Christmas GROCERY shopping, more painful than the dentist.

Hope you're all getting in the Christmas spirit!

Quickly approaching is one of my favourite days of the year, the family dinner. There's nothing better than visiting the house you grew-up in, passing your old highschool or seeing a familiar face shovelling the snow. It's great to see the family - cousins all grown up, telling you about their first time putting on make-up, or how their enjoying their first year of university; I swear, I've thought that kid was 15 for the past 5 years. I love nothing more than opening up gifts from the uncle that obviously doesn't know you; he gave me a Britney Spears CD one year. Most of all, Christmas dinner. Nothing beats it and nothing will ever top it. 

My brother and I tried our hand at it two years ago; it ended ugly. In my defence, he's the one with a family and kids. He's supposed to be good at this whole 'dinner party' idea. I'm single, my idea of a fancy feast involves going to the Mandarin or a nice BBBQ, where the extra B is for BYOB. Anyways, let's just say he gave me too many of the responsibilities,... the groceries. 

I’ll be honest; I’m not a very good grocery shopper. Throw in the Christmas rush and the responsibility of taking care of Christmas Dinner, I might as well crawl into fetal position and wait until spring. Basically, I showed at the grocery store on Christmas Eve, without a list and my brother on the phone. "I'll just go through this recipe and you pick up exactly what I tell you to get," he says. Sounded like a genius idea in theory. At the end of the day though, I neglected to buy napkins, pop, bread, potatoes, and toilet paper. There’s nothing more embarrassing than twelve people at a house with one roll of toilet paper. Actually, having to run to the neighbours on Christmas day to ask to ‘borrow’ some TP for the family might be a little more embarrassing; that was not the proudest moment of my life. It all worked out, and the best part is, I will never be responsible for another family dinner again.

Under the unlikely event that I'll ever be trusted with such a task again, I will now hold these rules dearly to my heart:

1.    Pre-plan – Just like normal grocery shopping, but on steroids, Christmas grocery shopping requires far more organization and discipline. Basing your purchases on impulse, or your brother on the phone, will cost you far more time and money by the end of the adventure.

2.    Check for coupons – A quick 10 minute peruse through the local flyers can save you a hefty amount when it comes to the quantity of groceries required for Christmas dinner. Also, couponing gives you a much better sense of what you need and don't need before going into the store.

3.    Buying stressed leads to impulse buy – Have you had your coffee yet? Is your tummy full? Have your comfy shoes on? Again, this will save your sanity and wallet.

4.    Finally, buy ahead of time - What’s the point of getting a frozen turkey the day before when it can be purchased a week before. In fact, go now. Don’t delay! Get’er done!

Good luck everyone! Stay hungry,

HoBot