How do u shop for food??

[Nu_Mommy_2003]

Do you buy grocery every week, every two weeks, or shopfor the month? I was raised and thought that you shop for grocery for the month and when your out your out until the next monthly trip to the store.

I find that by shopping this way we run out of fresh fruit and vegatables in the middle of the month. My DS prefers the fresh over the frozen so during the last 2 weeks of the month my DS does not get fruit.

So I just want to know how other family shop. Do you go to more than one store?? I go to 2 different stores on grocery shopping day (I make a list for both stores). Do you plan the month of meals including lunch and then go shopping?

Please post your routine because we are ISO a new method

[Proudmom]

:

My sister and I were talking about this today. I would need to go weekly for fresh fruits/veggies/milk. I am trying to figure out a good cost-effective system...

Proudmom

[mz_libbie22]

[QUOTE=Nu_Mommy_2003]Do you buy grocery every week, every two weeks, or shopfor the month? I was raised and thought that you shop for grocery for the month and when your out your out until the next monthly trip to the store.

I find that by shopping this way we run out of fresh fruit and vegatables in the middle of the month. My DS prefers the fresh over the frozen so during the last 2 weeks of the month my DS does not get fruit. "



I can't imagine going grocery shopping only once a month. It seems like I'm always out of something, and fruit goes FAST in this house, which is only me & DS and he is the one eating it all :LOL If he was only able to eat fresh fruit 50% of the time instead of all the time he would not be a happy camper.



"So I just want to know how other family shop. Do you go to more than one store?? I go to 2 different stores on grocery shopping day (I make a list for both stores). Do you plan the month of meals including lunch and then go shopping?

Please post your routine because we are ISO a new method "




One or two big trips per month with as many other trips to the store as needed. There's no way I'd be able to plan a whole month's worth of meals. We eat what we're "in the mood for" and I don't know what I'll want to eat for breakfast tommorow let alone breakfast three weeks from now. I do go to more than one store. There's one co op and a bigger grocery store that I do most of the shopping at, then there's the smaller fruit/vegetable store down the street that I go to once in a while. I'm trying to go to the farmer's markets more often because it's less expensive than the co op prices ( I try to buy as much organic as I can). AND on top of all that I make alot of trips out of town to another co op because they have certain things that the one in town doesn't.

As you can see I have no method other than if there's something I want or need, I get it. :LOL It would probably be different if I had to drive a long ways to get to a store though...

[chasmyn]

DH takes our only car to work, and there is a Trader Joe's AND a Whole Foods nearby his work. These tend to be the only stores we shop at until recently (we've discovered a small organic farm just 5 minutes from our house). DH goes to the grocery store 2-3X a week after work to get a few needed things here and there, mostly fresh stuff because we go through it quickly (salad greens and veggies and fruit and milk and cheese and meat).

On the weekends we go to the organic farm for fresh veggies as well - much cheaper.

Once baby is born and DH starts taking the bus to work when I need the car, I imagine that our grocery trips will be fewer and farther between - once a week perhaps. We'd never make it longer, because we need the fresh!

[HydeParkB]

We go once a week to one or two stores, plus trips to the farmer's market and Costco probably twice a month. DH eats a lot of fruit; I'm not so good : . Plus, I scour the ads for the good prices, so I try to take advantage of that.

Oh, on top of that we are in a buying club and we get an order from them every 8 weeks.

[UUMom]

I have a lot of stock up stuff- canned tomatoes, tuna, grains, flours--things like that. However, I shop several times a week at various places. Mostly because i enjoy cooking and choosing food, and I like fresh produce. I go to one place for bread, another for cheeses, oils, mushrooms, vinegars etc. . A farm for eggs. The market for others things. Another place for fresh fish. A farmstand starting next week (when their own produce starts to be put out). Next month I pick up some local beef (raised right in my town) cut to my specifications. We bought a 4th of the meat of a pasture raised, organic cow. I live in a pretty central area, so it's not hard to shop this way.

I have a little garden with tomatoes, lettuces, herbs, squashes, cucs, beans etc., but it's not producing yet. (Well, hebs and lettuce, but that's pretty much all yet).

[TwinMom]

I shop every Saturday morning at Whole Foods for our main shopping trip. Once or twice during the week I will go to Super Target or Kroger (both closer than WF) to stock up on more fruits & veggies. We eat a LOT of both around here, so I couldn't shop for those just once a month. To give you an idea of how much we go through on a daily basis, I paid attention to what got eaten yesterday: 8 bananas (maybe more, but I counted at least 8), 4 pears, 2 apples, 3 mangoes, 1/2 pound of cherries, 1/2 of a watermelon, 1 head romaine, 2 heads broccoli, 1 pint of mushrooms, 3 peaches. Now, the kids might have eaten other produce that I didn't notice, so it might not be a complete list. No way could I buy enough at once to last for a month!

[secretsis]

I do one big one a month and do several small trips to get milk vegestbles and fruit
i go to a chines market, wf, wallytown target krogers and i check on sells too oh do not forget costco,big lots too for snaks.

[TwinMom]

I forgot to answer part of the original question. I do have a dinner menu made up before I shop. I never have a lunch menu though I think I need to change that. The kids seem to be in better moods when I have something planned, or at least some kind of idea, for lunch rather than just letting them get their own. The older kids get their own, not the younger ones! They don't really like leftovers, but sometimes I have to make them eat the leftovers so we don't waste food. I need to get more organized about lunch! Breakfast is really every person for himself. Today I made pancakes, but usually dh, Alec, and I have fruit or oatmeal or miso soup, something simple. The girls get their own breakfasts; I think one usually has fruit and toast and the other has cereal and fruit.

[kwilki8]

My routine is pretty similar to yours with the exception that I shop weekly for perishables. I have to travel an hour to get to the Whole Foods store, so I make one monthly trip to stock up on all the staples. Then I fill in with weekly trips to our local grocery store for produce and dairy. Unless it's summer, in which case I do almost all of my perishables shopping at the farmer's market. This way, I have everything I regularly use on hand but I also have the variety based on what is available at the markets.

[Benji'sMom]

We go once a week, and even then we have to make an extra trip in the middle of the week for more fruits & milk. I have no idea how you make fruit last till the middle of the month even!

[Nu_Mommy_2003]

Thanks all! Maybe I'll divide up the monthly grocery money into 2 trips. Grocery shopping every week seems stressful. I lugging two kids around the store every week even with a list every week, I'll still have DS throw thing in the basket

As for how the fruit last for 2 weeks. I don't buy all ripe fruit. I pick some ripe and some green bananas for example. Also, I freeze some of the fruit. DS doesn't like package frozen veggies or fruit that's in the grocer freezer. He prefers fresh frozen fruit (he likes using the food saver :LOL)

[BumbleBena]

I go once a week to get fresh milk, bread, and produce. Things that will keep (oats, pasta, etc.) generally get bought once a month. So I guess I have one "big" shopping trip a month, with three smaller ones. That's also good if I run out of something, I can just buy it on a "small" trip.

[UUMom]

If you think about it, frequent short trips might be easier on kids, and sometimes fun for them. : Ok, maybe not for some kids, but it takes me about 10 minutes (or less) to get fish, for instance. It's a small shop and the people who work there friendly & quick. My kids amuse themselves watching the lobsters in a huge tank. (I know this is not sport for vegetarin children).

When we get produce at the farm stand, I pull up, take my keys and open my doors so the kids and I can see each other. Or, they get out and choose whatever piece of fruit they want for the ride home. Painless and also pretty quick and can be fun to choose from all the nice fruit. The store I get oils breads from has only about a meal's worth of free samples and fresh juice to occupy the children, so they eat while I pick things out. Even when I go to the regular market, it's not for a months' worth of items, so it's quick and they can weigh fruit etc. Not too bad, and i always let them choose something they want and we agree on.

My kids mostly enjoy these errands, and the chance to pick things out, smell herbs and ripe fruit etc.

Of course, I have the patience for this since I am a foodie. I get a lot of pleasure introducing my kids to various items from different parts of the world. I know that shopping and preparing food with children in tow can be a terrible chore at times, and I am not advocating dragging tired, bored children around. I don't mean that at all.

[Catherine Bennet]

grocery shopping

I go about once a month. I plan all my meals for a month at at time. I eat raw from breakfast and lunch. Supper is usually cooked.

I can usually keep fresh veges and fruit for 2 weeks. I have had some least a month, but not always. I go to one grocery store. If they do not have everything then I will try the other one.

When I need fresh veges I get my mom or dh to pick them up for me. Now that the Farmer's market is here I try to hit that on the weekends for fresh vegs. My mom goes most times and she gets me what i need.

Going food shopping once a month (and the cooking) sure helps me. I have time to do other things I want instead of shopping. (plus up until a month ago I did not have a car and I had to have my mom come and take me and my 3 kids shopping!) I have a food budget of only $80-$100 a month.

[mags]

Weekly for fresh fruits/veggies and milk, b/c the produce in our grocery stores are so diappointing. Now, with it being summer, I've been able to find some veg/fruit market type places, but they are kind of out of the way. With non-perishables, I typically stock up when they are on sale, otherwise I avoid buying them if possible. A few months ago we got a stand up freezer for the basement and it has been a great investment, we can buy more frozen foods in bulk and I also buy bread in bulk and freeze it, etc..

[cjr]

Dh gets paid twice a month. On those paydays I shop for two weeks worth of staples like apple sauces, beans, breads, meat and so on. The things that either store well or freeze well. Then I buy fruit/vegies for a week. I try to meal plan so that when I do the main shopping I have all the staples for our meals over the next two weeks and then I just pick up the fresh when I need to. We eat tons of fruit and vegies every week...6lbs of apples, 6lbs of oranges, 8lbs bananas, 3lbs of kiwi, 6lbs pears, plus all the vegies. It would be impossible to buy even 2 weeks worth of produce at once. I have a budget and I make sure to keep $60 for the mid payperiod fruit/vegie shopping spree.

[Poddi]

We go weekly. Usually a weekday night. I read the flyers and make a list. When we get there DH takes our two kids and wander around while I put things in the cart. Usually we're done in 20 minutes. Because it's weekday night the store's quite empty, so I can move pretty fast. We also joined an organic CSA and get our veggies that way. We probably go to Costco once a month and a Chinese store occasionally. I guess everybody is used to their own ways. I always go shopping with DH so I never even think how other women manage to shop while lugging a couple kids around.

[JaysMama]

I shop once a week during the day when it's not busy. My dd who is almost 3 sits in the back of the cart and 'helps' me by putting everything in. :LOL The past month I have started making a weekly menu of dinners and then I make a grocery list from that. I add on lunch stuff and snacks and I get a flyer from my fave store so I check for sales as I make my list. They have great prices on produce and normally I just wing it for fruits and veggies to snack on. If nonperishables are on sale I'll stock up but I don't have a special trip for that. I just go once a week and get what I need. The grocery store that I go to is not a big chain and they tend to serve a lot of cultures so I think that tends to keep some prices low. I can't go into Jewel and Dominicks and spend 80 dollars when I know I can go to Caputo's and only spend 50!

[quinnNjesse]

I go every 2 wks but do run out of stuff. I'm thinking of shopping on line tho so I don't have to haul the kids to the store...