how often do you go to the grocery store? - Page 2

[Peppermint Leaf]

I used to be so organized but we aren't right now -- and every other day we are at the grocery store .... I need to start meal planning again

[kmb9906]

Originally Posted by velochic

Every day. There is nothing like fresh food and we live very, very close. We buy our fruit so fresh it's ready to eat that day.

I go daily for fresh produce and fish. We live *very* close, and if I don't need anything requiring immediate refrigeration, I can walk. : I don't own a bike right now (nowhere to store it), but I am thinking of getting one so I can get back from the store quicker ... allowing me to get fish and meats without driving.

[becoming]

We go weekly because I only eat really fresh produce. I would love to be close enough to go daily, but we're 12 miles from the nearest grocery.

[MaddieMay]

I do one big trip weekly. The produce is hit and miss at the store, so I try to make it to the market. If I don't, I might stop in during the week to grab more produce, produce that was not there during my weekly trip, etc. If we had a delivery service here, I'd be all over that!

[choli]

Summer, farmer market twice a week, supermarket once a week. Winter, supermarket once or twice a week. Fresh is the important thing for us.

[aolinsmama]

lettuce and some other leafies keep better for me if i put them in a bag or bin with a small cloth napkin. i also shop for fresh produce more often, but that is fun if you go to the markets/stands-it isn't an extra trip for me if i do it on the way to/from work, if you stay at home let your dp do it. (mine loves doing that, he usually picks out something interesting or yummy for a treat!) sometimes i get this giant box of spring mix that lasts almost 2 weeks, i just dump it out in the beginning, lay the cloth napkin at the bottom and keep going. at my produce mkt, there are bags of produce for $1 sometimes, depending on what it is i usually process it (bananas, i peel and freeze on a cookie sheet, then bag for smoothies, lots of tomatoes, blanch and freeze, peppers and onions, chop finely and freeze, etc.-you local extension service will have info, or there are lots of them online now) of course this is just a cheap thing LOL but it can also mean less time at the store. meal planning helps a lot too.
Fall is a great time for stocking up on root veggies, apples, etc. that (depending on how you store them) last a *long* time. eating seasonally is awesome this way.

[amyamanda]

I shop monthly. I didn't realize this was so unusual. I also live about 1/2 hour from town, and I drive an SUV so I try to minimize trips to town...but I also have space in my car to load up when I do shop.

I do my best to keep a fully stocked pantry, so I don't run out of something unexpectedly. For produce, I use those wonderful green bags that keep produce fresher longer. When I get home from the store, I divide the produce up into those and focus on using the most perishable things up first. By the end of the month we are usually eating more frozen/canned veggies and fruit.

We have an extra fridge and freezer, but I think we could still accomplish it with one fridge/freezer if we were careful about how the space was used. If you have any options for wintertime cold storage (an unheated room or closet that stays cool?) you could do some really basic root-cellar type storage there.

I usually end up making a very quick stop into the store for a couple of things once or twice later in the month, but only if we happen to be in town anyway, and only if we feel we desperately cannot live without the thing we're going into the store for. I try very hard not to go back into the store after that first big trip, because every time I shop I end up spending a little more than I expected, and the best thing for me is to stay out of the store entirely.

When I do my big shop, I try to do it at a time when I can take less kids with me (on a weekend or evening when DH is home). If it's only happening once a month, it doesn't cut into our family time as much, and I get a morning away by myself or with only 1-2 kids (which is a kind of a break, LOL).

To shop monthly you'll need to meal plan in advance, so you buy what you need and use what you buy.

I have been doing it this way for a couple of years now and I can't imagine grocery shopping more often than that. It's such a long trip and such a pain to do with kids in tow. Once I've done my monthly shopping (and that includes stopping at 2-4 stores), I don't have to think about it again until the next month. It feels much easier to me.

Good luck!

Edited to add that I often buy a little more than I think we need of snacks, staples, etc if they aren't already in my pantry...so we don't find ourselves short of something at the end of the month that would send us back to the store. I'd rather buy one extra bag of corn chips now and see it applied to next month's meal plan, than end up one *?&^$# bag short.

Also in meal-planning I am careful to take into account special occasions like birthdays, potlucks, picnics we might attend, holidays we are hosting or attending, camping trips, etc, so that I am not stuck without the right food for the occasion. This is the biggest reason I might end up back at the store - something came up last-minute that I couldn't manage to use what was on hand for. But I try hard to avoid those situations. I don't know how much food storage space you have, but be creative. It's good to always have ingredients for a couple of fallback potluck-type meals if you find yourself regularly needing a potluck dish (or unexpectedly entertaining a houseful of kids) last-minute.

[KariM]

We shop once a month at Costco to stock up on pantry items (and beef). We buy some produce there, but usually long-term stuff like carrots and onions. Our Costco is a 35 minute drive away.

We shop weekly at our local grocery store/s to buy things like eggs, milk, produce, etc.

Once in a while I might ask DH to stop off on his way home to pick up something like eggs if we had a particularly high consumption week and very rarely I'll walk to the Sav-A-Lot with the kids to get bananas, but most of their produce is awful.

[Alicia P]

My favorite way of grocery shopping is: once a week after the kiddos are all in bed, and daddy is snuggly on the couch, w/ his remote control. I am lucky enough to have a 24 hr store fairly close. I get to wander w/o kids, and even though I am gone for 2-3 hrs, I spend less. ! No kids or dad wanting this or that. I get to browse the clearance departments, and there are very few other shoppers out, so it's just me and the night stockers... If I am out to late, and don't feel comfortable walking to my car alone, I just ask for someone to walk me out, which they happily do.....

[Maddy123]

Around once a week. During the summer, we get lots of produce from our garden, so that helps. All our grocery/discount stores are very close, so there is not much driving involved. I believe for us that we DO save money when I shop every two weeks instead. The problem is that I just don't enjoy buying a bunch of stuff to get us through. It wears me out. I'd rather go a bit more frequently and not dread grocery shopping so much. I think some of this is personal style, besides the money issue. Shopping and cooking are a big part of my life, so I have to accomplish things in ways that are happy making for me.

We do have a large freezer and I try to keep my pantry pretty well stocked with canned goods, etc. So I am really not quite dependent on once a week for shopping. I do meal planning pretty consistently and cook a lot of soups and the like as well.

[mochimama]

We only go every three weeks because we live an hour from the grocery store. We do have a vegetable delivery from a local farm that we pick up every week to supplement that. Produce is tough. The last week pickins are pretty slim. We usually save the apples for then and sometimes dip into the freezer and make fruit smoothies. Occasionally we will go to the local market and buy some fresh fruit, but the extra cost is worth it compared to driving 2-hours round trip. We buy lots of dry goods in bulk and large chunks of cheeses. We buy milk with a variety of expiration dates and hope for the best

[zoebugsmom]

I do a big shopping trip every other week that involves 2-4 stores depending on what we need to stock up on. The second week I generally need to run to the store once for milk, yogurt, fresh fruit and veggies.

[cristeen]

I hit the farmer's market every Saturday morning year-round. There I can get grass-fed meat, local seafood, eggs, local nuts, bread, coffee, local rice, fresh juice, cultured butter and local cheese, and almost all of my produce. Then I pop into Trader Joes for whatever is missing (goat's milk, baby carrots, dried fruit, beer, etc.).

I hit Whole Foods or a local grocery maybe once or twice a month, since I can only find organic tortillas and cultured dairy there. The big grocery I hit every few months, when my DH runs out of his soda. I hit the HFS with the bulk section a couple times a year.

[SusannahM]

Usually weekly. Sometimes, we'll take a walk to our nearest grocery store in the middle of the week, but that is more of an "adventure" than an extra shopping trip.

We go weekly because the amount of groceries I can get in the time the kids are behaving corresponds to about a week's worth.

[broodymama]

nak

we were going about twice during a 3 week period. that was to rhe grocery store with the same number of trips to costco. now since i'm going with 3 little ones, i'm finding i would rather make smaller more frequent trips, that way we can make it through without anyone (including me ) having a meltdown. it's best for our bank account if we don't go to costco more than twice a month.