was growing up.

My mother (who worked days) made out the list - organized methodically, aisle by aisle, after consultation with the supermarket sale circular. My father (who worked nights) made the actual trip to the store.

The system insured that everything we needed was purchased - and that money didn't disappear in a sea of impulse buying. My parents made a little go a very long way.

I, meanwhile, can't recall ever compiling a grocery shopping list - except when throwing parties. I was once married to a man who loved to cook -- and did it well -- but never met an overpriced ingredient he didn’t like.

It’s time to make a change.

Someone once said that for every minute you shop in a supermarket, you spend a dollar. If only. I zipped up and down the aisles of my A&P last weekend and walked out $140 lighter  - give or take a buck.

As I shopped (with a list living only in my mind), I fought a battle between what I know is good for me and what's cheap and easy. I avoided most impulse buys, except for the $3.99 Oscar Mayer microwaveable pre-cooked bacon, which I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I even eat.

I remembered the tuna, but forgot the mayonnaise.

I caved on the Celeste individual pizzas priced at 10 for $10! I doubled up on the $1.79 six-packs of Cup Noodles.

Before you judge, I also bought fresh shrimp on sale and quite a few of the good-for-you items (eggs, potatoes, apples, nuts and low-fat milk) from this handy list of 20 healthy cheap foods I found on Divine Caroline.

In deference to economy, I’ve switched back to gallon jugs of milk, which cost $1 less than half-gallons of the organic variety. Anyway, I jumped on the no-hormone organic bandwagon way too late to stave off the premature development of my daughter.

I’m also paying close attention to the unit pricing stickers on the shelves to figure out which size box of Special K really delivers the best value.

I’m swearing off the single-serve snack packs and started making my own with Ziploc bags, the world’s gift to parents everywhere. (I keep them in every size and reuse them because they’re so strong.)

I take inordinate pleasure in dining out. It’s social, it tastes good and I believe it can even be cheaper given my tendency to watch food pass through eight stages of rot in my refrigerator and cupboards.

But I’m also a pragmatist and know I need to tighten my belt both literally and figuratively. So I’m trying.

My former husband, a Brit born during the postwar era of food rationing, once planned a thematic birthday party using recipes from a cookbook issued by the Imperial War Museum and called “We’ll Eat Again.” It offered ways to make the most of whatever meager resources were on hand.

It may be time to buy my own copy.

What are you doing to economize at the supermarket? Weigh in on The Exchange.