I always buy cereal, eggs, milk, whole wheat bread, peanut butter, jelly, rice, and soy sauce. I like to buy fruits, carrots, hummus, bell peppers, onions, and other vegetables as well.  I try to go for the best prices, and I try to buy organic when I can. I also look for low sodium, low fat, low sugar items. I’m usually shopping for myself, and am not above buying frozen foods, although I try not to anymore. I usually buy my groceries from D’Agostinos. I’d rather buy from Whole Foods and Trader Joes, but the lines are too long and I don’t have a lot of time. My grocery shopping tends to be pretty basic, so I honestly don’t consult many outside resources. I do try to use coupons, and I have a D’Agostino’s savings card.

High-Tech Electronics

I recently purchased a new digital camera. I went to Best Buy on a whim to pick one up, although I had been without one for three years. I’ve always been impressed by Best Buy’s customer service (Geek Squad anyone?) and I was able to put the points towards my father’s account, which is nice. I wanted to get a Canon or a Nikon based on what people I had spoken with, both among my friends and the Best Buy staff, had said. I was about to buy a Canon model for $200, but I thought it was pretty ugly looking, so I opted for the Canon Power Shot SD780 IS. It’s really small, sleek, and a gold color. I spent $250 on it. It had a more powerful zoom and 12.1 Megapixels, which appealed to me. There are also many more photo settings, although I honestly have not figured out how to use all of them.

I held off on buying a digital camera until I got my tax refund check because I didn’t have a lot of extra money on-hand. I also knew that I had lost two digitcal cameras in college, and wanted to wait until I was a little more mature so I wouldn’t basically be throwing money away on something I would lose in a drunken rage. I purchased an iPhone 3G last year, but that has been the extent of my technological purchases in the last few years.

Travel Services

The last time I travelled, I went to a beach town outside of Barcelona for my first cousin’s wedding. I didn’t actually choose the hotel, as I was staying with my mother and several of my relatives were also checking into the same place. Our focus was on location (proximity to the beach and the church) but price was also a factor. We had a small swimming pool, but we were more concerned about where we were located than what amenities we had. I was disappointed that there was no fitness room, but none of the local hotels had such amenities. The hotel was recommended to guests (among other hotels) in a packet sent out by the wedding planner.

I’ve still been able to travel during the recession. I think it’s a great time to take advantage of killer deals, particularly when it comes to flights and hotels. My flight cost less than $400, which I found pretty exciting! If I’m planning a trip, I plan on booking it at the beginning of the month when I get paid, and then planning the rest of the month’s budget around that and making sacrifices in other areas.

Home Improvement

I have not done any home improvement projects of late. I feel bad, but I’m staying with family on Long Island and I’m rarely home. I help them with internet connection related tasks, but that’s really the extent of it.

Entertainment

I’ve gone to the movies with my brother and my friends, and I may go to the All Points West music festival this weekend. I’m going to the U2 concert with my brother in DC in October. The preferences of my friends and family influence my purchasing decisions when it comes to entertainment. What’s the point in buying a flat screen tv if I don’t have roommates or friends who will come and watch it with me frequently? I think the primary appeal of stuff like this is its value as a facilitator/enhancer of social activities. I’ve never been that big on going to the movies or watching TV though, and the recession has no real impact on my behavior in this regard.

The only products that I can think of are: food, alcohol, and bathing supplies.  Since I don’t have a job, I try to spend as little money as possible.  This recession is forbidding me to be brand loyal.  The cheapest food or body wash will suffice for me.  Also, there is no particular store I go to to buy these things.  I simply try to spend as little money as possible.  I will go from supermarket to  supermarket to find the cheapest product.  I may sometimes even use google to find where to get the cheapest products.  

High-Tech Electronics

The last couple of purchases I have made are for movies and video games.  To insure I don’t waste my money, I make sure the game is a quality product.  The best way to do this is by playing a demo and reading reviews online (ie: 1up.com or ign.com).  I don’t have much loyalty to movies so I just buy a movie if it is on sale.  I love video games so there is a level of loyalty I have to a series that has games that I like.  Outside a few gifts, I mostly buy all of these for myself.   Again, to save money, I don’t make these purchases often.  The only reason I bought so many games and movies recently is because Virgin Megastore was closing and they had 50% discounts on everything.  Without this, I probably wouldn’t have bout most of these items.

Travel Services

The last tirp I took was in June, to Hollywod, California.  There was not much to decide on and research here.  I previously received a free round trip from United Airlines to anywere in the 48 states.  I decided to go to Hollywod.  I told my friend to come and he handled the hotel situation.  His mother had a timeshare that allowed him to get a room for four days for $50.  Since everything was basically free for me, I did not care where I stayed so my friend made the decision.  I got my tickets through via telephone, but if I was not receiving the free round trip I would have found them somewere online.  Obviously the recession did not effect this trip much.  I had plenty of money to spend on other things in California. 

Home Improvement

I have not made any home-improvemnts before.

Entertainment

In addition to playing video games, I like to go out to have fun.  I don’t have disposeable income that allows me to spend freely so I find alternatives.  Lately I have been finding ways to have fun at a bargin.  I find places that let me do things for free.  There is a huge rock concert called the Siren Festival that’s free.  I go to movie screeners that let me watch movies for free prior to their relese date.  I even find clubs that let me in for free before a certain time.  There are still places were I have to spend money.  I recently went to 6 Flags, and that hurt my pockets, but I felt it was worth it.  I am also going to an Incubus concert soon.  The recession is taking a toll on me, but if some form of entertainment is worth the expense than I have no problem spending the money for it.

My grocery shopping habits are much different than the norm. For the past two years, I have lived off a meal plan through my sorority house – meaning that I was not going to the grocery store on a daily or even weekly basis for food. Now, I am living at home with my mother. We do most of the grocery shopping together, but she is the one usually picking up the tab since I am still looking for a job. However, when I really want something I will go to the store myself and buy it. With this being said, there are certain products that I will buy on a regular basis. My two cereals of choice are Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries and Honey Nut Cheerios. I love cereal so I will usually buy a box of each every two weeks. I am also a huge fruit fan, and normally will come out with a variety of blueberries, bananas, strawberries, grapes, apples, etc. with each trip to the store. I also am a huge sports drink person and will stock up on the Glacier Freeze Gatorade (my favorite flavor) when there are sales – which is pretty much all the time. Toiletries are the one thing that I have consistently bought on my own throughout college. My staples: Crest with Scope Whitening toothpaste (mint flavored), Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti-Humidity Smoothing Silk, Dove Facial Cleansing Cloths. As far as shampoo, I alternate between Pantene Pro-V and Dove products, although sometimes I will branch out and try something new if it’s a good deal and I like the smell. Lotions and bodywashes? I look for the sales but usually gravitate towards lotions with aloe, shea butter, and/or extra hydration (I like St. Ives) and with bodywashes it’s all about the fragrance, although I love the creamy feel of the Olay Ribbons wash. Where I do my shopping varies. I will go to the super market for food – which is Publix where I live – but often things can get expensive there, especially toiletries. I’ll normally shop Wal-Mart for toiletries and basic cosmetic needs. Sometimes I will also shop at CVS, where I get my prescriptions filled, for these items. They are good about having buy 1 get 1 free or ½ off discounts, so that’s definitely a plus. To be honest, though, it really comes down to convenience for me. I would say that it normally doesn’t take me very long to make decisions in the grocery store. I normally know what I want. However, if I am buying something completely new that I’ve never tried before, I will take my time to explore the different brands and what they offer in terms of benefits. Of course the price factor is also key and definitely drives my decisions. The recession has not had a huge impact on my grocery habits because, like I said, I was previously on a meal plan. I will say that I definitely take the time to notice what I am buying, and if I think something is not going to get consumed in the next week – so basically go to waste – I won’t get it.

High-Tech Electronics

 The most recent “high-tech purchase” that I made was last October when I purchased my Blackberry. My previous cell phone had been destroyed, so I had to get a new phone. I was considering a Smartphone because I use email A LOT and the convenience of having the internet at my hands was definitely something I wanted and was willing to pay a little extra for. Unfortunately, because my cell phone died I did not have the luxury of waiting until my plan’s 2-year agreement was up, so I had to stay with my current service provider. Otherwise, to be honest I probably would have switched over and looked for a bargain on an iPhone. It just so happened that at the time my old cell phone died, Verizon was having a sale on the Blackberry Curve and after rebates I essentially got the phone for free. This was a huge selling point for me, since I already knew I was going to be paying more for the service. It did not take me long to decide since I had an immediate need to replace my old phone – I probably spent a week I would say without a phone. I bought the phone from my local Verizon Wireless store, where I also purchased the new service package and case for my phone. Again, convenience played a huge role in my decision to purchase the phone at the store. The recession definitely has impacted my discretionary income and therefore my purchase of high-tech goods. I was hoping to purchase a new laptop upon graduation, however I simply do not have the money right now to do so. My current laptop is an IBM ThinkPad and I’ve had it for the past 5 years, so I would definitely like to make an upgrade once I have saved up some money. It is not a top priority right now though.

Travel Services

Okay to be honest — I cannot recall the last time that I booked a hotel. Most of the trips that I have taken were made possible by kind family and friends who let me crash their pads. I have been living on a student budget for the past 4 years; I travel cheap. Price is always my number one concern. Next would be proximity to wherever it is I am looking to visit in that area and proximity to major roadways/transportation. It is far easier for me to answer these questions in terms of my flight plans. Most recently, I took a trip to New York. The trip was a total of 10 days and the purpose was to visit friends in the city and interview for jobs. I traveled by myself, which made it a lot easier to find cheap flights since I booked my ticket approximately a week and a half before departure. I had been following the ticket prices for about 3 weeks, I would say, thanks to Bing.com. In the end, I ended up booking a flight through CheapTickets.com. I would have booked through Delta.com because I fly Delta often, but as I was waiting for the page to load prices went up by $200 and I wasn’t able to secure the price that I wanted. I jumped over to CheapTickets.com and got the cheap ticket price there. The recession has definitely affected the way I plan for travel. I knew that I was going to be making this trip up to New York during the summer, but had to hold off a) to save up a bit more money and b) to plan it strategically for when it would be most beneficial for me to go. I knew that towards the end of the summer (late July) would be best. I flew up so that I could arrive on my best friend’s birthday and stayed a least a week so I had time for interviews — in essence, killing two birds with one stone. I also stayed an additional 3 days longer than I had originally planned so that I could get the cheaper ticket price. Had it not been for the recession, I probably would have taken the trip to Europe this summer with my best friend that we had been planning for over a year. She ended up going, but unfortunately I had to back out due to money issues. I WILL travel in the future – and Europe is definitely at the top of my list. Once I have been able to put a few grand into savings, I will consider it again.

Home Improvement

This section does not really apply to me as I do not own my own home – or even apartment at this point! However, I did help my boyfriend renovate his room at school. He lives in a fraternity house which basically allows their members to “do as these please” with their rooms. This particular project involved removing a mid-loft from the room, installing tile flooring, painting the walls, as well as staining and adhering a chair rail to the walls. I helped him pick out the paint for the room as well as the wood for the chair rail. Together, we took on the task of painting his room with a mocha color on top, the chair rail stained with a dark oak placed at 3ft, and then a dark brown below. It turned out great, and we are both really happy with the way it looks now.

Entertainment

Normally my “fun” time consists of time spent with friends, including my boyfriend. I love movies, so watching a movie at home is completely commonplace for me. When I am visiting my boyfriend (he is back at school), we go to the movies. That is one of the things we love to do and something we both can enjoy. We’re big movie nerds. It is definitely something that we splurge on, but we don’t do it in excess. I would consider going out to bars and clubs with friends a form of entertainment, and that is definitely where a good portion of my “entertainment money” goes. I am a people person, so I love going out for a drink and spending time just talking with friends. Since graduation, I would say that I definitely have cut back in this area 1) because I don’t have income coming in yet to afford such a lifestyle and 2) I’m no longer in the “college mindset.” Whereas I used to go out multiple times a week in college, I maybe go out once a week now, if that. This will probably change once I start working and am looking to socialize with my new co-workers.

The only items I buy on a regular basis are FOOD!  How boring~ But clearly necessary.  The 5 items I get are coldcuts, milk, eggs, bread, fruit and some type of cookie or ice cream.  Yes, I am loyal to the brands on food.

We are particular about what we eat and we like certain brands.   I do Boars Head brand only on my cold cuts as I feel safe with their quality and freshness.  Eggs we favor eggland for health reason and the treats I purchase are what it on sale but I don’t buy it only becuz it is on sale, I buy it if something my family likes happensto be  on sale.  I also stock up on items when they are on sale.

And yes I will buy for others first and then for myself.

I decide what to buy based on reputation, friends and past experience.

The bigger/costlier the item, the more I research.

 My groceries are from our local supermarkets, which are Stop and Shop and King Kullen.  I will hit Whole Foods on occasion.

In the summer my fruit is from a fruit stand with local produce.  I only buy my meat from a reputable butcher. My paper goods are from BJs because I can buy in bulk and save as these are non-perishable.

I also love to buy food items at Target as I find them to be very reasonable in price.

Fairway is wondeful but a bit far for me.  They have everything under 1 roof!  However, I cud spend hours in there finding everything.

Since the recession we have adjusted our food selections…. I will do more pasta, I will be sure to use up everything in my fridge, so nothing is wasted and we do eat out less.

Travel Services

We travel very rarely but when we do we select a better hotel.  We are usually able to pay for our room with points, so we wait till the points have accumulated.

When we select a hotel we chose based on their proximity to the location we are looking for, and we only stay at a reputable/recognizable hotel chain.  Cleanliness and service are key to us.  I also of course chose a hotel that was child friendly – being that we wanted everyone to enjoy the  vacation.

We usually make the reservations directly with the hotel, but after scrutnizing every possible detail on line.

I don’t see a big trip in the near future.  We are ok right now with having our jobs and working..

Home Improvement

We have not done a major home improvement ourselves.  We did redo our yard ourselves, but that was plantings and we painted the interior  of our home ourselves..    Any project wud have been something that I would have thought ouer very thoroughly.  For the garden and even interior colors and decorating… I love to rip out photos from magazines… and create a folder..

Materials are usually from Home depot.   Garden plants from various nurseries as I shop for variety.

I can’t see anything that I need to do soon that I cud do.   We need several improvements but I wud rather wait for a professional to come in and do them right – I think that for the list that I have I need someone who knows what they are doing!

Entertainment

I am going to sound like the most boring person here, but we don’t plan fun!  We work very hard, we try on the weekends to enjoy our home as a family, but we spend most of our down time doing little projects around the house, doing the “chores” and taking care of everyone!

For our down time – our most favorite thing is hitting the beach, and the guys LOVE to fish.  That is when I see my husband relax.  I cud sit in a beach chair all day and listen to the ocean.

However, back to reality – we do have a large tv and we do love to sit at night or on a rainy day and do a marathon of a drama series or movies.

We do like to have close friends over for a barbecue or just some wine..

I also have to say that I have started watching the cooking channels on tv and my cooking has improved as a result – and that too can be a sort of entertainment for my family and friends.  I experiment on them and we try out  different things together…

Where I spend my money is in preparing meals or desserts for other people. The “exciting” recipes require more money than I ever would spend on myself and I find zero pleasure in cooking for myself but plenty of good times in cooking for others.

I generally only take care of the shopping when I’m living on my own at school. During the summers, when I’m home in Las Vegas, mom’s got me covered. As mentioned though, I have done some cooking for others. During my last few months in Utah, I was a part of a weekly dinner group with some close friends and that led to higher-than-usual standards in my grocery shopping choices.

The only times I do “research” for shopping is when I’m cooking for others. In that case, the research is usually a phone call to mom for advise. Other than that, I’m usually in and out within 20 minutes max.

When I’m at school, I buy from BYU’s Creamery for all of my groceries. It’s a little more pricey but I don’t have a car and it’s the closest thing to my apartment. The distance also affects how much I purchase. I can’t carry more than a carry-basket’s worth of groceries. My arm would simply fall off.

I typically buy it all there at the Creamery. Once in a blue moon, I may have a specialized need that can only be fulfilled at a Supermarket Chain (Smith’s), but again, Smith’s is the store of choice cause they’re only about six blocks away from my apartment and there are fairly regular busses that go there.

Convenience. It all comes down to how far I’m gonna have to walk with bags of heavy groceries on my arms.

I may buy fewer desserts here and there but again, I really try to stick to the generic stuff and I am limited to what stores I can shop at.

High-Tech Electronics

I guess the last BIG thing I purchased was well over a year ago when I bought a new Apple (Macbook.) My father helped me purchase it and he was adamant I go for the one with the greater power, bigger memory, etc., etc. If I were paying for it on my own, I would have just stuck with the old one I already had. The reason I was buying a new laptop was because I was temporally moving to London and my old laptop didn’t have any wireless capabilities and it would be far too expensive to install them. My flat only had wireless capabilities and we had no phone…the only mode of communication was a laptop with wireless capabilities. So, about a year before I had planned to replace the old one we got a new one for me.

The purchase did not take terribly long. The Apple crew is incredibly helpful (not to mention honest) and was able to answer all of my questions. Because of my familiarity with their previous products, we were able to make a fairly quick decision.

I always buy milk, eggs, bread and cereal. They are the staples to life. Since moving to NYC I buy namebrand Silk soy milk, but just recently started buying regular milk because it is so much cheaper. I like Arnold brand oatnut bread. I try to buy the cheapest eggs. When it comes to cereal I usually try to find something healthy and will pay a little bit more for something I like. I love Breyer’s icecream and have been “treating” myself to that lately. I like how there are only 5 flavors in it, it seems more natural and healthy to me.

 I only shop for myself since I am not married and don’thave kids. I don’t think it has  a big impact on the way I consider which stores to go to and which products are the best. (I get to be selfish because it’s all about me. J)

 No I didn’t do any research.

 I buy my groceries from Fairway Market (local grocery store in Manhattan) or Gristedes (chain grocery store in Manhattan) and most of my non food items from Duane Reade (chain pharmacy in Manhattan, there is one on every corner I swear).

 On Mondays after work I go to Fairway and buy my groceries for the week which usually cost between $25-$35. Most of these items are for mylunches at work. Fairway has a better selection, fresher food, and they are less expensive than Gristedes. It is a little bit out of my way compared to Gristedes but if I bought the same items at Gristedes I figure I’d be paying around $10 more a week.

 I will go to Gristedes only out of convenience since it is literally 50 yards from my apartment door. I normally go there late Saturday nights to purchase the food I will need for Sunday dinner with my friends. Normally we don’t figure out the menu until Saturday and so when I get off the subway after my Saturday night plans are over I will pop into Gristedes on my way home.

 I like Duane Reade over the other pharmacies in NYC because they have an incentive program and because they are everywhere. I like how when I spend $100 they give me a $5 coupon to use. I know it’s not a lot but it does make a difference. 

Recession Impact

 I actually buy more groceries now than I did before the recession started. This is for two reasons: 1. I go out to eat less often so I need more groceries. 2. I used to get either free lunch or dinner at my old job almost everyday. I imagine after the recession ends I will continue to buy things at the grocery store to make for lunches as it does save me a fair amount of money and it’s healthier.

High-Tech Electronics

 I am honestly not the best person for this question. I rarely  buy high-tech electronics. They cost so much money and I really don’t need them.

 The most recent high-tech electronic purchase was my blackberry phone. Since I resigned my phone contract I got it for $149 last summer (2008). If it would have been a few months later I probably would have just taken the free phone due to the recession.

  I finally made the plunge and bought a digital camera in 2005 after talking to my best friend’s husband. He is the type to scour the internet for great deals. When he told me about the Canon Power shot and said he would buy it if he needed a digital camera I went online and looked at similar cameras. After discovering that it really was a good camera for a great price I purchased it. Fast forward 2 years to 2007…my boyfriend at the time dropped this camera and bought me a brand new Canon Power shot and I still use that one.

 My laptop was given to me by a friend who was getting a new one.

 My iPod was given to me by a friend who won it at work.

 The TV belongs to my roommate.

 So the most important factor in buying or not buying these products is price. They are expensive and I don’t need them.

Normally if I buy electronics they are for me, but a couple of Christmases ago I bought a flip video camera for my boyfriend. It was a new and exciting product at the time and I wanted to get him something really nice. I have a much easier time buying expensive things for others than I do for myself.

 I would probably spend hours at the store and/or online before making a purchase. I would want to get a lot of different opinions from friends and family first. I also love how products are rated online. I really do trust what others have to say before I consider purchasing an item like this.

Chances are I will buy it from the place where it is the cheapest or where it comes with the most perks (warranties, rebates, etc.) It

wouldn’t matter what product I was purchasing. I suppose if I had an amazing in-store experience Imight buy it there, but knowing me when I got home I would look online and see if I could find it cheaper and if I did I would return it to the store and order in online.

Recession Impact

 Yes I think the recession has had some impact on my purchasing of high-tech goods. I have wanted an iPhone for awhile, but won’t buy one until I am out of debt. When I renewed my phone contract last year (when I got the blackberry) I figured I would get an iPhone when my contract was up. Well it’s up and I can’t afford one right now. I was thinking about maybe asking for one for Christmas, but my parents have had such a hard year financially that I don’t think Santa will be coming.

Travel Services

Well my last trip was to Hawaii (March 2009), but I stayed with some friends of a friend. I had never met them before, but couldn’t afford the trip unless I didn’t have a hotel bill. So I suppose budget savings would be the most important.

The last trip I took that I booked a hotel for was when I went to Europe with two of my friends summer of 2007. At first we were going to stay with host families for free but this took a lot of coordination so we only did that in London for one night. After that we found hotels and mostly picked them based on cost. We used a lot of websites and online consumers’ opinions. We were willing to stay at a slightly more expensive place if it was closer to the main part of the city, was nicer overall, etc. We didn’t care for amenities too much but if they had free breakfast that was a plus.

When I went to Hawaii I was by myself for 4 days and it was for personal holiday. Since I went by myself I didn’t care where I stayed. I couldn’t afford a hotel and didn’t want to stay by myself anyway. So when I was able to stay with some friends of my friend I was happy.

Europe was with 2 friends for personal holiday. We went to London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terra, Lloret de Mar and Barcelona for 12 days. We wanted to find the best bang for our buck.

Hawaii: I got offered my new job on a Tuesday around noon. Was online looking at tickets by 4:00 p.m. and then purchased the ticket at midnight and flew out the next morning…totally spontaneous! I got a hold of one of my friends who lived in Hawaii the night before I left and she gave me a bunch of tips and suggestions. Also my current roommate lived there several years ago and gave me a lot of great info as well. The final selling point in my decision was that I found a ridiculously inexpensive fare and I was starting a new job the next week with limited vacation time.

I bought the ticket on kayak.com I believe. I booked the car through priceline (where you name your own price) and got a good deal.

Recession Impact

I have still been able to travel but most of it has required planning ahead so I can get the best deals on airfare. I suppose the amount of travel has decreased but my methods in finding the cheapest tickets has remained the same.

 If I could go anywhere where would I go?! That is a tough question. If I had unlimited funds and time I would travel the whole world. Asia sounds cool. On a more practical note I would love to go back to Europe and visit some countries I missed the last time around including Sweden where my ancestors are from.

Home Improvement

I rent an apartment in Manhattan. I don’t do home projects.

Entertainment

For this entry, I want to discuss what you have been doing for fun. This can include, but is not limited to: going to the movies, going to theme parks, attending concerts, renting movies/games, playing video games, sports activities, etc.

Last weekend I went on a road trip to Washington DC with four of my girlfriends. We wanted to have fun but not spend too muchmoney. I honestly let myself splurge a little bit because I have been good for so long about saving my money.

We have some friends there so we stayed with them and saved on not having to stay at a hotel. We decided to go to Eastern market for brunch. It is a must go kind of place when you are in DC and was very cheap. (only about $8 per person) Then we went to a free museum. That night we were thinking about going to a concert for $40 a piece, but decided that we’d rather get a nice dinner (about $30 a piece). We split the car rental and gas ($50 per person) All in all we spent about $100 that weekend. Not too shabby.

The bus would have only been about $30 round trip for each person, but to have a car when we got there was important because we didn’t want to be a burden on others.

I do make a point to have fun and spend time with my friends. Since the recession the activities may have changed to be more affordable but we have just as good of a time together.

When I went dancing the other night I would not have gone if it weren’t for a coupon I found online. Normally it costs $30 to get in to this club, but with the coupon it was only $1! 

Recession Impact

 I’m still very social but I have cut back on the more expensive entertainment activities. My friends and I will watch a movie at one of our apts vs. paying $15 each at the theater. I’m not sure when I will know I can resume my normal expenditure. I probably will forever be more aware of what I am spending. I just hope I don’t turn into one of those grandmas from the depression that saves every tuna can and paper clip.

 The ten products I buy everytime:  Vanilla Silk, Home Run Inn Cheese frozen pizza, Barilla pasta and spaghetti sauce, produce a plenty, Grape Nuts cereal, and Progresso Lentil soup.  I make my purchases based on preferences for price, taste, quality, and of course, since I eat mostly vegetarian, nutritional value.  I really don’t indulge at the grocery store.  My indulgences will come with a cookie from Jimmy John’s or Subway once in a while.  I drink a lot of beer, mostly Bud Light, after softball games, so I don’t need indulgent calories.

 I shop for myself mostly, but I have my daughter a couple times a week, so she factors in.  I really only get her a different cereal, besides that, she eats what I eat.  My daughter does not impact my brand choices except I narrow down the cereal choice to Kellogg’s Cornflakes or Strawberry Special K, GM Cheerios, or Wheaties.  I follow the same criteria for us both.  I eat pretty healthy already, so I think she can learn to eat healthy with me.

 I really don’t research my choices at all.  The only time I stray from the normal list is if I am going to make a different dish, but that usually involves more produce (vegetables), rice, and some beans (Goya) or something.   The information I get is from my own survey of the aisle.  I really don’t do any research through friends or the internet.

 I shop at a local grocery store that has two different locations in Chicago (Harvest Time- my spot and Edgewater Produce).  The chains like Jewel or Dominick’s are very expensive for virtually the same quality.  Whole Foods is a cut above in quality, but I really can’t afford to shop there regularly, although I may shop there on occasion.  Trader Joe’s is a nice alternative for fun stuff.  I used to shop there more often before they expanded their produce section, however I am a big supporter of local business people.  My little spot has great produce and almost everything else I want from a larger chain store.  I do buy all my toiletries – toothpaste, shampoo, etc. at CVS mainly because I like that it is more modern and clean than most Walgreens in my area.  I may shop there on a monthly basis at the most, where I grocery shop twice per month.  Harvest Time does not have the selection of household products like larger chain grocers.

 I would say from a grocery store perspective I may not buy as much Salmon or fish as I did in the past, but overall that is pretty negligible.  My focus on health has worked pretty close in step with cost.  If I buy effectively at the store, then I will eat out less.  The recession changes were more dinners out, where now I try to make dinner and have leftovers for lunch more often.   If anything, I have grocery shopped a little more since the recession.

High-Tech Electronics

 I am a very late adopter of technology, despite my age.  I do not purchase high tech electronics regularly at all.  My last TV purchase was in 2004, laptop in 2006, and I have never purchased a nice phone and don’t own an iPod or digital camera.

In terms of competing products, I looked at the Apple computers.  I felt that my focus on business applications and the cost of the Apples made my decision pretty easy.  I went with a Dell, Inspirion 1590 or something.  It was nice, but not the top of the line.  It has served my needs for business school and limited home use.  I do not have a desktop, so effectively it became my desktop.  I did use it like a laptop for school, but now I don’t use it as much.  In terms of decisions, it took me less than a week to decide.  I make swift, functional decisions when it comes to technology.  I bought from the Dell phone sales line to have a personal touch.  The recession has not impacted these decisions since I don’t purchase that class of product regularly.

 Travel Services

I do not travel a lot.  Typically, I take one trip to AZ per year, and we have stayed at the HyattPlace and Summerfield Suites mostly based on location.  I booked HyattPlace through them and Summerfield last minute at Hotel.com.  Cost and location are the main criteria, since we wanted to be in a particular area.  I traveled with some friends both times.  Of course, everyone had to weigh in on that decision, luckily the guys make some cash, so the location dominated their thinking.  It took some time to book the travel.  I dedicated an entire afternoon to get all the numbers, then we bounced it around via email for a week or so.  The Summerfield thing was booked about 7 days after we did our initial research.  The main resource for locations was the Scottsdale Visitor’s Bureau website.  They gave the rundown of the area, and price did cement the ultimate decision.

 Ultimately, we booked our last time through Hotels.com.  I prefer using the phone for hotels and online for airline tickets.  Mainly, for hotels, I like to work with someone who can research a larger block.  While with airlines, I’m only worrying about myself.  For airlines, I use expedia mostly, but I have used hotwire and orbitz.  Price is my main concern for that.

 Of course, the recession has impacted travel a lot.  I was not a big traveler to start with since moving back to Chicago, but on average pre-recession, I’d fly somewhere to visit family and friends 3x per year.  Now, I limit myself to one trip a year and two if I have the money.  Being thrifty is really important right now for me.  If I could go anywhere right now, I’d go to the Greek Islands/Mediteranean region.  It always appealed to me in terms of food, lifestyle, and frankly the ladies.  That trip will have to wait.  My decision about financial stability is based on how much I have in reserve for my monthly bills.  I want to get up to 3 months reserves over the next year or so.  I’m at about 1 right now.

 Home Improvement

 This is a sore topic really.  I’m in the midst of a short sale on a home that I owned jointly with my ex-wife.  We have poured money into the house for emergencies and cosmetics, early.  Most of the decisions arise being a landlord, and finding contractors was from word of mouth.  Home Depot took us for a ride on occasion, but I think when you have to have things done, that is what happens.  When you have time to evaluate and plan out a project, you will always make a better decision. 

 In terms o f the recession, we only do what we absolutely have to.  We use smaller retailers for applicances and handymen whenever possible for work on the building. 

 Entertainment

 I am a large consumer of entertainment.  I do it with my friends and my daughter mainly.  Of course, for my daughter, we spend the time together, so I try to find movies and entertainment appropriate for her and interesting for me.  With friends, we consumer beverages mainly, but occasionally go to the movies.  I don’t have the money for the music shows they attend regularly, and choose to spend my money on dining with dates.  I only rent movie about twice per year and in a binge where I will rent 6 movies and watch them over a couple days.

 I really haven’t changed all that much.  I enjoy eating out at local restaurants.  I was never a big, fancy restaurant guy.  I prefer the hole in the wall with great food.  I play sports with friends and frequent local bars that sponsor us.  I see some movies with my daughter and an occasional movie with friends at my local theatre.  I always believe in the value principle, which is great food or entertainment for the least amount of money.  Of course, I have a budget number monthly that I stick to for movies out and beers at the local bar.  I play a lot of golf now, which can really cost a lot of money, so it will go down in the next month or so.  I use Metromix Chicago to find new places.  I use Yahoo.com for movie reviews/information.  The bars are really from experience.

 I always spend a lot of time at O’Donovan’s, a local pub that sponsors our softball team.  We chose there because it is close to the field and a very popular spot, in general.  We chose bars based on the ambience, proximity to the El and taxis.  We don’t venture much out of the same class of bar, much to my chagrin, because I like to try new venues. 

 The recession contributed in a decline in the numbers of days spent out at bars.  I would say the number of movies with my daughter has stayed the same, but I try to take her to as many matinees as possible.  Eating out can be expensive, but I factor that in my budget and on first dates, I do appetizers versus full blown meals.  The recession is not the factor to indicate when I can spend more.  I have to simply earn more money to spend more.  I lived off of credit cards for a long time with the house situation.  Now, I live in a cash only world, so if I have the cash to spend, I will.  If I don’t, I just hold off.

 First of all, I go to the grocery store once a week (either Sat. or Sun. depending on other activities for that weekend).  Every two weeks is the “big, don’t worry about what things cost, just buy everything you need” trip (coinciding with my paycheck).  In between paychecks is the “what can I buy for X amount of money”.  Things that I always buy (no matter when the trip is):  Cat food (cheapest dry food possible, that they will eat and Friskies wet cans (big pack); Dog food (usually Kibbles and Bits or something like that, they don’t eat the cheapest food); Diet Coke/Coke/Sprite/Dr. Pepper; frozen lunches (for me, usually the 2/$4 kind, sometimes the Marie Callendars are 2/$5 and I will do those); Cheeze-Its (NEVER Cheeze-Nips…not the same at all);  Cat Litter (Tidy Cat,  multi-cat kind, crystals);  Cereal (Life, Cheerios, or the Malt-o-Meal big bags of Frosted Flake-like product); Fruit (as much fresh fruit as I can during the big trip, frozen during the in between trips); Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs (all beef kind); [when it is time to buy peanut butter] Peter Pan or Jif (we alternate depending on what we got last time).  I was raised on Jif, creamy and he was raised on Peter Pan, creamy…we take turns.  I like Jif better, though.  It’s sweeter.

 Who do I shop for?  My family.  I very, very rarely shop for myself.  Although, some weekends we will go to the store on Friday night (if it’s payday) and let the kids pick out their own “frozen” meal instead of doing the dinner out thing.  It is special for them and easy for us.  Would I spend more on my family than myself.  Everytime.  The other day, in between checks, I was putting groceries back because I didn’t have enough money and each one of “my” things got put back.  I’d rather sacrifice myself than my kids happiness.  Plus, I don’t whine near as much if I have to drink water because there is no more Coke.

 I buy my groceries at HEB.  We used to shop at a little neighborhood store called La Fiesta.  We liked it because it wasn’t crowded, but the prices got so high, that we just couldn’t anymore.  Plus, I refused to buy meat from there.  So, now we shop at HEB for everything grocery/household related.  We shop at Target for clothes and/or gifts/cards, etc.  WE DO NOT SHOP AT WAL-MART…EVER.  They are evil (see Day One rant about Wal-Mart for info). 

The things that I cut back on now are not food related.  My family is very into food and since our entertainment budget is so low, we spend a lot of time watching TV, reading and eating.

If I am buying just groceries, I can do the trip in 1-2 hours, depending on the length of the list.   If I am with my kids, it takes twice that. 

High-Tech Electronics

We just  got AT&T Dish network (bundle of three services): DSL Internet, Phone and Dish TV.  It was a major purchase and we looked around before we decided on them.  The key factor for us was the fact that we could bundle three bills into one service.

The shopping was for the whole family.  It was the big Christmas gift.  It took very little time to decide what to get and more time to decide to just “do it”

As for the Recession affecting us, yes, since Christmas we have considered “un bundling” our service and getting rid of the Dish.  Unfortunately, it would cost just as much without it and well, we do so very little else.    We need to buy a new dishwasher (it broke over a year ago and is now a glorified dish rack) and a new washer (the timer broke and is rigged right now but not safe).  Our fridge is 15 years old and seriously ready to die any minute.  None of these appliances will be purchased until we can have more income and less spending.

Travel Services

We have not taken a trip together in a very long time (September was the last family trip).  The hotel was chosen for us and booked in advance for a wedding.  These questions don’t really apply.  Suffice it to say, with business, my company makes all my arrangements and I just show up.  With family, we NEVER go anywhere unless other people pay for it.  We just can’t.

Home Improvement

 Mmmm, what is this Home Improvement that you speak of?  We had a new roof put on in 2005, but there are still places inside that need cosmetic repair.  My husband planted a garden this past Spring but it is now dead because of the 102 degree heat and the watering restrictions.  Um, I painted the number on my house a bright yellow about six months ago.  I think that and a new front yard garden hose are about it.  Seriously, we have no money for such things.

 Entertainment

 Here is the plan with Entertainment.  Every two weeks, when the big paycheck comes, we look at what movies are out and what the kids want to see.  This last time, it was Harry Potter.  The evening includes dinner and a movie.  We did Freddy’s Steakburgers and Frozen Custard and saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  We always have a wonderful time doing that.  The problem is that it costs our family $60 minimum to have dinner and see a movie together.  That’s if there are no movie snacks (which are sometimes smuggled in by me, via the Dollar General where movie candy is $1).  The last location of this movie night was Regal Cinemas: The Quarry.  We love this movie theatre.  The seats are big, the theatres are comfy and it is close enough to our house to not take too much gas to get there. 

The movie plan does not always go through.  This last time, with Harry Potter, we had planned on seeing it when it opened but the kids wanted to see other things (younger two wanted “Transformers” older one wanted “Public Enemies”) so I gave them their movie money and sent them to the movies without us.  They had to wait another two weeks to see Harry Potter, but this was a dream come true for Mom and Dad.  Three hours alone with my hubby.  We may do that again, in between the family movie trips.