The time has come to name yet another grocery bill wrecker. We’re at the 6th installment of this series that investigates why my grocery bills are always higher than I expect them to be.

Let’s just look back at the last 5 (and yes, the 1-4 statements are taken directly from  my pt. 5 post.).

1. My eyes (contacts, drops, medications…)

2. My cat (food, food, litter, special food he likes as a treat, food..)

3. My [not so] shameful tea addiction (50 varieties last time I counted..)

4. Impulse buys (would you walk away from chocolate malted milk ball cookies? I don’t think so).

5. The seasonal/limited edition flavor item. This is usually worst in the fall going into Christmas…but some companies have turned the limited edition into an art form.

And now, after some more grocery shopping, I’ve thought of number 6…which is not so much born of necessity, but of my own weakness.

My need for variety/options.

It used to be that I only needed one box of cereal, one type of dessert in my home. As years have passed, I’ve discovered that even when I have some perfectly yummy cookies in the house, well, what if I get bored? much better to have a second type for a little variety.

How does this manifest itself? There are two ways I can think of in particular. The first is the aforementioned, I already have this, but why not have another type of this. The other day, I mentioned the fabulous Trader Joe’s Pinacchio (pistachio and white chocolate) cookies. But, do not think they came to a cookie-free house. Oh no…there are also some Trader Joe’s European bistro biscuits waiting to be eaten. And these are also yummy cookies that do very well when dipped into tea. But it wasn’t enough for me.

This also isn’t a matter of the different preferences of people in our household, which might excuse some level of variety (I like Vanilla soymilk for example, the other strivingcynics prefer plain cow’s milk). This is the result of me seeing an item in the store, licking my lips and saying..well, it would be nice to have that too. As a result, we have three types of cereal, two types of crackers, two types of ice cream, two types of cookies, and we’ve already discussed my tea dependency.

three types of nut butter, two types of cookies, two types of salsa . . .

The second opportunity for variety-style grocery bill wrecking is the “sampler pack.” As an incredibly indecisive person, I cannot resist the lure of the sampler…it means I can try everything, it means I don’t have to choose…but it often means that I’m paying more money for less of a product than if I just paid for a box of same. For example, sometimes we’ve bought the “fancy cracker sampler” (where the funky graham cracker-like one gets left untouched). Even sc kitty’s beloved Whiskas is a variety pack (he can’t have the same old seafood flavor all the time after all).

At the moment, the biggest manifestation of this is when I purchase K cups for my Keurig. You see, there are so many flavors out there…and they all sound so good. And I discovered on Amazon that there are places that sell “variety” boxes (although according to the reviews, sometimes they’re heavy on one flavor). So, I keep ordering them so I can try as many as possible. I’ve also bought variety packs of granola bars, and teas (I know). And of course, it always ends up that one flavor gets a little left behind.

a bouquet of coffee flavors

Verdict: Although I think it’s somewhat harmless and natural…my need for variety is definitely a grocery bill wrecker! But, at least I have choices!

Do you like to keep a variety of a particular item around the house? What are your “variety weaknesses?”