Question Time

At the same time, people have sought my grocery expertise. Maybe expertise is too strong a word. People have sought my grocery opinion. Since there is little in this world I like more than advising people about groceries, without further ado, let me opine.

I'm working on building up my whiskey inventory, but it's hard because I keep drinking it. any advice? -Tom

For everything that isn't liquor, I always say "inventory is death." Because you want to let the store keep your inventory for you. Liquor is another matter, and I actually have a system for building inventory that my friend Eric has started to use. You have to give yourself a liquor budget. Don't think of this as a budget you want to come in under. Pretend you're a local government and need to pave the roads, but you're a lot more fun. So if your budget is $30 a week, make sure you get yourself to the liquor store every Saturday morning and spend that $30. Being poor for so long, my liquor budget is down to $20/week. If I don't have them, I buy a jug of the cheapest vodka ($13.88) and a bottle of the cheapest whiskey $5.99. If I drink them over the course of the week, I buy them again. If I still have them come Friday, I venture for something more fun. When I came into some surprise money from Chase Freedom giving me it, I bought a jug of gin and some bitters. If I keep to my bottle/week pace, that should permanently add 1 bottle to my inventory. (It didn't. I reacted to having more booze by inviting people to come drink it more.)

But really, if you're drinking whiskey you like, that's a good problem to have.

---

Dear Grocery Chopin,

I was recently in a convenience type grocery store to pick up a few things. A half gallon of regular milk was $2.99 which was more than I would have paid at the regular grocery store. A half gallon of organic milk however was $4.49 which is the right price for organic. Is buying higher quality (more expensive) groceries at their correct price better than buying regular groceries at an inflated (but still cheaper) price?

Sincerely,
Milk Man

Oh that's a tough one! It's going to take me a minute to get into a mindset that allows one to not buy something for only the best price or to suffer. I have to say that buying groceries at their correct price is the correct way. While I like paying very little for groceries, what I really advocate is getting good values. I wouldn't tell you to substitute olive oil with vegetable oil spread just because it's cheaper. If I were in C-Town, I would tell you to get the regular milk, but I am skeptical of bodega's attention to milk freshness, so I think going for the ultrapasteurized organic milk is a wise choice.

That was fun. I miss giving advice. I used to be pretty prolific when I wrote for Eleanor Roosevelt.