I have bad news and I have seemingly good news that might make you judge me a little.

The bad news is that my CSA is over for the season. Yep, I picked up my last share exactly one week ago today, meaning no more unusual produce, fantastic cuts of local, organic meat or ridiculous abundances of cheddar cheese, eggs and milk—all set to the tune of $25 a week. Nope, I’m back to paying regular grocery store prices. Or I thought I was, until a certain uniformed someone (no, I’m not dating a soldier) offered to help me do something awesome, if not totally illegal and somewhat unethical.

Recognizing my financial plague, she (yes, my uniformed friend is a she) offered to take me to the commissary, which is a grocery store on a military base. Everything is cheaper at the commissary because 1. prices are set low for members of the armed services, no matter where they are stationed and 2. this is probably because (I assume) it’s subsidized by the government. So you can imagine that it would be totally illegal for a civilian—one who has yet to file her 2008 taxes—to shop at there, but I did anyway. And it was awesome.

Now, by “I shopped at the commissary,” I mean my “friend” and I were there together, and we both threw things in the cart. She paid and I paid her back (er, will pay her back, if my job ever pays me).

So, let’s talk about what I threw in the cart:

Meat! Glorious meat! I got short ribs, and top sirloin and roast. A bunch of it. For about $15, total. I also got tortillas and crackers and cereal and tuna and whole wheat pasta and granola bars and goat cheese and bananas and Honeycrisp apples. And I got other provisions, too, like hippie tampons and dog treats. And other stuff. So much stuff I can’t even remember what it was.

All told, I ended up sending half of what I would have spent at a regular grocery store. I was shocked when she told me I owed her $59. Yes, yes, I technically went over budget, but I got staples that will last me for weeks, if not months. I still haven’t quite figured out how I’m going to break it down, but I was under budget last week—which is a good thing considering that given my current financial status. Plus, I’m thinking of going on a $25 a week budget for a while and my trip to the commissary might just make it doable.

Thank you, America.

Image via Flickr/UNC - CFC - USFK