Shop weekly or monthly? (sale, old, price)

[LittleDolphin]

As we mostly eat fresh foods starring vegetables and fruits, I shop as often as every other day...buying too many things that spoil is just a recipe for throwing a lot away.

As my favorite grocery is just a block away, I can ride my bike over and buy produce easily and during non-busy times.

Often, I'll plan meals around which produce is in season...

I stock up on paper goods like TP and such when there's a good sale going on...

[hotzcatz]

Town is thirty miles away so we shop once a week on our town run. We also keep a well stocked pantry since we are on the wrong end of a really long supply chain (2,500 miles to the mainland) and if something happened to the barges it would take awhile before we got more stuff shipped in. One hurricane wiping out the ports in California would starve Honolulu within 72 hours. Well, they wouldn't starve, they'd come over to our island looking for food, so we have to grow enough to feed us PLUS them.

So, we find it convenient to shop once a week but we could shop once a month instead. We don't get prepared snacks and just basically buy ingredients so there isn't anything to be opened and wasted. A fifty pound bag of whatever isn't going to be wasted by being opened. I usually put it in smaller easier to use containers though.

[FBJ]

Originally Posted by marylee54

I used to shop in bulk from Costco, thought I was saving a lot of money, on a per unit basis I was getting bargains! But, it doesn't work out that way. I found when you buy in quantity, you waste in quantity, especially with teenagers. They go through things like water, use up 3/4 of a package, toss it and open a new one!

I've tried everything, but can't control their wasteful habits. Also, I find I don't always cook the way I planned, recently went through the pantry and freezer, threw out a ton of expired stuff. now I'm starting over, with an updated pantry & freezer. I plan to shop every Sunday, use newspaper ads and coupons, just get what I need for the week. I will chase down sales & coupons for staples, like toothpaste, etc.

Its already working, I've budgeted an amount per week, cash only, no debit card to go over the budget, last night they were hungry, told them to fix whatever leftovers they could find, don't tell me there's nothing to eat, just not what they wanted. They ended up with a hodge podge of food, but we didn't go out to a fast food place, no one starved, they got creative with what they had, and I'm sticking to my budget!

So, do you find it better to stock up, or just buy per week?

I think since I live alone it's better to shop weekly rather than monthly. Monthly shopping would benefit a family a lot more

[texdav]

Actually we shop several times a wek at many stores in the area. Since retiring we have the time to do so and one thing i found is that once you do;you satrt to know more about what is a bargian. We alkso have more time to keep track of what we have and plan meals. We most often buy fersh fruit and vegaables several times a week.Smae with bread and othe rthing sbest if fresh.

[FBJ]

Originally Posted by texdav

Actually we shop several times a wek at many stores in the area. Since retiring we have the time to do so and one thing i found is that once you do;you satrt to know more about what is a bargian. We alkso have more time to keep track of what we have and plan meals. We most often buy fersh fruit and vegaables several times a week.Smae with bread and othe rthing sbest if fresh.

I never saw the purpose of fruit in my apartment-lol

[mainebrokerman]

im a big stock-up shoper (even tho its two of us, more so in perishables,) you've got to know your prices!!
i buy most of my meats on the bulk sales, break it down to smaller pkgs and freeze, if the whole pieces (primals) are on sale at a good price, i stock up, for example, the regular retail for bnls pork chops are 3.99lb (in this area) the whole bnls pork loin will go on sale for 1.79lb (ave 7 lbs) i'll buy that, and will even ask the meatcutter to cut it up.

i shop at independent retailers not chain stores, why? they do have price felexibility,(chain stores dont) i can call my local butcher and ask what the best price on a rib-eye etc.
and he will call me personally, or email me, if he has an over-run!! this is valuable!! even case lots on groceries!

all the meat in my freezer (cept for deer) has been purchased at the lowest market price available (again, from independent stores)

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

im a big stock-up shoper (even tho its two of us, more so in perishables,) you've got to know your prices!!
i buy most of my meats on the bulk sales, break it down to smaller pkgs and freeze, if the whole pieces (primals) are on sale at a good price, i stock up, for example, the regular retail for bnls pork chops are 3.99lb (in this area) the whole bnls pork loin will go on sale for 1.79lb (ave 7 lbs) i'll buy that, and will even ask the meatcutter to cut it up.

i shop at independent retailers not chain stores, why? they do have price felexibility,(chain stores dont) i can call my local butcher and ask what the best price on a rib-eye etc.
and he will call me personally, or email me, if he has an over-run!! this is valuable!! even case lots on groceries!

all the meat in my freezer (cept for deer) has been purchased at the lowest market price available (again, from independent stores)

This is an interesting concept, Mainebrokerman! I've never thought of letting the local grocery know we'd be interested in surplus case lots, we just generally check for stuff with the bright pink discount stickers on them. We do occasionally get vegetable trimmings from them for the geese, but I hadn't considered other surplus or unwanted things they may have.

Oh, TVandSportsGuy, the purpose of fruits in your apartment is to make daquiris for your DW or DG! Either that or dip them in chocolate and feed them directly to her. You don't need to eat the fruits and vegetables, just get a big life insurance policy payable to your DW or DG and feed the fruits and vegetables to her.

[annerk]

I shop when I need to. I buy non-perishables in bulk at BJ's, things like paper and cleaning products, bottled water for hurricane season, soap, bagged frozen veggies, etc. I don't buy fresh produce there, we simply can't eat it before it goes bad. I buy some meats there, break them up, and freeze them. But I also keep careful track of what I buy so I use it within a few months of purchase for the meat. I also buy cereal, flour, etc. in bulk there.

I don't really have a grocery budget, it just seems to work out to about $50-75 a week for 2-3 adults. (My son eats most lunches from the lunch truck at work, my husband travels a lot with his job.)

I also clip coupons and try to shop the loss leaders at the local grocery store.

We seldom have food go to waste, because my son is a hoover on any leftovers and I keep a careful eye to make sure we eat/use produce and meat in a timely manner. We also don't open something like juice until the one already in the fridge is gone.

[thepinksquid]

I'm awful--well, HORRIBLE--at stocking up.

I probably grocery shop about every other day of the week. One the issues I have is that I like to go to 4-5 different stores to get different things (I love Trader Joe's, for example, but anyone that's familiar with the store knows it's hard to get everything there). I prefer Whole Foods for fresh fruit/veggies, and Vons/Ralphs (a "normal" type of grocery store for those that don't live in CA), and then Henry's (another CA store) for bulk items like flour, rice and sugar. On top of that, I buy household cleaning items at Costco, as well as blueberries (I make muffins every week, I go through a lot).

[sarahkate_m]

OP, can you give your children a discretionary allowance just for food? and be firm? they need to get a grip!

kate