how often do you shop for groceries?

conservativecave ^ | November 20, 2009 | franksolich

[franksolich]

How often do you shop for groceries?

I don't mean for the last-minute half-gallon of milk or package of cigarettes from the convenience store, but the heavy-duty grocery shopping.

All the older siblings and their spouses appeared to shop once a week, filling up the automobile or van to the rafters.

I on the other hand have always emulated the parents, who shopped for groceries every single day excepting Sundays (but then and again, it needs pointed out franksolich has no spouse and dependents, so it's a somewhat different sort of thing).

In the town of circa 3,000 alongside the Platte River of Nebraska, where I spent my childhood, and in the town of circa 3,000 in the Sandhills of Nebraska, the routine of the parents never changed; they went to the grocery store every day (excepting Sundays), usually about 5:00 p.m., and until we were teenagers, hauled my younger brother and I along with them.

[smokingfrog]

Once a week — but you always forget something or run out of something you thought you had more of, so it’s actually twice a week.

[Mamzelle]

Things I like to buy at Sam's: The big container of peeled garlic. Even if you don't use the whole container, it's still hugely cheaper than buying fresh garlic that you have to peel. And most of the time fresh unpeeled garlic has those little green shoots inside which means it's not very fresh at all.

I also love Cabot cheddar cheese. The big brick is about ten dollars. Sometime look at what a morsel of Cabot costs in your local small grocery. Cheese keeps a long time in the fridge.

Their deli section with refrigerated pastas has some great deals. Often their meat is marked down as too old--so I take it home and freeze it immediately. I have saved quite a bit with pot roasts. Polska kielbasa--buy a dozen links and freeze. Sam's rotisserie chickens are almost twice as big as those you'll find in you local mart--and they cost less per bird.

I get mad when I run out of a cleaning product and have to purchase it at non-Sam's prices. Or Bounty paper towels, purchased one roll at a time? OW! Next time, at Sam's, I'll buy twice as much as usual so I won't run out till 2011.

[BenKenobi]

I’ve tried shopping, and don’t like how much stuff costs. It costs me more to buy the simple basics, especially milk and cheese here. The average block of cheese is almost 10 bucks here!

If I were working more, I’d keep a fridge stocked. As it is, it’s just not worth the hassle. I also find that I eat less just picking up something everyday, and eating just the one meal.

[Irish Queen]

Sweet Hubby and I have been married for almost forty years. We have four adult children and nine grandchildren. Most of the time we have lived in rural settings, thirty to forty miles from town. While the kids were growing up we had a huge freezer and a large pantry area in the garage. We did major grocery shopping only twice a month. Sunday afternoons I'd prep the weekday dinners for the family.

I enjoy the art of cooking healthy, interesting meals for family and friends. The only time the kids ate exotic foods such a Hamburger Helper, Hawaiian Punch, or Prego was at their friends' homes. Our sons grew up and married wonderful women who had grown-up in heat-n-eat households. Nowadays the 'boys' do most of the cooking, and the 'girls' do most of the washing up.

Sweet Hubby and I have retired to Northern Nevada. Twice a month we drive an hour into Reno to do our major shopping. We purchase most of our bread, dairy, meat, and produce at Whole Foods. Wal-mart is our store of choice for stock items. A favorite feature of our new home is our 6'X8' pantry.

[mysterio]

Since I buy perishables and produce, I generally take a several small trips a week.

[smokingfrog]

Another good topic would be...

How often do you shop for ammo?

One of the reasons I shop at Walmart. I can do both at the same time.

[investigateworld]

Oy, paying retail for ammo?

[atomic_dog]

Once a week on Tuesday. I hit Target, PetSmart and CostCo in that order. I get very little in Target, mostly cleaning supplies. I get special Dog Food at PetSmart for my terrier with allergies and the bulk of goods are purchased at Costco. I hit up Trader Joe’s once or twice a week for less than $20 of goodies. If CostCo would sell some of their stuff in reasonable (i.e smaller) quantities they could probably run a bunch of the others out of business.

[atomic_dog]

One of the reasons I shop at Walmart. I can do both at the same time.

One of the reasons I do not shop at WalMart. The local one agreed not to carry ammo to placate and buy off enough of the local liberals who opposed them coming in. Screw them. I do not darken the doors of that establishment. I buy nothing there ever!

[mamelukesabre]

I don’t buy milk. Never use it. Rarely use bread either. Cheese is bought wherever/whenever I find a good price...not picky about flavor. the only thing I use cheese for is to sprinkle over veggies, pasta, or soup.

[annieokie]

Sams Club, my daughter and I split the yearly fee. You are allowed 2 cards and they don't care who you desiginate, only one has to be the primary.

I like Sams for some things, it is just they package in such large quantities, and I never buy produce there, too expensive.

I only shop once a month, my pantry is alway loaded. Only 2 of us, but we live a bit out, and I don't like to waste gas.

[JRandomFreeper]

Once a month for tobacco, salt, coffee, sugar and other staples. Everything else comes from the land. Of course, I'm out in the wilderness. When I lived near civilization, I shopped daily.

/johnny

[LiberConservative]

Every couple of days. If I didn’t have other things to do I would probably go almost every day. I like shopping small and buying what I feel like eating day to day.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Once a year: A truckload of Hot Cheetos® snacks and a truckload of Schlitz® beer. Life is good.

[SunkenCiv]

It took me four hours to post this reply, because I left for groceries six times. Short term memory prob-, [car door slams, wheels squeal]

[mamelukesabre]

lol

lemme guess...you live on the beer for the first month, then cheetos for the next eleven months. Then repeat.

[Grams A]

I live alone and it’s called discipline-not fun and it took me a long time to get there. I shop once a month and my list is driven by specials at surrounding stores as well as Walgreen’s and CVS pharmacy which often have great deals. Then spend most of an afternoon cutting things into smaller portions and off to the freezer. Probably not too many here that will remember the milkman who came twice a week and the Manor Man who brought delicious cinnamon rolls! These were two conveniences that saved a lot of shopping time and we always had milk, butter, eggs and bread.

[McLynnan]

Thanks for all your responses. I keep romaine and spinach on hand ALL the time and usually end up throwing some of it out by the end of the week because I can't eat it all. And the same for pre-packaged deli sandwich meat, i.e., turkey breast. I even add the turkey breast to my salads. Let's not even get into bread. I'd like a variety but can't finish any of it before it gets freezer burn. It's easy for things to get monotonous.

What I have found that works is to keep the small size premade pizza crusts on hand and make a veggie pizza with aging tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, etc. Omelets work too. I usually keep a bag of cooked frozen shrimp in the freezer. It goes great with pasta and seasoned rice, or in salads. Soup is good too. I've conquered breakfast by baking whole wheat, walnut and oat type muffins and keeping them in the freezer.

[M203M4]

One day a week we do ALL of our “non-emergency” shopping in 1-2 trips to and from home. Hit the Wal*Mart, Kmart, Target, Home Depot, farmer’s market, the mall, yard sales, grocery stores, as needed. Depending on the sales, we may shop at anywhere from two up to four local grocery stores, plus the farmer’s market, and the odd food item from Target.

Planning out each operation (the “traveling salesman problem” constrained by food spoilage and defrosting considerations) the night before is kinda fun, plus it forces us to put everything on a list, which cuts down on impulse purchases. We have been compiling our purchases on a spreadsheet (in cross-tabbed categories) and can look over weeks, months, and years of data.

Never saw any benefit to going to Sam’s Club, Costco, BJs, or any similar place - the prices are NOT that great, even assuming we used the entire unit purchased (even with 3 kids, this is unlikely for most things). Around Christmas I usually sign up for one of those free 30-90 day trials to poach the loss leaders and similar draws, but avoid the places otherwise and cannot understand why their parking lots attest to such a level of crowding.

[gracie1]

Yes, I hate grocery shopping for that very same reason. My husband adores the warehouse stores, (FoodMaxx, Costco, Winco).
I prefer to buy the staples at grocery outlet. You get name brands very reasonable, you can buy by the case if you want, they even have milk, eggs, frozen meats, fresh veggies and cold cuts. All very, very reasonable, less then the warehouse store prices. And you get SERVICE. They pack your bags, offer to carry out for you, (I prefer to carry out myself). The downside is because they are an outlet, there is no guarantee that what you find today will be there next week. So when I find something I really like, I buy a ton of it.
For fresh veggies, dairy goods, and meats that are not at the grocery outlet, I get at Vons using my Vons card, or at the nearby local market. What I spend is saved on gas. Makes no sense to drive 40 miles round trip if I only want hamburger buns, sour cream and smoked ham hocks. There is a meat market around the corner from the grocery outlet that I go to for fresh meat. They have some killer homemade chorizo, tri-tips at least 1$ a pound less then the supermarkets.