*PLEASE, HELP*How often do you grocery shop?

**MRAHoffman** · 10-26-2008, 12:08 PM

and HOW do you grocery shop? It seems like every week it takes me 4 hours to get groceries. Yesterday I left at 2:30 and wasn't home until 6:30. Went to the library first. Then stopped at Lowes for a frig filter ($35.00...better watch for them on sale), ran to Goodwill for 2 blankets I saw the day before for the dog, stopped at Toys r Us for my son's Halloween Witch present ( to get rid of all the candy, on Halloween my son keeps 10 pieces and leaves the rest for a small toy from the Halloween witch, Meijers for bulk of groceries and Harvest Health for a few items that are cheaper than Meijers. PLEASE help me to save time and money. I MAINLY cook from scratch, but because of a prior cancer dx, product recalls, not liking high fructose corn syrup, artificial sugar, TONS of preservatives in what LITTLE pkg food I/we eat, the "organic" is pricier (do you know off hand of any pkg food that DOESN'T contain HFCS?), how do the sales conside with your "shopping day/days" if you go biweekly monthly (most sales go week to week, though Harvest go monthly), WHERE do you skimp/not skimp in quality, are price books worth it and how do you keep one (save past adds you used, receipts? Coupons are mainly for "name", pkg products, if what NON organic I use is generic, how can I save with them? LOTS of questions and need LOTS of help. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Rhonda

**TinyDancer** · 10-26-2008, 12:37 PM

I grocery shop once a week. Once a week (on Saturday's) I plan my meals based on what I have in my pantry (looking first for food items that are about to expire). Then make a list of any food that I will need in order to complete my recipes. I also take a spin through my coupons to see what else I could be on the look out for. I only use the coupons in conjunction with the store sales otherwise, you're right, it's cheaper to buy the store brands.

I also have a fairly decent stockpile of the basics (i.e., flour, rice, pasta, canned goods). This allows me to really only have to buy produce, meat and miscellaneous items at the grocery store.

I do have a pricebook, but I'm not terribly consistent in using it. I'm trying to get better. It's not super helpful unless you're really good about using it frequently.

Hope this helps a little!

**JerryG** · 10-27-2008, 02:59 PM

I shop once a week with a list and I also do similar as Tiny Dancer. Look in pantry, see what's coming up on expiration to incorporate into what I'm going to make. I don't buy organic so I'm not much help there. But when you state that it took you 4 hours, that's including all of your other errands as well, correct? That's not unusual, IMHO.

I think the list is key, for me.

**YankeeMom** · 10-27-2008, 03:02 PM

I do a big shop for non-parishables, meat, cleaning products, HBAs, paper products, & pet products ONCE a month. It takes me about 2 hours total. That's stopping at 5 different grocery stores. I spread it out over two days. I do four grocery stores that are on the same street one day, then the commissary the next day. One hour each day. If it took me 4 hours to do a weeks worth of shopping I'd be sitting down & figuring out what the heck I was doing in the grocery store for FOUR hours

Then every 2 weeks I restock on perishables...fresh fruit/veggies, bread, milk, cereal (it "parishes" pretty quickly in this house), and stock up on loss leaders/good sales.

**vigilant20** · 10-27-2008, 03:05 PM

It doesn't sound like grocery shopping is your problem, just the amount of errands.

I shop weekly as I rely on a lot of fresh produce. I keep a price book on index cards. With brand, size, price, and use that to calculate price per unit (per oz, etc) for comparison.

**TexasPeanut** · 10-27-2008, 03:12 PM

I stop off at the grocery every Friday while I'm in town doing errands (that's my errand day), I'm in the grocery store for maybe 40 minutes if that. Like the other posters I keep a large stockpile of foods both pantry and freezer and make a rough menu plan for the following week using up mostly items I already have on hand. I then make a list of general weekly pick up items (i.e. milk, bread, etc.) and any needed items for my menu that I do not have on hand. Also I check what items are getting low in the freezer or pantry and make a notation on my list, if I see those items at the store on sale or at a decent price I pick up a few, if not, no worries I didn't need them that week anyway just looking to restock. So my weekly shopping trip into the grocery store ends up being pretty much 15 minutes of getting things I do need and want and maybe another 15 minutes or so checking prices and restocking my supplies if the price is good. I do not have a price book, I just mainly stick to never shopping without a list and always buying things on sale. Having a large stockpile of mostly used items at home already allows me to not "have" to buy hardly anything unless it's on sale.

**zakity** · 10-27-2008, 06:25 PM

It depends on the day and what I am buying. And, if you look at your "grocery shopping", it isn't just grocery shopping. It is running other errands also.

For my typical "loss leader" run, maybe an hour total including travel time (there and back, live about 2 miles away), hitting the bread store also, and the extra time it takes to read labels. We don't do dye or corn syrup and avoid preservatives as much as possible and the manufacturers are so great and change the ingredients all the time.

For my stock up, well, that trip might be four hours long (just at that store). I usually stock up at a local store that has a bulk section. I spend an eternity walking back and forth between the stuff on the shelf and the bulk section checking prices. I do write down the prices, but then I forget to add in some important piece of info like the amount in the container or something stupid like that and have to walk back and look.