I plan on doing some bulk shopping today. Our toilet paper is running low and I live about 30 minutes from a Costco where I can buy toilet paper for about half the price of the cheap brand of toilet paper from my local low price grocery store. To make it worth my while I have to buy enough of the larger/bulk quantity of items to make up for the gas I’m spending. Plus I have to prepare my budget for a larger hit in the grocery area, reducing my grocery budget for as many weeks as it takes to make up for today’s increased purchase.

At Christmas, I saw a movie collection at the same Costco for my girls that I really wanted for them. The movies taught some good life skills in a fun way. I didn’t want to buy them without consulting the budget and with my husband. It would be a major chunk out of the money we allocated for their Christmas gifts so I didn’t want to limit other things we wanted to do for them. So I didn’t buy it then. A couple of days later though I decided that I really wanted to get them and that there would still be enough budget for our other little gift ideas. It took me too long to get out of the house and so I arrived 30 minutes after Costco closed.

After dealing with my disappointment of not being able to get the DVD’s for a great price and the major waste of gas, I annoyingly checked the other stores around (that had longer Christmas hours), and found the same collection for about $15 more. I ended up getting the collection the next day from a store local to my house for the $15 more. What a waste of time, waste of gas, waste of money, and unneeded stress. I could have avoided the whole mess if I had planned ahead for what I REALLY wanted to do for my girls and consulted with my husband before I left to leave more room for the unexpected awesome deals.

Today my drive will be worth it. It will save me at least $40 -$50 alone on the toilet paper purchase, plus whatever other savings I get from my other bulk purchases at Costco. Then I will have the task when I get home to adjust my grocery budget by decreasing later grocery budgets to make up for today’s extra expense.