Why can't you be frugal outside Winn Dixie, too?

I am so sick of working hard to be nice, and being surrounded by impolite people.

My entire life, I've worked hard to be polite, kind, welcoming, and accommodating to others. Sometimes, I've been more successful than others.

More frequently than not, I tend to worry about others' feelings more than my own. I've been known (and criticized) for apologizing for things and circumstances that are not within my control. And yet I apologize anyway.

I'm at a point in my life now, though, where I REALLY DON'T CARE to spare anymore....spare others' feelings, that is.

I know what I like. I know who I like. And I also know the opposites.

I no longer feel it necessary to spend my time accommodating people in whom I have no vested interest and who I know wouldn't pee on me if I were on fire, even if they were tasting salt and seeing yellow and I'd done them no disservice.

And yet somehow, I can't help but feel that this makes me a b*@ch. Why is that?!

When I go to the grocery store, I know exactly which items I should put in my cart and pay money for at check out. I know exactly which ingredients I need to make meals that will not only nourish, but please my family and myself. And I know which items to completely avoid because they're a waste of my money and time. For example, my family won't eat a bunch of bananas before they go bad and I wind up throwing them away, or making banana bread, another item which my family won't eat and I wind up taking to work. My family won't eat certain vegetables and my family won't eat a large jar of salsa before it goes bad.

So why buy it? Why invest in it?

Any logical person would tell you not to do so....you'd be wasting your money.

But when you're talking about people, instead of groceries, it's not quite the same. If you refuse to waste your money/time/emotion and invest in someone, you're regarded as a b*@ch, regardless of whether or not they are useless, detrimental, or beneficial to your life.

Why is that?

I can't say for certain that I'll ever truly understand it.

But I can say for certain that my grocery bill has been significantly lower since I've started shopping with detailed grocery lists. I simply do not buy an item that I've not deemed necessary enough to write down.

As a result, my life is much simpler, and my family's diet doesn't seem to be suffering whatsoever.

I might try writing another type of list soon, too.......