Comments on: Weekly Roundup: How Often Do You Grocery Shop?

By: Beth

Beth — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:02:50 +0000

We only shop once a week, but run out during the week only for things like milk or bread. I find the once a week plan does help us to stay on budget.

By: Shannon @ Mommie Cheapest

Shannon @ Mommie Cheapest — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:48:03 +0000

We go every other week, with the exception of milk, half & half, and occasional produce which I find we have to pick up once a week. We definitely menu plan and make the list according to the circular, and in that way we are *usually* able to stick to a $40/week budget. By the way, we do freeze bread — I stock up when it goes on sale — but I cannot bring myself to freeze milk!

When I was growing up my mom shopped 3x/week. I would estimate she spent between $30-$40 a trip, mostly from impulse buys and not using coupons or paying attention to sales. I definitely think that shopping more often lends itself to overspending. Also, that old rule “never shop when you’re hungry” is like advice gold!

By: Lillie

Lillie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:19:59 +0000

I find myself shopping more on the weekends now, especially Sunday at the nearby commissary. The best part of the deal is that it is closed on Monday and often they will reduce the meats significantly so that I am able to stock up and reduce that portion of my food bill even more. Every penny counts and this more than helps me to keep this portion of my budget balanced.

By: savvysavingbytes

savvysavingbytes — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:14:59 +0000

One of the great advantages of living in NYC is the wide variety of grocery stores and street food vendors within walking distance. The one store that will get me on a subway and bus round trip is Trader Joe’s downtown with its quality house brands and low prices. I usually hit it every two or three weeks for my main shopping.

The rest of the time I’ll stop in at stores to pick up a few things on the way home from long daily walks. On these walks I do occasional detective work in the markets so I know who has what at the cheapest prices. On my return walks home, it’s not unusual for me to stop at three different food markets to pick up only one or two items at each because of the price differential.

By: valletta

valletta — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:32:55 +0000

Oh and one other thing if you want to save money.
Try “ethnic” markets. We live in the Bay Area so we have access to everything! I buy my asian ingredients at an asian store and pay 50% of what the same things would cost at the chains. Plus, you have so many more options, ingredients you’d never find anywhere else. Caveat: If you live on tuna and mac and cheese this probably won’t appeal to you

By: valletta

valletta — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:25:00 +0000

I’m one of those rare birds here, I shop probably 5 times a week. We don’t have kids so I find I get better deals, fresher food and less waste by shopping this way. It seems counterintuitive but it works for us. We used to own a restaurant and our food deliveries came every day and I got used to that. I don’t throw away lettuce or veggies anymore. Fish is fresh, etc…
Maybe once every two months I’ll shop for things like pasta, olive oil, spices, etc. We cook from the pantry with whatever fresh I bring home from the market.
My stops at the store take less time, I bring one bag in the house and unload it in five minutes. I like it much better
We also shop the farmer’s market on weekends, which is pleasurable for us.

By: beth

beth — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:45:09 +0000

When I go to Sam’s Club I see two types: most people are buying lots of junk. The other type is big families (okay – I notice a lot of them are of hispanic origin) who get like two cart loads of ONLY staples. They get beans, rice, and flour, in humongous bags. I think they are saving the most money out of all of us! Of course when you are cooking for a large extended family it is much more economical.

Personally, we get fruits/veg delivered to our house every week from a local organic place. We probably grocery shop at least once per week on top of that and do 1 run to Sam’s a month or so. Contrary to another poster, I like to grocery shop when I’m hungry because if I don’t I wind up not buying anything!

By: Bucksome Boomer

Bucksome Boomer — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:28:00 +0000

I don’t have time to go to the grocery store more than once a week. That being said, my retired husband goes every 2 or 3 days — someimtes to pick up something I need for dinner that night but mostly to buy himself a treat.

By: The Rat

The Rat — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:00:33 +0000

I tend to find myself at a grocery store every 2-3 days; mostly to pick up a few small things and to check out the deals.

For example, just today I found family packs of some good quality beef on sale and bought some, came home, cut them up and froze what will become a few meals for my wife and I.

Wednesday, there was a deal on the go for butterball turkeys at a different grocery store nearby, and I hit it up to get me my ‘butterball!

Those kind of things make a difference on the pocket, in my view. But don’t get me wrong, I could load up on all kinds of food for under 100 bucks, but my card would be filled with soda pop, chips, processed food, etc.

My grocery shopping surrounds trying to get good food at good prices. Sometimes they have veggies on sale and they are perfectly fine to eat. I load up!

Nice thread.

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:49:15 +0000

I bet we are in the grocery store 4-5 times per week. However, we do the bulk of the shopping once per weekend, and the weekday stops are only for fresh produce for dinner. The store is convenient to my commute home, so it’s worth the trouble to eat fresh food.