Saturday, August 6, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
The Type Who Enjoys Lists....
Before we got married Rhys and I had to go through a series of marriage counseling sessions with the minister who would be holding our ceremony. I actually really enjoyed these sessions as they usually involved some exercise or test that would shed some light/give me 'light-bulb' moments about Rhys, myself and our relationship. (Note - the minister stressed not to take these things too seriously as they are only tools to get a general idea about the important talking points for the sessions).
One such light-bulb moment was when the results of one test that showed that Rhys liked to live a less structured life while I thrive on lists, plans and structure. Why this was a light-bulb moment to me I don't know because it should have been obvious.
I love lists. I'll write lists about anything - about things I want, things I want/have to do, things I have done, how I plan to do things to be done..... I can be outlisted and outplanned by no man. The itinerary I made for my last trip to Japan was a thing of meticulously planned beauty.
So perhaps it shouldn't be a giant surprise that I keep a spreadsheet file on my computer called 'groceries2.xls'
It lists in different sections:
Why bother with all of this ultra-anal-retentive-list-making?
The idea is that it is like a food diary of sorts and that over time you can see patterns or changes in behavior.
An interesting fact made obvious by my spreadsheet is that if I go shopping by myself there is nearly always $0.00 spent on junk food and snacks. If Rhys or Dan joins me this figure usually changes for the worse!
Another interesting thing I've noted is how much my grocery bill has blown up since I've been eating properly. But it's also interesting to note how much of each shopping bill is for what I call 'stocks' - i.e. herbs, flour, rice, sugar, sesame oil and other items that will last for a long time and provide for many meals.
But no matter how detailed the list I am not satisfied. I want more. My current system means that the finer details of the latest grocery shop is kept, to be overwritten next time I shop. The broader details kept in the grocery register don't provide me with details like whether I purchased meat (which can really bump up the cost), what was the most expensive item I bought (because a 10L can of olive oil can make a total shopping bill go up drastically!) and other such details that I'd like to keep stored.
What I really want is a database which allows me to store information about each grocery shop linked to an overall register. This would make the list-maker-detail-storer in me happier than Larry.
One such light-bulb moment was when the results of one test that showed that Rhys liked to live a less structured life while I thrive on lists, plans and structure. Why this was a light-bulb moment to me I don't know because it should have been obvious.
I love lists. I'll write lists about anything - about things I want, things I want/have to do, things I have done, how I plan to do things to be done..... I can be outlisted and outplanned by no man. The itinerary I made for my last trip to Japan was a thing of meticulously planned beauty.
So perhaps it shouldn't be a giant surprise that I keep a spreadsheet file on my computer called 'groceries2.xls'
It lists in different sections:
- What was in each of my food connect boxes and the price comparison to woolworths & coles for each one (still doin' well!)
- The information about the latest grocery shop - what was bought? for how much? who was it for? was it for meals/stock/bathroom necessities/tools/junk food?
- The total cost of my latest grocery shop and totals on how much I spent (and on what) and Rhys spent (and on what) as well as totals for how much was spent on meals, stocks and junk food.
- Information about each of my grocery shops since February last year. Where? when? who went? total spent? Cat total spent? Rhys total spent? Totals spent on meals, stocks and junk food?
Why bother with all of this ultra-anal-retentive-list-making?
The idea is that it is like a food diary of sorts and that over time you can see patterns or changes in behavior.
An interesting fact made obvious by my spreadsheet is that if I go shopping by myself there is nearly always $0.00 spent on junk food and snacks. If Rhys or Dan joins me this figure usually changes for the worse!
Another interesting thing I've noted is how much my grocery bill has blown up since I've been eating properly. But it's also interesting to note how much of each shopping bill is for what I call 'stocks' - i.e. herbs, flour, rice, sugar, sesame oil and other items that will last for a long time and provide for many meals.
But no matter how detailed the list I am not satisfied. I want more. My current system means that the finer details of the latest grocery shop is kept, to be overwritten next time I shop. The broader details kept in the grocery register don't provide me with details like whether I purchased meat (which can really bump up the cost), what was the most expensive item I bought (because a 10L can of olive oil can make a total shopping bill go up drastically!) and other such details that I'd like to keep stored.
What I really want is a database which allows me to store information about each grocery shop linked to an overall register. This would make the list-maker-detail-storer in me happier than Larry.
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