How often do you grocery shop?
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
United States
January 2, 2009 12:48pm CST
I do all my shopping once a week, on Fridays. I try to get everything I need that day. Sometimes we'll have to go out and pick up things I may have forgotten, but I try not to let that happen.
My next door neighbor buys groceries everyday. They buy the bulk of their stocks once a week, but she'll go to the store daily for her meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and anythng else they may need.
I suppose going daily is a good way of doing it. That way you can make whatever you feel like having that night. By doing it weekly I'm planning our whole weeks dinners and later in the week I may not feel like having what I purchased. Some weeks I am not in the mood for cooking, but have only purchased things that require a lot of effort.
I think shopping daily though makes you spend more money. That's why I do it on a weekly basis instead of daily, to save money.
How often do you shop for groceries?
6 people like this
27 responses
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
2 Jan 09
I don't like grocery shopping. I never have liked it. when my husband was alive he would oftern do it for me - I would give him a list. when al the children were at home then I was much more organized and like you, did it once a week, except for bread. We would buy bread three times a week as the boys consumed so much bread. You do save money by planning meals and buying accordingly. Do you ever make enough for 2 meals and then freeze one portion? I used to do this all of the time and it helped when I did not feel like cooking. Blessings
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
2 Jan 09
I have 7 mouths to feed, making enough for 2 meals is near impossible. We do often have left overs, but I'll serve those up for lunch the next day. It's rare that we have enough to save for an entire meal.
Heck, last week I made a 3 pound meatloaf and didn't have any left over!
We go through a lot of bread too, but instead of having to run out and buy more, I'll buy 2 or 3 loaves, and put 1 or 2 loaves in the freezer. It thaws pretty quick. I also sometimes like to make bread. I went a couple months where I refused to buy any bread and I was making a loaf a day. I haven't done that since before the youngest was born, but today the mood hit and I made a loaf.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
2 Jan 09
A three pound meat loaf! I've never made one that big. When my sons were teenagers we went thorugh 12 m- 14 loaves of bread a week. Can you believe that? It was because they were working on our farm during the vacations abd they had enormous appetites.
I also would use up left overs and sometimed added veggies and made a stir fry out of them for a dinner. However, I did double up on meat dishes a lot - even soup.
There ios something special about making bread. I used to baker bread too but couldn't keep up witht he demand when I started work.
Again, I probably had it easier than you in many ways as my husband would often take a child (or two) with him on the farm when he was supervising labour so I did get more of a break. Well, there was one thing that we did not run out of and that was bananas.LOL Blessings dear friend
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
3 Jan 09
Oh I can see that.. I go through a lot of bread on the weekends when the kids are home from school. That's why I try to have a lot of left overs for them to eat to save my bread. But we don't use much bread aside from having sandwiches. For meals I'll make rolls, they have waffles instead of toast for breakfast.
Just wait a few years though. My oldest right now is only 11, I know their appetites grow as they do, and mine have very good appetites already at such young ages.
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
2 Jan 09
We grocery shop every two weeks. My husband gets paid every two weeks so that is how we got started on going that often. We would go the friday he got paid or that saturday. I write down meals for two weeks and then go get all the stuff we need. It is flexible I can choose anything from what i buy to make, so if I'm not in the mood for something I can make that the next week. I usually buy one or two extra meals so if there is something we decide we aren't in the mood for we can switch to something else.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
2 Jan 09
I couldn't imagine having to make things last for 2 weeks. I have a hard enough time making my food last for 1 week. Usually by the end of the week things are spoiling or running out. It seems if I buy so much that it will certainly last the week, then we don't use it and it will go bad. If I buy what I know we'll use, we end up running out sooner than expected. It's a no win situation.
@thrwbckjay67 (2870)
• United States
2 Jan 09
I have to admit, the thought of going everyday is appealing; it'd be nice to buy everything fresh everyday, like meats or vegetables, for whatever dish I planned on making. Alas, that is not the case for us, either. It's tought to do that, it can prove to be rather costly.
What we do is this: once a month, we go to Sam's Club and stock up on bulk items. We might get bread, milk, meats, and snacks and drinks there. Then, weekly, we go to the grocery store (Albertson's here) and get what we'd need weekly for meals that we're planning that we can't buy the ingredients in bulk, or things like spices. It works out pretty well for my wife and I; we're both pretty busy people so having a set schedule of cooking and meals helps us out.
1 person likes this
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
2 Jan 09
I do one big shopping trip usually the first week of the month. Then I do a little here a little there for things like milk, eggs, and bread about once a week. It would get expensive for me shopping every day because I have to drive 11 miles on way to the closest grocery store.
1 person likes this
@lazeebee (5461)
• Malaysia
2 Jan 09
We have to drive out to the hypermart to do our grocery shopping, so we would only shop once a week. I usually plan out the meals to cook, and then buy the meat and vegetables, plus other stuff like snacks and household things. My hubby would look for his fruits and other stuff he wants.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
2 Jan 09
Since i don't have a car I stop by the store just about every day on my way home from work. Luckily the store is right across the street from where i live and right by my bus stop where i get of.
So by the end of the week i have everything i need.
1 person likes this
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
4 Jan 09
I try to make it so I don't have to go out to get stuff very often but sometimes I'm not so lucky. Sometimes I have to go out a few times a week and I hate doing that sometimes so I try to stock up on the things that I know that I will use most. So, that way, I can usually wait until Saturday or Sunday, maybe Friday if I'm in the mood to go out. Sometimes I can make it more than a week without having to do any shopping and that's great. I love knowing that I won't be tempted to spend so much money.
@ersmommy1 (12588)
• United States
3 Jan 09
Once or twice a week. Unless we run out of things. These days that just means we need more diapers, or wipes.
But we do some pretty good planning. If I don't feel like having what we bought, I just have a bowl of cereal.
But we do some pretty good planning. If I don't feel like having what we bought, I just have a bowl of cereal.
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
3 Jan 09
Hey kats! You are absolutely right! Shopping more often will
cause you to spend more money! Shopping once a week is a
good way to save! I don't have a family so I try to do my
bulk shopping every three weeks. And since I don't have a
car and have to take a cab home this helps me to save money.
I prepare menus ahead of time so that I can check sales and
save that way. Then if I need something during the week my
boyfriend will pick it up on his way home from work. But,
I don't have children to worry about feeding. If I did I would
have to go once a week as you do. But going as your neighbor
does is completely wasteful! That is ridiculous going to
the store everyday to shop! It makes no sense!
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
3 Jan 09
I've never asked my neighbor why she does it. She is a rather frugal woman, and she has 6 kids of her own. It works for her. I just think it's a waste to shop at the store down the road. I go to the nearest Walmart which is 15 minutes away, and that saves me a ton of money. The store down the road is almost twice as expensive.
@Elkeliini (264)
• Finland
4 Jan 09
I go for the same strategy. I shop the big round once a week where I fill up what ever has been used during the past time. I also buy most of the food ingredients for the coming days, but I hate planning "what to eat" long before and I even hate to trow away stuff more. I am single so I cook 2 portions at once and freeze the rest that way I cook about 3-4 days a week and the rest is warming up leftovers from the freezer.
Usually midweek I have an additional stop at the shop to buy fresh products that have gone: milk, bread meat veggies etc...
@fasttalker (2796)
• United States
2 Jan 09
I agree I think the daily shopping would be more costly not to mention so time consuming. I shop weekly on Saturdays. I try to keep things that I can whip together quick on hand all the time then if I don't feel like cooking a major meal I'm ok. I do plan my meals weekly but it just doesn't work out that way all the time! LOL
Today is bean soup and conbread day. We haven't eaten yet but man does it smell good! LOL
@roselynm1023 (950)
• Philippines
3 Jan 09
hi! i am doing my groceries sometimes twice a month, there are times that once a month. i am alone living so most of my consumables lasted for a month sometimes for two weeks. but when i need some very important item at home i can go directly to the grocery or a convenient store nearby. i never plan for a meal at home. come what may LOL when i am in the mood to cook i will cook and prepare my food but if i am not i will just eat anything like bread, fruits or biscuits.
happy new year!
@lourry (72)
• China
3 Jan 09
:-),personally i think that everyone has his/her own habit and just as you have mentioned different ways have its own virtues.my mom is accustomed to buying groceries everyday and all foods are definitely fresh and varied dishes can be prepared according to our taste, which i really appreciate.
happy new year and wish you good luck.
@dhaksha80 (143)
• Singapore
3 Jan 09
I do shopping for once in a week.I do it on sundays.Milk,vegetables everything i buy for one week.My neighbour buys everything in bulk,bcoz when buying bulk we will gat at lesser price.But my point is we can get at lesser price,but since we have more veggies like onions we tend to use more.We also wont bother if some veggied spoiled.When we have limited things we will control our usage.
@cheenlly (3476)
• Philippines
3 Jan 09
I do my shopping every two weeks and i make sure i buy all i need at home which includes meat, fish and vegetables but mostly meats and fish as well as vegetables will run out in just few days so i have to shop again for that alone daily and sometimes it is cheaper because i buy it on the wet market and it helps me in a way that i treated it as my daily afternoon exercise walking my way to the wet market.
@kaka135 (14931)
• Malaysia
3 Jan 09
I do grocery shopping once a week, usually on Saturdays or Sundays. We always buy the meat, vegetables, fruits or anything that we want for that week, and stock them in the fridge. I think it's not only saving money, but also saving time. Sometimes grocery shopping takes time.
@robert19ph (4577)
• Philippines
3 Jan 09
hello katsmeow1213,
I used to go to the grocery with my wife twice a month. But when the price of the gasoline went up, we made it only once a month. This way, we can save not only energy but also some money. We make sure though that everything is in the lists before we go to the grocery to avoid in some errands. Took us a while before we got used to it though.
Vegetables, fruits, fish and meats, we're buying them in the market, like thrice or twice a week. We prefer buying them in the market than in the grocery for they're much cheaper and fresh there.
@nixxi76 (3191)
• Canada
3 Jan 09
I've tried shopping daily and that got expensive really quick. Now I wait for the weekly fliers to come with the local paper and look around for good deals. All the fliers come on Fridays so I like to go Saturday mornings but if I have food to make on Saturday evening for supper, then we go Sunday mornings whenever the grocery store opens.
Have a great night
@jiang12345 (114)
• China
3 Jan 09
now ,i fell the times that my go shopping is reduct.have some reasons .because now i am hurt myself.i fell so sad about this.so i often ask my classmate help me buy the food .
before i went shopping so often,i think i still need have a good rest before i am play basketball.
i fell so sad ,the doctor told me i would not play basketball for 1 year.my god.what can i do .can you help me .
@chance2691 (566)
• Philippines
3 Jan 09
Our household runs on three different grocery schedules. We go grocery shopping with our mom once a month, and we buy the canned goods, toiletries and whatnot with her. She does another set on a weekly basis for the meat, fish and veggies we'll need for the week. I go grocery shopping with my dad once a week for the food we take to school. It's a pretty complicated system, but it's a perfect fit of a schedule for us in where we live.
