After spending a few days on a foreign trip, one feels the need to atone for certain sins even though we stayed well within our budget and did not buy any crap. For me, having a good time doesn’t involve staying in 5 star hotels or eating in fancy restaurants. Besides, who needs fancy places when you can have something so delicious in an ordinary cafe? Yes, the tartaleta tasted as good as it looks…
However, when I set out on my customary Monday morning trip to the supermarket I was in a let’s-show-some-responsibility-with-money mood. And came back as satisfied as Morty Seinfeld. Skyrocketing inflation has taught me to pay a closer look at grocery bills and I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this.
I am quite pleased to say that everything I bought today was only $20. On my way home, I felt pretty smug doing menus in my head and realizing that this haul could cover lunch for me and my son for a whole week. Make that double smug since I’m on a keto drive and promised myself I won’t be touching the potatoes… unless someone suggests fries, which I’m not going to resist. What’s the point of living if you deny yourself fries?
If that was not enough, I discovered I got another discount on the already discounted steak. I didn’t even need pork, I had plenty in the freezer, but I’m a sucker for discount signs. No wonder there’s talk of stores doing away with “best by” dates. They wouldn’t be forced to apply discounts if it weren’t for that… My heavily-discounted meat went straight into the pan as I’ve become addicted to a recipe 
Come lunch hour I was feeling saintly, especially as I resisted the temptation of making a creamy sauce, heavy on flour for my mushrooms. No carbs on my plate! Best thing of all? Doing a bit of math in my head, I realized that this perfectly balanced and healthy lunch was actually cheaper than the tartaleta in the first photo. Not as delicious, though.
On a more serious note, I think more countries should start boycotting supermarket chains like they did in Croatia and other Balkan states. One of the targets of the boycott was the German Lidl, which is exactly the store I went to this morning… because it’s still cheaper than other stores. Not that we have much choice. Living in a big city you either buy food from a chain store or you starve. The so-called fresh market sells mostly imported overpriced food and the last independent grocery in my neighborhood closed a few months ago when one of them chain stores opened a mini-market right next door.
Until people decide to fight back, bargain-hunting is not only a smart thing to do, but also your duty. Let us make Morty proud! 🙂
LE: I just read that the candidate who was prevented from winning the presidential elections, Calin Georgescu, proposed a one-day boycott on Feb 10 and the hashtag is already trending on TikTok. Guess I won't be going to the supermarket next Monday! It's a start!