If you are like me, grocery shopping is one of the best parts of your week. For me, it is an experience to see and smell the foods. I could spend hours in a grocery store deciding what to buy. Because I like to enjoy my food without worrying about how much it costs, I usually don’t make a budget for groceries.

Having food I will enjoy is more important to me than the money I spend on it. I will not drive my car or not go out one evening just to make sure I have good food the rest of the week.

However, this week was a little different. My assignment for AMUSE was to purchase one week’s worth of groceries for $30.

For students who usually do not budget for grocery shopping, this can be a daunting task.

“It’s too much work figuring how much everything will cost and what it will be at the end,” said Katherine Kuehn, senior in dietetics.

Since I am normally pretty busy during the week, I make it my objective to go shopping for the following week’s groceries on Sunday afternoon. Many times it is difficult to judge what I am going to want to eat later in the week, but I don’t have time to visit the grocery store more than once a week and have to do my best to guess.

As I entered the store, I began to think about what I might want to eat in the upcoming week and my eating patterns. I don’t usually eat a lot for breakfast, so I don’t need a whole lot of food for that, and I pack my lunch most days I have class. Once I had gone over my schedule for the week, I grabbed a cart and started down the first aisle, the produce section.

At the beginning of the aisle there were some delicious-looking green grapes I picked up. These were good because they can be eaten with a meal or for a snack. I wheeled my cart past the apples and packaged salad, wanting to put them in my cart but knowing I was on a budget. They were a luxury – not a necessity – for this particular assignment.

I continued on to the pasta aisle, where I picked up a large bag of Hy-Vee-brand wide egg noodles, a can of Ragu spaghetti sauce, two packages of chicken-flavored ramen noodles and two boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese.

As I neared the end of this aisle, I saw some canned chicken I thought about purchasing, but I had to remind myself that I was on a budget and couldn’t afford it.

Before heading over to the bread aisle, I stopped to pick up some generic frosted flakes, and Jell-O vanilla instant pudding. Then, in the bread aisle I picked up a loaf of Hy-Vee-brand white bread and a small jar of Jif peanut butter.

Next to the bread aisle was the frozen food section, where I selected a small Tombstone cheese pizza and a box of Banquet chicken nuggets.

After leaving the frozen food section I decided to head over to the dairy products. First, I chose a gallon of Roberts skim milk. I know I could have saved some money by buying Hy-vee milk, but I am a very brand-loyal shopper and I prefer sticking to brands I am familiar with. Skipping brand-name foods can save money if you’re on a budget, however.

Rachel Treptow, senior in management, said she likes to buy generic brand foods because they are cheaper and usually taste the same.

I found a deal on Yoplait yogurt, however, and added strawberry, apple and mixed berry to my cart because they were two for $3.

Then I picked up a package of Hy-Vee sliced cheddar cheese and a package of presliced ham. As I left the dairy section, I picked up a container of six large Hy-Vee eggs.

As I was going back through my cart I realized I hadn’t picked up any chips yet, so I headed over to that aisle and grabbed a bag of Doritos. As I surveyed what was in my cart I decided I would like to buy a box of brownies to bake later in the week, but I was saddened that I wouldn’t be able to purchase them because I didn’t have enough money.

Finally, I was ready to purchase my items. I had a rough estimate of what my total would be. I knew it would be close to my budget, but wasn’t sure if I would make it or not.

I entered the checkout lane and placed my groceries on the belt. The checker began to ring them in. As I watched the price going up I got nervous that I would not be within my budget. I had never shopped like this before and it was nerve-wracking.

The total finally came in: exactly $31. I didn’t make my budget by a dollar. I quickly looked over the products I had and there was nothing I felt I could get rid of. I just couldn’t do it. Knowing I only had $30 in my account for the grocery bill, I dug through my purse and luckily found $1 in change. On the way to the car, I thought to myself how ironic it is that I hit exactly $1 over my budget.

Grocery shopping on a budget was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I always looked at price before to make sure I was getting a good deal, but I made the mistake of not writing down the prices so I would know what my total would actually be before I got to the checkout.

I realized it’s OK for this week because I had extra change in my purse, but if I hadn’t been so lucky, that one extra dollar might have hurt me.

Kala King is a senior in marketing from Council Bluffs, Iowa.