The rant is understandable believe me. One thing that popped into my mind is that a friend has found reading store ads usable with some smart phone apps. I have not tried this myself yet.
I don't know what kind of services might be available in your area, but here there are a couple of things. One is called Catholic Charities which runs the Senior Companion program. It's the one program I know of that is not dependant on your income. My senior companion takes me shopping once a week. She reads labels and finds things and so on. Of course, this doesn't mean she doesn't buy the wrong brand or item from time to time, as has every person who has ever taken me shopping more than once. It's part of the territory. I could take the I D Mate to prevent some of this, but it would slow us down considerably. I just nag about reading labels and asking if it says "chicken flavor" on every single package for example.
Another program is called RSVP, which stands for Retired Senior Volunteer Program. They have volunteer drivers, but I haven't shopped with them, just gone to medical and other appointments. Ask what kind of help each program has available, and don't be afraid to let them know what you really need. They might just add that service to what they offer.
When I do my shopping list, I type it on the computer so it's easily readible. I put the aisle number where to find it in front of each item. I have a list of the store's aisles and what's on each one that I use for this. If I don't know where the item is, I guess; and we can search further if need be from there. Anyway, this helps save time and back tracking through the store. The easier you can make it for your helper, the more likely they won't mind doing it again.
As for the budget, I'll bet you save more on transportation by doing one store than you would buying those berries at the other store that day. They'll probably be on sale at your store the next week anyway. Do the best you can with smart buying to save money, and see if your budget might be helped more somewhere else... such as on utilities or some other bill.
Not that it's cooking related, but I cut our expenses by $66 per month by getting rid of satellite TV. We get over 20 channels with the antenna now that we have digital TV sets. We also got an Apple TV which lets you watch several services, some of which charge like NetFlicks and some don't. The whole setup for that was about $200 a couple of years ago, including the main unit, cable, and optional wireless keyboard. AppleTV has VoiceOver built into it, so it reads menus and titles and such. They recently added "description" to their menu, so I assume they will soon have described programming available too. Once paid for initially, the savings add up quickly. Anyway, it might be easier to save on other than groceries simply because it doesn't take so much effort to decide on what to get and where, how to get there, and how to find what you want. Shopping on line sounds great, even for the extra cost. We don't even have that here.
If the best you can do is vent to the list to get it out of your system, then by all means go ahead and do so. We can all relate to one degree or another.
Best to you! Marilyn
