Ding Dongs and Loopholes

Ok, so, I only do my food shopping at Walgreens… but I wanna make it clear that I’m not planning on living off of Ding Dongs and Cheetos for the next several months.  First of all, they have quite a few pantry items at Walgreens.  Really.  They do.  Most people just don’t go to Walgreens to buy canned peas or cheddar cheese.  But they have it.  And they also have butter, flour, sugar, eggs, and cocoa.  So pretty much everything you need to bake something delicious.  Because that’s what’s I’m concerned with: the baked goods.  We all have our priorities, ok?  Don’t judge.

Also,  I’m not a big fan of, like, potato chips and things, so I’ve mostly been snacking on nuts and dried fruit.  Alright, really just pistachios.  But I fully intend to snack on dried fruit and raw almonds in the near future.  They also have a huge variety of cereal and I can live on just cereal for a good while.  I also found good salsa and frozen green chile at a nearby Walgreens store so that’s a HUGE relief.  I was getting nervous that I hadn’t adequately stocked up on chile.  It’s certainly not at every Walgreens, and not even every Walgreens in Albuquerque, but I’m relieved to know I can get it.

A huge loophole that I’ve already mentioned is that I still can eat at restaurants.  That loophole is extra ginormous because I work at a restaurant.  And a diner-type restaurant, too.  If I worked in fine dining it would be more difficult because I couldn’t afford to order $30 dinners every night.  So it’s affordable and it’s easy to get all the food groups taken care of in a diner.

Just wanted to come clean about that.  And relieve anyone who was worried I might die of scurvy (which I totally won’t ‘cause green chile is FULL of vitamin C!  yeah!)

Buying Stuff

I decided to do this project, partly, because I thought it would help me to buy less crap.  Because I spend so much money, and often I don’t even know where it goes.  I’ll go to used bookstores with $60 in my pocket looking for a specific book.  I’ll arrive back home with $3 and several books, none of which were the one I set out for.  And that’s not even a good example, because at least my used book purchases are fairly worthwhile.  I go out and buy clothes I don’t need all the time. I’ll regularly go through the boys’ section at Target to buy Star Wars t-shirts. I wear them.  And I like them.  But how many little boys’ Star Wars t-shirts does a grown-ass woman need?  Or I’ll see a pair of shoes that are, ya know, cute enough, but I end up buying them because they’re marked down crazy low.  So I was hoping that this blog project would slow me down with being such a typical American-woman-in-her-thirties type of consumer.  Because consumerism is bad blah blah we should appreciate the things we own blah de blah de blah – we’ve all heard the shpeel.  It’s kind of worked because like today, I was out early in the day to run a couple errands and normally I would’ve done some random shopping.  But I didn’t.  When the only place to shop is Walgreens, recreational shopping can be done pretty quickly; it can’t really fill an afternoon.

On the other hand it’s also worked not so well.  I end up buying things at Walgreens that I don’t really need but they have it now and I’m afraid they won’t have it later.  I’ve purchased two sundresses so far.  Because they always have sundresses in the early summer but you never know how long they’ll carry them.  And I do wear dresses all summer because they’re comfortable and I end up looking sort-of put-together even if I only spent 6 minutes getting ready.  So, not a total waste but not exactly necessary either.  Like, one of them is really long and has this crazy-huge hibiscus pattern and would be perfect for a 1970s luau-themed party.  But how often am I going to need a dress that’s perfect for a 70s luau party?  Probably never.  I’m still going to wear it, and probably wear some big, round 70s shades with it… providing I can find some at Walgreens.

That’s a crazy big floral pattern, right?  Can you wear this dress just anywhere?  Sort of… but not really.

I’ve purchased some needle-nose pliers and tin snips because they were in a clearance bin and looked useful and I was afraid I’d need them later and not have them.  And actually they’ve already come in handy.  I had to McGyver a way to hang my Topsy Turvy tomato planter, and used them then.

I also bought some cute panties.  I didn’t urgently need underwear, and they always have some kind of women’s undergarments, though they are usually of the high-waisted, full coverage, granny variety.   But they had some cute ones – not the cutest ever, but still cute.  So I bought them because I might not have the opportunity again in the next 5 ½ months.

Basically I’m still buying random stuff I don’t need.  Just I’m doing it at Walgreens now.

BTW, I’d recommend reading my blog posts in the order in which they were written. Just a suggestion.

First Official trip to Walgreens since starting this project, and guess what I found?  A bright pink, terrycloth romper!  For reals, y’all!  I didn’t need to get one before I started because it is a seasonal item Walgreens carries.  A-mazing.  Now I think I might need an electric blue romper as well.

And I needed to get a pot for a plant that my awesome friend bought me, and there was one there.  At first, I didn’t think there would be one big enough, and I’d have to be creative and use a cooler as a planter or something crazy, but I totally found one big enough!  Ok, I had to go to two different Walgreens, but I found what I needed!  And a gardening trowel to help with the repotting.

OH!  And I also got a black, wife-beater tank top.  Uh, that sounds like a “Fall Wardrobe Basic” to me!  How awesome is that?

AND! I bought some Barilla Spaghetti to make for dinner, and Barilla is already my favorite brand of pasta!

AND they also had parmesan cheese!  That’s actually the least exciting one.  Because I really regretted not having purchased, like, a block of parm and of course Walgreens just carries the grated Kraft parmesan.  I didn’t actually purchase the parm today either because I was just going to toss the pasta with some sundrieds, garlic, basil, and e.v.o., and parm just didn’t seem necessary… but still…  they have it… and that’s good…

Anyway, I think this all might work out just fine.

First List

Here is a list of things that I wish I had purchased before this began.  This list I compiled a mere seven hours after my shopping deadline.

• Almond Extract
• A Soap Dish
• Parmesan Cheese
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• A Membership to some Fruit of the Month Club
• A Tripod
• Vanilla Beans
• Potatoes
• Onions

I anticipate there being more of these lists in future posts.

Almost There…

So I plan to do my last shopping at other-than-Walgreens stores by 11:59 am tomorrow.  So from noon tomorrow until the middle of November, Walgreens is it.  Oh Laws, y’all, I’m super nervous.

But, not to worry, today I purchased a bright pink, terrycloth onesie/cover-up.  So that very important item is all taken care of.  I also bought some silver and grey ballet-shoe-lookin sneakers that have coral contrast stitching.  And a hula hoop. I bought a hula hoop, too.  It’s silver and red and white.  So, to recap, my last full day to do any real shopping and I choose to purchase a pink romper, silver shoes, and a hula hoop.

Ok, I’m really nervous about what I’ve forgotten to buy.  I’m sure there’s something important that I’m TOTAlly  forgetting.  But I don’t even know what that is.  And granted, if there’s any real sort of EMERGENCY, yeah, I’ll cheat on this project if I MUST — but I’m worried about some non-emergency thing that I definitely need and I’m totally forgetting about.  I’m really trusting here that Walgreens does carry everything a human needs.  Which, yes, is the whole point of this endeavor, but… ya know… I wanted to… prepare.  Right?

Several days ago, I was on the phone with a friend talking about the things I’d need for my project.  He told me to make a list.  So I did.  Here’s a copy of the list.

• Bealtrans
• Sandals
• Fall Wardrobe Basics

That was my whole list.  I purchased nothing on the list. First, I don’t know what I meant by “Bealtrans,” but I often can’t read my own handwriting. I’m gonna go ahead and assume whatever I meant really isn’t that important.  Next, I couldn’t find any sandals I really liked and figured the ones I have can get me through the summer.  And as far as “Fall Wardrobe Basics” go, I don’t think my new pink romper and silver shoes fit very neatly into this category. I mean, I purchased some jeans and a slouchy blazer a couple of weeks ago, but that was before I even made this list.  When the list was made I obviously didn’t think those purchases were sufficient. I probably should have been more specific about what clothing I would need. “Fall Wardrobe Basics” is way too broad. And, p.s., kind of a difficult thing to go shopping for in May.

So, all in all, I’m feeling woefully unprepared. Tomorrow morning, I plan to do one last trip to the grocery store to get fresh produce, but that’s pretty much it.

Well, on second thought, I might go and get another hula hoop.

Introduction

Several months ago, while shopping for batteries, facial soap, booze, and lip gloss, I noticed a display of clothing with my alma mater’s name and mascot displayed thereon.  I realized in that moment that Walgreens stores sell everything a human needs to survive.  I thought somebody should test that hypothesis.  The only person I could find who was willing to participate in this experiment was my very own self.  So I thought I would write a blog chronicling my adventures as I try to shop* nowhere but Walgreens and Walgreens.com for 6 months.

I suspect that somewhere someone has already shopped only at Walgreens for a significant amount of time without bothering to write about it.  I imagine there has probably been some college-aged guy, without a car who lived next-door to a Walgreens and shopped there exclusively without trying to.  Being that I’m a 31-year-old woman who loves shoes and has a habit of buying cocktail dresses that she has no immediate need for, this challenge will be rather difficult for me.  I plan to start this challenge in about a week.  And I’m totally going to stock pile clothes and food until I start.  And that’s not cheating; it’s just planning ahead.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

* A word of clarification.  When I say I am going to shop only at Walgreens I’m limiting that to anything that is typically described as “shopping” and that I have referred to as “shopping” earlier in my life.  For example, grocery shopping is shopping.  Buying gas is not shopping.  I have never in the whole of my life referred to buying gas as “going shopping”. Have you?   Similarly, when I go out for drinks or dinner with friends, that is not referred to as “shopping”. By anyone. Ever.  Buying clothes at Goodwill is shopping.  Buying a World’s Finest Chocolate candy bar from a friend’s kid who is raising money for his little league team is not shopping.  Unless I make a trip to a friend’s house specifically to peruse the candy selection and take some home to enjoy later.  I guess that would be shopping.  Also, I’m totally gonna break the rules if I need to buy a work uniform or a textbook for a class. I mean, come on.  The point of this project is not to lose my job or fail any classes.  But otherwise everything else — clothing, groceries, toiletries, reading materials, electronics, footwear, small appliances and every other item that is purchased in a store and a clerk puts in a bag for me to take home — will be purchased from Walgreens. So we’ll see how it goes.