My husband and I rarely argue. When we do, it is usually about food. And, thankfully, these arguments have decreased a lot since we have enough money to pay for food. I'm not talking about eating out, because we usually only eat out once or twice a month, and I'm okay with this. I'm talking about the food that I (we) buy at the grocery store.
Let me explain. When we were first married, over seven years ago, we were so poor. We each had our own jobs, and then we shared a job together. Believe it or not, we used to clean a commercial building together, and I was stuck with the coveted chore of cleaning the toilets. This job provided me with an experience of visiting the doctor with a mystery rash on my hands (and feet-which I thought was weird because I always wore shoes) because our employer didn't have latex gloves for me for the first little while. When I think about it now, I cringe in disgust. It doesn't help that I still remember what those toilets look like. The people that worked at this building had some very explosive bowel movements. I know, TMI! But, people, your poop should not explode when it comes out of your body. It should leave your intestines easily, without effort. It shouldn't streak the sides and bottoms of the bowl (too much sugar), and it shouldn't leave bits and particles in the entire toilet bowl. This means you have some serious digestive issues. Start eating better!!!!
Okay, tangent aside, when we were first married, we were attending college full-time, and between our three jobs, our classes, and our studies, we were pretty busy. And we were poor. Did I mention that already? I look back on our finances and laugh. Between the two of us, we made $17,000 our first year of marriage. It seems like an impossible sum of money to live on, especially when we were paying for school ourselves between scholarships and pell grants.
The problem with this minimum amount of money, is that we always argued about what kind of food to buy. You see, Austin was raised by a mother that bought items on sale and usually stocked up on the items. I was raised by a mother that purchased what she wanted. So, you can see where our differences would clash when we went to the grocery store together. For example, if we were going to buy crackers, I had to have a certain brand of crackers, because that is what I was familiar with. Austin, on the other hand, was more than happy to buy the cheapest kind of cracker, stating that they more than likely tasted the same, so who cares?
I cared, especially when the crackers were stale or tasteless.
We got to the point where we couldn't grocery shop together. Either I would go, or he would, but always alone. It was silly really, but of all our arguments, I would say the most of them have occurred in a grocery store.
It still happens every once and a while, but is more rare because we have been blessed with an abundant income. Austin's salary more than doubled since our move from southern Utah. I count my blessings that we don't have to scrimp and save just to put food on the table. It is a relief, and I am truly grateful for that. This might not always be the case, and that is why it is important to have food storage (which reminds me of another story...when we moved from Logan to southern Utah, we didn't have a paycheck come in for a month. We lived on our food storage, and one time I made the most disgusting dinner one can imagine. It involved pasta, cream of chicken soup, and sauerkraut. Yuck! I couldn't eat it, but my loving and devoted husband did. Have I mentioned that he is an excellent disposer of food. He even likes leftovers!).
I'm pretty sure our habits and preferences are ingrained in us, and I doubt they'll ever change. I am often humbled, and appreciate my husband's ability to save us money (did you know that Welch's 100% Grape Juice and Sam's Club 100% Grape Juice (both from Walmart) taste the same, but Sam's Club is cheaper and you get more for your buck?). As long as he doesn't hassle me about throwing in a 'Splurge' item every once and a while, I won't hassle him for being so cheap. We balance each other nicely, and isn't that what marriage is all about, anyway?
2 comments:
How funny...Your husband is like me in this particular situation and You are like Court. We argue about food too...not really anymore, but at the beginning. I distinctly remember saying "why should I pay 3.5 more dollars for that brick of cheese just b/c you think the color looks better..." He he. We've both relaxed a lot since then...P.S. I loved the title of this post!
Sounds like you and I are alot a like and Dave and Austin are. I always think that I have to have a certain brand (only on certain foods) and Dave doesn't care as long as it is the cheapest choice. I can not have anything but Philadelphia cream cheese (unless it is in a recipe with a lot of other ingredients) and NO pickle is better than Nalley baby banquet!!! It's good you guys can compromise!
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