Moments at Friendly Mart

September 16, 2022

Buy to a store where you can save time and money. Go to a store with kind employees.

Once a month, we go to a grocery store to buy our needs. Some prefer to buy weekly but me prefer to do it once a month. I wanted to be that way because I can save day, time and fare in going there. We are in a Barangay and we will go to our town before we can have our grocery. It is about a 20 minutes ride with 20.00 ($0.4) fare in one way so it makes 40.00 ($0.8) fare for back and forth.

My husband salary is every two weeks. I alocate a specific budget every pay day so in the next pay day, we can go to a grocery store and we can buy our needs.

My son is always with me because no one will be with him at home. I always have a list of things to be bought back then, but as time pass by, I became familiar with everything I need to buy. Before leaving home for grocery, I will just check our stocks and I would know what is missing or lacking. I think every mommies or anyone who do the groceries is like me. We always know what is lacking and what we need. But having a lists to buy is still good because it will save you from forgetting something.

We always go to a Friendly Mart. It is just a small grocery store compared to supermarkets in mall but it has all we need. I prefer to buy groceries here because I don't need long time to walk from here to there looking for what I need and saves me time. The prices is just enough and some are lesser than the other grocery stores. Kind employees in Friendly Mart also makes their customer backs in time.

I always starts at the last lane, going to the next, and next until I reach to the other end. By doing so, I can see everything and I can get our needs.

Since my son is with me, he wanted to push the cart and might be he is thinking that he is like playing, lol. So I allow him to do it while the cart is still empty and off course with my guidance. When I started to pick something, he wanted to pick too. So, I told him, I will be the one to push the cart and he will be the one to get what we need based on my instructions.

My son enjoyed what he is doing and I am happy for him too. When we reached in the lane with biscuits, I told him to choose what he want. To my surprise he chooses biscuit with chocolate flavor. As a mother I wanted him to decide and know how to have a decision making at his young age. I know that what he chose is so sweet and it is not good for him. I don't want to buy it too because it has a lot in just one pack. I can't save in it because I can't give just a half of it and keep the other half. I explained to him that too much sweet is not good for him, not good for kids and not good for our health. Fortunately, he understands and leave it behind.

He then proceed to the the other side of the the biscuits lane and he pick some of his favorites. Eggnog and bread stick are some of his favorites. I also let him get some hansel because I likes it too. I will ask some of his biscuits if I am hungry and don't have something to eat, lol.

I wanted to buy him a jelly ace but it is not available and he pleaded me to buy nips. I know it is so sweet but I allowed it as his reward for listening and following my advise in his previous choices. But I will make sure that he won't eat at a lot at a time. I just gave him one sachet a day.

We also buy Milo as our chocolate drink. My son doesn't like to drink milk but he loves milo. So, I let him picked milk with a chocolate flavor.

While we are in the lane of toothpaste and shampoos. My son keeps on calling my name and he said, mama, look! she will eat my hand. He seems having fun with it and I just smile and took him a picture.

When we reach in the lane of sanitary napkins, my son already knew what to pick. He knows the color of the wrapper of my pad because I seldom ask his assistance when I need it at home.

In the dishwashing lane, he also knew what to pick because he knows how to observe what we used at home. I laugh when I see his picture. His mouth is open because he asked if he gets duha(a cebuano dialect) which means two.

The last thing we get which is in the last lane is the detergent powder. I usually bought those big pack about 600 to 640 grams because I can save in that than buying those small sachets.

The big sachet that I need is in the upper portion of the rack and I can't reach it. I asked some assistance from their kind and helpful employee so I got it easily.

We then proceed to the counter and the queue is not long.

TIPS: Don't go to grocery stores during or a day after a salary day because as expected a lot of people will go for groceries or shopping and you will suffer from a long queue. A lot of people were there too so better go on the other days. Less hustle and you can save time.

When the cashier mentioned the total purchased, I was shocked because my budget is not enough. It exceeded 100 plus ($2+). Might be because the prices of most items increased. Good thing I always bring an extra money with me.

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This is my first post and my first participation in the #MarketFriday by @dswigle.

All photos are mine.

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Thank you so much for your time.